And now you can’t eat pistachios either
The FDA is announcing the “voluntary” recall of certain pistachio products. Certain, in this case, means a mere million pounds of products from Setton Pistachios of Terra Bella, CA. These appear to be contaminated with multiple strains of Salmonella. As with the peanut butter recalls, pistachios are used in many different kinds of products. The FDA learned about the problem from Kraft Foods, which found Salmonella in its Back to Nature Trail Mix. Nobody has gotten sick yet, but stay tuned. The FDA has a brand new pistachio recall page on its website. Now you can keep track of pistachio recalls along with the peanut butter recalls which continue to come in every day and now add up to nearly 4,000 products.
Will this ever end? While waiting for Congress to approve the appointment of Dr. Margaret Hamburg as FDA Commissioner, her deputy, Joseph Scharstein, has just taken over as acting commissioner. These new officials will have plenty of work to do to get this mess under control.
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Comments
[...] Aaaand, yep, there go the pistachios. [...]
I suppose in a few years we will see mandatory spraying of propylene oxide with the pistachios as well, just like the almonds. For those who don’t know, as of Sept. 1, 2007, California commercial grown almonds are now sprayed with propylene oxide because of a past salmonella incident. Look up the MSDS on this substance to see how toxic this substance really is.
On orders of my doc I’ve been taken off of any vegetable oil except coconut, avocado, and olive, as well as anything made with high fructose corn syrup. When traveling, it has been the pistachio nut which over & over again is the ONLY nut I”ve been able to find in average mid America grocery that is not roasted in some blend of canola/safflower oil and/or has not been doused with high fructose corn syrup. The pistachio has stood alone as a easy protein, untainted, healthy handy snack.
So, of course, pistachios had to develop some sort of a problem. They were just too darn simple to be useful to the mega-food industry!! They were actually the only truly healthy option in the nut aisle of the mid-America grocery store.
I am getting to the point that most regular grocery stores hold very little of interest to me.
I know they have traced E Coli to the insane corn-feeding practices of the standard beef industry…but is the salmonella coming from hog farm runoff, or from somewhere else?
Your points about food safety and staffing at FDA seem to stay current no matter how much attention is paid to food safety and product recalls!! Witness the media and FDA on pistachios(earlier pet food, spinach, peanut butter, meat, basically the whole system).
Got this in my in-box: even the priciest places can’t avoid this problem.
Whole Foods Market Issues Nationwide Voluntary Recall of In-Shell Pistachio Nuts Due to Possible Health Risk (April 1)
Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:43:00 -0500
The affected product is 16 oz. packages of 365 Everyday Value brand Dry Roasted and Salted Pistachios with Best Before dates of 07/08/2009 GL1, 07/08/2009 GL2, and 11/27/2009 GL1 and a Universal Product Code (UPC) of 99482-40435.
So, what’s the answer? Not everyone is able to do a ‘Barbara Kingsolver’ and grow their own on a farm. Most people want to get in and get out(food markets).
“For those who don’t know, as of Sept. 1, 2007, California commercial grown almonds are now sprayed with propylene oxide because of a past salmonella incident.”
This is incorrect. Yes, California almonds must now be treated, but treatment with PPO is not mandatory. Non-chemical means–primarily hot humid air treatments–are available. All organic almonds must, by law, use some method other than propylene oxide.
Orchards are quasi-wild places. Salmonella can come from birds and their droppings, snakes, lizards, frogs, squirrels, mice, coyotes, etc. Such wildlife is common in almond orchards.