Food-Borne Disease and Food Contamination

FDA, USDA Responsible for Food Safety for Different Categories

According to an insightful and incisive front-page article in the October 21, 2024, edition of The Dallas Morning News, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is responsible for the safety of meat, poultry, catfish and processed egg products, while the Food and Drug Administration is responsible for overseeing mostly everything else, including fruits, vegetables, seafood, diary products, food additives and others. The articles also shines on the growing skepticism of people for our government to keep us safe from food-borne illnesses. The article tells that, among other causal factors, massive misinformation, disinformation and fake information during the COVID era have skewed our views and perception on the government agencies although infection rate may not have jumped up palpably from 2002 to 2022. In 2002, Salmonella infection rate was 16.24 per 100,000 people, according to CDC, compared to Salmonella infection rate of 16.3 per 100,000 people in 2022. Although Former President Barack Obama has signed Food Safety Modernization Act in 2011, its requirement for inspection of high-risk facilities once in three years is still a low bar and many food safety activists want a tighter requirement. 

E-COLI

The deadly E. Coli outbreak in Germany has led to finger-pointing, blame game and lack of decisive steps to find the source of contamination. The strain is different from the more common E. Coli strain: O157:H7 and has been detected in northern Germany on May 2, 2011. Since then, the super-toxic strain has killed 24 people and infected more than 2400 people in Europe, vast majority of them in Germany, with complication afflicting kidney. Initially German authorities blamed Spanish-grown cucumbers as the source of contamination, and then, backtracked after tests have shown strains other than the one found in Germany. The accusation invited swift protest and ridicule from Spaniards. On June 6, 2011, German authorities again pointed out German Sprouts as likely source of contamination, only to backtrack a day later. Meanwhile, a federal food monitoring system, FoodNet, on June 7, 2011 released a report that said of higher rate of appearance in the US of the virulent non-O157 strain found in the deadliest E. Coli outbreak in Germany. According to the FoodNet report, last year (2010) 442 people in the sample area fell ill to O157 strain, 184 out of them hospitalized and two died. According to the same report, 451 were infected by non-O157 strain, 69 out of the infected hospitalized and one died. German investigators might have found the likely source of the deadly E. coli bacteria around June 10. A small organic farm in the German village of Bienenbuettel might have grown the tainted sprouts.

LISTERIA

Cantaloupe Contamination

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on September 27, 2011 said that as many as 13 people, including two from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, have died from the possible listeria contamination tied to the cantaloupes from a Colorado farm, Jensen Farms in Holly. State and local officials said that they suspected three more deaths tied to Listeria. Listeria usually affects elderly, pregnant women and others with compromised immune systems. The CDC-reported deaths occurred in Texas (2), Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado (2), New Mexico (4), Oklahoma and Maryland. CDC also reported on September 27 an additional 59 illnesses. Listeria is more deadly than well-known pathogens such as Salmonella and E. Coli. Twenty-one people died in an outbreak of listeria poisoning in 1998 traced to contaminated hot dogs and possibly deli meats made by Bill Mar Foods, a subsidiary of Sara Lee Corp. Another large Listeria outbreak linked to Mexican-style soft cheese occurred in 1985 that had killed 52 people. About 800 cases of Listeria contamination happens every year in the USA, according to the CDC, and most of the cases are tied to deli meats and soft cheeses. However, in recent years it was found in produces, in 2009 in Sprouts and 2010 in Celery. The Food and Drug Administration on October 19, 2011 issued a report saying that used, corrosive and dirty equipment bought by the Jensen Farms in July might have led the Listeria contamination of the watermelon that had, as of October 19, led to 123 illnesses, including 25 deaths.

Recall of Deli Meats, Liverwurst Ordered 

After federal officials linked liverwurst samples tested positive to Listeria, U.S. Department of Agriculture on July 26, 2024 ordered recall of Boar Head's liverwurst and other deli meats produced during the same time as liverwurst at a Virginia plant run by the company, Boar Head. Listeria outbreak erupted in May 2024 in several states and caused dozens of illnesses and two deaths. 

Boar Expands Its Recall

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on July 30, 2024 that Boar's Head was expanding its recall to an additional 7 million pounds of products from 71 categories under Boar's Head and Old Country produced at the firm's Jarratt, Virginia plant between May 10, 2024 and July 29, 2024. The recalled products include, among others, liverwurst, beef salami, ham and bologna.

Inspectors Wave Red Flags on Boar's Head Plant Two Years Ago

The Dallas Morning News reported on September 12, 2024 that it was a mystery why authorities didn't take any meaningful measures after the USDA food inspectors had found several non-compliances at the Jarratt, Virginia plant during inspection between September 27, 2022 and October 4, 2022.

USDA IG to Investigate Department Handling 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CONN, asked USDA Inspector-General Phyllis Fong in a September 5, 2024, letter to launch a departmental investigation into how the USDA inspectors and Virginia state inspectors had handled various internal inspection reports that had earlier revealed very unsafe and unhygienic conditions prevailing at the now-shuttered Boar Head's plant in Jarratt, Virginia. On October 15, 2024, Sen. Blumenthal told that Fong had agreed to conduct an internal probe into USDA and Virginia inspectors' handling of those alarming reports. According to the CDC, at least 10 people had died and more than 50 were hospitalized in 19 states since the Listeria outbreak related to Boar's Head products in May 2024. Under a program, the state inspectors of Virginia undertake many of the food inspection procedures on behalf of the USDA. Now, that program is under scrutiny. 

SALMONELLA

Egg Recall

Two Iowa farms--Hillandale Farms and Wright County Egg--recalled recently almost half-a-billion eggs tied to Salmonella contamination that had sickened more than thousand people. The 80-billion count egg industry now faces tremendous challenge to win the heart and soul of American consumers.

Onion Recall

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on October 21, 2021 announced the recall of onions imported from Chihuahua. The CDC recommendation to toss out the onions imported from that area of Mexico and distributed by ProSource Inc. of Hailey, Idaho among the nation's grocery stores and restaurants came after more than 600 people were sickened in more than 37 states, including 158 Salmonella cases in Texas.