THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF FOOD POISONING

A friend recently told me that both she and her husband had become ill after attending a wedding. "A really bad case of the stomach flu," she said. "We are still on antibiotics."

That "stomach flu" was most likely food poisoning caused by a virus called "Norovirus" that was somewhere in the food served at the wedding reception. And no, those antibiotics are not going to help. Most basically healthy people will recover on their own in a few days.

Noroviruses are responsible for about half of all reported outbreaks of gastroenteritis (vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramping caused by inflammation of the stomach and intestines) in the U.S. Over 80% of these illnesses occur between November and April - right now.

The virus is often spread through food, but can also be caught from your drinking water, by touching things that have the virus on them, and directly from person to person. Almost half of all cases of food poisoning in the U.S. are believed to be caused by this virus (compared,for instance to about a quarter with bacterial causes).

In the U.S. and other industrialized countries, the most common settings for norovirus outbreaks are long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, where outbreaks can last months and even be fatal as people are more vulnerable. The virus is also common in restaurant food and at parties and catered events of all kinds - such as weddings, on cruise ships and tours, and in schools and child-care facilies (see earlier blogs).

Be careful!

To your good health,

TSF

BACK TO FLORIDA ORANGES FOR TROPICANA ORANGE JUICE

Both PepsiCo which makes Tropicana orange juice, and Coca Cola Co. which makes Minute Maid orange juice have found traces of that nasty fungicide, Carbendazim, in their juice. Bad news for the two companies (their stock price suffered) but good news for Florida orange growers.

As we know by now, Carbendazim is used in Brazil to combat black spot and blossom blight on orange trees, and the inclusion of orange juice from Brazil in Tropicana and Minute Maid products was the cause of last week's problems (see previous posts). The use of this fungicide has not been permitted on U.S. oranges in recent years. But reportedly trace amounts of it are allowed in some 31 other foods such as non-citrus fruits, nuts and grains.

The amounts of the fungicide found in the orange juices were not high - but high enough to upset the FDA, and to upset a lot of Americans who drink orange juice every day. And it's not just Americans. I have heard from people in other countries are also concerned. After all, these are global corporations.

The end result: a return to Florida oranges. PepsiCo Inc announced today that it is returning to using only Florida oranges in its Tropicana Pure Premium orange juices. (It had used 100% Florida oranges until 2007). The company claims it made this decision several months ago, even before low levels of this fungicide were found in oranges from Brazil - and, in its juice. The transition is already under way and will be completed by the end of the month.

I think I'll buy PepsiCo stock when the market opens tomorrow. Or, maybe I shouldn't - a California woman is already suing her Tropicana for not being pure enough!

To your good health,

TSF

IS PROCESSED FOOD GETTING LESS SAFE?

This global recession has almost everyone cutting back on spending - including food companies all over the world. I am increasingly convinced that this is affecting the safety of our food, particularly of processed food.

Here's why. I have noticed what appear to be an increasing number of recalls in the U.S. for "foreign materials." This rather odd phrase refers to such things as pieces of plastic, glass, rubber and metal, most likely from processing equipment. Over the past couple of years or so, we have had them all. Here are a few recent ones in the way of illustration.


On January 14 2012, RSW Distributors, of North Carolina issued a recall for some 3,104 pounds of seasoned diced beef products destined for schools (see previous post) because of bits of conveyer belt in the meat.

On January 13, Price Chopper Supermarkets issued a recall on two sizes of its bakery’s Central Market Classics Tres Leches cakes: the manufacturer of the layers in the cake - Rich Foods - had informed them that they contained piece of plastic.

Just a month earlier, Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., the large supermarket chain recalled - guess what - my favorite Sunrise Assorted Flavor Gummy Bears that were sold in the bulk in Winn-Dixie stores in Florida and Louisiana. They were afraid that bits of metal were in the gummy bears.

On October 1, Kraft Foods Global, Inc. recalled three varieties of Velveeta Shells & Cheese Single Serve Microwaveable Cups due to the possible presence of small, thin wire bristle pieces. This sounds like processing equipment again.

