SALMONELLA EVERYWHERE IN OUR FOOD

The government of the United States has been keeping a special eye on contamination of the country’s food supply by the various Salmonella bacteria. It is now sending out quarterly reports on progress every year. The monitoring focus is primarily on meat and poultry. But, as The Safe Food Handbook: How to Make Smart Choices about Risky Food points out, Salmonella keep cropping up in other foods as well. Nor is it at all clear that we are winning the battle against these pesky bacteria.

Some examples of recent discoveries of such bacteria include the end-of-last year one by The Cultured Kitchen® of West Sacramento, California. It was suspected that Salmonella could be present in all flavors of their non-dairy cashew cheese product ( herb, Smoked Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Pesto or Peso Basil, White Cheddar). These non-dairy cashew cheeses were distributed in Northern California and Nevada at various natural foods stores and farmers markets in the Sacramento Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, and Reno. So much for healthy, small producer, farmers market food!

How did the Salmonella get in? The suspect was cashew nuts - imported from Southeast Asia. The special strain of Salmonella that was found only turns up in these so that was clear evidence. Yes, the products might be “local” but all the ingredients may not be.

Even more recently, Tyson Foods, Inc. had to recall some 33,840 pounds of mechanically separated chicken products because contamination by a Salmonella Heidelberg strain – one of the common ones – was found.

And back in October, Costco had to recall huge amounts of rotisserie (cooked) chicken because of Salmonella contamination.

And that’s only a few examples of Salmonella bacteria turning up in our food.

By the way, symptoms of Salmonella infection include fever, abdominal cramps, and (maybe bloody) diarrhea. Most people who become ill recover within a week. Some, like infants, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems, may develop complications that send them to the hospital.

Be careful what you eat, especially if you are in a high-risk group!

To your good health,

TSF

A LOAD OF FOOD RECALL ANNOUNCEMENTS!

Today the U.S. government is back to work at full force. That includes the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates over 80% of our food and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates the rest. So both agencies are catching up with announcement of ongoing recalls. It is certainly clear that contaminants were busily at work while the government was shut down.

Here are some of the recent food recalls. (As usual, I am not listing any food recalls because of allergens):

Costco’s El Camino Real store in South San Francisco, Calif., is recalling 9,043 units (approximately 39,755 lbs.) of rotisserie chicken products that may be contaminated with a strain of Salmonella Heidelberg (I've already blogged this one: see previous post).

Turkey Hill Dairy of Conestoga, Pa., is recalling certain packages of Fudge Ripple Premium Ice Cream and of Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Premium Ice Cream, and Moose Tracks Stuff’d Frozen Dairy Dessert. The reason - a finding of metal shavings. (Not exactly what we want in our dessert).

Orange County Produce, LLC ("OC Produce") of California is recalling fresh red and green Bell Peppers for potential contamination with Salmonella. (Ooof - I just bought some..).

Garden Fresh Foods, a Milwaukee, WI. establishment, is recalling approximately 6,694 additional pounds of ready-to-eat chicken and ham products due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria (This is an expansion of an earlier recall).

Asia Cash & Carry Inc. of Maspeth, New York has recalled PRAN brand Tumeric Spice Powder sold in 8.82 oz. jars. It was found to contain high levels of lead. This can cause health problems, particularly to small children, infants and pregnant women.

In all - a nice cross-section of our food supply. And if you think this is bad for the past few days, you should see the recalls for medical devices, drugs, injectables and supplements!

Enjoy your dinner.

To your good health,

TSF

DANGEROUS BACTERIA IN FRESH PRODUCE

Yes, fruits and vegetables are healthy, and most of us should eat more of them than we do. But, it is not at all unusual for them to carry bacteria (as well as other contaminants) of one kind or another.

Two of the most common in the United States and Canada - as well as other industrialized nations - are Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. Although there are exceptions, a common pattern is for Salmonella to turn up in whole fresh fruits and vegetables, and for L. monocytogenes to turn up in "ready-to-eat" fresh produce (cut, shredded, bagged etc.). A couple of current recalls in the U.S. illustrate this pattern.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found the dangerous Listeria bacteria in bagged salad - something that tends to happen several times each year. River Ranch Fresh Foods of Salinas, California is initiating a recall of both retail and foodservice versions of their bagged salads. Caribe Produce LTD Co. of McAllen, Texas, is recalling 286 cases of fresh papayas that they imported from Mexico because Salmonella bacteria turned up in testing. The papayas are sold individually with a label of “3112 CARIBEÑA Papaya MARADOL PRODUCT OF MEXICO."

