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Reported Recalls Again

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Family's juice-box ordeal highlights food-industry woes: Expert


By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News ServiceApril 4, 2010 5:02 PM

OTTAWA — In Johnny's mind, it seemed like the obvious thing to do.


The boy didn't want his classmate to get sick, so he walked right over to him, took the juice box and poured the drink down the drain.


"The teacher scolded him for it, but he didn't want that child to drink the Dole juice," says Jennifer DeGroot, whose children, Johnny, now 9, and sister Jessica, 6, are still battling parasites the family believes are linked to juice they consumed.


More than 100,000 Strawberry Kiwi Dole juice boxes were eventually destroyed last year following a government investigation showing a container-integrity problem with the boxes during distribution. Weakened boxes can become bloated and leaky, making them magnets for bacteria and yeast.


Newly released internal documents from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency about the affair reveal a food-safety system far from perfect, where flags during distribution might not have come to light had it not been for one determined family.


And a leading food-science expert who reviewed the agency's final report into the matter says the case demonstrates an ongoing problem in the food industry.


"It was obvious to me that what they actually have, on paper, a system in place to detect the quality control of packaging, but they didn't actually practise what they preached. . . . It was more a case of the company, when a defect did occur, not acting upon it. That's very common in the food industry," said University of Guelph food science professor Keith Warriner.


The challenge for large companies like Dole is to keep close tabs on its subcontractors, the specialist in microbial physiology said.


"A lot of companies are subcontracting. Economically, it makes sense because if you subcontract, you don't have to pay for facilities. But if you haven't got control, it can literally collapse an organization so you've got to be careful," said Warriner.


The ongoing saga began in May 2008, when DeGroot did what millions of parents across the country do every week: head to the grocery store, in her small Ontario town of Waterford, and stock up on juice boxes to keep her kids hydrated during the school day.


The DeGroot kids went through 12 boxes in the pack of 40. The perfectly healthy kids were then hit with a bout of diarrhea.


That's when the family noticed the remaining boxes were leaking and had a putrid smell. There was also a small worm on the exterior of one of the boxes. The parents immediately called the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.


CFIA initially looked into the DeGroot case, but did not test the juice because the agency did not find a link between the kids' illness and the juice.


That's because their family doctor ran stool sample tests and diagnosed the kids with Dientamoeba fragilis infections. The parasite cannot live outside of the body for more than 48 hours, indicating that fecal-oral was the likely route of transmission, not a food product, CFIA records show.


"From the analyses that were conducted, our conclusion was that these two must be unrelated," Catherine Airth, CFIA's associate vice-president of operations, reiterated in an interview.


The agency did identify the worm as a Black Scavenger fly — larva that "lives in excrement and various decaying animal and plant material."


The Strawberry Kiwi juice boxes on the pack were leaking, but CFIA chalked up this problem to an isolated incident, "possibly due to freezing of tetra packs."


The matter was closed, but the health problems with the DeGroot kids continued. Meanwhile, a more nuanced diagnosis for the kids emerged, indicating the possibility of a connection between the juice and their elevated yeast levels and the disruption of the normal gut flora due to an initial entamoeba infection.


That's when Bill Mason, watching his distraught daughter tend to his two sick grandkids, stepped up pressure on CFIA.


Mason provided six fresh juice box samples to CFIA and demanded a more thorough investigation.


"I was helpless and it was only out of anger that I kept going," says Mason, who also filed an access-to-information request to review CFIA's records.


When CFIA tested additional juice boxes provided by the family, turns out there were problems with the packaging during distribution.


The tetra boxes failed CFIA's leak test. Yeast, lactobacillus and aerobic gram positive rods were also detected in the juice.


CFIA, which oversaw the destruction of 2,613 juice cases, identified a mechanical defect at the seam, leaving the boxes vulnerable to weaken if handled improperly.


And they were handled improperly during a distribution system with either weak Standard Operation Procedures or none at all in place, according to the followup investigation.


Like other multinational food companies, Dole has a co-packing arranging for its branded juice boxes. In this case, a company based in Mississauga, Ont., manufacturers the Dole juice and partners with two other companies to get the juice boxes to the distribution centres of large Canadian retailers.


Rick Holley, a microbiologist and food safety expert at the University of Manitoba, said stacking pallets during warehousing exposes a possible food safety risk because it can compromise tetra juice boxes, providing an opportunity for enterprising bacteria to slip through tiny holes.


"You don't want bacteria to get into that product. Mother nature is just terribly resourceful. It doesn't take very long when we make an unwitting error in terms of a new process to get a new bacteria causing a problem, and that adaptation doesn't take very long at all, particularly in this environment, where there is no normal microbial competition."


In an interview, Hany Farag, Dole's vice-president of quality assurance, said the company conducts regular audits of its local partners. In the wake of the investigation, Dole also "reinforced our expectations with the warehouses to make sure that the product is not mishandled. We do everything we can to make sure this product when it leaves the factory is 100 per cent according to our specifications."


And as a result of the investigation, the company now requires its packing and distribution partners to report immediately any damaged products instead of waiting weeks months as part of inventory control reporting.


At the end of it all, one thing is for sure: Dole juice boxes are banned from DeGroot household — and their lunch boxes.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Leaky+juice+boxes+highlight+problems+with+Canadian+food+industry+Expert/2762665/story.html#ixzz0kBUlycod
 
Winco Expands Fresh Beef Recall
by Dan Flynn | Apr 19, 2010
WinCo Foods announced Saturday that it is issuing an expansion of a Class 1 recall of fresh ground beef products to include ground beef sold at all of its retail stores. The original recall included ground beef sold only at its Modesto, CA outlet.

Now all fresh ground beef packed in Styrofoam trays and sold at any of its stores between March 28 and April 9, 2010 are subject to the recall. Winco says the ground beef should either be returned to the store for a refund or destroyed.

No illnesses have been associated with the ground beef recalled by Winco.

The original recall came after an independent lab tested two samples of ground beef purchased at the Modesto Winco that were found contaminated with the dangerous E. coli O157:H7 pathogen.

Since then, Winco said the retail chain cooperated with public health authorities and new information implicated its ground beef supplier for the E. coli contamination. Winco opted to expand the recall to include all fresh ground beef purchased from any of its stores during the period, an action advised by the California Department of Public Health.

The USDA is investigating, according to the Modesto Bee, but declined to provide further information out of concern for jeopardizing the probe.

E. coli O157:H7 causes abdominal cramping, vomiting, and diarrheal illness, often with bloody stools. It can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.

Individuals who have eaten fresh ground beef purchased from any WinCo Foods store between March 28, 2010 and April 9, 2010 and who have experienced any of these symptoms should contact their doctor or health care provider immediately.

Any such illness should be reported to the state or local health authorities.

There are 70 Winco stores located in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho and Utah.
 
Criminal InvestigationsSection Contents Menu Criminal Investigations - April 23, 2010:

Two Arrests Made in Contaminated Food Case

Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations

United States Attorney's Office Press Release

For Immediate Release April 23, 2010

The United States Attorney's Office

Southern District of Florida

(305) 961-9153

TWO ARRESTS MADE IN CONTAMINATED FOOD CASE

Jeffrey H. Sloman, United States Attorney for the Southern District Jeffrey H. Sloman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, David W. Bourne, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Criminal Investigation, Miami Field Office, and Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced that Francisca Josefina Lopez, 40, and Jorge Alexis Ochoa Lopez, 34, both of Honduras, were arrested by ICE and FDA special agents along with the Miami-Dade Police Department on a criminal complaint today, charging them with introducing adulterated food products into interstate commerce. The charges have been brought under the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act (FDCA), Title 21, United States Code, Sections 331(a), 333(a)(2), and 342(a)(1), and the anti-smuggling statute, Title 18, United States Code, Section 545. The defendants are both scheduled to be in United States Magistrate Court in Miami, on Monday, April 26, 2010, at 1:30 pm.

