SALMONELLA GETS WORST FOOD THREAT AWARD

I am doing some end-of-year thinking today. Among other things, I took a look at what the Food and Drug Administration considers to be "Major Public Health Threats" in our food. There are five food product recalls that the FDA presently classifies under this heading, taking place over the past two years (actually, less, since it is not up-to-date). The number of products recalled represents the latest information made available by the FDA (and also, may not be quite up-to-date, but it gives you the general picture).

Here they are:
Shell Egg Recalls (94 egg product recalled)
Hydrolized Vegetable Protein (HPV - a flavor enhancer) Containing Product Recalls (177 products recalled)
Pistachio Product Recalls - (664 products recalled)
Peanut Product Recalls (3918 products recalled)
Plainview Milk Cooperative Ingredient Recall (286 products recalled)

All except the first (shell eggs) were associated with ingredients used in processed foods (except for a few repackaged nuts). This kind of recall almost always tends to be more widespread.

And note - every one of these "major public health threats" was caused by one of the Salmonella bacteria. Of course, there were many other additional instances of Salmonella contamination of our food as well during this period (produce, ready-to-eat foods, spices, chocolate, pastries and more).

As I have said before - Salmonella is a major survivor, and it is everywhere in our food.

So I am giving Salmonella the "Worst Food Threat" award of the year.

TSF

THE FOOD SAFETY AWARD GOES TO CNN

The new US food safety legislation, finally passed by the Senate a few days ago(see earlier blog), is supposed to strengthens the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Most importantly, it is supposed to make sure that the FDA focuses on preventing food borne illness, not just managing outbreaks once they occur. Of course, in theory that is what the FDA is supposed to have been doing all along. It just hasn't had the resources to do the job properly.

That prevention should include better public information - issued promptly if contaminated food does reach our markets, groceries and homes.

Unfortunately, the word "quickly" doesn't seem to exist in the FDA's prevention vocabulary. The FDA has to learn that each day counts. In fact, each hour counts. It doesn't take long for us to reach for that bad food and to eat it. But the FDA seems to think it just needs to protect the public 9-5 Monday to Friday, with holidays off. Unfortunately, food contaminants don't respect holidays. In fact, I almost get the feeling that they like to ensure at least one nasty seasonal outbreak just to yank our chain - contaminated Valentine's Day chocolates, contaminated turkey at Thanksgiving, nutmeg and gingerbread contamination just before Christmas day. You get the picture.

But over the Christmas holidays, the public was left exposed to food risk, with the FDA on vacation. Food alerts have been reaching me sooner through CNN (courtesy of news forwarded by my son, who is in the fashion business - nothing to do with food). The official FDA alert system, to which I belong, has notified me much later. That was the case with the recent outbreak in dog food, the one in nuts, and also, most recently, the one in baked goods.

Let me illustrate with one of the most recent food recalls. The very dangerous Staphylococcus aureus bacteria was discovered in Rolf's Pastry goods. The company is based in Chicago, but products are sold both on line and by major retailers, nationwide. One of the several contaminated pastry products found to be contaminated was Rolf's gingerbread houses, sold by Whole Foods in 23 states, decorated and packaged in clear plastic wrap, either under the Rolf's Patisserie label or Whole Foods' Market scale label. Naturally, they are often eaten by children, who are more vulnerable.

The FDA relayed the Whole Foods gingerbread and other Rolf's pastry recall information only today - Dec.27. Whole Foods had issued the recall on Dec. 24, which is when CNN reported it. That is, it was three days late. During those three days many children (whose parents and doctors did not catch the CNN alert) were more likely to become ill from eating gingerbread and pastries, and less likely to be correctly diagnosed and treated. That is not prevention. That is irresponsible!

I think I will give CNN the safe food award for 2010 - not the FDA.