In September, two consumers found pieces of metal in their pureed pork, prompting a sizeable recall by K. Heeps, Inc., of Allentown, Penn. It was suspected that the pieces had broken off from the blending equipment during processing.

What I suspect is that some food processing plants, both in the U.S. and overseas, are cutting back on equipment maintenance and replacement during these hard times (see photo of mixer-agitator). As worn-out conveyer belts, blending, mixing, slicing, shredding, filleting and every other kind of food processing equipment continue to be used, the risk of contamination of processed food by those unpleasant "foreign materials" increases. Watch out and chew well before you swallow! (I had better pay more attention to that myself).

To your good health,

TSF

UPDATE: 1/22/12 - Still another recall of "foreign material" in food. Price Chopper Supermarkets is recalling its Coyote Joes Shredded Taco Cheese because of plastic fragments found inside the packaging.

BITS OF CONVEYER BELT IN SCHOOL LUNCH BEEF

Institutional food is the riskiest kind of food to eat. That unfortunately, also applies to school lunches served under the U.S. National Food Program, although they are supposed to be safer than is nursing home food. On a typical school day, close to 12 million children in the U.S. eat lunch (and sometimes breakfast) under this program. Yes, they may be getting nutritionally better food than otherwise, but what else are they getting?

Over the years, there have been some pretty bad outbreaks. Usually, any contamination involves viruses or bacteria - and in one large U.S. case that I know of, probably mold toxins (There's a write-up of this case in The Safe Food Handbook).

And, occasionally school lunches also contain those nasty "foreign materials" like bits of metal, glass, plastic and so on (also see next post).

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a recall of seasoned diced beef products by RSW Distributors, LLC, of Forest City, N.C. Apparently a conveyor belt broke during processing and bits of the belt ended up in the food. USDA/FSIS said they had to set aside the contaminated food (an inspector must have been on the premises, as required). But then, somehow or other, the food was shipped out after all to institutions for further distribution to schools in South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington as part of the USDA's National School Lunch Program.

Well, better bits of rubber than bits of glass or metal, but still..This is really sloppy. Nor is this the first time that this type of mistake with shipping has happened. I hope they caught all the food before it reached the school children. No injuries have been reported. Maybe the kids ate it and just thought the beef was tougher than usual!

To your good health,
TSF

UPDATE ON RADIATION IN U.S. FOOD IMPORTS FROM JAPAN

Judging from the search phrases on my blog (which I always keep an eye on), I see that radiation in food as a result of the Fukushima nuclear accident remains a concern among consumers worldwide. That includes the U.S. Yes, the U.S. does import food products from Japan, but they account for less than 4 percent of all imported foods. The most common food products sourced from Japan to the U.S. include seafood, snack foods and processed fruits and vegetables.

To put your mind at rest - the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been keeping a close eye on these to make sure that radionuclide levels do not exceed safety standards. The FDA has been working with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB). The Government of Japan is of course also doing its part to make sure that exported food is safe.

The FDA’s import tracking system has been programmed to flag all shipments of FDA-regulated products from Japan - which cover a wide range - and the Agency maintains a registry of companies that prepare, pack, manufacture, or hold food for intended consumption in the U.S. Since the Fukushima incident, special attention has been given to shipments from producers and companies in the areas most affected by radiation. Samples of four categories of food are tested regularly for Iodine-131 (I-131), Cesium-134 (Cs-134) and Cesium-137 (Cs-137) as well as radionuclides such as Strontium-90, Ruthenium-103 (Ru-103) and Ruthenium-106 (Ru-106).

Yes, there was an import alert announced in the U.S. starting in March, 2011 regarding the importation of all milk and milk products and fresh vegetables and fruits which were either produced or manufactured in any of the four Japanese prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma. Progressively, this alert was revised during 2011 as these food products were found to be safe.

Overall, there have been no major warning flags on any of the Japanese food products that are being imported into the U.S. At least, according to the FDA.