According to the allegations of the complaint, Francisca Josefina Lopez and Jorge Alexis Ochoa Lopez imported four shipments of cheese from Nicaragua between December 2009 and March 2010, with a declared value of more than $322,000. According to testing conducted by U.S. Food and Drug Administration"s (FDA) district laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia, three of the four shipments were contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, and the fourth shipment violated standards applicable to phosphatase, indicating the cheese was not pasteurized as declared on the relevant Customs import paperwork.

The FDCA states a food is deemed to be adulterated, among other reasons, if it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health. The Act prohibits causing the introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of an adulterated food. Felony convictions under the FDCA carry possible sentences of up to three years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 for each violation. Violations of the antismuggling statute carry possible sentences of up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 for each violation, and forfeiture of the smuggled goods.

According to the complaint, the defendants operated from a company known as The Lacteos Factory, at 1414 Northwest 23rd Street in Miami. All four shipments, totaling in excess of 170,000 pounds, were refused entry into the commerce of the United States, and were subsequently ordered destroyed or re-exported

On April 1, 2010, Customs & Border Protection (CBP) inspected a cargo container at the Port of Miami, which had been returned to the seaport from Lacteos, with documents to reflect the contents were the first refused shipment, being re-exported. CBP Inspectors discovered that the top layer of cartons on each pallet contained small bricks of cheese, as labeled, but the bulk of the cargo contained in the lower tiers of boxes contained only buckets of waste water. As a result, the majority of the four-hundred eleven cartons of cheese from the entry were missing

Subsequently, a search warrant was executed at the Lacteos Factory, which revealed that the three other shipments of the cheese product had been sold to over thirty customers, despite still being on hold. It was also determined that one customer conducted independent testing of the cheese, found it to be contaminated with S. aureus and returned the product. Despite that, the cheese was repackaged and sold to other customers.

Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the Special Agents and Inspectors of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigation, Miami Field Office, ICE's Office of Investigations in Miami and the Task Force Officers of the Metro- Dade Police Department who conducted the investigation leading to today's arrests. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Watts-FitzGerald

A Complaint is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov1.

Technical comments about this website can be e-mailed to the Webmaster. PLEASE NOTE: The United States Attorney's Office does not respond to non-technical inquiries made to this website. If you wish to make a request for information, you may contact our office at 305-961-9001, or you may send a written inquiry to the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, 99 NE 4th Street, Miami, Fl. 33132.Department


http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm209745.htm


TSS
 
By MARY CLARE JALONICK (AP) – 52 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — An E. coli outbreak linked to tainted lettuce has sickened at least 19 people in Ohio, New York and Michigan, including students on at least two college campuses, prompting a recall throughout much of the country.

Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio, says it is recalling romaine lettuce sold in 23 states and the District of Columbia.


Federal health authorities say 12 of those sickened were hospitalized and three reported life-threatening symptoms. The CDC says it is looking at 10 other cases probably linked to the outbreak.

College students at Ohio State in Columbus and Daemen College in Amherst, N.Y., are among those affected, according to local health departments in those states. Nine of the 10 confirmed cases in Michigan were in Washtenaw County, where the University of Michigan is located. It could not be determined immediately, however, whether that school was affected.

.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lettuce sold to retailers in 23 states and the District of Columbia has been recalled because of a possible link to 19 cases of E. coli.
Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio, announced on Thursday a recall of romaine lettuce after illnesses were reported in Michigan, Ohio and New York. The Food and Drug Administration said the illnesses included 12 people who have been hospitalized and three with potentially life-threatening symptoms.

The New York state Public Health Laboratory in Albany discovered the contamination in a bag of Freshway Foods shredded romaine lettuce on Wednesday, according to the FDA.

That bag of lettuce came from a processing facility that was also linked to the illnesses, the FDA said. The agency would not release the name of that facility or its location but said an investigation was under way.

E. coli infection can cause mild diarrhea or more severe complications, including kidney damage. The three patients with life-threatening symptoms were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause bleeding in the brain or kidneys.

Freshway Foods said the lettuce was sold to wholesalers, food service outlets, in-store salad bars and delis in Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The affected lettuce has a "best if used by" date of May 12 or earlier. The recall also affects "grab and go" salads sold at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets and Marsh grocery stores.
 