A BAD YEAR FOR WHOLE FOODS

2010 has not been the best year for Whole Foods Market. True, the stock price has done very well - up by roughly 66% in 12 months. Now I wish I had bought shares last January after all, and held onto them. So maybe my singling it out is a bit of "sour grapes." But I do want to make a point: even the best and most popular higher-end food retailers, including those which specialize in organic and healthy-lifestyle foods, can be caught out selling dangerous, contaminated food.

In fact, it has been a pretty dangerous year for those who shop at Whole Foods - like dodging a bacterial bullet every time you buy food. In January, Whole Foods had to recall a number of Listeria bacteria-contaminated ready -to-eat products (along with some other large retailers such as Target, Shop-Rite, Wal-Mart) such spreads, cheeses. This bacterium is particularly dangerous for pregnant women as it can cause stillbirths and health-problems in the newborn. In early April of this year, it has to recall frozen yellowfin tuna steaks, because they were found to have elevated levels of histamine - a natural fish toxin which in high levels can cause scromboid poisoning. The fish was sold in its stores in 29 states.

Then in early Sepember, Whole Foods Market’s North Atlantic Region had to do a recall of Morningland Dairy and Ozark Farm's Raw Goat Milk Mild Cheddar Cheese - which carried not one, but two kinds of bad bacteria (Listeria and Staphylococcus aureus) . In November, Whole Foods was again found to be selling about 7 kinds of contaminated Cheddar cheeses in five states, manufactured by Bravo Farms. This time it was the more common Listeria bacteria again. Then, later in November, it found it was selling recalled Dagoba Organic chocolate made by Artesan Confections with a touch of Salmonella. In late November, it had to recall nutmeg sourced from a New Jersey supplier, again because of contamination with Salmonella. Later in December, it had to recall a number of cheeses manufactured by another of its suppliers - Sally Jackson - with yes - that awful E.coli 0157 bacteria this time. Then, just in time for little kids eating them, right on Christmas Eve, Whole Foods had to recall Gingerbread houses produced by Rolf's Bakery from its stores in 23 states.

I am getting rather tired of listing the recalls, so this is not a comprehensive list. But before I sign off - three things. One, Whole Foods Market sold many of these products (such as cheeses, nutmeg and others) under its house label. Secondly, I have noticed that several of these Whole Foods suppliers have sent it contaminated food before - that is, this wasn't the first time. Thirdly, I have noticed that the supplier involved announced its recall several days earlier, before Whole Foods got around to notifying its customers. Delays are dangerous. Maybe "healthy' Whole Foods needs to start being a bit more health conscious in the New Year.

IS CHEESE OUR MOST DANGEROUS FOOD?

This has been a very bad year for cheese. We used to think of it as a safe food. But not after the last few months! And it is no longer just those Salmonella or Listeria monocytogenes bacteria that are cropping up in cheese. It is E.coli 0157:H7 as well and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (which can also be deadly, particularly if antibiotic resistant). Recently there has been "an outbreak of outbreaks" linked to our cheeses.

Almost all the contaminations have been in raw soft or semi-soft cheeses, many of them produced by higher end artisanal cheese makers, sold in the more expensive stores and served in upper end restaurants. In the United States, raw milk cheeses are only supposed to be sold if they have been aged for 60 days (which is expected to allow most bacteria to die). Well, after this year, the government certainly has some ammunition for extending that time period, or, prohibiting raw cheese sales altogether.

Let's take a look at a six month period, July through December, 2010. In July, there was a recall of - yes, aged - raw milk cheddar cheese made by Milky Way Farm in Pennsylvania. Staphylococcus aureus and enterotoxin bacteria were found in samples of the cheese. Also in July, Azteca Linda Corp. of New York, had to recall a number of fresh cheeses and string cheeses because of Listeria monocytogenes contamination.About 5 weeks afterwards, they had to do another recall for the same reason. Then in August Queseria Chiplo of New Jersey had to recall a huge variety of their fresh and string cheeses again because of Listeria. This was followed in early September with a cheese recall issued by Morningland Dairy of Missouri, which had a double contamination of its cheeses - Listeria and Staphylococcus aureus, distributed under both its own name brand and that of Ozark Hills Cheese. The "healthy" Whole Foods Market admitted that it had sold the recalled Morningland Dairy Cheese and the Ozark Hills Cheese, and conducted its owns recall.

