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In the article It's Organic, but Does That Mean It's Safer?, writers Kim Severson and Andrew Martin set their sites on organics' role in the current salmonella outbreak, a target totally worth firing at. We've done it ourselves. Read more...
Get this. Turns out a strain of salmonella in the most recent peanut butter outbreak -- Salmonella Tennessee -- is the same strain that got loose in the last peanut butter outbreak, and both Salmonellas came straight outa Georgia.
Predictably, the peanut processors blame Georgian farmers. The farmers blame the processors.
My problem with the article is the lack of examination on the farm end. Why didn't the reporter talk to an actual peanut farmer producing on industrial scale, or, better, an agronomist specializing in ag pathogens? It seems rather irresponsible to cast aspersions on any group without consulting an expert in that field. Read more...
The uninspected Peanut Corp of America facility in Texas warrants much additional investigation!
The Texas plant was closed Monday night. Salmonella was found in samples the government took previously from the plant.
Again, let us look back in time with the Internet Archive: Read more...
Lawmakers are looking into the national salmonella outbreak and vowing to press for stronger food safety laws and more money for inspections.
"To say that food safety in this country is a patchwork system is giving it too much credit. It is a hit or miss gamble, and that is truly frightening," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which was holding a hearing on the outbreak Thursday. "It's time to find the gaps in the system and remedy them." Read more...
Fair Food Fight has confirmed that the Peanut Corporation of America, the company at the center of the nation's current, sprawling salmonella recall, was certified organic and that their certification was up to date.
PCA was certified for organic peanuts, organic cashews, and all organic peanut butters.
A spokesperson for OCIA stressed to Fair Food Fight on a phone call this morning that salmonella was not necessarily tied to any of PCA's certified organic products and that the company had vountarily recalled the organic peanut butter. Read more...
OK, so it's been peanut butter recall mania lately. But I feel like nobody's noticed the organic side to the story. Read more...
The media plays a huge role in how Americans process something as widespread as a national food-borne outbreak. At Fair Food Fight, we want to monitor how news outlets are covering the story, so we thought we'd make a game of it. So here it is: Our First Ever Link-Drinking Game!
Here's how we play.
If you read a news story or editorial online that suggests America should consider irradiating its food supply in the wake of the current salmonella oubreak, post the link here and make El Dragón drink!
Rules below the fold:
There is a PDF of frequently asked questions about prduct recalls on the front page of Larabar's website. I read it and found my head spinning. Here's the FAQ:
LÄRABAR / JamFrakas RECALL Frequently Asked Questions
1.) Are you involved in this recall of peanut butter products associated with Peanut Corporation of America?
Peanut Corporation of America is not a direct supplier of peanut butter to General Mills; however, it was a supplier to one of our contract manufacturers. Read more...
A salmonella outbreak that has sickened over 400 people in 42 states (no deaths) has been traced to an industrial-sized tub of peanut butter, and, once again, it's the Minnesota Department of Health notching another solved outbreak in its belt. From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
Officials from the state Department of Health said late Friday that the salmonella bacteria found in 30 Minnesotans believe to have been sickened by eating King Nut brand creamy peanut butter has the same genetic fingerprint as the salmonella bacteria found in 400 sick people in 42 states.
and
Kirk Smith [pictured here] , supervisor of food-borne diseases at the state Department of Health, said the clue in this outbreak was that many of the Minnesotans who became ill had eaten in institutional settings. That included nursing homes, schools and colleges, he said.
Specifically, they were eating peanut butter from the wittily named King Nut which distributes peanut butter for the much less wittily named Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), whose presser, at their website, is already laying down the company's legal defense:
