Lettuce Ban: Is Mexico Protecting
Health Or Practicing Protectionism?
This morning we were greeted by an announcement that Mexico had banned the import of U.S. lettuce: In a press statement, the Health Department also said the government had ordered stores to remove U.S. lettuce from their shelves, and urged Mexicans not to consume the imported product, which is often sold here in bag, box […]
Spinach Crisis Summary Rewind XI
With so much having been written in so short a time, thought it would be helpful to publish a sort of round-up of available material to help people understand the whole situation regarding spinach and this E. coli breakout: The Perishable Pundit itself has dealt extensively with the subject in several major pieces. On September […]
Heads Up — Political Posturing
On Spinach Begins
On October 11, 2006, at 9:30 AM Pacific time, California State Senator Dean Florez begins holding hearings: SACRAMENTO — With three confirmed dead and nearly two hundred sickened by the recent E. coli outbreak from fresh California spinach, and lettuce from the same region now facing recall due to contaminated irrigation water, Senator Dean Florez, […]
Spinach Crisis Summary Rewind X
With so much having been written in so short a time, thought it would be helpful to publish a sort of round-up of available material to help people understand the whole situation regarding spinach and this E. coli breakout: The Perishable Pundit itself has dealt extensively with the subject in several major pieces. On September […]
Bolthouse Botulism Case Hits Canada
The Bolthouse carrot juice casualties just went international. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency updated its previous advisory not to drink the recalled product and noted that two botulism cases in Toronto are now tied to the Bolthouse product, in addition to four in the United States. Wm. Bolthouse Farms says the problem is due to […]
Food Safety, Good Delivery
And Temperature Monitoring
A little while ago, the Pundit picked up a new sponsor by the name of Escort Data Loggers. This company provides a temperature monitoring device that, in real time, keeps track of temperatures in a truck, a cold storage or other facility or location. Coincidentally, Bryan Silbermann of the Produce Marketing Association — who I […]
Beef Recall Smacks Of Incompetence
Just in case you had the feeling only produce had food safety issues … we get a notice from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service with a recall notice: Jim’s Market and Locker, Inc., a Harlan, Iowa, firm, is voluntarily recalling approximately 5,226 pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli […]
Nunes Recall Reveals Testing Dilemma
When the phone call came Sunday evening telling me that The Nunes Company had initiated a recall on certain green leaf lettuce, I didn’t feel foreboding as much as exhaustion. After spinach, the Bolthouse carrot juice recall and then a hamburger recall over the weekend, could there really be still another one? I knew, simply […]
The Botulism And E. coli Connection
The issue of botulism and Bolthouse carrot juice has gone international. Mexico has ordered retailers to withdraw from the market the same Bolthouse Farms, Earthbound Farms Organic and President’s Choice brands produced by Wm. Bolthouse Farms that have been voluntarily recalled in the United States. We have been dealing with this issue all week, including […]
PulseNet Ups Ante In Food Safety Battle
The reason the industry is going to have to get much better at food safety is because unless we do, publicly reported outbreaks are going to become more frequent and more severe. This is not because things will be less safe; it is because the states are getting better at the use of PulseNet. What […]
