Food Safety Recalls Invade My Inbox

I recently went on an email subscription spree, as I occasionally do, and submitted my address to a number of lists that sounded remotely interesting. Usually this results in large numbers of weekly e-bulletins in my inbox that are never read. But what happened with the FoodSafety.gov Recalls & Alerts list truly shocked me.

I received email confirmation of my subscription from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on February 10th. I checked my email the next morning to find my usual readers and deleters, and an update: California Firm Recalls Frozen Cured Pork Patty Mix Due to Mislabeling and an Undeclared Allergen. Mere minutes later, another update slipped in: New Jersey Firm Recalls Ready-To-Eat Sausage Products That May Contain Foreign Materials. At first, I thought the folks at FoodSafety.gov were just catching me up on what's happened the past few weeks. But as I took a second look and confirmed this was not the case, another: Giant Food Recalls 24 oz. Party Platter Cookies. The recalls were rolling in, and by Saturday morning, just 72 hours after first signing up, I had received nine food recall notifications.

Of the nine recalls, one was due to "foreign materials," one cited possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination ("an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections"), another potential Salmonella contamination in Chocolate Chip Chewy Coated Granola Bars, and one targeted millions of pounds of beef and veal products that "were not produced in accordance with the company's food safety plan."

As Tara Lohan recently wrote, fecal contamination of bagged salads is disgusting, and the other high-profile recalls that make the news are equally upsetting, but to me, those nine emails were utterly shocking. An average of three major food recalls a day may be a skewed sample, but even if it's three a week, something is seriously wrong.

Although what we really need is a single food safety agency charged with ensuring that all food is produced safely, there are bills pending in Congress that would make a move in the right direction. Tell Congress to pass pending food safety legislation now!