Also in early September, Estrella Family Creamery of Monstesano, Wash. was found to be selling Listeria contaminated cheeses, but resisted recalling them (this is an interesting side issue for a future blog). Things were quiet for a month or so, but then in early November we got a new cheese contaminant - E.coli 0157:H7. And guess what - Costco found it was selling Gorganzola Cheese distributed by DPI Specialty Company which carried that deadly contaminant. Even worse, it had offered the cheese in store tastings. This was followed by a cheese recall by Del Bueno which included a range of cheese types (fresh, Ricotta cheese, dry cheese and more) again because of Listeria. In mid December, Sally Jackson Cheese was forced to recall all its soft cheeses made from raw cow, goat and sheep milk. To complicate matters, these cheeses apparently did not carry codes. Whole Foods was caught out again. It had repackaged the cheeses when cut up and placed its own store label on them.

If I have counted correctly - and haven't missed any - that makes some ten incidents associated with cheese in the last six months of this year. Well - not quite six months yet. A few days to go. Will there be more?

TSF

SALMONELLA IN NUTMEG

Well, I am glad I highlighted the risks of Salmonella bacteria in spices in The Safe Food Handbook. It has cropped up again. This time it is in ground nutmeg - including the Whole Foods non-organic one and the Frontier Brand ground nutmeg.

Yes, they came from the same source, and my guess is that this is not the end: other brands of nutmeg will also be found to be contaminated soon too. The recalled nutmeg was distributed by Frontier Natural Products Co-op, which got it from Mincing Overseas Spice Company of Dayton, New Jersey, which imported it from Indonesia, and supposedly sterilized it (sterilization is not always 100% successful, but some of us prefer it to fumigation, which is more commonly used).

You may want to go easy on using this very seasonal spice unless you cook it thoroughly (which will kill the bacteria). But, as one of my friends said, "We don't use much nutmeg, so is it enough to make us sick?" Yes, bacteria are tiny, and if it is contaminated badly enough, 100 or more Salmonella can be sitting on that one small pinch.

By the way - this same importer was involved in a recall of Salmonella-contaminated black pepper in March, 2010. Why does Whole Foods keep selling their products?

TSF

SALMONELLA CHOCOLATE

The description of Dogoba chocolate reads like poetry. Just take a look at their website (http://www.dagobachocolate.com/). Besides, it is organic, Fair Trade Certified, Kosher, and at least some of the cocoa ingredients are purchased from eco-friendly farmers in places such as the Dominican Republic. You would be tempted to buy it even if you didn't love chocolate, which I certainly do. A chocolate and coffee first thing in the morning, to get me moving.

But Artisan Confections, the U.S. makers of Dogoba chocolate, is currently recalling one of its products - Dagoba Organic Chocolate new moon organic Rich Dark Chocolate -74% cacao. The reason - yes, again - is that Salmonella bacteria have been found. This chocolate is sold at specialty stores and health and organic food retailers such as Whole Foods Market, and has been distributed throughout the U.S. So far only one lot is being recalled, but don't bet that this is the end.

Nor is this the first time that Dogoba chocolate has been involved in a recall. It was Salmonella problems again, back in March, 2006, resulting in the recall of a large number of Dogoba chocolate products. Then there was that lead contamination in May/June of 2006. The company upset a lot of people - especially Dogoba-Chocolate consuming pregnant women - by not being more forthcoming with information and coverage of testing. What is causing these problems at Artisan Confections? Is it contaminated imported ingredients (maybe the nutmeg used in some - see next blog), poorly cleaned equipment at the plant, ill workers, contaminated packaging? Whatever it is, Artisan Confections needs to take action to quickly identify and solve the problem or it will lose its healthy image -and its loyal customers. I think Whole Foods Market should be reconsidering selling their products.

