CALIFORNIA GROUND BEEF RECALLED

Let's hope you haven't been eating undercooked hamburgers or chili or meat tacos at a California or Nevada restaurant lately. The restaurant just may have received some E. coli O157:H7-contaminated ground beef products from Commercial Meat Company of Los Angeles, California.

The USDA/FSIS announced today that their testing had turned up this dangerous bacteria in the eat. Nearly 400,000 of ground beef products are being recalled by the company. They were supposed to hold the beef until the test results came in, and now they are paying the price for rushing. Just about all of it went in bulk cases to California and Nevada restaurants - as far as we know, that is.

By the way, the recalled burger meat, taco filling and chili products subject were produced between Sept. 7, 2011 and Oct. 6, 2011, which means..yes, that probably most of it has already been eaten. Notifications are being sent out anyway.

If the meat was cooked to 160° F that should have killed any of the harmful bacteria. But I really wonder how many restaurants use food thermometers to measure the internal temperature of your burger or taco filling.

Eating home is safer.

To your good health,
TSF

IS ORGANIC FOOD MORE DANGEROUS?

I am always surprised by the number of people who believe that if a food item is "organic" it will not carry any bad bacteria. Yes, organic fruits or vegetables are likely to have lower levels of pesticides. But that does not protect them from those dangerous bacteria that we hear so much about these days - ones such as E.coli 0157, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and others. In fact, much of the research done suggests that they are even more likely to be contaminated than are conventionally grown foods.

The Rocky Ford cantaloupes that are causing the current outbreak of Listeriosis (from Listeria monocytogenes bacteria) were "pesticide free." (They have now caused at least 22 deaths and over 100 illnesses). The recently recalled grape tomatoes were organic.

Over the past few years we have had recalls of a huge range of organic foods because they were contaminated - including organic alfalfa sprouts, many organic fruits and vegetables, organic beef, organic turkey, organic peanut butter, organic eggs, organic cheese and even of organic chocolate and tea. (What have I missed?)

In fact, sad though it be, several recent studies, including one published this past May in the Journal of Food Protection, have concluded that organic food is more likely to have fecal contamination which is where these bacteria usually come from. The higher incidences of fecal contamination in organic foods is linked to the heavy reliance of composted animal manure for fertilizer. The book discusses this issue in more detail.

To your good health,
TSF

A SOY FLOUR RECALL STARTS: RISKS FOR HUMANS AND PETS

Just announced by the FDA - a Salmonella contamination of soy flour in the U.S. Thumb Oilseed Producer’s Cooperative in Mich., is recalling 2623, 40-lb. bags and 360, 1,500-lb. totes of soybean flour; in addition to 924 .08-ton loads of bulk soy meal. That is an awful lot of flour. It was sent to wholesalers, who would have sent it on to food producer and possibly retail clients in smaller quantities.

I bet this recall is really going to expand with many of these food companies that used this flour having to recall whatever they made with it. That's another downside risk resulting from the interconnectedness of our industrialized food supply. And it is going to affect both human and animal food, since both commonly use soy flour as an ingredient.

An expansion always happens when a commonly used food ingredient is found to be contaminated. It happened with peanut products and again with dry milk in mid 2009 - both with Salmonella bacteria the cause (which survives very well in dry conditions). It will happen with soy flour this time. And it will not only have health costs, but also financial ones, with some small food producers going under because of lost production and costs of the recall. Of course, if the food production process cooks the food to a high enough temperature it should kill the bacteria.

Phew..This has been a really bad month in the U.S. in many ways, including in terms of food risks. I have enough trouble keeping up with all the ups and downs in the stock market, let alone the ones in our food. I am wondering whether the attempts at cost-cutting by some producers and food companies has resulted in dangerous shortcuts and slipups. And I am not even mentioning all those "foreign matter" recalls (like tiny bits of metal in Kraft Velveeta shells) and numerous allergens.

To your good health,
TSF

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CANTALOUPE SAFER

This ongoing outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria in whole cantaloupes has Americans scared. Food poisoning is one thing, but once people start dying it's another. There have now been at least 100 confirmed illnesses and 18 deaths. Nor is this the end, because of the long lead time before symptoms develop. The detailed personal stories on line in some of the lawyers' blogs are enough to make one give up eating cantaloupes for life.

But many of us really like cantaloupes. We don't want to stop eating them. So how can we eat them more safely? Cooking cantaloupes is out, so we have to think of other ways to avoid - not kill - most of any existing bacteria. Here are some ideas.

