
It seems that every week there is some food supplier recalling their food. On November 1, General Mills had to recall many of its frozen meat pizzas because of an E. coli O157:H7 contamination; November 3 saw Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. recalling ground beef with Century Farm, Giant, Shop Rite, Stop & Shop, Wegmans, Weis Premium Meats and Price Rite labels due to a possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination.
This is a second recall in just a month and a half for Cargill. And really, it’s not just meat products that are recalled. Everything that we consume has the possibility of being recalled because most of what we eat is processed.
So, why all the recalls? Well, for one thing, food safety issues are handled by a number of agencies. The FDA is in charge of Seafood, Fruits, Vegetables, Shell Eggs, and all other Non-Meat Foods; the USDA is in charge of meats and poultry. For example, if a frozen pizza has cheese and pepperoni on it, then both the FDA and USDA has jurisdiction. How confusing! Who has the authority to call a recall?
According to a report from the Associated Press, our food safety programs are too fragmented and divided.
Critics of the nation’s food safety system say that it is too fragmented and marked by overlapping authority, and they say that may help explain why dangerous foods keep slipping through and why contamination scares are handled in sometimes inconsistent ways.
“One of the underlying problems is the bifurcation of the regulatory system,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s food safety division.
Critics also complain that the food safety system suffers from a shortage of money and inspectors and inadequate enforcement powers.
All I can say is we might as well get used to the recalls; they maybe happening for a while. What Americans should be doing is growing some of their own vegetables or buying from a local farmers’ market. That way they can wash the food themselves and know that it is safe.
Related News
Food recalls likely to become more common – Baltimore Sun
Cargill recalls beef after USDA test – Taipei Times
Vermont’s Hannaford stores participate in meat recall – BurlingtonFreePress.com
Frozen pizza recalled over e-coli contamination – Boston Globe
General Mills Recalls E. coli Tainted Pizzas – Dog Flu Diet and Diseases