TSF

CONTAMINATED CILANTRO

Cilantro is currently in the recall news. Companies are recalling their cilantro-containing ready-to-eat products such as chicken salads, fish salads, dips, and so on, because FDA testing has turned up Salmonella bacteria in the cilantro. So far, only two RTE food companies have issued recalls - Orval Kent and PPA Fine Foods, but quite likely, more will follow (as I warned in my first alert). Any time a commonly used food ingredient is involved, the number of recalls always grows, sometimes over a period of months.

Among retailers, Trader Joe's has been particularly hard hit, and is pulling many of its products - including one of my long-time favorites. (Even though I always argue that RTE foods are the most dangerous to eat, I have to confess that I do buy a few of my favorites such as Trader Joes Cilantro Walnut Dip.)
The cilantro behind this mess originated at Epic Veg Inc, a Lompoc, California company. You may note that in the right hand top corner of their produce box, there is a logo for Primus Labs, and a logo "When Safety Counts." I assume this is the laboratory that does the company's product testing for bacteria such as Salmonella - the one that turned up. I tried to find out where Epic Veg's products originate and who else was among its customers, but no luck. The company's website is remarkably uninformative. The source information is very carefully worded. It does not state where products are actually grown (California or across the border in Mexico?.

The only thing I did find out is that the two principals of the company apparently spend a lot of time on the golf course. Maybe they should spend more time supervising their operations, or they won't be able to afford the golf club fees anymore. Many small established and fledgling companies (I would guess this one is the latter) have gone belly up because of contaminated products. No company wants to continue buying their cilantro from a distributor sending them Salmonella as a bonus.

TSF

BOOK PUBLICATION UPDATE

Well, the book and cover are finally done, and I now have a welcome month or so of relative calm before starting the book events (mainly in January). This is a time to get back to the "other" book - take note dog lovers - on dog food safety. That is, if I decide to go ahead. It was started about three years ago, and sadly had to be put aside (current status: a very rough draft). The book focuses not just on hazards in dog food (and treats, snacks) for dogs, but also on the links between dog food and the health of their "owners" or whatever we want to call ourselves.

My dilemma - am I really willing to go to all this effort to finish it? I had no idea that writing a commercial non-fiction book would be so much work..I think of all those other things I want to spend time on, that I have had to miss out on for the last few years. A co-author would be a great solution, but no veterinarian who values their career would be willing to co-author a book which is so critical of their profession.

In the meantime -Here are some pre-order links for The Safe Food Handbook (for humans):

http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Food-Handbook-Smart-Choices/dp/1615190171/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1287705766&sr=1-1

http://www.pgwtoolkit.com/book.php?isbn=9781615190171

http://www.buy.com/prod/the-safe-food-handbook/q/loc/106/212704251.html

Also available as an E-Book.

TSF

MOST DANGEROUS PLACES TO EAT EGGS

No matter what improvements are made in egg production, the likelihood is that SE will never be completely wiped out of our eggs. There will always be the chance that SE-infected pullets will slip through the net, that contaminated feed will turn up again, that SE-infected rats will contaminate the laying environment, or, that something similar will happen. As a result, we can basically assume that a small fraction of all our shell eggs will always be infected with SE. Given past experience, we can also assume that there will be periods of time when that number will increase dramatically as there is an up-surge in SE infection among laying hens.

Whether we get sick from SE in our eggs will depend on four basic things: how vulnerable we are, how many eggs we eat, where we eat them and how we eat them. Let's turn to the "how" and "where." As we know by now, undercooked eggs and undercooked egg-containing dishes are the risky ones. Studies suggest that fried eggs (sunny-side up) are about the riskiest of all. The safest - well done eggs, pasteurized eggs (even if underdone), and egg dishes and egg-containing dishes made with pasteurized egg product.