• Eat whole cantaloupe rather than cut-up ready-to-eat packaged ones. Yes, I know this outbreak started in whole cantaloupes, but usually bacteria, and especially Listeria monocytogenes, are more likely to turn up in the sliced-up "convenience" type, coming from workers who are carriers or contaminated equipment or even packaging that is used.
• Always wash thoroughly your whole cantaloupe before cutting it, using cold running water. True, some have already been washed and look perfectly clean, but may not be, and others are clearly soiled. Use a soft brush if the cantaloupe has a rough skin, to get into all the crevices. Never use hot and then cold water, because this can draw any bacteria on the skin inside the cantaloupe.
• Wash your hands first and then peel the whole cantaloupe with a clean knife and then rinse it again under running cold water. This is a little tricky to do as it's pretty slippery. In that case, you may want to cut the cantaloupe in half, running it briefly under cold water where cut and then peel it. Rinse the now peeled item, the knife and your hads quickly again, before slicing up the cantaloupe.
• If a cantaloupe has a soft bruised area, cut off this part, with at least an inch margin (depending how bad the bruising is). Use an even wider margin if part of it is moldy.
• For the time being, avoid the Jensen Farm pesticide-free Rocky Ford ones if you happen to come across any, although not every cantaloupe will be heavily contaminated. As far as we know right now, the problem is limited to this farm's produce, and to any processors that used them for salads or convenience products. The cause of the contamination has not yet been identified, and if it is the irrigation water, contaminated soil or processing water, it will take a while to resolve. If that cantaloupe in your frig has no label, discard it anyway, just to be safe.

To your good health,
TSF

ANOTHER BEEF RECALL BECAUSE OF E.COLI BACTERIA

And here's yet another beef product recall in the U.S. You may remember that we had one a week ago, that originated in Texas (see earlier post). This one started in beautiful California. They both involve E.coli 0157:H7 -the most common of the dangerous E.coli bacteria.

Since it is late, this is the third recall post of today, and my dog is waiting for a walk, let me get to the facts. Manning Beef, LLC, a Pico Rivera, Calif. establishment, has had to recall about 80,000 pounds of beef products because testing turned up too many E. coli O157:H7.

The recalled products include a variety of beef primal and subprimal cuts (such as top round and tri tip) and manufacturing trimmings. These products do not go directly to our store shelves. They are are used for further processing by retailers and food service establishents, for example, for hamburger meat. Apparently they were shipped to Arizona, California and Nebraska.

When they have it, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA/FSIS) is going to post the list of retailers selling the potentially-contaminated final beef products on their website at www.fsis.usda.gov/FSIS_Recalls/Open_Federal_Cases/index.asp. If you are worried - check it out.

In the meantime, cook your beef well!

To your good health,
TSF

SPINOFF FROM THE GRAPE TOMATO RECALL

It was bound to happen. Greencore USA, Inc., of Cincinnati, Ohio, is recalling approximately 57 pounds of salad products containing meat and poultry. And it's not because this meat or poultry was contaminated. It's because the salads also contain those beautiful grape tomatoes that have recently been recalled because of Salmonella (see earlier post - 9/29).

This is like the presently ongoing whole cantaloupe recall, like the May grape tomato recall, and so many others. First the whole fresh produce is recalled, and then there are recalls of ready-to-eat products that have included them.

Let's see what more comes up. In the meantime, you would be wise to pick those grape tomatoes out of your salad just in case they're next on the list.

To your good health,
TSF

AN EXPANDING BAGGED LETTUCE RECALL IN U.S. AND TO CANADA

I feel as though I am repeating myself. Last night I blogged the expanding cantaloupe recall. Now I am blogging the expanding bagged, chopped, ready-to-eat Romaine lettuce one. Both involve the potentially-deadly Listeria monocytogenes bacteria.

But I will say that at least the recall expansion in the lettuce case didn't come weeks after the first alert and recall - only a day. Much better. Also, it came at the FDA's urging - not because of bad record keeping.

Down to the facts. Here is what is happening. On September 29, True Leaf Farms issued a recall for 90 cartons of chopped romaine because Listeria monocytogenes turned up during testing of it. The recalled product was shipped between September 12 and 13, with a use-by date of September 29 - the date of the recall. Notice again how FDA testing results come far too late, especially for fresh produce, which tends to be eaten quickly. But I will add, that the company acted as soon as it got the results of the FDA testing.

The lettuce went to an institutional food service distributor (Church Brothers) in Oregon who further distributed it to at least two additional states, Washington and Idaho.

The next day's update expanded the recall to cover 2498 cartons of lettuce, to include additional product shipped to wholesale food service distributors in 19 more states - and to Alberta, Canada. The U.S. states include Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Vermont.

Three notes:
- Listeria monocytogenes turns up quite often in lettuce and leafy greens, especially ready-to-eat kind, and the FDA is trying to find out why. So this is a fairly typical recall.
- This recall has nothing to do with the ongoing cantaloupe one.
- The recall notice says that no illnesses have been connected to it - yet. (See my earlier post on this issue).

To your good health,
TSF