recalls
Oh no! There are holes in the freezer section of our nation's grocery stores! Where did all the Totino's and Jeno's pizzas go?
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Blue Ribbons Meats in Florida is recalling over 8,000 pounds of "seasoned beef and meatloaf" frozen patties due to suspected E.coli contamination, although no illnesses have been reported yet. The patties were shipped to a Florida correctional institution and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This is the fifth E.coli-related recall this month. [
Reuters]
food safety
From the "boring but important" category of meat-related news, the Consumer Federation of America has joined with other advocacy groups as well as union and labor groups, under the assistance of men and women in Congress, to work out a compromise in response to July's ill-conceived attempt by Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson to do away with the federal inspections requirement for interstate meat sales. The new plan augments Peterson's measure in a way that
ensures state-inspection procedures meet or exceed federal ones.
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food safety
An article in the Chicago Tribune takes yet another look at our broken
food safety system, declaring that a USDA Food Inspector's job is now less about inspecting meat and more about inspecting paperwork.
After the Jack in the Box case, the USDA required each meat plant to adopt a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point plan. The plans let companies design their own food safety measures, usually around the need to process beef quickly.
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nutrition
Americans should
have more poop in their diets, writes a doctor at Slate. Like superbugs and anti-bacterial products, we've become
too successful at cleansing our food supply of all manner of contaminants—so that kids, for example, "have zero experience with routine gut infections, and when they encounter one that has slipped past our pipes and filters, the result can be catastrophic."
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recalls
Seventeen days after Topps launched the second largest meat recall in U.S. history, the 67-year-old company announced that
it's going out of business. Topp's COO told American Agriculturist:
"In one week we have gone from the largest U.S. manufacturer of frozen hamburgers to a company that cannot overcome the economic reality of a recall this large... We want to thank our loyal employees and customers who have supported us throughout the 67 years in which Topps Meat has been in business," D'Urso said. "Topps has always prided itself on providing the utmost quality and safety and never had a recall in our history until now. This has been a shocking and sobering experience for everyone."
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recalls
Kroger has announced the recall of their store brand "mustard" and "southern-style" potato salad because it may contain dangerous e. coli bacteria. Oh no!
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recalls
Yes, even freezing meat for 1 year will not dampen the power of e. coli. From the LA Times:
The meat was produced by Richwood Meat Co. on April 28, 2006, dated either "4-28-06" or "118-6," for the 118th day of the year, said Mike Wood, the company's president. Although the product was manufactured a year ago, the patties still may be present in freezers at home or in stores, officials said.
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fire sauce
According to the AP, "McLane Foodservice Inc., the distributor to the
Taco Bell restaurants linked with an outbreak of E. coli, said Monday a site investigation by a
New Jersey health agency found no evidence of improper storage or handling practices."
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Consumerist
recalls