E. coli O145 lettuce outbreak: how many people sick?

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Drew Falkenstein
(The three patients with life-threatening symptoms were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause bleeding in the brain or kidneys. )

Freshway Foods said the lettuce was sold to wholesalers, food service outlets, in-store salad bars and delis in Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.


The E. coli O145 outbreak in Michigan, Ohio, and New York, which has long had a suspected lettuce link (and was publicly confirmed today), has no doubt sickened quite a few people. Just how many, however, is hard to know for sure. Some reports put the number as high as 60. Some say 47. Today, the FDA stated that there are 19 confirmed illnesses with ten more pending. Of the 19 confirmed illnesses, according to the FDA, 12 people were hospitalized and 3 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
The true scope of this outbreak, one of many in a long line of lettuce and leafy green e. coli outbreaks, will probably not be known for some time. One thing is for sure, however, about the number of people already affected by it. It is a bigger number than 19 (because the FDA/CDC will only count people who have a culture confirmed infection that is a genetic match to the outbreak strain); it is a bigger number than 29 (the number of confirmed illnesses, plus those that are pending); and its probably bigger than any other estimates to date as well.

Illnesses in foodpoisoning outbreaks are notoriously underreported. In fact, that is one problem that epidemiologists face in nearly any outbreak of foodborne disease (whether e. coli, salmonella, hepatitis, campylobacter, or anything else), and it sometimes frustrates their attempts to identify the actual cause of an outbreak.

There are any number of reasons why foodpoisoning cases go unreported, thus depriving investigating health authorities of the benefit of knowing what the ill person ate. The person did not see a doctor, or a stool sample was not done, or the sample returned a false negative result, or the person took antibiotics before submitting the sample.

But another reason why this particular outbreak may have caused many more illnesses than the numbers that are currently being stated is that the outbreak strain, E. coli O145, is frequently not tested for. Thus, even if an ill, infected person does have a stool sample tested, the sample may not return a positive result.

Discussing just this issue, the Center for Infectious Disease Reporting and Policy at the University of Minnesota (CIDRAP) issued a detailed statement today on the E. coli O145 lettuce outbreak linked to contaminated Freshway lettuce:

The CDC said there are limited surveillance data on illnesses involving non-O157 serotypes of Shiga toxin-producing E coli (STEC), including O145. "Therefore E coli O145 may go unreported. Because it is more difficult to identify than E. coli O157, many clinical laboratories do not test for non-O157 STEC infection," it said in the press release.

Craig Hedberg, PhD, a food safety expert at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, told CIDRAP News that the outbreak is similar to E coli O157:H7 outbreaks that have previously been linked to lettuce. E coli O145 has been associated with cattle, like O157 and other STEC strains. "And it seems likely that cattle would have been the reservoir source of contamination for this outbreak as well," he said. "Of course, since the production source has not been identified, this is all speculation on my part, but it seems likely."
One of the leading studies on the subject of underreporting suggests that the number of actual victims in a given outbreak, as opposed to merely those with positive stool samples, is as much as 38 times the number of stool sample confirmed individuals. If there are 29 confirmed (or pending confirmation) illnesses in this outbreak, the number of people actually sickened may be . . . a little scary. Time will tell.
 
E. Coli lettuce recall may be from a farm in Arizona

May 8, 9:48 AMEast Valley Holistic Health Examiner

Lori Ann Tinajero


A strain of E. coli found in lettuce sold under the Freshway and Imperial Sysco brands may be linked to a farm in Yuma, Arizona. In a voluntary recall initiated by Freshway Foods, the FDA believes that the affected lettuce has been packaged and sold under two forms. The first contaminated romaine lettuce is packaged as "grab and go" salads sold at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Market and Marsh grocery stores. The second form of E. coli infected lettuce has been sold to wholesalers, food service outlets, in-store retail salad bars, and delis. The infected lettuce is limited to packages that read, "best if used by" May 12.

