WHICH FOOD COULD BECOME UNSAFE BECAUSE OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN?

A lot of U.S. government workers are being furloughed because of the Government shutdown. That includes thousands of food inspectors.

So what? Do we really need food inspectors? Or, should we consider them "non-essential" government personnel? In other words, can we simply dispense with them with no harmful effects on our health?

The answer to this question is largely a matter of opinion. Here is mine: Yes, the safety of our food will suffer if less inspections take place. And, so will our health.

So which of our food items are likely to become more unsafe? A bit of background: there are two main federal agencies responsible for food safety in the U.S.- the FDA (which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services) through its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FDA/CFSAN) and the USDA, through the Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA/FSIS). Responsibilities for food safety are divided up between the two, with the FDA in charge of some 80% of our food.

Unfortunately, it is the FDA which is having to let more food safety personnel go on furlough. Therefore, the foods that are likely to become more unsafe in the United States (and, in countries which import U.S. food) are the ones that are FDA/CFSAN responsibility: fruits and vegetables, seafood, whole (fresh) eggs and processed foods. There are less likely to be more problems with meat and poultry and egg products (liquid, frozen or dried eggs) - which are USDA responsibility and, are likely to continue being inspected as usual.

But ultimately all our food supply is likely to become more unsafe, because the CDC, which is in charge of investigating any outbreaks, including those that seem to be caused by food, has also had to furlough its epidemiological staff. Therefore, if we do have a large multi-state outbreak linked to a widely eaten food product (and there have been many in the past) we are likely to have serious problems.

All in all, this is not a good situation. The sooner the U.S. government gets back to operating again, the better.

To your good health,
TSF

BOILED EGG AND SPINOFF RECALLS

I have to admit that I used to be one of those people who believed that a boiled egg would spoil less quickly than a raw egg. Not true. It will actually spoil faster. The reason: once an egg is boiled, the protective coating on the egg is removed and bacteria can enter more quickly.

Then, if the boiled egg is also peeled, it can become contaminated even faster, including during the peeling process itself. In that case, the most likely bacteria to get in is not the usual egg-contaminant Salmonella, but Listeria monocytogenes, the one that is most common in ready-to-eat foods. And, the one that is so dangerous for pregnant women and anyone with a weak immune system.

So the ongoing boiled egg recall in the U.S. in the state of Michigan provides some useful lessons. Michael Foods Egg Products Co. - a large distributor of hard-boiled eggs has found Listeria monocytogenes in some of its products. This recall has a number of spinoffs, because the suspect eggs distributed by this company have been used in making a variety of deli products by its clients.

For instance, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Spartan Stores has had to recall eight deli products containing these hard-cooked eggs including egg spread, sandwich with egg spread, small and large chef container salads, seven layer and seven layer no-meat container chef salads, and small and large no-meat container chef salads. Sell-by dates are Jan. 20 through Feb. 1. In West Michigan, the recalled products were sold at D&W and Family Fare.

Another Michigan deli - 18th Street Deli Inc., is recalling some 118 pounds of julienne salad products with turkey, ham and hard-boiled eggs. According to local news reports, some salads containing the eggs were also sent to Michigan schools. And I bet there are more recalls to come.

By the way, notice that these "ready-to-eat" egg products have also been used to make pre-packaged sandwiches, which I have been writing about for the last two days...

And of course, this gets back to my mantra about how dangerous ready-to-eat "convenience" foods are...And that doesn't just apply to Michigan, or just to the U.S., but everywhere in the world. This Listeria monocytogenes bacterium is running amok.

Watch out!

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.