A woman in Brooklyn has accused a local grocery store of slapping a new “sell by” sticker over an expired one in order to unload some old poultry that was past its prime. [More]
food safety
USDA Tightens Chicken Rules
By 5.11.10
Yesterday the USDA announced new poultry safety rules intended to slightly reduce the number of poisonings annually from salmonella and campylobacter. An agency official says that the new rules should prevent about 65,000 cases of food sickness a year, which is only a fraction of the over a million cases annually. However, most of the other food products that contribute to that number fall under FDA regulation, so the USDA can’t say anything. “This is something we can do, so we’re doing it,” the spokesman told the Los Angeles Times. [More]
Police Officer Prepares Orders At McDonald's
By 5.10.10
Wherever Craig lives, that’s where the most Hamburgler-proof McDonald’s in the country is located. He says he was there the other night and a police officer got up from the seating area, went around behind the counter, and prepared his order for him. When Craig asked why the officer was also a McDonald’s employee, the officer followed him outside and asked why he cared. That officer probably thought you were the Hamburglar, Craig. [More]
Will This Food Kill Me? Ask The Internet
By 3.14.10
Last month, we posted about a Slate article encouraging people to depend on their senses and instincts when deciding whether food is safe to eat, rather than going solely by printed expiration or “sell by” dates. “Is the food slimy and smelly?” that post proclaimed. “Don’t eat it.” But if you doubt your own judgment and are unsure of the exact level of smelliness and sliminess that is acceptable for you and your family, the Livejournal community Can I Eat This? is here to help you navigate the scary world of your own refrigerator. [More]
Salmonella In Common Food Additive Leads To Recall Of Pretty Much Every Food Ever
By 3.7.10
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein is a flavor enhancer, similar in composition and tastiness to the much-maligned monosodium glutamate, that is seemingly unavoidable. Thanks to salmonella contamination in the HVP paste at Basic Food Flavors, Inc. in Las Vegas, the FDA has recalled every food containing the product, ranging from salty snacks to salad dressings to soup and gravy mixes. The list of recalled foods containing the product is still growing, and encompasses familiar brand names ranging from Walmart’s Great Value brand to McCormick to Trader Joe’s. Now we now get to find out exactly how complex our food supply is and how widely used an additive HVP is. [More]
Foodborne Illness Costs U.S. $152 Billion Annually, Still Good Excuse To Skip Work
By 3.3.10
It may seem like a minor inconvenience when you’re home sick with some kind of foodborne illness, but the overall cost of these illnesses to our economy is huge–and staggering when you consider how many foodborne illnesses are preventable. A new study from the Produce Safety Project, a Pew Charitable Trusts initiative, shows that foodborne illness costs $152 billion nationwide each year in medical care and quality of life. [More]
Study Finds Consumers Want Their Food Labeled As Inspected For Safety
By 3.1.10
A Michigan State University study found the majority of consumers look for labels that signify products they’re buying were inspected for safety, and that about a third are willing to pay more for such labeling. [More]
Is Your Hot Dog Trying To Kill You?
By 2.22.10
If you’re eating a hot dog, or thinking about eating a hot dog, you may want to know this. The American Academy of Pediatrics thinks your frankfurter is a choking hazard and it should be packaged with a warning label. They also want some brainpower invested in redesigning the tasty treats so as to make them less deadly. [More]
Senate Trying To Give FDA More Power
By 12.1.09
Last week the Senate cooked up a Scooby Snack for the FDA. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved a bill that will make the FDA run around all hyper and bestow it with super strength and ghost-catching ability, the LA. Times reports, though not in those words. [More]
Ground Beef Gains Time-Travel Ability
By 11.21.09
Nick didn’t notice the label on this package of ground beef until after he brought it home. Seeing how he bought it on November 20, 2009, and the label claims that it was packaged on August 8, 2004, he’s a little confused.
The 10 Riskiest Foods That Aren't Meat Or Poultry
By 10.8.09
This list of the 10 riskiest foods might surprise you at first, because there’s no mention of any sort of meat or poultry. But that’s because it’s from the FDA, which doesn’t regulate those two food categories. When it comes to produce, dairy, eggs and seafood, here’s what to watch out for, listed in order from most outbreaks to least.
New FoodSafety Website Helps You Stop Accidentally Poisoning Your Family
By 9.10.09
The USDA and Health and Human Services (HHS) today unveiled a new website focused on food safety at foodsafety.gov. It’s got lots of info on how to keep food from spoiling, but better still it’s a good launching pad for filing complaints, or keeping track of what’s going on in your state (check the “state agency” widget in the bottom right column).
Houses Passes Strong Food Safety Reform
By 7.30.09
The House of Representatives just passed the bipartisan Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. If enacted, the legislation would strengthen the FDA, increase inspections of food facilities, and hopefully ensure that tragedies like the Peanut Corporation of America salmonella outbreak become a thing of the past.
U.S. Balks At Prospect Of Imported Chinese Chickens
By 7.12.09
China is itching to sell their processed chickens directly to the U.S. market, an idea that doesn’t exactly thrill our regulators or representatives. Congress banned the import of processed Chinese chickens in 2007, ruffling Beijing’s feathers to the point where they’re now considering a retaliatory ban on U.S. chickens. Since we’re in a recession and Congress doesn’t want domestic chicken exporters to lose over a half-billion dollars next year, they may let the Chinese chickens come here to roost.
By 7.10.09
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Yesterday, we reported that production at the ConAgra facility where Slim Jims are manufactured will not resume until fall due to damage from the horrific explosion in June. This information is incorrect. Employees will return to work on July 19, and production will resume on July 27. [WRAL] (Thanks, Lon!)
By 7.8.09
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The FDA has issued a new ruling that says egg producers must “test regularly for salmonella and buy chicks from suppliers who do the same,” and that eggs “will have to be refrigerated on the farm and during shipment” as well as by wholesalers and in the store. The rule is meant to cut down on the number of egg-related salmonella cases nationwide, which currently are around 142,000 a year. [Washington Post] (Photo: Andreas Kollegger)
How, Exactly, Did E. coli Get In Nestle’s Cookie Dough?
By 6.30.09 — Updated: 5.31.16
The recent discovery of E. coli O157 bacteria in NestlÈ refrigerated cookie dough and subsequent recall of 30,000 tubs of said dough raises an urgent scientific question: Uh, how did that much cow poop end up in cookie dough?
