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,

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/

This is a Class I, High Health Risk Recall         Nestlé Prepared Foods Company, a division of Nestle,  is recalling approximately 199,417 pounds of frozen stuffed chicken sandwich products that may contain pieces of plastic.

The following products are subject to recall: 9-ounce boxes of “Lean Pockets Spinach Artichoke Chicken - 2 sandwiches.” Printed on the side of each box is a “Best Before” date of “Nov 2009″ followed by a package code beginning “8144 544616.” Also printed on the side of the package is the establishment number “P7721A.”

The products were produced on May 23 and distributed to retail establishments nationwide.

The problem was discovered after the company received consumer complaints. Two injuries have been reported to the company. No word on what the plastic is, where it came from, or the extent of the injuries.

Nestle has not provided infomation regarding the recall on their website. They have set up a toll-free number for consumers. It is 800-350-5016.

Source: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_023_2008_Release/index.asp

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 »

Do you know that the greatest risks from pesticides in your diet come from eating conventionally produced fruits and vegetables? A new pocket guide can help you avoid the highest-risk fresh produce during both the summer season and winter, when a significant share of fresh produce is imported.

Available at www.organic-center.org, the “Organic Essentials” pocket guide presents lists of conventional fruits and vegetables that pose the most significant pesticide-related risks and – therefore – are the most critical produce items to purchase as organic.

Risk rankings are based on The Organic Center’s March 2008 report, Simplifying the Pesticide Risk Equation: The Organic Option.

The following fruits and vegetables present the highest risk: Read the rest of this entry »

The USDA’s monthly Livestock Slaughter report shows May was another record-setting month for meat production. U.S. commercial meat production totaled 4.22 billion pounds in May, up 4 percent from the 4.08 billion pounds produced in 2007.

Pork production totaled 1.82 billion pounds, up 3 percent from the previous year. Hog slaughter totaled 9.06 million head, up 3 percent from May 2007. The average live weight was down 1 pound from the previous year, at 268 pounds. Beef production, at 2.38 billion pounds, was 4 percent higher than last year. Cattle slaughter totaled 3.14 million head, up 3 percent from May 2007.

From January to May, commercial meat production was 21.0 billion pounds, up 7 percent from 2007. Accumulated pork production was up 11 percent, and beef production was up 4 percent.

Cows, pigs and chickens aren’t raised in pretty green meadows. They’re raised in crowded, unfavorable conditions and, especially in the case with dairy cows, are injected with growth hormones. Read the rest of this entry »

The long holiday weekend may be over but summer is just getting started. Most Americans either attended a BBQ or will be sometime in the next few months. And while certain foods are standard fare, there is hardly a thought as to where they all came from. Here’s some info that may give you a little more perspective:

More than 1 in 4
The chance that the hot dogs and pork sausages consumed at your BBQ originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State was home to 17.6 million market hogs and pigs on March 1, 2008. This represents more than one-fourth of the nation’s total. North Carolina (9 million) and Minnesota (6.7 million) were the runners-up.

6.8 billion pounds
Total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2007. Chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for about one-sixth of the nation’s total production. And if the beef did not come from Texas, it very well may have come from Nebraska (4.7 billion pounds) or Kansas (4.1 billion pounds). 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 »

Do you drink milk? Do you give milk to your kids? Then you need to know about rBGH. Otherwise known as “crack for cows,” it has devastating health effects on consumers, including cancer.

Milk from rBGH-treated cows has much higher levels of IGF-1, a hormone considered to be a high risk factor for breast, prostate, colon, lung, and other cancers. IGF-1 levels in milk from treated cows with rBGH can be up to 10 times higher. Studies suggest that pre-menopausal women below 50 years old with high levels of IGF-1 are seven times more likely to develop breast cancer. Men are four times more likely to develop prostate cancer. IGF-1 is implicated in lung and colon cancer. Read the rest of this entry »