Food Safety
One way that nasty bacterial strains from factory farms make it to “the community”–i.e., you.
Jez Page/Flickr
The specter of “pink slime”—pureed, defatted, and ammonia-laced slaughterhouse scraps—has caused quite the uproar over the past six weeks. (The latest: Propublica has a great explainer on pink slime and other filler products.) The current fixation on pink slime may well lead to the demise of the product; already, supermarket and fast-food chains and school cafeterias are opting to stop adding the stuff into their burger mixes. The company’s maker, Beef Products International, has had to temporarily shut down three of its four plants in response to collapsing demand, which doesn’t augur well for the company’s long-term health.
But I’m wondering if focusing on the ew-gross aspects of “lean, finely textured beef” (as the industry calls it) doesn’t miss the bigger picture, which is that the meat industry’s very business model is deeply gross. Even if pink slime is purged from the face of the earth, the system that produces our meat and related products (eggs, milk) won’t be fundamentally changed. A while back, I identified something about meat production that’s “even grosser than pink slime”—proposed new rules that would privatize inspection at poultry slaughterhouses while dramatically speeding up kill lines. Here are four more.
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What’s the Deal With Tuna Scrape?
A closer look at the likely source of the sushi-linked Salmonella outbreak
Last Friday, a week after announcing they were investigating an ongoing multistate Salmonella outbreak linked to sushi, federal public health officials were able to pinpoint the likely source of the bacteria that has now sickened
at least 141 people. The suspect? Something called Nakaochi Scrape distributed by Moon Marine Corporation USA.
Nakaochi Scrape, as described by the Food and Drug Administration, is “tuna backmeat, which is specifically scraped off the bones, and looks like a ground product.”
This description has prompted several media outlets to compare scraped tuna with the controversial lean finely textured beef (LFTB) – also known as “pink slime” – that has captured headlines recently.
So what is Nakaochi Scrape? Is it indeed the fish version of LFTB (a.k.a., “Pink Slime”), which is produced by taking leftover scraps from a beef carcass, separating the meat from the fat, sinews and gristle in a heated centrifuge, grinding the meat and then treating it with ammonia? While both products are separated from bones, the similarities seem to end there.
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Sushi-Linked Salmonella Outbreak Reaches 141 Cases
A multistate outbreak of
Salmonella Bareilly infection has sickened at least 141 people, up from the 116 confirmed cases reported last week, while the related recall has
expanded to include all frozen raw yellowfin tuna product – called Nakaochi Scrape – distributed by Moon Marine USA Corp.
Nakaochi Scrape is the backmeat of tuna that, when scraped off the bones, looks like ground tuna, and is used to make sushi and similar dishes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says Moon Marine’s frozen raw Nakaochi Scrape tuna, imported from a single processing plant in India, is the likely cause of the outbreak.
In
an update Tuesday, the CDC said the illnesses extend across 20 states and the District of Columbia.
13 E. Coli Cases in Missouri, Raw Milk Dairy a Possible Source
At least 13 people are sick from an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in central Missouri, with a farm suspected as a possible source. Investigators at the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) have not yet identified a definite source of the outbreak, though 6 of the 13 ill consumed raw milk products from the same farm in Howard County.
According to DHSS spokeswoman Gena Terlizzi, the remaining seven individuals said they were not associated with that farm. Still, the farm is under investigation and has halted sales of its raw dairy products.
The Missouri State Public Health Laboratory has analyzed eight food samples from the farm, all of which tested negative for E. coli O157:H7.
Will the FDA’s new rules change this scenario? Not likely.
Farm Sanctuary/Flickr
A casual reader taking in my account and the New York Times’ account of yesterday’s big FDA antibiotics announcement might have thought we were reacting to different events. Here’s the Times lead:
Farmers and ranchers will for the first time need a prescription from a veterinarian before using antibiotics in farm animals, in hopes that more judicious use of the drugs will reduce the tens of thousands of human deaths that result each year from the drugs’ overuse.
In the Times’ reading, the FDA placed significant restrictions on antibiotics use. My take was more critical: “The plan contains a bull-size loophole—and is purely voluntary, to boot.”
What gives? In short, the Times delivered a skim-level, FDA-friendly account of the new plan. Let’s start with the loophole. Here’s the Times:
Michael Taylor, the F.D.A.’s deputy commissioner for food, predicted that the new restrictions would save lives because farmers would have to convince a veterinarian that their animals were either sick or at risk of getting a specific illness. [Emphasis added.]
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Recalls
Bird Feed Recalled Due to Vitamin D Level
Kaytee, a Central Garden & Pet brand, is recalling two products, Kaytee exact® Hand Feeding Formula Baby Birds and Kaytee exact® Hand Feeding Formula Baby Macaw, due to high levels of vitamin D.
The recalled products are used primarily by bird breeders for feeding baby birds. Baby birds being fed the formula may run the risk of kidney failure when ingesting the product.
According to the recall
news release, an elevated amount of vitamin D was unintentionally added in an isolated mixing batch during manufacturing. Products manufactured before and after the recalled batch have been tested and are safe for feeding to baby birds.
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Allergen Alert
Allergen Alert: Peppers in Lasagna Packages
Nestlé Prepared Foods Company is recalling approximately 16,890 pounds of Stouffer’s lasagna frozen entrées that may instead contain stuffed peppers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Tuesday.
The stuffed peppers contain Worcestershire sauce made with anchovies, an allergen not listed on the package labels.
The error was brought to the company’s attention by two consumer complaints, but FSIS and the company say they have received no reports of adverse reactions.
According to the recall news release, the problem may have occurred when the lasagna packaging materials remained in the packaging machinery as the company began packaging stuffed pepper entrées.
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Articles of Interest
California Fights Citrus-Killing Bacteria
There’s no threat to human health in a growing quarantine in Southern California, but an annual $2 billion worth of citrus fruits are at risk in a war with a tiny insect and the bacteria its spreads.
Earlier this month, the state of California added 93-square miles in the
Hacienda Heights area of Los Angeles County to the quarantine after the citrus greening disease known as huanglongbing was discovered in the state for the first time.
Until then, California had been combatting the insect that precedes the disease, which does not harm humans or animals, but causes citrus trees to decline and eventually die.
Now covering most of Southern California, the quarantine means no nursery stock can be moved out of the area and only commercially cleaned and cleared citrus fruit may be shipped from there. Residential citrus can’t be removed from the property on which it’s grown, although it can be processed and consumed on the premises.
“The success of any quarantine depends on cooperation from those affected,” says Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), in a
news release. ”The stakes could not be higher for California citrus.”
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