Food Poisoning Law Blog

Contrary to what most people would think, young (inner) lettuce greens may pose a greater risk of E. coli O157:H7 contamination than older (middle) leaves, according to a study conducted by researchers at Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unity, Albany, California and the University of California, Berkeley. The study found that E. coli O157:H7 consistently colonized on young (inner) romaine lettuce leaves at a rate ten-times greater than on the middle leaves of the romaine lettuce. The reason may be nitrogen content. Young-leaf exudates used in the study were found to have about 2.9 times more nitrogen than the middle-leaf exudates. 

According to the researchers involved in this study, “Our results indicate that leaf age and nitrogen content contribute to shaping the bacterial communities of preharvest and post-harvest lettuce and that young lettuce leaves may be associated with a greater risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7.”

Reference: M.T. Brandl, R. Amundson. 2008. Leaf age as a risk factor in contamination of lettuce with Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 74. 8: 2298-2306.

Alamosa County health officials have reported one death related to the Salmonella outbreak linked to the Alamosa water supply.  According to health officials, the genetic pattern of the person's Salmonella matched the pattern found in the city's water supply before it was disinfected.

This is the first death associated with the Alamosa Salmonella outbreak, which health officials uncovered in early March after several people were sickened after drinking water from Alamosa's city water supply.

Health officials have received at least 411 reports of Salmonella cases.  112 of those cases are laboratory-confirmed.

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company is alerting customers to a Chang Farm Soy Sprouts recall.  The voluntary recall by Chang Farm involves Chang Farm Brand 12oz packages of Soy Sprouts with a sell-by date of April 19, 2008 and a UPC code of 00 29899 0100.

The product is being recalled because of the possible presence of Listeria bacteria.  Contamination with Listeria in food such as sprouts represents a significant danger to public health.

According to a Stop & Shop press release, upon being notified of the recall, Stop & Shop immediately removed from its shelves the affected product.

Do not eat the recalled Chang Farm Soy Sprouts. Listeria infections can be fatal, particularly for unborn babies, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems.

If you are diagnosed with listeriosis, contact a Listeria lawyer at our law firm.  We have recently obtained a significant recovery in a Listeria case.  An attorney at our office would be happy to discuss our experience with Listeria lawsuits and your case.  To contact an attorney, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free), e-mail our lawyers or submit our free case consultation form.

Information on Stop & Shop from their press release:

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, based in Quincy, Massachusetts,
employs more than 59,000 associates and operates 389 stores throughout
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, New York
and New Jersey.

A cereal recall has been linked to Salmonella Agona cases in California, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.  The cereal, puffed rice and puffed wheat, was recalled by Malt-O-Meal Company on April 5, 2008, and involved the following brands: Malt-O-Meal, Acme, America's Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannaford, Jewel, Laura Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw’s, ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality. Read more information about the Malt-O-Meal recall.

The CDC, FDA and state health departments are investigating the Salmonella Agona outbreak.  The investigation includes interviews of persons with Salmonella Agona infections and comparison of the DNA fingerprints suggests that cereal from Malt-O-Meal unsweetened Puffed Rice Cereals and unsweetened Puffed Wheat Cereals is likely related to these illnesses.

The FDA issued a news release today that stated that 23 people in 14 states have been diagnosed with salmonellosis that was caused by the same strain of Salmonella that was found in the recently recalled unsweetened Puffed Rice and unsweetened Puffed Wheat Cereals produced by Malt-O-Meal.

The recalled cereal products were distributed nationally under the Malt-O-Meal brand name as well as under private label brands including Acme, America's Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannaford, Jewel, Laura Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw's, ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality. The cereals have "Best If Used By" dates from April 8, 2008 (coded as "APR0808") through March 18, 2009 (coded as "MAR1809").