Devon Beer of Freshway Foods in Sidney, Ohio, said Thursday that his company worked with the FDA to identify a farm in Yuma Arizona from where the suspected romaine lettuce was grown. No contamination was found at the processing plant in Ohio. A farm is suspected because E. coli known as Escherichia coli is derived from feces in cows and humans.

Since cow excrement, also known as manure, is used for fertilizing crops it is believed that the contamination possibly occurred from where the romaine lettuce originated. Water sources from infected feces can also be affected. According to the Centers for Disease Control, DNA testing needs to be completed to link the affected individuals with E. Coli 0145 to the highly suspected shredded lettuce and source of contaminated lettuce.

There have been 19 people affected with e. coli 0145 with three patience developing into life threatening illnesses. The symptoms from E. coli can appear as cramps and mild diarrhea which can be bloody two to eight days after swallowing the organism. Complications can lead to kidney failure. Out of twenty three states where the lettuce products have been sold, only three states, Ohio, Michigan and New York have individuals infected with E. coli 0145. The CDC is looking at 10 other probable e. coli 0145 cases.

Consumers with questions may call Freshway Foods' information desk at 1-888-361-7106 (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, M-F) or visit www.freshwayfoods.com.
 
Another big Feedlot problem or who was there FIRST !

Link to what and how the lettuce may be adultrated.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/05/how-lettuce-becomes-contaminated-with-ecoli-0145/
 
Its comical that even the radical right of the JBS boys can't come up with "good" excuses for Ag/Packer industries screwups- and recalls that hurt the whole Ag world with Factory Farm lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, imported peppers, peanuts, chickens, milk, beef, burger, etc., etc, recalls- and now factory farmed eggs- one of which new shows up everyday...

And that when investigated shows that the industry unregulated/unpoliced- will not take care of the problem- and will continue to cut corners to put the almighty $ ahead of the product... More Bigger, Better, Faster to make a fast buck :(

And on imports to the US consumer- put "Free Trade" like the Canadian BSE and the Chinese melamine and other compounds tainted food ahead of consumer health..... :( :( :(

Which has lead us to SB 510 (way better than the house bill-but still bad that we can't handle it ourselves)- which as I see I see now will probably fly thru Congress with no problems-- mainly because of the years of nonenforcement- and disrespect to what the consumers want ( like banning packers to give them BSE tested cattle )....Which will/could lead to inspections/licensing of every producer-except those already certified as organic only......

Our only hope in the family farming/ranching industry is if they adopt some of the "family farm" amendments- like one put up by Senator Tester that exempts anyone that doesn't sell over half a million $ in product every year.......

Continue to Oppose Food Safety Legislation

It happened just in time, the salmonella egg outbreak and recall, that is. Remarkably so, in fact, to help boost the chances of Senate Bill 510's passing. The Food Safety Modernization Act, whose companion bill H.R. 2749 already passed in the House, was facing quite the uphill battle. But not any more; a vote is now highly likely with approval possible if not probable.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has said there could be as many as 1,300 salmonella related illnesses linked to the eggs. And that there could be 30 or more unreported cases for every reported case. So far there have actually been 1,953 illnesses reported from May 1 to July 31 of this year with the CDC admitting "some of these cases may not be related to this outbreak." CNN has an interesting state-by-state listing of reported, suspected, and confirmed cases. It seems then, that labeling 1,953 food-borne illnesses in a three month period in a nation of over 300 million an "outbreak" is a bit of an over-reaction

Nonetheless, the hue and cry from the food agency regulators of the Obama Administration is deafening. Most call for an expansion of federal authority in order to prevent any more food-related illnesses, something that is quite impossible, given our imperfect planetary conditions.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and the chairman of the panel's investigations subcommittee Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), directed letters to the owner of one of the egg farms. According to Congressional Quarterly, a request was made for "inspection records, lists of customers who bought products within the last 12 months, communications with federal and state regulators, the companies' procedures for monitoring eggs for food pathogens and any documentation of allegations of health, safety and animal cruelty violations," begging the question "is it the proper role of the federal government or congressmen to demand such information?"