As for high-risk places, the worst ones are institutional food-service (such as nursing homes, residential dining rooms, schools, hospitals) and restaurants or other places such as conventions, receptions, where eggs are pooled and large quantities of food are prepared, often in advance. Many institutional food-services have begun to use pasteurized egg products - which are easier to store and use, as well as safer. So have a large percentage of restaurants, but not all. After all, whole eggs taste better. Some restaurants do use pasteurized eggs, but their higher price is a negative.

Studies of egg use in restaurants have also shown that a large percentage continue to have practices that would help any bacteria in the eggs to multiply (such as leaving an omelet mix, or egg-containing dessert mix at room temperature for a while). It could well be that it is getting increasingly less safe to eat out at a good restaurant (more likely to use whole eggs than is a cheap one) than to eat in a nursing home.

Hyvää ruokahalua! (as they say in Finnland)
TSF

HALF A BILLION SUSPECT EGGS

One thing we should never assume is that new food safety legislation is going to have an instant effect. Take eggs. Yes, the FDA has this year issued a new egg safety rule, meant to seriously reduce the chance that shell eggs could contain Salmonella bacteria - the main contamination risk in eggs. In fact, the majority of big U.S. egg producers and transporters are already doing most of the things proposed, and have been for years. Can they do better? Sure, there is always room for improvement, and hopefully, the legislation will help.

But if egg producers and egg transporters are being careful, how come more than half a billion eggs all over the U.S. have just been recalled because they could be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria? Everyone seems to be blaming the huge Iowa egg producers - Wright County Egg farms, and Hillandale Farms. Certainly, there is a chance that they slipped up. Let's face it, the violation record of Wright farms is not exactly great. If they break employment laws, maybe they have also been breaking the safety ones. And, there have been reports of rats...

But it could simply be that they were very unlucky. Maybe the chicks they bought were already ill, or the hen feed they bought was contaminated, or something else. The last think a food producer of any kind wants is a recall of their food products. The trouble is that bacteria are probably smarter at surviving than we are at catching them. Salmonella bacteria are proving to be one of the best. They are cropping up in almost every kind of food we eat - even in dry spices.

So, don't hold your breath and wait for things to get better. No matter what government does, or food producers and distributors do, things will never be perfect. There will always be a bad egg somewhere.

This is one type of food in which we consumers can really control our risks.

RAW IS RISKY.

COOK YOUR EGGS WELL.

Bon appetit

TSF

Unhealthy Spinach, Healthy Spinach

Americans love spinach. And we believe it is good for us. According to some statistics, teenage girls eat the least spinach, and women over 40 eat the most. Does this mean that we women must be undergoing some type of spinach epiphany somewhere between the ages of 20 and 40?

Most of the spinach we eat is grown right here in the United States. The U.S. is in fact, the world's second largest producer of spinach (China is well in the lead, with about 85 percent of the world's output). Most of what we buy is in fresh form. Whether fresh or frozen, we eat the bulk of our spinach at home.

For some reason, which always escapes me, a lot of my friends like their spinach raw - in the form of spinach salads. Of course, that leaves them more vulnerable to risks, since the cooking "kill" step is missing. Any bacteria (or parasites) in it, is going to end in us.

Remember that huge outbreak of food borne illness in 2006, caused by E.coli 0157 in bagged spinach? There have been some other smaller ones linked to spinach since. Most recently (in May, 2010) Salmonella bacteria were found in organic bagged spinach (no confirmed illnesses yet). Both of these instances originated in Salinas, California. True, there may well be animal-feces irrigation water being used, or, bacteria-carrying wild pigs running around the spinach patch. But the odds are, any problems in spinach that originate at the farm level, will be traced back to Salinas. After all, Salinas, California produces around 75 percent of the U.S. spinach crop.

