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?
Costco has issued a voluntary recall on 10,368 pounds of frozen Red Curry Chicken & Jasmine Rice from Discover Cuisine. The frozen food packages are suspected to be contaminated with Listeria. According to Costco, "Each package bears the Canadian establishment number 'Est. 302' inside the Canadian Food Inspection Agency mark of inspection as well as a 'Best By' date of '12 18 08.' The item number '2880' also appears by the UPC code on the package."
No illnesses have been reported yet, but Listeria can cause headaches, neck stiffness, and spontaneous abortions. Those people with weakened immune systems are most susceptible to infection.
So check your freezers, and if you'd like more information, call this number, provided by Costco: (800) 774-2678.
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.
Let's hope that at whatever Super Bowl party you were yesterday, you didn't go anywhere near the salsa, guacamole, hummus, or anything that has a last name of "Dip." If you did, let's hope that the only other guests with you were your immediate family, or people with who you don't mind sharing...10,000 bacteria.
In a study done at Clemson University, research students found that "three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from the eater's mouth to the remaining dip."
Let's hope they get it together, since much of the world has to turn to China's land-based fish farms as ocean waters become increasingly depleted by overfishing.
One of my favorite books when I was a kid was "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." In the beginning of the book, the main character Francie is sent to the butcher shop to buy $.10 worth of ground beef for her family's Saturday night dinner. Her mother insists that she have the butcher grind it in front of her instead of buying it off the plate, because you never know what might be in your meat if you buy it pre-ground.
I remember reading that section back in the day and thinking how nice it was that ground meat is so safe and available so that people didn't have to worry about it anymore. I went on thinking that way until Tuesday, when I read this post by the Grocery Guy. Apparently mass market ground beef isn't nearly as safe and clean as we think it is. The Grocery Guy stresses that it is important that you know and trust the people who make your ground beef, which is not always an easy thing in this day and age (especially if you tend to shop at large, chain supermarkets). He says that if you don't know your butcher that you should grind your own (and gives tips on how to go about doing just that). It's an interesting read and will definitely make you think about ground beef more critically (if you are still among the number who eat the stuff. Personally, I have a very hard time resisting a good hamburger).
Some thieves got away with a bounty of beef -- 14,800 pounds of it, to be exact. But who gets the last laugh? The beef may have been contaminated with E.Coli, so the thieves didn't get much right?
Wrong.
Timothy Biela, Chief Food Safety and Quality Assurance Officer for the company that produced the beef, says they are concerned, not for consumers who purchase beef through normal channels, but "for the safety of those people who may be persuaded to buy beef products under questionable circumstances. We do not know how this product has been handled since it left our control. The stolen truck had only a limited supply of refrigeration fuel."
The beef was produced by Fort Worth-based American Fresh Foods. The company had set the trailer of beef away to eventually be removed from commercial sale. After the trailer was stolen, the USDA issued a public health alert and is now working with local and state law enforcement authorities to recover the stolen product and vehicle.
Last week CNN reported (and we posted about it) that food vendors in Bejing, China were selling steamed buns filled with a combination of "chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning."
On the heels of reports of contaminated toothpaste, dog food and frozen fish from China, news agencies from around the world were willing to believe these reports of tainted street food. However, it seems now that the story was fabricated by an employee at Bejing TV in order to get a ratings boost. I've heard of folks in the TV world taking extreme measures for ratings, but this seems to be a bit much.
Hey, we're not just talking about that take-out chow mein from the hole-in-the-wall on the corner that just tastes like cardboard.
Apparently, small, usually illegally-run operations across China have been cutting costs by using cheap ingredients, and in State TV's undercover investigation, sometimes substituting with things that aren't even food. In the Chaoyang district of Beijing, steamed buns called bao were filled with cardboard that had been softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning. The article over at CNN has more graphic details of how the cardboard is collected from the ground and "made" into the bao's filling.
Kind of makes you thankful for the regulations we have here in the US, huh?
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.
Two of the largest US food manufacturers have declared that they will not use ingredients from China. This order comes from Mission Foods Corp and Tyson Foods after pet foods made from contaminated wheat products from China killed and sickened cats and dogs in the US.
However, the Los Angeles Times asks if this actually a realistic directive, given that China is the world's leading supplier of many food flavorings like vanilla and citric acid, vitamins and preservatives. Last year, China exported $2.5 billion of food ingredients. That's a lot of ingredients that Tyson and Mission will have to find elsewhere.
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.
In light of the E. coli and botulismproblems over the past few months that have been linked to California growers, there has been a proposal that new standards should be implemented to ensure that consumers will feel safe and comfortable buying California produce. Most growers have already increased the amount of oversight that their produce recieives, but the new plan involves the creaton of a "seal of approval" for all leafy vegetables. The standards for the seal have not yet been determined, but growers and lawmakers plan to iron out the details later this spring. Issues being considered are how to more effectively test irrigation water and how to keep livestock, primarily cattle, away from cropland.
In spite of the fact that there is no actual plan in place yet, the idea of a "seal of approval" is already being met with opposition, with critics saying that "the industry's proposal relies too heavily on policing itself." This could be a strong argument in other industries, but when it comes to food safety, no one wants to make sure consumers are protected more than the growers whose livelihoods depend on consumer satisfaction with, and confidence in, their products.
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 is a recall of bulk proportions. 
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.
Let's hope that at whatever Super Bowl party you were yesterday, you didn't go anywhere near the salsa, guacamole, hummus, or anything that has a last name of "Dip." If you did, let's hope that the only other guests with you were your immediate family, or people with who you don't mind sharing...10,000 bacteria.
"
Some thieves got away with a bounty of beef -- 14,800 pounds of it, to be exact. But who gets the last laugh? The 
Last week
Hey, we're not just talking about that take-out chow mein from the hole-in-the-wall on the corner that just tastes like cardboard.
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. 
In light of the 
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
