OK, that tears it. I’m not eating anything that comes in a bag, box, can, or package for the rest of the summer.
The food supply seems to be very, very broken. The latest food recall, of canned meats like corned beef hash and chili, along with dog food (which leads one to muse, “Hmm, they seem to be making dog food alongside my chili”), was for botulism. Now, E. coli’s pretty bad, I’ll grant you that, but botulism, well, that is something you don’t want to mess with. A paralytic disorder, botulism can take a year to get over, if it doesn’t kill you first.
Coming on the heels of all the other food scares in the past year, this recall is provoking consternation. Bloggers are sounding off and feeling angry.
Meanwhile, the FDA has appointed a “food safety czar”—and proposed cutting the number of its labs in half at the same time, according to yet another angry writer, this one an editorialist for the Baltimore Sun.
On top of all that, a Montana man opened a bag of barbecue potato chips, only to find a deep-fried mouse.
‘Good thing I seen it. I got it all the way up to my mouth,’ he said. ‘I felt the fur, I brought it back down and just looked at it and threw it behind my back.’
His claim is unsubstantiated, of course.
The vast amount and variety of food recalls recently has been shocking and frightening. I work with the Eat Well Guide, which has been a great tool in helping me find local and sustainable foods in my area. It’s comforting to know that in natural, non-packaged/boxed foods I never have to worry about almost eating a deep fried mouse.
Why are we seeing so many recalls these days??? Has industrialized food cut too many corners? Are the “super-germs” evolving as predicted? Terrorist plot? Or is it just the lastest thing that gets attention (translation: ratings) in the news media?
It is frightening. Seems like we’re hearing about a LOT more recalls these days. I agree 100% that we could use a new and improved FDA.