Senate Bill 510 has already passed committee and is on the Senate calendar. It calls for enhanced expansion of FDA authority over small farms, ranches, and other food producers, establishes burdensome administrative requirements for large and small operations, and arbitrary legal authority to recall "unsafe medications," the definition of which is not clearly established; if in line with the global standard set by Codex Alimentarius, "unsafe medications" could extend to dietary supplements and herbal products. There is language that currently exempts from heavy regulation dietary supplement manufacturers and packagers. However, the FDA and its agents are notorious for interpreting and enforcing these regulations in their own way.

A Manager's Amendment has been proposed that would make technical changes in the definition for "adulterated food," and the creation of a small entity compliance policy guide that would exempt small businesses from some of the bill's requirements -- for now. Sen. Feinstein's (D-Calif.) restriction on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in plastic containers may also be offered as an amendment, while another is the foreign country prescription drug re-importation amendment.

The inclusion of BPA restrictive legislation and the prescription drug re-importation is not enough to offset the unconstitutional directives contained in the bill. Having the federal government assume entire control over this country's food supply won't solve anything and won't prevent all food-borne illnesses, but it is a usurpation of the states' right to set and oversee standards for food safety.

The citizens of this country who are already financially overburdened with the government's wild spending policies resulting in a ridiculous deficit and gargantuan national debt cannot afford this increase in monetary costs and bureacuracy, and loss of freedom, by the federal government expanding its reach further into the country's food supply and personal buying and eating choices.

If you believe food safety is best achieved at the local level, contact your senators and continue to express your opposition to such plans. Have them do everything in their power to defeat S. 510.

Thanks,

Your friends at The John Birch Society
 
By Steve Green

S 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act, may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US. It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money.

"If accepted [S 510] would preclude the public's right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes. It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one's choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the will of God." ~Dr. Shiv Chopra, Canada Health whistleblower

It is similar to what India faced with imposition of the salt tax during British rule, only S 510 extends control over all food in the US, violating the fundamental human right to food.

Monsanto says it has no interest in the bill and would not benefit from it, but Monsanto's Michael Taylor who gave us rBGH and unregulated genetically modified (GM) organisms, appears to have designed it and is waiting as an appointed Food Czar to the FDA (a position unapproved by Congress) to administer the agency it would create — without judicial review — if it passes. S 510 would give Monsanto unlimited power over all US seed, food supplements, food and farming.

History
In the 1990s, Bill Clinton introduced HACCP (Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Points) purportedly to deal with contamination in the meat industry. Clinton's HACCP delighted the offending corporate (World Trade Organization "WTO") meat packers since it allowed them to inspect themselves, eliminated thousands of local food processors (with no history of contamination), and centralized meat into their control. Monsanto promoted HACCP.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton, urged a powerful centralized food safety agency as part of her campaign for president. Her advisor was Mark Penn, CEO of Burson Marsteller*, a giant PR firm representing Monsanto. Clinton lost, but Clinton friends such as Rosa DeLauro, whose husband's firm lists Monsanto as a progressive client and globalization as an area of expertise, introduced early versions of S 510.

S 510 fails on moral, social, economic, political, constitutional, and human survival grounds.
1. It puts all US food and all US farms under Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, in the event of contamination or an ill-defined emergency. It resembles the Kissinger Plan.

2. It would end US sovereignty over its own food supply by insisting on compliance with the WTO, thus threatening national security. It would end the Uruguay Round Agreement Act of 1994, which put US sovereignty and US law under perfect protection. Instead, S 510 says:

COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.

Nothing in this Act (or an amendment made by this Act) shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the agreement establishing the World Trade Organization or any other treaty or international agreement to which the United States is a party.

3. It would allow the government, under Maritime Law, to define the introduction of any food into commerce (even direct sales between individuals) as smuggling into "the United States." Since under that law, the US is a corporate entity and not a location, "entry of food into the US" covers food produced anywhere within the land mass of this country and "entering into" it by virtue of being produced.

