Risky Business

It has been a long time since I posted, which should come as no shock. I mean, the blog was started as a project for a business law class, so once the class was over....

Well, here I am several months later, having graduated and wondering, "what's next?" While I do hope to pursue a BA in the not-do-distant future, now is just not the time. Which leaves the questions of what to do with myself totally open.

The hard truth is that there are things I SHOULD do with myself. Things that I have been putting off for too long. Things like exercising and eating better. Things like losing weight and taking better care of myself.

Just the other night I watched "FORKS OVER KNIVES," a documentary about the benefits of eating a whole foods, plant based diet-and the pitfalls of a diet full of meat and dairy. I have come to the conclusion that I need to reevaluate what I thought I knew about food. I grew up being told to drink my milk and eat my meat because my body needed the calcium and protein. I have told my own kids the very same thing. But is that true? I am beginning to think not.

I am not going to go into the science of the debate-much better minds than mine have tackled that issue. But I will say that I am not motivated by politics or by life style or by trends. I am motivated by getting, and staying, healthy in whatever way works for me. Diets don't work-I have lost and gained and lost weight over and over again with diets. I need a better, healthier way to approach food. So why not start by taking a good, hard look at my believes about food? And then compare what I believe to what science has proven? As I go through this process I am discovering that meat and dairy may not have a place in my life anymore.

It makes me kind of sad to think that if I take meat and dairy out of my diet I won't be eating a nice, hearty bowl of beef stew again or dipping an oozy cheese sandwich into tomato soup! But if it means I won't have heartburn every day, that my headaches will lessen, that I won't pee my pants when I cough (yeah, I know...TMI), and that my back will get stronger, then I can deal with letting some foods go.

I keep thinking that maybe going to a plant-based diet is drastic. But really, the things I have done in the past to lose weight are what was drastic! I remember going on near-starvation diet to lose about 10 pounds. By the end I weighed 132 pounds, which was the lightest I ever was. And I felt like complete and utter crap. And the weight came right back. And it brought some friends. Rewind, repeat, replay.

The Price of Waiting...

 

On November 18 I received an e-mail from the U.S. PIRG (United States Public Interest Research Group) informing me that S.510, the Food Safety and Modernization Act, had come out of committee and was up for a vote as early at that day. The e-mail was in an effort to prompt concerned citizens, such as myself, to contact their senators and tell them to vote “yes” on the bill. The U.S. PIRG has issued a report about the effects of the bill being stalled in the Senate for more than a year. The report, titled “Recipe for Disaster: Food Recalls Proliferate While Food Safety Fix Awaits Action” is long, so I’ll just touch on the highlights.

 

Since the House passed its version of the food safety bill in July, 2009, S.510 has been waiting for time on the Senate’s floor schedule. And in those months, the FDA issued 85 recalls of food products. While the majority of the recalls were not connected to an outbreak of foodborne illness, nine of the recalls were tied to outbreaks in which 1,850 people fell ill. And as I wrote about last week, foodborne illnesses are dramatically underreported, so there were very likely many more illnesses attributable to foodborne contamination. The report included a list of all of the recalls, and one in particular caught my interest. In May there was a recall of black pepper which had sickened 272 people in 12 states with Salmonella. This was an example of what is termed a “rolling recall,” which means that a contaminated product finds its way into other foods, resulting in the recall of numerous individual food items. I never would have thought that black pepper could be contaminated, much less result in eight recalls! Also of note, Ohio was affected by 53 separate recalls in the period from July 2009 to September 2010. 

 I don’t know about you, but this brings home the point that if citizens want something done, they have the obligation to speak up. S.510 is controversial, but if you take a look at the folks arguing against the bill you might see that the bulk of them obviously have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. The bill didn’t come up for a vote as predicted, so the issue is not yet resolved. If you want to have a say, contact your senators and tell them how you feel.

This, dear readers, is the last required post for my class project. I do hope you have learned something about food safety and the business of food safety, and maybe you can better protect yourself and your loved ones from falling victim to foodborne contaminants. I wish you well.

Food Poisoning or Stomach Bug?