All this does not mean that you have to stop eating fruits and vegetables. But follow best safety practices, as outlined in The Safe Food Handbook (just published in second edition).

To your good health,
TSF

ONE MORE ALFALFA RECALL

I think we have to get over the idea that alfalfa and other sprouted seeds are "super healthy." In my opinion, the risks of getting dangerous bacteria from eating them outweigh such benefits.

Eat alfalfa and it can cure you of anything and everything. At least that is what the claims are - high cholesterol, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer, asthma, problems of menopause, alcholism...and much more. I am not arguing against the nutritional benefits of sprouts, but certainly some of the healing claims are highly exaggerated, without scientific evidence to back them up.

And instead you have considerable risk of ingesting a dangerous bacteria like one of the Salmonella, the more deadly E.coli or Listeria monocytogenes and coming down with food poisoning.

So here's yet another recall of alfalfa sprouts. LEASA Industries Co., Inc. of Miami, FL is recalling 346 cases of LEASA Living Alfalfa Sprouts with use by date 2/1/12 (too late as usual) because of possible contamination by Salmonella bacteria. Clear plastic containers of these sprouts were distributed in the U.S. through FL, GA, AL, LA, and MS through retail stores and food service companies.

There are plenty of other healthy foods you can eat that are far less likely to be contaminated than raw alfalfa sprouts - and taste better.

To your good health,

TSF

MORE RECENT CASES OF SALMONELLA BACTERIA IN FOOD AND SUPPLEMENTS

In the last few days, Salmonella bacteria seem to be making up for lost time. Or else, food testing has just got lucky and caught more cases. I won't have time to blog them all, but here are some U.S. instances from the past few days, and one from the U.K.

These cases show the variety of situations in which Salmonella can crop up. The first two - peppers and alfalfa sprouts are quite common, and have occurred previously many times. The last two - in spice and in dietary supplements - are rarer but not unheard of either, as this bacterium is very good at surviving under dry conditions, and can do so for months. There have been several large spice recalls in the U.S. over the last few years, and of course, the very recent one in celery seeds (see earlier posts).

In peppers: Cal Fresco, LLC (“Cal Fresco”) of California is recalling some 18,500 pounds of fresh Jalapeño and Serrano chili peppers (imported from Mexico, by the way) because of contamination with Salmonella. They were shipped in cases under both the Cal Fresco (10 and 25 pound cases) and Grower Alliance (40 pound case) labels. This lot was distributed to retail stores within California, Oregon, Washington, Texas and Canada between December 3 and December 5, 2011 (I bought some, but luckily cooked them well).

In alfalfa sprouts: Green Valley Food Corp. of is recalling 650 cases of “Let’s Grow Healthy Together!” Alfalfa Sprouts 5 oz. containers, because the results showed to be contaminated with Salmonella. If you read this blog regularly you'll know that I view sprouted seeds as one of the riskiest foods you can eat (see previous posts).

In dietary supplements: Eclectic Institute, Sandy, Oregon is recalling specific lots of its freeze-dried capsules containing Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica) and Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus) capsules because of potential Salmonella contamination.

In dry spices: In the U.K. the Food Standards agency reports that Natco Foods Ltd. is recalling certain batches of its own ground cumin due to the presence of Salmonella bacteria.

To your good health,

TSF

UPDATE ON CELERY SEED RECALLS

Well,as I expected, there is yet another recall of celery seed. This time it is by Starwest Botanicals. This California company is recalling Starwest Organic Celery Seed (Whole) packaged in Mylar 1lb and 2 oz pouches (it also sells it in jars, and I am wondering why these are not included in the recall).

The cause is the same as in the case of the other recalls: discovery of contaminated with Salmonella bacteria.
We are seeing once more how interlinked our food system is. We may think we are buying some wonderful unique product, and instead, it is part of a huge production lot, masquerading under various names.

I hope you took my earlier advice and stopped eating all celery seed when the first recall came out. Let's wait until the FDA investigators find out the cause, and hopefully, fix it. And that could take a while - weeks, maybe even months.

Remember, in a small percentage of cases, Salmonella can be veru dangerous.

To your good health,
TSF