4. It imposes Codex Alimentarius on the US, a global system of control over food. It allows the United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the WTO to take control of every food on earth and remove access to natural food supplements. Its bizarre history and its expected impact in limiting access to adequate nutrition (while mandating GM food, GM animals, pesticides, hormones, irradiation of food, etc.) threatens all safe and organic food and health itself, since the world knows now it needs vitamins to survive, not just to treat illnesses.

5. It would remove the right to clean, store and thus own seed in the US, putting control of seeds in the hands of Monsanto and other multinationals, threatening US security. See Seeds – How to criminalize them, for more details.

6. It includes NAIS, an animal traceability program that threatens all small farmers and ranchers raising animals. The UN is participating through the WHO, FAO, WTO, and World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in allowing mass slaughter of even heritage breeds of animals and without proof of disease. Biodiversity in farm animals is being wiped out to substitute genetically engineered animals on which corporations hold patents. Animal diseases can be falsely declared. S 510 includes the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), despite its corrupt involvement in the H1N1 scandal, which is now said to have been concocted by the corporations.

7. It extends a failed and destructive HACCP to all food, thus threatening to do to all local food production and farming what HACCP did to meat production – put it in corporate hands and worsen food safety.

8. It deconstructs what is left of the American economy. It takes agriculture and food, which are the cornerstone of all economies, out of the hands of the citizenry, and puts them under the total control of multinational corporations influencing the UN, WHO, FAO and WTO, with HHS, and CDC, acting as agents, with Homeland Security as the enforcer. The chance to rebuild the economy based on farming, ranching, gardens, food production, natural health, and all the jobs, tools and connected occupations would be eliminated.

9. It would allow the government to mandate antibiotics, hormones, slaughterhouse waste, pesticides and GMOs. This would industrialize every farm in the US, eliminate local organic farming, greatly increase global warming from increased use of oil-based products and long-distance delivery of foods, and make food even more unsafe. The five items listed — the Five Pillars of Food Safety — are precisely the items in the food supply which are the primary source of its danger.

10. It uses food crimes as the entry into police state power and control. The bill postpones defining all the regulations to be imposed; postpones defining crimes to be punished, postpones defining penalties to be applied. It removes fundamental constitutional protections from all citizens in the country, making them subject to a corporate tribunal with unlimited power and penalties, and without judicial review. It is (similar to C-6 in Canada) the end of Rule of Law in the US.
 
7. It extends a failed and destructive HACCP to all food, thus threatening to do to all local food production and farming what HACCP did to meat production – put it in corporate hands and worsen food safety.
Wake up people!!!!!
 
Far worse, IMO, than forcing HACCP is that it would "preclude the publicx' right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes".

mrj
 
Pennsylvania Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due to Possible E. coli O26 Contamination

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:11:23 -0500

Cargill Meat Solutions Corp.,

a Wyalusing, Pa. establishment, is recalling approximately 8,500 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O26, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_050_2010_Release/index.asp

New York Firm Recalls Deli Meat Products for Possible Listeria Contamination

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:27:09 -0500

Zemco Industries, a Buffalo, N.Y., establishment, is recalling approximately 380,000 pounds of deli meat products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. These products were distributed to delicatessens where they were further processed into sandwiches.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_049_2010_Release/index.asp
 
by Suzanne Schreck | Sep 10, 2010
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced this week that Leadbetters Foods Inc. is recalling its Leadbetters Cowboy Beef Burgers for potential contamination with E. coli O157:H7.

According to a press release, CFIA is investigating an E. coli outbreak in Ontario that may have been caused by the consumption of the Cowboy Beef Burgers. CFIA stated that it is collaborating with the Ohio Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Health Canada, and other health units in Ontario to investigate the E. coli outbreak.

Leadbetters Foods recalled Leadbetters Cowboy Beef Burgers sold frozen in 2.27 Kg (5 lb) cartons containing 20 X 113.5 gr (4 oz) burgers bearing the UPC 8 73587 00003 5 and code 20169 that were distributed in Ontario on Sept. 8.

E. coli infection is characterized by the sudden onset of abdominal pain and severe cramps, followed within 24 hours by diarrhea. These symptoms typically occur within 2 to 5 days of ingestion of E. coli, but the incubation period, or time between the ingestion of E. coli bacteria and the onset of illness, may be as broad as 1 to 10 days.

