Gourmet Boutique has issued a recall of 286,000 lbs of deli luncheon meat for possible contamination by listeria. The meats were used in sandwich wraps and other ready-to-eat products. The USDA has classified this recall as Class I, "reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death," or what I would call "pretty damn serious."
The list of potentially affected wraps and other ready-to-eat products from the company are listed here.
Hmm, "risky eating behaviors", that sounds pretty dangerous. That is what I thought when I happened on this article. Some researchers have studied the link between food safety awareness and actual eating habits. The study was aimed at college age adults, but perhaps it can be applied to everyone. It turns out that I, and quite possibly many other people, have eating habits that are "risky".
Apparently, eating things like raw cookie dough, cooked eggs with runny yolks, and sushi (with raw fish), not to mention steak tartare, are all risky foods. Any food that has not been thoroughly cooked or leaves any room for bacteria to hide is risky. In the study there was a "weak" link between higher food safety knowledge and safer eating habits.
The only problem I see is that some foods are supposed to be under or un-cooked. I can see where the food safety advocates are coming from, but, really, a well done steak is ruined (in my opinion), and I was practically raised on chocolate chip cookie dough. Perhaps we all should try to be aware of the risks and take all the precautions, but go ahead and eat our sushi raw. Does anyone have another take on this? Is there some additional information that you'd like to share?
This Week's Food Safety Terror Alert has gone a depressing shade of blue (which isn't even on the meter) for a voluntary recall by Stonyfield Farm of their 6-ounce cups of Stonyfield Organic Fat Free Blueberry Yogurt based on reports that customers have found plastic or glass fragments in the products.
The affected yogurts have codes printed along the cup bottom that start with the following dates:
Apr 13 08
Apr 14 08
Apr 15 08
April 25 08
Apr 26 08
If you have questions, you are advised to contact Stonyfield Farm Consumer Relations at 1-800-PRO-COWS or email crelations@Stonyfield.com.
Between beef recalls and threats of mad cow disease, the simple action of eating is quickly becoming less of a pleasurable activity and more of a chore, or, in some cases, a big wager.
Think you know your salmonella from your E.Coli? Feeling bored? Test your smarts with National Geographic's food safety quiz. Yes, I know, online quizzes are pretty nerdy, but this one actually provides you with decent information. After you answer each question, the site gives you a brief synopsis of the topic, so you can bulk up on your food safety knowledge for your next dinner party.
Or, even better: when the weather gets warmer and you attend a picnic, turn to your friend as she takes her first bite of chicken salad and bust out with, "Did you know that food borne illnesses are more common in warmer weather?" and watch her spit out her food and glare at you. If nothing else, your new found knowledge will provide you with hours of entertainment.
I'm usually glad to peruse tomorrow's New York Times headlines when it comes to food as I did last night. I say usually because last night the news I learned was rather disturbing. The FDA has issued an alert about the safety of five types of farm-raised seafood imported from China. It seems that multiple tests showed contamination from carcinogens and antibiotics.
The five types of seafood in question are shrimp, catfish, eel, basa (a type of catfish) and dace (Chinese mud carp). These fish will have to be tested before they can be sold in the U.S. The FDA noted that there's no immediate health threat, but that prolonged exposure could cause health problems. Somehow that doesn't make me feel very safe, probably because I've consumed more than a few cans of canned dace with black bean sauce in my day. And the ban may not be such good news for fish eaters in general, either. Chinese seafood accounts for 21 percent of all seafood imports. Shrimp lovers may be hit especially hard since it's the number one seafood imported from China.
Think your imported fish from China or those fancy baked goods from Canada are oh la la luxe? Think again.
ABC news reports that while 13% of the US annual diet is made up of imported foods that include things like frozen catfish from China, beans from Belgium, jalapenos from Peru, blackberries from Guatemala, and packaged foods from Canada, India and the Philippines, a mere 1.3% of all imported foods are actually inspected. That means the other 98.7% of imported foods are released into the American market without a check for filth to unsafe food coloring to contamination with pesticides to salmonella.
With the recent rash of e. coli that's broken out and gotten all of us itchy about spinach, it's time for a little brush-up on food safety. Of course we all know about safe handling of eggs and poultry - wash everything, and cook it until it's dry as a bone (or something like that).
But fruits and vegetables require safe handling as well. Take, for instance, a cantaloupe. Bacteria can "hang out" in the nook and crannies that are characteristic of the camataloupe's webbed skin. We certainly don't eat the skin of a melon, but if there are harmful things on the outside, they can get onto the surfaces of the inside flesh that you eat when you cut through the peel.
There are several online sources that provide helpful hints for safe-handling of food. The government site, FoodSafety.gov has alerts and warning on its front page. We have mentioned the site before here at Slashfood, but FightBac is also a great resource for information about how to keep your food free of bacteria. Another good resource to which a reader tipped us off (thanks, Jen!) is the Consumer Reports Safety Blog, which has a section dedicated to food safety.
The issue of food-borne illnesses and safe-food handling comes up a lot during the Holidays when we're
playing with turkeys and setting out food on the buffet that could be out there at room temperature for hours on end,
even overnight.
The site has information about food-borne illnesses, their causes, symptoms, tips on how to safely handle food, and
resources for more information and education.
The
public worries too much about mad cow disease and the dangers of GMOs and not enough about bacteria-related hazards (E.
coli, right), according to a study published in the Journal of Food Safety. The study surveyed 143 food safety experts
in Ireland to gauge their opinions about the public's understanding of food safety issues. According to an abstract of the study, experts had
little confidence in the general population's ability to understand and assess food risks and process scientific
information. Many of the experts surveyed also felt hesitant about speaking in uncertain terms, even when necessary,
for fear that the public isn't able to cope with uncertainties. Others wished they had better guidelines on how to
communicate with the media.
[Via FoodConsumer.org
(note: there seems to be a discrepancy between FoodConsumer's number of experts involved and that of the abstract.)]
Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?
Hmm, "risky eating behaviors", that sounds pretty dangerous. That is what I thought when I happened on this article. 
This Week's Food Safety Terror Alert has gone a depressing shade of blue (which isn't even on the meter) for a voluntary recall by Stonyfield Farm of their 6-ounce cups of Stonyfield Organic Fat Free Blueberry Yogurt based on reports that customers have found plastic or glass fragments in the products.
I'm usually glad to peruse tomorrow's New York Times headlines when it comes to food as I did last night. I say usually because last night the news I learned was rather disturbing. The FDA has issued an alert about the safety of five types of farm-raised seafood imported from China. It seems that multiple tests showed contamination from carcinogens and antibiotics. 
Think your imported fish from China or those fancy baked goods from Canada are oh la la luxe? Think again. 
With the recent rash of 
The issue of food-borne illnesses and safe-food handling comes up a lot during the Holidays when we're
playing with turkeys and setting out food on the buffet that could be out there at room temperature for hours on end,
even overnight.
The
public worries too much about mad cow disease and the dangers of GMOs and not enough about bacteria-related hazards (E.
coli, right), according to a study published in the Journal of Food Safety. The study surveyed 143 food safety experts
in Ireland to gauge their opinions about the public's understanding of food safety issues. According to an 
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
