A Quick Opinion About the Latest Recalls
Congratulations, American food system, for once again sneaking a few diseases into our food. Thank you for keeping us on our toes and making sure we can never fully trust the pre-packaged, processed foods we, as a people, have come to rely too heavily on. Or is this your way of warning us that we should stick to all-natural, unprocessed foods from animals that don’t wallow in their own diseased feces all day? If that is the case, an even bigger thanks to you!
Not wanting to be left out after two Iowa farms have recalled over 550,000 eggs (that’s almost 46,000 dozen, for those of you keeping track at home) infected with salmonella enteritidis, Zemco Industries of Buffalo, NY has issued a recall of almost 380,000 pounds of processed deli meat contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause listeriosis. According to the USDA, this is an “uncommon but potentially fatal disease” which can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, and fatal infections in those with weakened immune systems (infants, elderly, HIV, etc.).
One thing is obvious: if you’re pregnant, you should be eating better than the Marketside Grab and Go Sandwiches that have been recalled. You probably also shouldn’t be feeding them to an infant. And while the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service wouldn’t name the single retail chain that these sandwiches were distributed to, a quick search of “Marketside Grab and Go Sandwiches” showed that retailer is—wait for it—WalMart! Knowing the usual WalMart clientele, it is now obvious how pregnant women and infants are going to get sick from this meat. For this recall, at least, the origin of the disease has not yet been stated (that I’ve seen).
The reason for the infected eggs, however, has been narrowed down to three possibilities: rodents, contaminated hens, or tainted feed. All of which, I’m sure, can be prevented if you have responsible chicken farmers who don’t keep their hens cooped up (literally) and who don’t feed them the awful food they generally get.
The eggs, by the way, are coming from Hillandale Farms and Wright County Egg (both in Iowa) and have been much more widely distributed than the tainted meat. According to the AP:
“The eggs recalled Friday were distributed under the brand names Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms, Sunny Meadow, Wholesome Farms and West Creek. The new recall applies to eggs sold between April and August.
“Hillandale said the eggs were distributed to grocery distribution centers, retail groceries and food service companies which service or are located in fourteen states, including Arkansas, California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.”[1]
For once, we’re lucky to live in Pennsylvania. If you’re not “lucky” enough to live in PA, or unlucky enough to live in one of the above states, be sure to check the information at your local grocery stores and steer clear of the brands listed above. It would also be a good idea to be sure that your eggs come from pastured, grass-fed chickens, which won’t have the problem of eating tainted food. As an even better idea, if you have the option, get your eggs from your local grower’s market. They will be cheaper, better tasting, and better quality than any of the eggs you get in your grocery store.
[1] www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38741401/ns/health-food_safety/Story continues below More below