As the infection progresses, diarrhea becomes watery and then may become bloody. E. coli symptoms also may include vomiting and fever, although fever is an uncommon symptom.

In about 10 percent of E. coli patients E. coli infection progresses to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a complication of E. coli infection that is now recognized as the most common cause of acute kidney failure in infants and young children.

For more information about the recalled products, consumers can contact Leadbetters Foods Inc. at 1-705-325-9922 or [email protected]; or CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).
 
Here is a link to those cattle operations that are causing the new food safety rules to grow .
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/pdf/residue_122409.pdf
 
PORKER said:
Here is a link to those cattle operations that are causing the new food safety rules to grow .
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/pdf/residue_122409.pdf

With a brief glance it looks to me like it is 99.9% dairy cattle or the related veal that are the violators.... :( :mad:
 
Federal inspectors say outside pressures hurt food safety

Lisa Schnirring Staff Writer


Sep 13, 2010 (CIDRAP News) – Many federal food safety workers say their work has been hampered by corporate interests, political pressure, and influence from other groups, according to a survey released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

At a press conference today, Francesca Grifo, director of the UCS's Scientific Integrity Program, said the interference that hundreds of food safety inspectors reported is bad for public health. "Both the administration and Congress need to act," she said in a press release. The Iowa State University (ISU) Center for Survey Statistics conducted the poll for UCS, a nonprofit health and safety group based in Washington, DC.

News that a number of federal food safety workers feel outside pressure in their work comes amid a major investigation into a national spike in Salmonella Enteritidis infections, which has triggered the nation's largest egg recall. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said about 1,500 illnesses have been linked to the outbreak so far.

Fallout from the recall and outbreak have also put pressure on the Senate to pass its version of food safety legislation, which would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) new authorities and tools to prevent and respond to foodborne illness outbreaks. The US House of Representatives passed its version of the legislation in July 2009, but action on the Senate version has been stalled since then.

ISU researchers conducted a Web-based survey of 7,911 federal food safety workers from the US Department of Agriculture and FDA that were identified from online public records. The 67-item survey was conducted from early April through May 20, 2010. They received 1,710 responses for a response rate of 21.62%.

About 38% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that public health has been hurt by agency practices that defer to business interests. Twenty-seven percent said they had personally experienced instances when businesses withheld food safety information from agency investigators in the past year. A quarter responded that they knew of instances when corporate interests forced their agency to pull or revise policies or actions that were designed to protect consumers in the past year.

Similarly, when researchers asked if Congress or "nongovernmental groups" had forced their agency to withdraw or change food safety policies or actions in the past year, 24% and 22% said yes, respectively.

Dean Wyatt, a USDA veterinarian who supervises slaughterhouse inspectors, said in the UCS statement that the agency retaliates against inspectors who document legitimate safety violations. "Upper level management does not adequately support field inspectors and the actions they take to protect the food supply," he said. "Not only is there lack of support, but there's outright obstruction, retaliation, and abuse of power."

More than 100 respondents said agencies asked them to delete or change scientific information, the UCS report said. For example, 16% said they saw officials selectively use data to justify a particular regulatory outcome. Ten percent said their agencies had asked them to exclude or change information or conclusions in scientific documents. They said interference has decreased slightly under the Obama administration compared with the Bush years.

Grifo said respondents overwhelmingly said stronger whistleblower protections for inspectors and regulators would improve food safety. They also voiced support for other reforms, many of which are included in the passed House bill and the proposed Senate bill, such as requiring companies to conduct hazard analyses and implement prevention programs and improving the system for tracing food products.

The Obama administration could address some of the outside influence concerns raised in the survey by releasing a scientific integrity directive that the president promised more than a year ago, Grifo said. She added that the directive would protect whistleblowers, ensure that scientists and inspectors can speak freely about their work, and order agencies to release visitor logs to document visits to agency management.

See also:

Sep 13 UCS press release

UCS/Iowa State University food safety scientist survey



http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/fs/food/news/sep1310survey-br.html




tss
 

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