Food Democracy

The tomato/pepper/cilantro fiasco goes on. More people sick, harvests destroyed, farmers ruined, $100 million down the drain, and still no answers as to why over 1,220 people have contracted a food borne illness that up until now was extremely rare.

Late yesterday, in what could be the ultimate flip-flop, the FDA announced that tomatoes are ok to eat. Sort of. They say it doesn’t mean that tomatoes harvested in the spring are cleared (try guessing which ones those are). It just means that the tomatoes in fields and stores today are safe to eat, said Dr. David Acheson, the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety chief.

The source of the outbreak of salmonella still isn’t known. The latest suspect is jalapeno peppers. Also still on the suspect list is fresh cilantro.

Thursday’s move to attempt to create some perception that the problem has been resolved, comes as the tomato industry estimates its losses at more than $100 million,

In the United States, the principal federal regulatory organizations responsible for providing consumer protection with regards to food are:

• US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responsible for the safety of meat, poultry, and certain egg products and for performing certain food quality inspections and certifications that include food safety elements.
• FDA is responsible for the safety of all other foods, including milk, seafood, and fruits and vegetables.The FDA is charged with protecting consumers against impure, unsafe, and fraudulently labeled food other than in areas regulated by FSIS.
• EPA’s mission includes protecting public health and the environment from risks posed by pesticides and promoting safer means of pest management. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets limits on the amount of pesticide residues that are allowed in food.
• National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) within the Department of Commerce provides fee-for-service inspections of seafood safety and quality.
• Department of Homeland Security is responsible for coordinating agencies’ food security activities, including at U.S. borders.
• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). APHIS’ primary role in the U.S. food safety network of agencies is to protect against plant and animal pests and diseases.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is responsible for monitoring, identifying, and investigating foodborne disease problems and for working with FDA, NMFS, USDA, state and local public health departments, universities, and industry to develop control methods.

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Reports from the FDA and CDC (from late May to date) indicate:

• 167  228 552 613 756 869 922 1017 1090 1148 1167 1196 1220 confirmed cases of Salmonella Saintpaul poisoning from contaminated raw tomatoes, peppers, and/or cilantro.
• At least 23 25 48 53 69 95 107 111 203 210 220 hospitalizations have been reported.
• 2 deaths are believed to be associated with the outbreak.
• 17 23  28 30 34 36 40 41 42 states involved. Texas has the largest number of cases with 131 384 448 people affected while Ilinois had 34 100 104,  followed by New Mexico at 70  98 102.
• Illnesses began between April 16 and May 27.
• Patients range in age from 1 to 82 years; 49% are female
• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that for every salmonella case reported, 38 are not brought to the attention of physicians.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/saintpaul/

On the heels of another 5 million pound ground beef recall, and with over 1000 people sickened and no answers in the salmonella contaminated tomato/pepper/cilantro fiasco, Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer today announced that beginning next month, the USDA will begin listing retail stores receiving meat and poultry products involved in Class I recalls - those of the most serious concern to public health.

The USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) will post on its site a list of retail stores that receive products subject to Class I recalls (only), the highest risk category, generally within three to ten business days of issuing the recall release. Retail stores include supermarkets or other grocery stores, convenience stores, meat markets, wholesale clubs and supercenters. FSIS will not identify distribution centers, institutions or restaurants, since they prepare food for immediate consumption without packaging that is identifiable or available to consumers. Read the rest of this entry »

It started in April and since then 1017 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada.The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2 persons), Arkansas (14), Arizona (49), California (9), Colorado (13), Connecticut (4), Florida (2), Georgia (24), Idaho (4), Illinois (100), Indiana (14), Iowa (2), Kansas (17), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (25), Michigan (8), Minnesota (15), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (4), Nevada (11), New Jersey (9), New Mexico (98), New York (28), North Carolina (10), Ohio (8), Oklahoma (24), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (11), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (8), Texas (384), Utah (2), Virginia (29), Vermont (2), Washington (11), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (11), and the District of Columbia (1). Four ill persons are reported from Canada; three appear to have been infected while traveling in the United States. At least 203 people have been hospitalized, 2 people have died. The outbreak isn’t over, or even showing any sign of slowing — with about 25 to 40 cases being a reported a day for weeks now.

The toll far surpasses what had been considered the largest foodborne outbreak of the past decade, the 715 salmonella cases linked to peanut butter in 2006. In the mid-1990s, there were well over 1,000 cases of cyclospora linked to raspberries, and previous large outbreaks of salmonella from ice cream and milk.

The CDC acknowledges that for every case of salmonella confirmed to the government, there may be 30 to 40 others that go undiagnosed or unreported. Read the rest of this entry »

So sad. Another out-of-control recall.  More ground beef. More sick people. A government on vacation. And stupid comments that would lead anyone to wonder, “what exactly is an acceptable level of EColi?”

Nebraska Beef Ltd. is expanding a recall announced earlier this week to include all 5.3 million pounds of meat it produced for ground beef between May 16 and June 26.

Federal investigators have linked Nebraska Beef’s products to an outbreak of E. coli illnesses affecting 41 people in Michigan and Ohio.

USDA spokesman Roger Sockman said investigators traced the meat back to Nebraska Beef after finding two samples of beef that tested positive for E. coli at processing plants that bought meat from Nebraska Beef.

Sockman said investigators then visited Nebraska Beef’s plant and found “unacceptable high levels of E. coli.”

Some Nebraska Beef products were sold by grocer Kroger Co. Kroger has recalled ground beef products in more than 20 states because the meat may have been contaminated. Read the rest of this entry »

The Food and Drug Administration has expanded a salmonella investigation focused on raw tomatoes to other fresh produce commonly consumed with tomatoes.

David Acheson, the FDA’s associate commissioner for foods, declined today to specify what new products the agency is looking at, and added that tomatoes remain the top suspect. Read the rest of this entry »

Nebraska Beef, Ltd., an Omaha, Neb., establishment is recalling approximately 531,707 pounds of ground beef components that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

The problem was discovered by FSIS through traceback investigations and ground beef samples collected from two federally inspected establishments positive for E. coli O157:H7, as well as multiple samples of Kroger brand ground beef positive for E. coli O157:H7.

Kroger brand ground beef samples were collected by the Michigan and Ohio Departments of Agriculture and Health from patients in Michigan and Ohio. Nebraska Beef, Ltd., was identified as a common supplier to those stores in addition to two federally inspected establishments where FSIS obtained a positive ground beef sample that was matched to the outbreak strain identified in Michigan and Ohio.

The epidemiological investigations and a case control study conducted by the Michigan and Ohio Departments of Agriculture and Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that there is an association between the ground beef products and 35 illnesses reported in Michigan (17) and Ohio (18).

See related story: Yet another sad tale of ground beef contaminated with EColi

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Under the new Farm Bill, government buys sugar for 23 cents a pound, resells it to ethanol producers for 3 cents a pound.

Source: Rolling Stone, June 12, page 36

Am I crazy or is Ag Secretary Ed Schafer rewarding states with $30 million (taxpayer) dollars for actually doing their job?

The Story:

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today announced that USDA will award $30 million to states for demonstrating excellence in administering Food Stamp Program benefits in Fiscal Year (FY) 2007. Among those states, South Dakota and Nebraska have exceptional records, winning high performance bonuses every year since 2003, the first year that the high performance awards were authorized. The overall national payment accuracy rate for FY 2007 was 94.36 percent, an historic high for the program. Read the rest of this entry »