Yesterday's CDC information on the Salmonella Agona outbreak linked to the cereal recall stated:

Health departments from 13 states identified 21 ill persons infected with Salmonella Agona with the same genetic fingerprint. Ill persons with the outbreak strain have been reported from California (1), Colorado (1), Delaware (1), Maine (3), Massachusetts (2), Minnesota (1), North Dakota (1), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (3), New York (3), Pennsylvania (1), Rhode Island (1), and Vermont (1). Illness onset dates, which are known for 9 patients, ranged from January 22 to March 2, 2008. Their ages range from 1 to 95 years; 62% are female. Three hospitalizations and no deaths have been reported.

Investigation of the Salmonella Agona Outbreak Linked to the Malt-O-Meal Cereal Recall

According to the CDC:

On April 5, 2008 Malt-O-Meal Company initiated a recall after the company's routine food testing detected the presence of Salmonella on March 24, 2008 in a Minnesota plant that produces and packages dry cereals. Malt-O-Meal issued a recall of unsweetened Puffed Rice Cereals and unsweetened Puffed Wheat Cereals produced during the past 12 months at the plant in Minnesota. The recall products have "Best If Used By" dates of April 8, 2008 to March 18, 2009.

On April 7, 2008, PulseNet, the molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance, notified CDC's OutbreakNet Team of a cluster of human Salmonella Agona isolates with an indistinguishable PFGE pattern (outbreak pattern) in multiple states. On April 10, 2008, CDC was informed by several state health departments that patients infected with Salmonella Agona with the outbreak pattern had eaten Malt-O-Meal cereal products. On April 11, the Minnesota State Public Health Department confirmed that the Salmonella isolate isolated from the Minnesota plant was Salmonella Agona and had the same indistinguishable PFGE pattern as the isolates from ill humans. CDC, multiple state health departments, and FDA are working collaboratively to identify additional cases and determine the source and factors that contribute to this outbreak.

Continue Reading

At the public meeting held by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, plans were announced to begin testing for non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli, or non-O157 STECs. The announcement comes in response to the growing amount of outbreaks associated with E. coli.  Although most dangerous outbreaks, especially among beef, are related to E. coli O157:H7, non-O157 STECs can pose just as many problems to the food industry. The USDA does not currently collect any data to track non-O157 STECs, so the testing will be done primarily to study the bacteria and collect as much data as possible.

The new testing procedures will be done primarily for collecting data. As of now, the USDA does not plan on declaring non-O157 STECs as adulterants like O157:H7, but will use the data collected to determine that at a later date.  The USDA will test samples that tested positive for O157 and also those that did not.  No recalls will be issued by the USDA if a sample tests positive only for non-O157 STECs.

Samples will be tested for six different strains: 026, 0111, 0103, 0121, 045, and 0145. These strains have been shown to cause the greatest number of illnesses among non-O157 STECs.  If the USDA declares these strains as adulterants after collecting data, products contaminated with they will undergo the restrictions applied to O157:H7.  According to Meatingplace, the USDA has prepared the following checklist if non-O157 STECs are labeled as adulterants:

• define applicable products from slaughter/dressing and further processing operations
• issue a Federal Register Notice in the form of an interpretive rule
• establish an effective date that ensures sufficient time to address seamless implementation for both domestic and imported products
• issue compliance guidelines
• issue policy implementation instructions and train FSIS inspection personnel
• conduct outreach to the regulated industry

Foodconsumer.org provided information from FoodNet showing that the number of cases and incidence per 100,000 population in 2007 for non-O157 STECs were 260 per 100,000, or .57%.  The incidence for O157 STECs was 1.20%. However, CIDRAP has stated that states such as Virginia and Idaho (not part of FoodNet) have shown that the prevalence of non-O157 STECs is already equal or greater than the prevalence of O157:H7. This information provides raw numbers, showing that non-O157 STECs are almost as big, if not bigger, a problem as O157 STECs.