The Canadian CFIA and nations elsewhere have taken action similar to the FDA to make sure that no food or animal feed with high radiation levels enters the country.

To your good health,

TSF

IS IMPORTED FOOD LESS SAFE?

More and more of the food eaten in the United States comes from other countries - about 150 of them. The Food and Drug Administration alone - and it is not the only agency in charge of making sure the imported food is safe - was responsible for some 24 million food shipments in 2010. (I don't have the 2011 statistics yet). Out of these, only about 3,500 shipments were rejected because they were unsafe. So how safe is the rest of the imported food that passes through our more than 320 ports and reaches our stores and out tables?

The recent Brazilian orange juice scare (see previous 2 posts) has U.S. consumers worried. But it actually was just one of a number of recalls of imported food in the last few months due to contamination of one kind or another.

We had several problems with Canadian imports (such as cheeses, deli meats), with seafood from Asia, olives from Italy, celery seeds from Egypt, pinenuts (probably grown in Turkey, but possibly processed elsewhere), various processed foods - such as bean curd - that came from China, and as usual, vegetables and herbs from Mexico. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.

In theory, all U.S. imported food products have to meet the same safety standards as domestically produced food. But this is difficult for a number of reasons (discussed much more in The Safe Food Handbook).

In recent years, more and more of these imported products originate in developing nations and newly industrialized countries. The food growing environment is sometimes - though not always - highly contaminated. In addition, frequently such countries have more risky production, harvesting, transport, storage and processing practices (detailed more in the book). And it is not just practices - the road and power infrastructure is often weak, equipment is old and in poor repair , and farm and plant workers are not just poorly educated but often also carriers of various pathogenic bacteria and parasites.

Yes, food is inspected before it leaves, and even the overseas food plants themselves are supposed to be inspected by the FDA and USDA - but who has the money to do this frequently and properly? As for inspection when the food arrives - after travelling thousands of miles, during which organisms such as bacteria can multiply - well, we know the answer by now. Roughly about 1.5% of imported food is inspected by the FDA at this time. Imports are going up and the inspection rate is unfortunately going down. So don't be surprised if some nasty pesticides, bacteria and other things gets through.

To your good health,

TSF

BRAZIL'S ORANGES : WHAT ABOUT TOXIC PULP?

People everywhere in the world love orange juice. And Brazil is the world's biggest exporter of the product. Think in terms of big tanker ships of the stuff, going everywhere. In fact, Brazil has been called " the Saudi Arabia of orange juice."

But what do you have when you squeeze out the juice? You have orange pulp. In fact, when oranges are processed for juice or sections, 45 to 60 percent of their weight remains in the form of peel, rag and seeds. A pity to waste it. So Brazil's orange growers have caught onto the idea that they can export that as well. Much of it is dried and processed into pellets to be made into animal feed. Since there is no major cattle growing business in Brazil, they are happy to send it to us.

Alright, but when you spray an orange tree with toxic chemicals, the orange peel gets the bulk of the residues. And even if washed well, not all of it can be removed. Now we have found that orange farmers in Brazil are using a lot of the toxic fungicide carbendazim (see previous post), with imported orange juice from Brazil carrying much more of it than say, orange juice made from U.S. oranges. So what about all that citrus pulp that goes into animal feed?

I guess that will hit the headlines soon. In the meantime, let me remind you that the chemicals that our food animals ingest can reach us too. The World Health Organization (WHO) for which I have worked, has put together a nice little list of human food contamination incidents originating in animal feed. And..yes...one of these cases - also quoted in The Safe Food Handbook - involves citrus pulp pellets.

Here's what happened. In March 1998, high levels of dioxins in milk sold in Germany were traced to citrus pulp pellets from - you guessed it - Brazil, that had been used as animal feed. The investigation resulted in a ban on all citrus pulp imports to the EU from Brazil.

So, are we going to find now that there are high levels of carbendazim in our milk or meat? I wouldn't be surprised.

To your good health,

TSF