Of course, if you eat your spinach cooked, you will be far less likely to come down with a nasty illness that originates in cattle or wild pig feces. But I have found few American restaurants - even those serving Italian food - that serve delicious cooked spinach the way I always ate it when working in Rome: delightfully covered in slices of roasted garlic, fresh lemon juice and olive oil. You may never eat a risky spinach salad again.

bon appetit!
TSF

Who's Right About the Salmonella?

We have had another one of those incidents. FDA's laboratories have turned up dangerous bacteria in a food product, and the responsible food company says that its own testing didn't find any. It happens all the time - peanut butter, spices, lettuce, ground beef...Who is right? Of course, we tend to believe the government (sometimes, that is) and we tend to distrust the profit-focused public-health neglecting food industry. But they could both be right.

In the case in May, 2010, the suspect product was bagged spinach, distributed by Organicgirl, based in Salinas, California. Organicgirl (slogan - "good clean greens") is a USDA certified organic company with a devoted customer base (just read the facebook raves). It not only has "mother earth" in charge, but even uses 100% recycled plastic. "Most" of the greens it sells come from California and Arizona (where do the rest come from? Mexico?) and it tries to minimize food miles (all the way to Alabama). It also triple washes everything (maybe even quadruple washing, if you count that extra spraying).

But on May 27 Organicgirl had to admit that just possibly, one of its products was contaminated by Salmonella bacteria - lovely bagged baby spinach. The spinach had been distributed to California, Oregon, Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Alabama. The Best-if-used-by date was May 22 (a full week earlier). The company statement read: "organicgirl raw product testing records for the relevant time period did not show the presence of any pathogens." But the FDA's did, so it had to recall some 336 cases of expired (very likely to now be consumed) spinach.
So what happened? My guess is the following - and I am only guessing. Very small numbers of Salmonella bacteria were present when the company first did its testing, so the tests turned up negative. But, over the next few days - maybe even weeks, while on the road and in the store, the bacteria multiplied. Maybe just 3 or 4 Salmonella in a bag had become 3,000 or 4,000 or more. By the time the FDA sample was taken (apparently from a store), there were large enough numbers of Salmonella bacteria present to be show up in the tests. The chances are that my theory is right.

The lesson for us consumers - the fresher, the better. If the bacteria are below the numbers needed for an infective dose - maybe 1,000 to 10,000 of them, we may not get sick. Check the dates.

Bon appetit!
TSF

SCARY INGREDIENT RECALLS

These days, recalls of widely used food ingredients are becoming quite common. Remember the PCA peanut product one in 2008-9 that went on for months and months? I kept thinking it was over, and then suddenly, yet another potentially contaminated food product would pop up under recalls. It eventually affected over 2,000 food products in 17 different food categories and made at least 714 people ill in 46 states. There was also a powdered milk contamination that year, as well as a pistachio one (less frequently used as an ingredient than peanuts) which received less publicity, but also affected many different companies and foods that use these as ingredients.

There have been problems recently with other common food ingredients as well. They including the 2007 melamine-containing wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate which contaminated our pet food and resulted in thousands of cat and dog illnesses and deaths - maybe 17,000 illnesses and some 4,000-6,000 deaths. The final numbers will never be known. Some of it turned up in our foods as well - though relatively little.

These types of food hazards are particularly scary for two reasons. One is that they can spread very widely and continue for months, creating a lot of havoc and illness along the way. Another is that they are so difficult for consumers to avoid, in part because of the nature of our industrialized food system, in which one company distributes to another which then may use these ingredients itself to make foods under different brand names -including house brands, or, distribute to still other food companies - or, do both. This can go on to create layers and layers of complexity and mystery.

At the present time, we have two such common ingredient outbreaks ongoing. One is in pepper (probably black and red - investigation is still ongoing - see earlier post), and the other is in hydrolized vegetable protein (HVP).