A study on PubMed shows that even if non-O157 STECs aren’t as prevalent as O157, they may be just as dangerous.  After examining 940 non-O157 cases of human illness between 1983 and 2002, researchers discovered that the six strains the USDA will be focusing on are indeed the most prevalent in human illness. The data also showed that many of the bacteria were producing Shiga toxin 1 and Shiga toxin 2.  Shiga toxin 2 had a strong association with causing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). According to the data, the 0111 strain caused the most cases of HUS and also caused 3 outbreaks reported in the United States.

Much of the danger associated with E. coli O157:H7 involves its ability to cause HUS, which can often be fatal.  Research shows that non-O157 STECs can also cause HUS, making them just as dangerous as O157:H7.  Non-O157 STECs also contained genes for intimin, which has been shown to increase the risk of bloody diarrhea.  These are serious symptoms, which pose a great health risk to consumers.  More research and the new plan from the USDA to test for these bacteria can only help to better understand illness rates and to better protect the American consumer.

Continue Reading

Startling new research contributes more information about the effectiveness of antibiotics to kill bacteria, specifically in livestock.  Researchers from Harvard were trying to find microbes that could be used to convert waste into biofuels when they discovered that bacteria covered in antibiotics were not only unaffected by the drugs, but actually consumed them.

According to Discover, the researchers gathered 11 soil samples that had varying levels of man-made antibiotics to see if more drug-consuming bacteria could be found. They found that in all samples, bacteria, including Shigella and E. coli, existed that lived entirely off of the consumption of antibiotics. Some of the bacteria were thriving in conditions that contained more that 100 times the normal dose of antibiotics given to humans and more than 50 times the amount necessary to consider a bacterium resistant.

This research not only adds fuel to the fiery debate over the use of antibiotics, but suggests that bacteria resistance isn’t the only problem.  If bacteria actually eat the drugs and the genes from these bacteria spread into pathogenic bacteria, standard treatments could become entirely ineffective.

Researchers have discovered that some bacteria produce naturally occurring antibiotics that are effective in killing foodborne pathogens such as Listeria.  Interestingly, they discovered the bacteria can be found in foods such as Feta cheese made from raw milk in Greece and around the Mediterranean.

According to EurekAlert,

“We were able to isolate lactic acid bacteria found in raw sheep milk from small farms in Macedonia, northern Greece. Several of these friendly bacteria naturally produce antibiotics that killed off dangerous food-poisoning bacteria like Listeria,” says Panagiotis Chanos, a researcher from the University of Lincoln. “Interestingly, we identified these friendly bacteria as enterococci, more commonly recognised as virulent and/or antibiotic resistant bacteria in hospitals. We found some strains could produce up to three different natural substances to fight different food pathogens.”

The enterococci often give Mediterranean cheeses their distinct tastes, but can also live at extreme temperatures like Listeria.  The enterococci produce bacteriocins which help kill pathogens. The researchers are hoping that they can utilize these friendly bacteria to replace artificial additives in foods as an organic way of protecting against foodborne illness.

Microbiologist Peter S. Holt and entomologist Christopher J. Geden, both scientists with ARS, have been studying whether or not flies infected with Salmonella can pass on the Salmonella to chickens.

The first step was studying whether infected hens could infect flies with Salmonella. 

“We found that about half the house flies became colonized with Salmonella soon after emergence,” says Holt. The bacteria were detected in and on 45-50 percent of the flies within the first 48 hours, and levels remained at 50 percent or higher for the following 5 days.

The next stage of research involved exposing uninfected hens to the infected flies:

They found that just being around the contaminated flies didn’t cause healthy birds to become infected, but eating infected flies did. And though the studies showed minimal bacterial contamination of the hens’ crops, intestinal colonization occurred in about 38 percent of the birds by days 6 and 13 of the experiment. The crop is a small sack in the digestive system that stores predigested food.

