Author: Phyllis Entis

Some Tips For The Tea Party

I’ve been challenged to find some policy planks for the Tea Party that would reduce the cost of federal food safety enforcement without putting the public at (greater) risk.

Here are a few thoughts, drawn from more than three decades of working in food safety.

Consolidate the food safety enforcement arms of FDA and USDA (Food Safety and Inspection Service). This would eliminate duplication of overlapping lab facilities and inspection programs. As a bonus, food companies now dealing with two separate federal agencies would only need to deal with one.

Require every shipment of imported ingredient, raw food or processed food to be accompanied by a Certificate of Analysis from an accredited laboratory. The cost would be paid for in toto by the off-shore producer and/or the importer – NOT by the US government. Domestic food processors must pay for their own lab tests. So should importers.

Eliminate the 100% inspection of federal meat plants. These resources can be spread more evenly throughout the newly consolidated agency, and increase overall food safety enforcement without increasing costs.

Eliminate HACCP mandates for the food industry. Motorists are told what speed limit they must observe – NOT how to observe it. Likewise, food producers and processors should be told what food safety standards they are expected to achieve. How they achieve these standards should be left to each individual company. As long as the standards are met, the way in which they are achieved should be irrelevant.

Privatize non-safety activities, such as USDA’s egg grading service. Last year’s shell egg-related outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis demonstrated all too clearly that this is not looked upon by USDA as a safety function. Producers should be responsible for arranging – and paying for – activities such as shell egg grading.

I’m sure that there are more good ideas floating around in the blogosphere. I welcome your comments and rebuttals, and will be happy to post alternative suggestions.

Why?

After nearly four years of intensive blogging, there are many things I still don’t understand. Perhaps you, my readers, can help me find answers to some of these questions.

Why does USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) consider E. coli O157:H7 and six other E. coli serotypes to be adulterants in raw beef, while turning a blind eye to other pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Yersinia enterocolitica, and even other pathogenic or toxic E. coli?

Why is FDA unable (or unwilling) to release retail distribution information on food safety recalls – even those definitively linked to deadly outbreaks – while FSIS routinely releases retail distribution information on all such recalls?

Why does FDA not allow interstate shipment of raw milk for human consumption, as long as the raw milk meets the same microbiological standards as pasteurized milk?

Why does the burden of demonstrating the safety (or hazard) of imported food products and ingredients rest on FDA’s shoulders – and bank account – rather than on the shoulders of the offshore producers and the importers?

Why are there no federal criminal penalties imposed on food producers and processors who knowingly supply contaminated food?

Why does FDA make it so difficult for consumers to notify the agency about food, drug, medical device and pet food safety problems?

Why is it impossible to request information from FDA under the Freedom of Information Act on-line?

Why does the USA need two major federal food safety agencies with overlapping responsibilities?

Why, with so much money, time and effort spent on food safety enforcement in the developed world, do countries such as the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom and France continue to experience high annual rates of food poisoning and foodborne diseases?

Finally, why must consumers continue to rely on non-government sites such as eFoodAlert, barfblog, Food Safety News, and Le blog d’Albert Amgar (in France) for timely information of foodborne disease outbreaks, food recalls and other food safety issues?

Recalls and Alerts: September 24, 2011

Here is today’s list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals, allergy alerts and miscellaneous compliance issues. The live links will take you directly to the official recall notices and company news releases that contain detailed information for each recall and alert.

If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the sidebar link.

United States

  • Allergy Alert: Mattern Sausage (Orange, CA) recalls Mattern Sausage Tongue and Blood Sausage (4-lb to 8-lb chugs; Produced September 6, 2011), due to the presence of undeclared hydrolyzed soy protein. The recalled sausage products were shipped to sandwich shops near Orange, CA.
  • Allergy Alert: Prolab Nutrition Inc. (Chatsworth, CA) recalls certain protein items, because they contain undeclared wheat and gluten. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected products.
  • Food Safety Recall: Pepperidge Farm, Incorporated (Norwalk, CT) recalls Baked Naturals Sesame Sticks (10.2-oz boxes; WO7*1781 Sell by 11/20/2011, WO7*1891 Sell by 11/27/2011, WO7*1921 Sell by 12/4/2011, WO7*2041 Sell by 12/11/2011, WO7*2061 Sell by 12/13/2011, and WO7*2221 Sell by 1/1/2012), because the products may contain small, thin pieces of wire.
  • Food Safety Recall: World Wide Fish Products, Inc. (Bronx, NY) recalls Smoked Split Herring, because the product was found to be uneviscerated and represents a risk for Clostridium botulinum. The product was distributed in New York City on 08/17/2011 to Food Plaza Supermarket, NSA Supermarket (Bravo), Brooklyn # 1 Meat Market, P&P Distributors, and Flaming Meat Distributors.
  • Food Safety Recall: Palo Duro Meat (Amarillo, TX) recalls fine ground beef (40-lb boxes containing four 10-lb chubs; Production code 19110; Est. 7282), because the ground beef may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The frozen product was produced on Sept. 9, 2011, and shipped to two warehouses in Georgia for further distribution to institutions. The institutions include six school districts in Georgia associated with the National School Lunch Program.
  • Food Safety Recall/Outbreak Alert: Distributors, retailers, restaurants, and consumers have been advised not to eat, sell, or ship oysters harvested between August 30 and September 19 from Washington’s Hood Canal growing area #4. The state Department of Health made the recommendations, including contacting people who bought the oysters over the Internet, as part of a recall of oysters in the shell harvested in that growing area between those dates. Oyster harvesting in the area was closed after five people who ate raw oysters containing Vibrio parahaemolyticus became ill.
  • Outbreak Alert: More than 40 people have become ill with gastrointestinal symptoms after eating food purchased at the Grace Covenant Church fundraiser in York, South Carolina on September 16th and 17th. The state Department of Health and Environmental Control is advising people who purchased food at the fundraiser to throw it away.

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: Solo Fruit Inc. recalls Solo Fruit brand Dark Chocolate Sorbet (500ml packages; Lot codes 1111116 or 1111165), because the product may contain undeclared milk. The recalled sorbet was distributed only in Quebec.
  • Food Safety Recall: Phoenicia Products Inc. recalls Alkanater brand Tahini (908g containers; Prod. 5/1/2011; Exp. 5/1/2013), because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled tahini was distributed nationally.
  • Food Safety Recall: Au Gout d’autrefois (Sainte-Famille, QC) recalls certain products sold in 500ml and 250ml glass jars, because the products were not produced in a way that ensures their microbiological safety. Please refer to the recall notice for a detailed list of affected products.

Europe

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Alert (Hong Kong): The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ordered the temporary closure of a cooked food market stall in Yuen Long for thorough disinfection after Vibrio cholerae was detected in a water sample collected from its fish tank.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Outbreak Alert (Australia): South Australia Health has received reports of an additional four cases of shiga-toxin producing E. coli infections, all among people who reported visiting the Royal Adelaide Show, bringing the total number of infections to seven. Two of the seven patients have developed HUS. While most of the infections are among children, one of the HUS victims is a 27-year old man, who is receiving treatment in hospital and is reported to be in serious but stable condition.

Some supermarket chains post recall notices on their web sites for the convenience of customers. To see whether a recalled food was carried by your favorite supermarket, follow the live link to the supermarket’s recall web site.

*The Kroger umbrella encompasses numerous supermarket, marketplace and convenience store chains, listed on the Kroger corporate home page.
**Includes Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Dominick’s, Genuardi’s, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs and Pak N’ Save.