Food Borne Illness outbreaks can reveal the Food System Most of us imagine that there is a food system. Yet is it so difficult to visualize and grasp that it is almost unknowable to the individual. It is vast, impersonal, remote, and most of the detailed information is privately held and regarded as trade secrets. The details are intentionally withheld. Mostly we get to see macro level information only. Sometimes a food borne illness outbreak reveals the relationships behind the curtain, as Toto did with the Wizard. In 2012, the Sunland Inc peanut butter Salmonella recall was widespread and reached both coasts quickly. First the distributors recalled, then the manufacturers. Both caused grocery stores and retailers to pull products and place notices in stores. What we thought of as local products, such as Justin’s Nut Butters, Boulder Ice Cream and others, issued their own recalls. It revealed a vast network of companies and businesses all connected by products from a single major peanut processor. Consumers were left frantically searching their shelves for products and wondering what they had eaten recently. fda.gov/safety/recalls/ucm320647.htm Remember the 2010 Egg/salmonella recall? HALF A BILLION EGGS! Spread all across the country cnn/2010/HEALTH/08/20/eggs.recall.salmonella/index.html Here is a similar case. A local company, Eco-Cuisine, producing a great line of ready-made mixes for meatless dishes has recalled their products. Why? An undisclosed ingredient, most likely from somewhere else, has tested positive for salmonella. That shit can kill you! Stay tuned for more revealing outbreak news and see if this one travels back through the food system with more related recalls. Secede from the conventional food system by creating your own network you can see and navigate. Know where your food comes from, who made it, and what is in it. Read the labels and ask questions as if your life and health depended on it! Hone your food skills! fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm353311.htm
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 20:12:11 +0000
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