“We found that simple physical contact may not be the primary method of transfer of Salmonella bacteria to different surfaces in a poultry house,” says Holt. “But a hen’s eating of contaminated flies does seem to be the primary mechanism of transmission of Salmonella from flies to birds.”

Holt has shown that flies in poultry houses are not only a nuisance, but also a threat to the safety of poultry products. “Though there is much more to learn about the relationship between Salmonella, flies, and poultry, this research shows that growers need to pay special attention to fly control using methods of surveillance and treatment that are already available,” says Holt.

Quotations and information for this post from "SHOO FLY! Role of House Flies in Spreading Salmonella in Poultry," which was published in the March 2008 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

In the wake of the country’s largest ground beef recall in history, the USDA is considering applying a new rule to inform consumers of retailers which supplied recalled products.  This rule, however, would only cover Class I recalls, or those which the USDA considers most dangerous.  The Hallmark/Westland beef recall of 143 million pounds of ground beef shows the issues associated with this new rule. The recall was considered a Class II recall, and would not have fallen under the rule, so that consumers would not have known where the beef was supplied.

Hallmark/Westland, however, is a California-based company, falling under California jurisdiction, a state which releases a list of retailers in all recalls. Consumers could find information through the state of California and its nearly 150 page list of retailers.  Because the recall involved ground beef, it is almost impossible for consumers to determine whether or not their purchases are part of recall due to repackaging at retailers.  When the USDA and FSIS release a recall, they often give information on where the recalled product was manufactured, but with the ground beef, the consumer is still completely in the dark.  This means that if this new rule is passed, and there is another recall like Hallmark/Westland, but not in the state of California, consumers would have no idea whether or not they were purchasing recalled beef.

Food industry groups believe that expanding the rule, or even including the rule as it is would negatively affect the market for competitive reasons. If retailer information was public knowledge, competitors would know which retailers to approach with better prices.  Without the rule, the food industry could go on as normal at the cost of withholding vital information of foodborne illness from the American public. Dr. Richard Raymond, USDA undersecretary for food safety, believes that is important for consumers to have as much information about recalls as possible.

According to Time,

In an interview this week Raymond said that it was "common sense to assume" that some consumers may have fallen ill because they didn't have access to names of retailers selling tainted meat. But he disputed the suggestion that industry opposition — expressed in written and public comments, meetings with the White House Office of Management and Budget, and other venues — has stalled the rule.

Recall information is one of the most important ways to ensure the health and safety of consumers. Giving retailer information in Class I recalls is most definitely a fantastic start, but limiting it only to those recalls would mean an absence of knowledge in some of the largest recalls issued, such as the Hallmark/Westland recall.  The food industry may not like having all the information public knowledge, but the information would greatly improve public health and perhaps spur greater care for quality products on the manufacturer’s part.

Salmonella infection is never pleasant, but for most healthy people who are exposed to the bacteria suffer from gastroenteritis and recover.  For patients with AIDS, however, the same bacteria that result in uncomfortable food poisoning for most is often fatal.  Scientists from the UC Davis Medical School have discovered what mechanisms the HIV virus uses that allow for the lethal aspects of Salmonella.

According to Science Daily,

The results of the study, which will be published online by Nature Medicine March 23, revealed that viral infection of the intestine results in the depletion of a type of white blood cell, called Th-17, in the gut mucosa. This T helper lymphocyte produces IL-17, a cytokine or chemical messenger that plays a crucial role in the inflammatory response, recruiting other immune system cells to the site of infection.

In healthy patients, the bacterial infection is defeated in the gut, but with AIDS patients, this battle is lost and the infection spreads into the bloodstream.  When the Salmonella spreads to the bloodstream, it is known as NTS bacteremia.

The scientist tested their theory by examining rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a model for HIV.  The animals that were not infected with SIV were able to combat infection by producing Th-17 cells in huge amounts, whereas those with SIV were unable to do so.