At present, some 153 food products are being recalled because of potential HPV contamination, including some very reputable ones, and house brand products such as those of Trader Joe's, Safeway and Publix. Here are some of the types of food products being recalled, all of which use HPV ingredients:

Bouillon Products
Dressing and Dressing Mix Products
Flavoring Base and Seasoning Products
Frozen Food Products
Gravy Mix Products
Prepared Salad Products
Ready-to-Eat Meal Products
Sauce and Marinade Mix Products
Snack and Snack Mix Products
Soup/Soup Mix and Dip/Dip Mix Products
Stuffing Products


And, by the way, except for that melamine case, the culprit in all these ingredient recalls has been one or other member of the Salmonella bacteria family. They seem to have an incredible capacity for survival.

This is getting scary.

Bon appetit!
TSF

Ready and Risky Food

We Americans are eating more and more 'ready' foods - those nice-and-easy, no cooking items we can just eat straight out of the package, or slab onto a piece of bread or bagel in 30 seconds flat. These foods are also among the most risky to eat. Why?

One reason is that they have been touched by so many hands or pieces of equipment, any one of which could be contaminated. Another is that usually several different ingredients have been mixed in together, any which could spread microorganisms from one to another, where it might grow even better.

One presently ongoing outbreak (recall date, January 9, 2010) involves several different products from the same company - peanut butter, processed cheeses, several types and flavors of bagel spreads, several types of salsa......All of them in plastic tubs with snap-on lids. The company involved, Parkers Farm, Inc. of Coon Rapids, Minnesota, supplies such major retailers as Costco, Safeway, Whole Foods, Target and many more.

The bacterium Listeria monocytogenes is the culprit again, as it often is in these kinds of foods. This bug is the one that is so risky for pregnant women (very frequently causing miscarriages and stillbirths). It can also cause serious and sometimes fatal infection in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. If you don't fall into any of these categories and you get it, you are just likely to have a few days of high fever, severe headache, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Consider yourself lucky.

So how did the bacteria get into the food products? We don't know yet. The investigation is ongoing. But the chances are that it got in the usual way - through some contaminated piece of equipment, or a food plant worker that carried the bacteria (some estimate that 10% of workers may do so).

Yes, the products are all being recalled, but don't rely on the recall. For a list (which is likely to grow) link to the FDA recall site (see sidebar).

bon appetit!
TSF

HOW SAFE WAS MEAT IN 2009?

Meat is not the most risky food we eat. More illnesses are caused by contaminated produce. On the other hand, our meat isn't all that safe either.

Let's take a quick look at how safe American meat was in 2009. We can get some idea from looking at how many recalls were announced for bacteria-contaminated meat or meat products by food companies - often under strong pressure from the USDA, which is in charge of keeping our meat safe. Mind you, this kind of data badly underestimates the real situation. Much of the time - who knows how much - contamination is either not caught, or else, is hidden, so that a costly recall will not have to take place. Also, bacteria are only one possible food contaminant, including in meat. Finally, much of meat and other food contamination occurs at later stages, for instance, at the meat market, in a restaurant, or in our homes. This would not result in a recall of products that have been distributed to wholesalers or retailers. Keeping all this in mind, here's an overview of meat recalls in 2009 that were not caused by bits of plastic, allergens, mislabeling or such other problems, but were due to 'bad bugs' that entered at early stages in the farm-to-fork process.

• Bacteria caused at least 22 recalls of meat or meat products (such as sausages, cold cuts, meat pastes) in 2009, some small, others large-scale and multi-state recalls. In all, probably about 2 million pounds of meat were 'recovered' (read that as 'arrived back at the recalling company' ). We can assume that an even larger amount was eaten (recalls come too late, retailers and consumers don't hear about them).
• The USDA announced one or more recalls of bacteria-contaminated meat or of a meat product every month of 2009, except for March (when there was just some allergens and mislabeling of products).
• The most common bacteria involved in a recall in 2009 were the deadly E.coli 0157:H7 which was identified as the cause of fully 50%, or eleven meat recalls, in 2009.
• Listeria bacteria (very dangerous to pregnanat women, people who have serious illnesses) were tied to seven outbreaks in 2009, usually in connection with processed products (such as smoked beef brisket, sausages, duck confit, bacon bit products and the like).
• Salmonella bacteria caused four outbreaks.