I had been planning on writing about how businesses react to outbreaks of foodborne illnesses related to their products this week. But in the early morning hours on Saturday, I was graphically reminded of the toll that foodborne illness takes on all of us. My 14-year-old son, Mack, woke up at 3:30 a.m. with painful stomach cramps and vomiting. Now, it could have been a virus, but I don’t think so. A bit of research led me to conclude that it was probably food poisoning. The symptoms of food poisoning are usually identical to the symptoms of a gastrointestinal virus, so besides having a doctor run tests on a stool sample, the only way to know is based on the circumstances surrounding the illness. The first clue was that no one else in the house was sick, or has gotten sick since, even though we have been in close contact with him. The second clue is that by a stroke of coincidence, no one else in the house ate any of the same food that Mack ate on Friday. The bus driver treated the high school kids to donuts because the middle school kids were off on Friday. He ate lunch at school, which is the norm. And because my husband and I were dining out for our anniversary, we gave him some cash and permission to “make a run for the border,” so to speak.

Nine hours after his fast-food feast, he woke shivering and vomiting. After we had to strip his bed to wash the linens, he moved into our bed and my husband moved to the couch. At one point Mack opted to lie on the bathroom floor with a beach towel as a blanket instead of in our bed because he didn’t think he could make the bathroom when he vomited. Yep, it was as bad as it sounds. He finally stopped vomited around noon on Saturday, but he still didn’t feel well. Fever, body aches and a headache are other symptoms of both a “stomach bug” and a foodborne illness, and he had all of them. The treatment for both is the same: fluids, rest, fever reducers, and “supportive care” (baby them.) Only severe cases need the attention of a physician. Which begs the question, how does food poisoning get reported? According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), most counties request that doctors and hospitals report outbreaks of foodborne illness. Okay, but what about the people who don’t have symptoms severe enough to warrant a trip to the doctor or hospital?

The CDC also recommends that people who believe that they are part of an “outbreak of food borne illness” to contact their local health department. I’ve no way of knowing if my son’s illness is part of an outbreak since I don’t know who else may have eaten the offending fast food. But since I live in Greene County, I decided to see if I should take any reporting action. Turns out I could report my son’s bout of foodborne illness myself by filling out two forms and mailing them to the Greene County Combined Health District. My son would have to be able to reconstruct every single thing he ate for the past week, so I don’t think we will bother. I have to wonder how many other people either don’t know if it is a stomach virus or food poisoning, or just don’t bother reporting milder cases. The CDC assumes under reporting when compiling statistics about food borne illness, but some feel those estimates (76 million illnesses, 323,914 hospitalizations, and 5,194 deaths each year) are inaccurate. The good news is that since the CDC compiled those statistics, there has been a decrease in the number of reported cases of foodborne illness. I’m just glad my son’s bout with food poisoning was mild enough so he didn’t become a statistic.

Getting it Right?

Food safety is a topic of wide interest, and not just to consumers and lawmakers. The largest part of the puzzle is industry: farmers, wholesalers, producers, retailers, and restaurants. Over the past several weeks I have highlighted some of the failures of the food safety program in our country. I was curious to see if there are companies that are getting it right. The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) states that is goal is “To provide food safety professionals worldwide with a forum to exchange information on protecting the food supply.” The IAFP consists of people and organizations involved in all parts of the food chain, from growing, storing and transporting to processing and preparing all types of food. One of the objectives of the IAFP is to highlight companies who “get it right” by recognizing corporate efforts towards advancing food safety and quality through consumer programs, employee relations, educational activities, and compliance with standards. The Black Pearl Award is awarded annually to a company that the IAFP believes has done everything it should and more to protect the food supply. Past award winners include Kraft Foods, Inc. (1998), Caravelle Foods (1999), and Jack in the Box, Inc. (2004).

The winner of the Black Pearl Award for 2010 was Fresh Express, a subsidiary of Chiquita Brands, LLC which sells pre-packaged ready-to-eat salads. The company established a Scientific Advisory Panel comprised of food safety experts in 2006. The purpose of the panel was to assist the company in learning about E. coli 0157:H7 and how to prevent outbreaks related to that pathogen. While Fresh Express created its Scientific Advisory Panel prior to the 2006 E. coli outbreak traced to spinach, and none of the tainted products were traced to the company, Fresh Express allocated $2 million in research funds to study the dangerous pathogen. But even a great track record is no guarantee that a company’s product is safe.