The team of researchers also used mice that lacked the IL-17 receptor, an arm of the mucosal immune response, to confirm that IL-17 deficiency leads to increased systemic dissemination of Salmonella.

By narrowing down the mechanisms and pathways and understanding how Salmonella can become in fatal in the growing number of individuals who have AIDS, scientists will hopefully be able to curb the number of fatalities.  Future research will examine more specifically how healthy patients are able to get rid of Salmonella infection in the gut and apply what they learn to decrease the mortality rate from Salmonella poisoning in AIDS patients.

Tropifresh, Inc. of Los Angeles, CA has recalled Agrolibano’s Produce Brand whole Cantaloupes because they may be contaminated with  Salmonella Litchfield.

Whole cantaloupe fruits subject to this recall carry a “Mike’s Melons” sticker or may be unlabeled because this sticker has fallen off. Whole cantaloupe subject to this recall were sold in approximately 1100 pound cardboard bin containers and were distributed to wholesalers in Southern California, Pennsylvania and Canada.

No illnesses have been reported to Tropifresh, Inc. to date.  However, the recalled Tropifresh cantaloupe was supplied by Agropecuaria Montelibano, a Honduran grower and packer, to Tropifresh. This recall was initiated when the FDA  issued an import alert regarding cantaloupe from Agropecuaria Montelibano, because, based on current information, fruit from this company appears to be associated with a Salmonella Litchfield outbreak in the United States and Canada.  There are 50 laboratory-confirmed Salmonella Litchfield cases in the United States.  According to the CDC  the following states have reported laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella Litchfield:

Arizona (1 person), California (10), Colorado (1), Georgia (2), Illinois (1), Missouri (1), New Jersey (2), New Mexico (1), New York (5), Ohio (1), Oklahoma (2), Oregon (5), Tennessee (1), Utah (5), Washington (9), and Wisconsin (3).

We have been contacted by persons who were sickened in the Salmonella outbreak associated with Honduran cantaloupe grown and packed by Agropecuaria Montelibano.  For more information, please contact attorney Fred Pritzker toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or email Fred.

Continue Reading

Widespread problems of Salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7 are not only rooted in food safety.  There have also been issues lately with the treatment of infections due to these and other pathogens. More and more strains are becoming resistant to traditional antibiotics, bringing the need for new drugs and treatments to the forefront of the issue.  The National Institutes of Health has awarded the University of Texas Southwestern a $6.5 million grant to explore new treatments to combat a variety of pathogens.

Current antibiotics are developed to attack the process of DNA replication in bacteria, or protein synthesis, or cell wall synthesis.  UT Southwestern is researching another area.

“We are investigating a new target area in bacteria that appears to be vulnerable to a small molecule that has never before been used as a drug,” said Dr. Vanessa Sperandio, associate professor of microbiology and principal investigator on the new grant. “The drug compound has shown promise in fighting at least three different bacterial species including Salmonella, E. coli and Francisella tularensis, which causes tularemia.”

Sperandio also says that the five-year grant will allow her research to be ready at the preclinical level.  Early tests have been positive, but only further research will determine if the treatment can be used to treat human disease.  The research focuses on how bacteria like E. coli communicate biochemically inside the body, especially among good and bad strains for human health.  The research also targets any signals E. coli 0157:H7 sends that would trigger disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keep track of all outbreaks of foodborne illnesses in the country. The CDC defines an outbreak as two or more people becoming ill from the same food acquired at the same establishments. HealthInspections.com analyzed all of the outbreak information from the CDC and concluded that the five worst states in terms of number of outbreaks in 2006 are:

1. Florida- 74 outbreaks
2. California- 69 outbreaks
3. Minnesota- 55 outbreaks
4. Ohio- 54 outbreaks
5. New York- 50 outbreaks

Florida has topped the nation with number of outbreaks for the past three years. According to the data, hotels and restaurants seem to be the leading cause of outbreak in the state. One restaurant in particular, Coconuts on the Beach of a Hilton resort, was found to violate numerous health code violations. According to HealthInspections.com,

83 people got sick at the upscale Hilton resort on Singer Island near West Palm Beach. They were hit with Norovirus, a highly contagious stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea.

