• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Meat Recalls for Canadian Jason

Econ101

Well-known member
meat recalls

Of the 140 million pounds of adulterated meat that the USDA recalled between 1995 and 2000, less than 30 percent was ever recovered in the recalls that have been completed. Nine times out of 10, when ground beef was recalled during that same period, it was because the potentially dangerous E. coli O157:H7 bacterium had been detected. Here's a brief overview of some of the issues governing the USDA's recall authority.

graph of total meat recalled and recovered

* Some of the recalls initiated in 2000 are still in progress, so numbers are tentative.

* SOURCE: Data compiled from the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service Recall Information Center.

Both the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which inspects meat and poultry, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which inspects all other foods, have the authority to issue food recalls. But some have argued that the federal government's power to protect the food supply is much too weak, especially give that complying with recalls is at the food companies' discretion.

"It's incredible to me that the federal government can order the recall of a stuffed animal with a glass eye that could come off and choke a child, but that the federal government cannot order the recall of thousands of pounds of contaminated ground beef that could kill a child," says Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation. "If you look at the press releases whenever there's a recall, these companies make very clear that it's a voluntary recall."

"Companies always have complied," says Elsa Murano, undersecretary of food safety at the USDA. "Let's say that there's one company out there that decides, 'I'm not going to do it [the recall].' We have detention authority. We have seizure authority by law, not to mention the fact that we can certainly put out a press release and certainly companies don't want to have bad press."

Often, even if the USDA does issue a recall, the contaminated meat and poultry is never recovered, which means that consumers are probably buying it and consuming it. Between 1995 and 2000, the USDA initiated 275 recalls for meat products, for a total of more than 140 million pounds of meat. Of all the recalls that have been completed, less than 30 percent of the contaminated meat has been recovered. (See the above chart for a year-to-year breakdown of recalls versus recoveries.)

Indeed, nearly two-thirds of the ground beef that was recalled between 1995 and 2000 has never been recovered or is still outstanding, and more than 90 percent of those recalls were for E. coli O157:H7, a potentially deadly bacteria. (See the charts below. Also see "Food-borne Illnesses" for more information on pathogens commonly found in the meat supply.)


Source:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/safe/recalls.html
 

Econ101

Well-known member
Printer Friendly Version E-Mail This Article


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 2, 2006
12:01 PM


CONTACT: Consumers Union
Elisa Odabashian, 415-431-6747 or 415-572-0036

Schwarzenegger Signs Bill That Ends Secrecy about Meat Recalls
Law Targets State’s Secrecy Agreement With USDA That Has Kept Consumers In the Dark About Contaminated Beef and Poultry


SACRAMENTO - October 2 - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill, SB 611 (Speier), that allows California public health officers to notify the public of the names of retailers that receive USDA-recalled meat and poultry, so that consumers can better protect themselves from food-borne illnesses.

In 2002, California’s Department of Health Services (DHS) signed a secrecy agreement with USDA, agreeing not to release the names of the stores and restaurants where tainted, USDA-recalled beef and poultry have been shipped and sold. Federal and California state agencies maintain that secrecy is necessary in order to protect the proprietary interests of the beef and poultry industries. But eighty percent of Californians believe that the public should be told the names of retail stores and restaurants that receive and sell potentially contaminated, USDA-recalled beef and poultry, according to a 2006 Field Research Corporation survey. Greater than eight in ten Californians (84%) favor mandatory recalls when unacceptable levels of contaminants are found in beef and poultry products, compared to just 11% who favor the current system of voluntary company recalls.

“Most Californians want meat producers to be required to come forward when they suspect contamination of their products. And most Californians don’t want to be left in the dark about which stores and restaurants are selling tainted meat. By signing this bill, the Governor has shown his commitment to protecting the health of California families and the safety of the food supply.” said Elisa Odabashian, Director of Consumers Union’s West Coast Office.

In 2004, California was one of seven states that received a shipment of beef products subject to a USDA recall because it included meat and bones from the first U.S. cow that tested positive for mad cow disease (the country’s third confirmed case of mad cow disease was discovered on March 10, 2006 in Alabama). But California consumers had no way of knowing which grocery stores and restaurants received the products because the state had agreed with the USDA to keep that information secret. The state’s secrecy agreement covers all recalls of unsafe beef and poultry—not just those that involve mad cow disease. The names of retailers selling recalled beef and poultry products tainted with other hazards, such as E. coli and listeria, are also kept secret from the public under the current agreement.

“The Field survey shows what we’ve suspected all along: Californians want to know whether the meat and poultry they are buying could be hazardous to their health. Common sense dictates that consumers should have a right to this information,” Odabashian said. “The state’s secrecy agreement with the USDA protects the beef and poultry industry while putting California consumers at risk.”

“Governor Schwarzenegger’s enactment of this law is in line with the Field survey’s numbers that show a large majority of Californians, across the geographic, socio-economic, racial, ethnic, religious, and political spectrum, wanting to know which retail stores and restaurants receive shipments of recalled beef or poultry products,” said Odabashian. “Californians can now be assured that, at least in this state, the government agencies charged with protecting them from food-borne illnesses are not keeping secrets that could kill them or their family members.”

###
 
Top