The winner of the IAFP Black Pearl Award for 2010, Fresh Express, has been associated with multiple outbreaks of food borne disease this year. In May numerous people were sickened by salmonella-tainted romaine lettuce reportedly linked to the company, but there was no recall. Later that same month, Fresh Express did issue a recall of romaine lettuce after samples of the product tested positive for salmonella. Fortunately, there were no illnesses reported with the second incidence of salmonella. But in July the company was again forced to recall pre-packaged romaine lettuce after samples of the product tested positive for E. coli 0157:H7. The company issued a voluntary recall of 2,825 cases of Veggie Lovers’ Salad in August due to a possible risk of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The company’s problems in 2010 did not end there. The FDA issued a warning letter to the company on October 6 of this year which included required corrective actions. While Fresh Express seems to take food safety very seriously, it has still produced a product that is dangerous! My intention is not to slam Fresh Express, but to point out how challenging it can be for a corporation to ensure the safety of every food item it grows or produces. It may be challenging, but I believe that the safety of our food supply deserves to be the number one priority of food producers. Maybe the Black Pearl Award was more like the Curse of the Black Pearl? Award winner or not, Fresh Express needs to get its food safety act together.

Election Day

It is that time of year. Leaves are turning and the air is getting chilly. And politicians are coming out of the woodwork. Yes, boys and girls, it is election season! While trolling the net for some interesting food safety tidbits, I ran across an article relating to food safety and politics. It seems that Frank Guinta, the Republican candidate for Congress from New Hampshire’s first congressional district, would like a smaller government. In a recent appearance, Mr. Guinta told the audience that he could buy fresh farm food from a local New Hampshire farm, therefore, “I don’t need the FDA to make that transaction.” Politics aside, I see a glaring misunderstanding contained in that statement. Contrary to what many people believe, buying food directly from a local farm does not guarantee that it is safe! As this 2008 Newsweek article points out, when the FDA advised consumers that homegrown tomatoes were not affected by an outbreak of salmonella, it was easy for consumers to assume that locally grown produce would also be safe. The Newsweek article addressed some of the reasons that locally grown produce may be safer, but pointed out that contamination with food borne disease can happen at any point in the food production process.

A few weeks ago I addressed S.510, the FDA Food Safety and Modernization Act. One of the criticisms of the bill is that it unfairly penalizes small farms and producers, and all but outlaws growing and selling produce from small farms and gardens. While that assertion may be an exaggeration, there is some legitimate concern that S.510 applies a “one size fits all” approach to food safety regulation. Consumers' Union points to a Michigan law which exempts very small producers and sellers from stringent governmental regulation as an example of wisely balancing the need to protect the public with the need and desire to buy and sell locally produced food. As the Senate prepares to vote on S.510 sometime in November, debate rages about the so-called Tester amendment to the bill. The amendment would exempt small farms and processors which have less than $500,000 in annual sales and that primarily sell products directly to consumers, restaurants or stores within the same state or within 400 miles of the farm or processing facility.

  

While at first glance the amendment seems reasonable, there may be cause for concern from a consumer standpoint. The Make Our Food Safe (MOFS) Coalition, which includes the American Public Health Association, Consumers Union and victims of food borne disease, is concerned that the amendment would have unforeseen consequences and pose risks to the public health. On the opposite side of the debate is the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NCAS) which believes the Tester Amendment would improve food safety by creating regulatory alternatives based on the size of the food producer/growers. NCAS is composed of grassroots agricultural groups and growers, which explains its staunch support for the Tester amendment. While both groups want safe food, they don’t agree on the best way to make that happen. A lot of the debate raging about the Tester amendment deals with the language: MOFS feels the language is too broad and sweeping and will include producers outside of the intended scope of the amendment. As you can see, the issue of food safety legislation is a complex, far-reaching issue. The question of what we eat should not be a political issue, but it obviously is. So, as with any other political issue of import, we need to educate ourselves and make sure our senators know where we stand. You don’t need to be part of a coalition or organized voice to have a say! And don’t forget to vote!