Just two days after customers began getting sick, a health inspector cited Coconuts for allowing an employee with some type of infection to continue working. The law requires that sick food workers must be sent home.

The restaurant fared poorly on previous inspections as well, having been cited for 36 violations including employees not washing or changing dirty gloves, cleaning with dirty cloths, and dirty ice machines and soft drink nozzles. The poor record at hotels and restaurants would seem to be a serious issue for a state that depends on its tourism, but the Florida Restaurant and Hotel Association maintains that conditions are improving.

Florida, however, is not the only state with problems. California has consistently been second worse in numbers of outbreaks. San Diego County alone has seen a 43% increase in confirmed cases of restaurant food poisonings over the past three years. Minnesota has a poor record as well, leading the nation in most cases of Norovirus. Experts cite the lack of enforcement in the state and the inability of the public to access inspection reports online.

The report also designated what types of food were likely to lead to illness in each state.

Florida:          Seafood, Ethnic Foods, Lettuce-based Salads

California:      Seafood, Chicken, Ethnic Foods, Lettuce-based Salads

Minnesota:     Seafood, Lettuce-based Salads, Deli Sandwiches

Ohio:              Lettuce-based Salads, Chicken

New York:     Seafood, Lettuce-based Salads 

Overall, the problems in food safety cannot be pinpointed to a single source, but keeping states accountable for their records and informing the public of violations can help promote safer food for all.

The 2008 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases discussed the growing number of foodborne illnesses related to vegetables, mainly leafy greens. It has been thought that the increase of leafy greens in the average American’s diet has led to the increase in disease related to those foods; however, data analyzed at the conference suggests something entirely different.

Michael Lynch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said, according to EurekAlert!,

“During the 1986-1995 period U.S. leafy green consumption increased 17% from the previous decade. During the same period, the proportion of all foodborne disease outbreaks due to leafy greens increased 60%. Likewise during 1996-2005 leafy green consumption increased 9% and leafy green-associated outbreaks increased 39%,” says Lynch.

Outbreaks recently have been located in E. coli contaminated spinach and lettuce and other various greens. Only 9% of all outbreaks related to leafy were greens, however, were due to E. coli. Salmonella was responsible for 10% of outbreaks, but the major contributor, norovirus, accounted for 60% of leafy green outbreaks.

Although the data shows that the increase of foodborne outbreaks related to leafy greens is not caused solely by the increased consumption of that type of food, researchers and officials still cannot account for the increase.

“The proportion of outbreaks due to leafy greens has increased beyond what can be explained by increased consumption. Contamination can occur anywhere along the chain from the farm to the table. Efforts by local, state and federal agencies to control leafy green outbreaks should span from the point of harvest to the point of preparation,” says Lynch.

Recent outbreaks associated with a deadly form of the E. coli bacteria, known as the 0157:H7 strain, have made researchers wonder how the bacteria are evolving. A 2006 outbreak linked to contaminated spinach caused the removal of fresh produce from store shelves nationwide. Hundreds were sickened, three were killed, and scientists have noted the trend of the greater risk of serious E. coli outbreaks.

As reported by ABC7,

"The disease has gotten much worse than it was, with a much greater fraction of people having to go to hospital and a much greater fraction of people that are seriously infected with the toxin," says Thomas Whittam PhD. of Michigan State University.

Whittam’s research used new technology to quickly identify different strains of the deadly bacteria and to group them into eight different groups. The research showed that group eight is the most dangerous and is also becoming much more prevalent, appearing twice as much as it did two years ago.

"It's either added some of its ability to rapidly spread into human sources, or it's acquired something that causes it to be more serious once it infects humans."