Which is the most dangerous meat to eat? It's still the same as it has always been - ground beef, and especially ground beef made into hamburgers that you can just throw on the grill or into the microwave.

Bon appétit!

BEEF'S TURN

Well, now it's beef's turn to come up contaminated with Salmonella bacteria. On August 6 the USDA announced that Beef Packers, Inc., based in Fresno, California, is recalling approximately 825,769 pounds of ground beef products that may be linked to an outbreak of salmonellosis. That is a whole lot of beef. The ground beef products were sent to retail distribution centers in Arizona, California, Colorado and Utah.

So, we just avoid eating it, right? No, unfortunately not, because we don't know what brand name they were sold under. The product was shipped in bulk, and then repackaged by other different companies into smaller packages with different names. Who knows what they all are. Besides, the 'use or freeze by' date has long expired. The meat was sent out on various dates in June, and the latest use-date was before mid-July. In other words, the chances are that it has already been eaten. That nasty bout of diarrhea, vomiting, fever etc. that you had a few weeks ago, that you thought was the 'flu - well, it could have been that medium-rare hamburger you ate (or, well-cooked one you made without using careful kitchen hygiene). To make matters worse, this is a particularly nasty member of the Salmonella family - Salmonella Newport because it is resistant to many commonly prescribed antibiotics. And that is not mentioning the risk of longer-term effects on our health, like arthritis and worse.

So, what do we do? Well, if you are presently eating in California, Arizona, Colorado or Utah, the safest approach is to only buy ground beef from a store that grinds up their own. Or, maybe skip eating any ground beef meals for a while altogether. Try a turkey-burger instead. It is better for you, and actually quite good, particularly if you throw some garlic and herbs on it, and maybe a pile of cream sherry-soaked sauteed red onions on top, served on an onion bagel...

Bon appetit,
TSF

NUTS TO YOU

Keeping up with frightening food events in our food supply is getting quite exhausting. One of the most annoying aspects is that just as you think you can forget about one of the outbreaks, you realize it is still out there. And contaminated products might still be out there too, waiting for us, innocent consumers, to pounce on them.

Take peanuts. The PCA incident that blanketed our country (and a few others) with salmonella-contaminated peanuts and peanut products should be well over by now. The plants have been shut down. More than 2,100 products in 17 categories have been voluntarily recalled by more than 200 companies, since January, 2009 (probably more, as the FDA information is at least a week or two out of date). Hundreds of people have become ill and some have died. But guess what, it's not over.

There have been more peanut product recalls in the last few days, including one yesterday. More or less ditto for pistachios. The most recent pistachio one - just four days ago. No wonder I could not get any at Trader Joe's on Wednesday when I wanted to make my usual favorite of herb cornish hen, stuffed with raisins and pistachios (I settled for pine nuts instead).

But back to peanuts. Yesterday's recall really illustrates the oddity of our so-called food safety system. Nuts for You of Preston ID is recalling Roasted and Salted Peanuts manufactured with peanuts bought from PCA. The product was distributed between March 15, 2008 and Jan 15, 2009.The sell-by date on the plastic bag of 'Nuts for You' was Feb 18, 2009 (more than four months ago) . Presumably the nuts were purchased sometime in 2007 from PCA's Texas plant to make these cute bags of salted peanuts sold at gift stores.

So here we are on June 25, asking consumers to send back products made of antique nuts (maybe two years old) that are well and truly expired and, are very likely to have also been well and truly eaten. The really bad news is that this type of pattern is not unusual.

Nuts to you, FDA. How are we supposed to escape bad food in America?

bon appetit!

TSF