What's in Your Cart?

People refer to the “food safety net,” but it seems to me more like a huge puzzle. If even one piece is missing, the picture is incomplete-or in the case of food safety, the food can be dangerous. A large part of the puzzle is the myriad of agencies responsible for the safety of food products. Another major component is the food production and manufacturing sector. This week we will be exploring an important yet often overlooked part of the puzzle: retailers. Just this past week the FDA called for certified food protection managers to become a presence in retail outlets. The recommendation is based on the results of a ten-year study which showed that establishments which used certified food protection managers had higher rates of compliance with food safety regulations.

Retail food safety is governed not by federal code or regulations, but by state, local, and tribal regulations. The FDA has a “model food code” which provides guidance to regulatory agencies at all levels of government to assist with the administration of food safety as it relates to the retail sector. The ten-year study mentioned above looked at compliance rates with a variety of guidelines designed to optimize food safety at the retail level. There are a lot of so-called “risk factors” which the FDA looked at in the study: contaminated equipment, food from unsafe source, improper holding time or temperature, and poor personal hygiene. I think it is the last item that causes me the greatest concern-personal hygiene. The FDA study shows that in 2008, only 48% of observations of employee hand washing were in compliance with guidelines. This means that employees did not properly wash their hands as required 52% of the time! The statistic is particularly disturbing given the fact that the employees were being observed.

It seems that consumer confidence in the safety of food purchased at the grocery store is a bit shaky. In a 2008 survey conducted by the Food Market Institute, only 11% of shoppers were “completely confident” and 71% said they were “somewhat confident” in the safety of food purchased at a grocery store. If your supermarket is like mine, there are plenty of opportunities for food borne illness to get into the food supply: produce department, deli counter, meat and poultry cases, fish counter, and the bakery all provide the greatest risk of contamination from that culprit “poor personal hygiene” and others. So, what can you do? This article written by Dr. Oz provides a couple of ways you can make sure you don’t bring home more than you paid for from the grocery store. But what can you do about the risk factors over which you have no control? I’m quickly coming to the conclusion that we are at the mercy of others when it comes to food borne illnesses, and the only way to assess your risk is to ask the right questions. I was able to locate information about my preferred grocery chain’s food safety program, so I know that all store managers are “certified food safety managers. But is that enough?

Has Food Safety Come Far Enough?

Food safety is not a new concept. In the 1880s, women in New York protested against the conditions in slaughterhouses. The advent of a wide-spread outcry about the safety of the food supply can be traced to Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle,” which was published in 1906. Sinclair had spent several weeks in a Chicago meat-packing plant before penning a scathing portrayal of the conditions under which the animals were kept and the meat was produced. After reading an advance copy of the book, President Theodore Roosevelt prompted congress to create the Food and Drug Administration. The outcry over conditions described in the novel resulted in the issuance of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. These laws were the first attempts at regulating the food industry on a federal level.

The next major step in the history of food safety was the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, which passed only after a five year legislative battle. The FD&C Act authorized standards for the identity and quality of foods along with factory inspections. In 1938 the first food standards were issued which covered canned tomatoes, tomato puree and tomato paste. As you can see, progress was slow and painstaking when it came to food safety legislation. Have you ever noticed that food products never carry a label stating that the food is safe and in compliance with FDA regulations? There was only one time when the FDA allowed such a label: in 1959, the U.S. cranberry crop was recalled right before Thanksgiving to check for a weedkiller which caused cancer in laboratory animals. Berries which were inspected and cleared were allowed to be labeled with a statement that they had been tested and had passed FDA standards.

After outbreaks of botulism tied to low-acid canned foods, the FDA issued low-acid food processing regulations. It wasn’t until 1990 that some standards for food, nutrition labeling, and health claims for food were regulated and made consistent through the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act.Before that Act, there was no standard meaning for terms such as “low fat,” or “light.” As you can see, food safety has been on the public agenda for a very long time. One has to wonder why, with the technological and scientific advances we have made since Upton Sinclair’s time, we are still fighting for a safe food supply. What will it take?