The technology used in the research could be used to more quickly identify bacteria linked to outbreak and help reduce the spread of illness. The research focused on bacteria samples from outbreak victims, but Whittam’s future research will include a survey of food sources to gain a greater understanding of how dangerous pathogens are entering the food supply.

According to an Associated Press story in the Las Cruces Sun-News, 4 cases of Salmonella have been associated with the Flying Tortilla, a Santa Fe, New Mexico, restaurant.  The four people ate at the Flying Tortilla in Santa Fe from mid-January to mid-February, 2008.

Restaurants are liable for illness caused by the food they prepare.  This means that people who are sickened by restaurant food can seek compensation from the restaurant for medical expenses, lost earnings, pain and suffering and other damages.  We have recently settled a Salmonella case involving a restaurant.  In that case, the food source was never pinpointed.  If you have a question about restaurant liability, please contact us toll-free at 1-888-377-8900.

The FDA has suspended the temporary permit assigned to Castleberry’s Food Company.  The plant had to stop operations in the summer of 2007 when cans of chili produced at the plant were found to contain the bacteria that leads to botulism.  The FDA suspended the temporary emergency operating permit given to Castleberry’s, forcing the plant to shut down entirely, according to NBC Augusta.  There has been no information released when the plant will reopen, if at all.

The contamination of Discover Cuisine Red Curry Chicken & Jasmine Rice due to Listeria has led to recalls by three major companies.  Costco Wholesale is recalling 10,368 pounds of the frozen entrees, Inovata Foods is recalling 3,780 pounds, and Meijer Distribution Center is recalling 2,184 pounds.

All of the recalled products contain the following information:

12-ounce packages of “Discover Cuisine Red Curry Chicken & Jasmine Rice.” Each package bears the Canadian establishment number “Est. 302” inside the Canadian Food Inspection Agency mark of inspection as well as a “Best By” date of “12 18 08.”

The Hallmark/Westland ground beef recall, largest in U.S. history, revolves around the failure of the company to abide by federal regulations and the failure of federal inspectors to catch the violations earlier.  The recall questions the effectiveness of our nation’s food safety policies and whether or not they need to be improved or altogether changed.

According to the Baltimore Sun,

"The video of the Hallmark plant is evidence of what can happen when packing plants are left to police themselves without the government oversight they need," said Trent Berhow, vice chairman of the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals, which represents 6,500 U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors.

"When the company is in charge of creating their own records and doing their own food safety checks, they're not going to find problems themselves," he said.

The USDA currently has in place a variety of rules and regulations that establishments need to implement.  Much of this in slaughterhouses requires taking note of which areas of the plant are vulnerable for harboring disease, coming up with a plan to fix it, and then implementing the plan.  The majority of the responsibility lies with the company, while the government officials are in place to verify that actions are being done.

This system poses a huge problem when companies aren’t being honest about keeping up with federal regulations and when there aren’t enough inspectors to make sure everything is going according to plan. The government implemented stricter policies under the Bush administration, which have somewhat been effective. The beef industry maintains that the Hallmark case is unique and does not exemplify practices throughout the industry, but there are other opinions to be had.

"What happened out in California was a good example of a plant sneaking things by," said William G. Hughes, lawyer for the National Association of Federal Veterinarians, which has 950 members. "You have to have sufficient inspection staff to guarantee that nothing is going to go wrong."

"There's a lot of room for improvement, but I don't think there's a lot of alternatives," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "The industry plays a vital role in ensuring the safety of its products, and the government's role should be to ensure that's done correctly."

Whether or not the food safety system needs a drastic retooling or just some strict improvements remains debatable. However, the Hallmark/Westland recall has brought the issue to the forefront of the American conscience and shows the dangers of a faulty system.

Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing, the target of the nation’s largest beef recall ever, has been especially disturbing due to their contract with the USDA to supply beef to the School Lunch Program.  It is con