Another Watchdog Group Issues a Food Safety Report

Watchdog groups are important for safety of products, including food products.  And I think we understand that there will be a certain amount of spin used to hype up the call to action.  The latest is from a group called U.S. PIRG.  They stretch the math a good bit and miss the important underlying detail.

Statement
"There has been a 10-percent increase in food recalls overall between 2013 and 2018." 
Comment
This does not mean our food is less safe, but rather, our surveillance, detection, and tracking has improved dramatically.  Our ability to find and link contamination events through networks linked to CDC and our use of whole genome sequencing. 

Statement
"Recalls of meat and poultry alone increased by 83 percent over the last five years."
Comment
But if you look at the types of recalls that we are seeing, many recalls logged in this period are related to foreign objects.  USDA in conjunction with the meat  industry has done a tremendous job in reducing serious outbreaks related to E. coli and Listeria. 

Statement
"Karthikeyan cited the March 2018 romaine lettuce recall from Yuma, Arizona that killed five people and made more than 200 sick due to an outbreak of E.coli."
“A simple solution to this, which would have likely prevented the outbreak, would be to set public health limits on how much dangerous E. coli can be in water on produce farms,” Karthikeyan said.
Comment
This is not an easy fix.  If it were easy, it would have been fixed.  We understand that contaminated irrigation water is a critical factor, but keeping small levels of contaminants out of miles and miles of surface water is just not easy.

Statement
“These recalls are a warning to everyone that something is rotten in our fields and our slaughterhouses and government agencies need to make sure that the food that reaches people’s plates are safe.”
Comment
This statement is over the top.  The issues we face from from contaminants that are naturally present...not something rotten.  Animals of all types - cows, birds, geckos - have been associated with pathogens such as Salmonella for as long as those species have existed.  So thier solution - "Prevent the sale of Salmonella-contaminated meats" is just not going to simply happen without changing the fundamental properties of the products we eat.   You are not going to have pasture-raised beef with minimal chemical added that is going to be free from Salmonella. 

Statement
"We’re calling on the USDA to stop allowing the sale of meat that testing reveals is contaminated with dangerous, antibiotic-resistant Salmonella."
Comment
You cannot test your way to safety.  Prevention is key and looking at ways to reduce levels of contamination is important, just as it is to make sure consumers who handle and prepare foods do it correctly.

The group uses the CDC estimate as a goalpost - "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 1 in 6 people in the U.S. get foodborne illness with 128,000 individuals hospitalized and 3,000 dying every year." and suggests these number have to improve.  This number is a calculated guess at best.  The easiest way to improve these numbers is to give them a different statistician.

We get it...we need to improve our system.  But this report looks like it was prepared by junior high school students without a real understanding of the issues and can be considered an insult to those who work everyday to our food safe.

You can find the full report here - LINK.

Philadelphia Tribune
http://www.phillytrib.com/news/local_news/watchdog-agency-report-highlights-flaws-in-nation-s-food-safety/article_ca21735e-2ca1-5a1d-811e-bfb06ab309b1.html
Watchdog agency report highlights flaws in nation’s food safety system  
Ayana Jones Tribune Staff Writer
January 17, 2019

Consumer Complaints for Wood Pieces In Chicken Nuggets Triggers Recall

Perdue Foods, LLC, a Perry, Ga. establishment, is recalling approximately 68,244 pounds of ready-to-eat chicken nugget products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically wood.  The problem was discovered when the firm received three consumer complaints that wood was found in the product. A complaint was also reported to FSIS’ consumer complaint monitoring system. FSIS was notified by the firm on Jan. 17, 2019.

Here is another example of the impact of consumer complaints going into the federal agency's consumer complaint portal.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2019/recall-002-2019-release
Perdue Foods LLC Recalls Simplysmart Organics Gluten Free Chicken Nugget Products Due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination 
Class I Recall
002-2019
Health Risk: High
Jan 17, 2019

Government Shutdown and Food Safety - Let the Media Begin Their Spin

With the US Government shutdown, there is bound to be numerous news releases on the impact on food safety.  While the FDA has suspended inspections, USDA continues to inspect facilities.  Will our food become more risky?  Reading through the headlines, consumers can be made to feel uneasy, depending on what they read:
Time - You May Be at Higher Risk of Eating Contaminated Food During the Government Shutdown
Live Science - What the Slowdown in FDA Food Inspections Means for You (Spoiler: Don't Panic Yet)

The reality is that food (FDA regulated items) will not instantaneously become more risky.  Yes, FDA inspections are an important part of our food safety system, but their role is more inspection than preventive control.  FDA is not in every facility every day, most facilities would lucky to get a yearly inspection (although I am sure they would not say lucky).  When we look at the major outbreaks this year - the E. coli in Romaine lettuce outbreaks in AZ and CA, it is not like we have inspectors in the fields testing canal water or chasing wild critters away.  And it is not like food processors are a bunch of hoodlums who will suddenly stop obeying regulations because they are less likely to get an inspection.  Processors are businesses who need to produce safe product to stay in business.  If there is an outbreak, there are emergency response personnel.  Plus state inspections are still being conducted, covering FDA regulated facilities.

Longer term however, inspectors are important for reviewing facilities that have complaint issues, or who may have had past transgressions.  Their role is also important for reporting and investigating food facilities who are involved in an outbreak or who have issued a recall.  And true, knowing the cop may be around the corner is more likely to ensure that you don't do the rolling stop at the stop sign.  The vast majority won't, but certainly an arguable point.

Finally, nobody likes to be out of work due to political issues or any issues, especially those issues that do not involve the work that they do.

Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennysplitter/2019/01/10/what-the-government-shutdown-means-for-food-safety/#2c82f070f6d3
What The Government Shutdown Means For Food Safety
Jenny Splitter  Contributor  Food & Drink  I cover the intersections of technology, farming and food.  Jan 10, 2019 

Ohio Firm Recalls Raw Sausage Product Due to Potential Contamination with Pieces of Rubber

A Sandusky, Ohio establishment, J. H. Routh Packing Co, is recalling approximately 1,719 pounds of raw pork sausage products that may be contaminated with rubber pieces.  The notice does not indicate how the company discovered the issue.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2019/recall-001-2019-release
J. H. Routh Packing Co. Recalls Pork Sausage Products due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination 
Class I Recall 
001-2019 
Health Risk: High 
Jan 9, 2019 

FDA Issues Alert on Marshmallow-Dipped Candy Products After Worker Diagnosed with Hepatitis A

FDA issued a health alert for Bauer's Candies Modjeska (individually wrapped marshmallow-dipped in chocolate or caramel candies) after a worker tested positive for Hepatitis A.  Although this warning was issued last month, there does not appear to be a recall posted on the FDA website.

Hepatitis A can last for extended periods of time (testing is difficult to determine) on food and food contact surfaces, so it can be expected that if the virus was present on the product it could be transmitted to food.

This example demonstrates the need to have employee health controls in place, including instructing workers to notify management if they have, or have been exposed, to the virus, or have the symptoms.

As a customer, I would be completely ticked off if I had contracted Hepatitis A from chocolate covered marshmallows.  I don't even care for chocolate covered marshmallows which even make it even worse.

From Wikipedia - A Modjeska is a confection consisting of marshmallow dipped in caramel. It was created in the 1880s in Louisville, KY by confectioner Anton Busath to honor Shakespearean actress Helena Modjeska, who was performing there at the time. Other Louisville shops began to make versions of the candy, which continues to be popular in the region today.  Helena Modjeska (October 12, 1840 – April 8, 1909), whose actual Polish surname was Modrzejewska (Polish pronunciation: [mɔdʐɛˈjɛfska]), was a renowned actress who specialized in Shakespearean and tragic roles. (Pic below)

https://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/SafetyAlertsAdvisories/ucm627841.htm
Public Health Alert Concerning a Possible Hepatitis A Contamination of Bauer’s Candies’ Modjeskas
12/06/2018

Sandwich Products Recalled After FDA Finds Positive Listeria Environmental Samples

A SC ready-to-eat sandwich company, Grand Strand Sandwich, is recalling sandwich product after FDA notified them that environmental swabs taken from the meat slicing area were positive for Listeria..

Interesting, the firm was notified by FDA three weeks after the swabs were taken.  According to the release, the firm is notified on the January 3rd and swab sampling  were collected on December 11, 2018. A company cannot expect FDA to provide instantaneous results back, but rather must be proactive in terms of understanding risk exposure.  Was the company doing their own testing?  Did they take duplicates or sample at the next available opportunity?

https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm629322.htm
Grand Strand Sandwich Company Recalls Lunch Box Sandwiches Italian Subs Lunch Box Sandwiches Ham & Swiss Croissants And Lunch Box Sandwiches Ham & Cheese Due To Possible Listeria Monocytogenes Contamination
For Immediate Release
January 7, 2019

Retailer Recalls Cooked Shrimp For Being Undercooked

Kroger recalled cooked shrimp on  sold in MI, OH, and VA due to the fact they were raw or undercooked. Product affected was manufactured on two dates - 8/25 and 8/26/18.
This issue date was 12/26/18, which would indicate 1) it was discovered through customer complaints, and 2) with the holiday at hand, it was probably a good likelihood that people ate undercooked shrimp. 

Personally, I prefer to cook my own shrimp.

CBS News
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kroger-shrimp-recall-cooked-shrimp-michigan-ohio-virginia/
Shrimp recalled in 3 states over potential health hazard

Retailer Recalls Cheesecakes After Supplier Notification for Salmonella

An Iowa based retailer is "voluntarily recalling its cheesecakes made with Diamond Crystal Brands cheesecake mix due to the potential that they may be contaminated with Salmonella. The potential for contamination was brought to Hy-Vee’s attention today after receiving a letter from the supplier."

https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm629310.htm
Hy-Vee Voluntarily Recalls Cheesecakes Made with Diamond Crystal Mix
For Immediate Release
January 4, 2019

This Week in Mislabeled Products for Week Ending January 5, 2019

Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips in Wrong Bag - Olde York Potato Chips of Brampton, Ontario is recalling Clancy's Wavy Potato Chips 10 oz (UPC 0 41498 16306 8) with the specific lot code BEST If Used By FEB 22 19 1A6 because they may contain undeclared milk.  The issue was discovered when two consumers reported nding sour cream& onion seasoning on Clancy's Wavy Potato Chips 10 oz BEST If Used By FEB 22 19 1A6. Olde York conducted an investigation which indicated that the problem was caused by an isolated breakdown in the company's cleaning process.

Residual Almond into Milk after Improper Line Clean Out Shamrock Farms of Phoenix, Arizona is issuing a voluntary recall of Shamrock Farms 2% Reduced Fat Vanilla Half Gallon Milk with Best Before Date 3/16/2019. The recall comes after a product retain of Shamrock Farms 2% Reduced Fat Vanilla Half Gallon Milk with Use By 03/16/19 Time Stamp 08:18-11:13 04-05 #1, tested positive for an undeclared tree nut (almond) allergen.The undeclared allergen is due to cross-contact with an almond-contained product in the production facility, and was discovered in retained samples during testing.

https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm629293.htm
Olde York Potato Chips Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Milk in One Lot of Clancy's Wavy Potato Chips 10 Oz
For Immediate Release
January 4, 2019