Comments on: FDA: Yesterday’s hearing, tomorrow’s results

By: Dennis

Dennis — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 03:15:32 +0000

Botulism, eh? Yup! Can I have some tetradotoxin with mine in my monkfish? And some of that Cesium-137 that was in one of the FDA rejected imports.

Eeeekkk…
j/k but not very funny.

By: newlurker

newlurker — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 01:55:18 +0000

“Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness …”

lol at the “rare”..not anymore..this must be the 3rd or 4th recall that mentions botulism

By: Maureen

Maureen — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:58:59 +0000

Sorry if this important suspected botulism product recall has already been posted here. I did a quick scan and didn’t see it. This was posted on the USDA’s website today:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_...../index.asp

Georgia Firm Recalls Canned Meat Products That May Contain Clostridium botulinum

Recall Release CLASS I RECALL
FSIS-RC-033-2007 HEALTH RISK: HIGH

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2007 - Castleberry’s Food Company, an Augusta, Ga., establishment owned by Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, is voluntarily recalling approximately 721,389 pounds of canned meat products that may contain Clostridium botulinum as a result of an equipment malfunction, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

The following products are subject to recall: [View Labels | PDF Document, 1.2MB]

* 10-ounce cans of “Castleberry’s BUNKER HILL, ORIGINAL Chili NO BEANS.” Each label bears the establishment number “EST. 195” inside the USDA seal of inspection. The bottom of each can is stamped with a “best by” date of “5/22/2009.”

* 15-ounce cans of “Castleberry’s CHILI WITH BEANS.” Each label bears the establishment number “EST. 195” inside the USDA seal of inspection. The bottom of each can is stamped with a “best by” date of “5/17/2009.”

* 10-ounce cans of “Castleberry’s HICKORY SMOKED, OVEN ROASTED, WITH SKINS, BARBECUE PORK IN BARBECUE SAUCE.” Each label bears the establishment number “EST. 195” inside the USDA seal of inspection. The bottom of each can is stamped with a “best by” date of “5/17/2009.”

* 15-ounce cans of “Cattle Drive CHILI WITH BEANS.” Each label bears the establishment number “EST. 195” inside the USDA seal of inspection. The bottom of each can is stamped with a “best by” date of “4/30/2009,” “5/10/2009” or “5/21/2009.”

* 15-ounce cans of “Meijer CORNED BEEF HASH.” Each label bears the establishment number “EST. 195” inside the USDA seal of inspection. The bottom of each can is stamped a “best by” date of “5/3/2009.”

* 15-ounce cans of “MORTON HOUSE Corned Beef Hash.” Each label bears the establishment number “EST. 195” inside the USDA seal of inspection. The bottom of each can is stamped with a “best by” date of “5/3/2009.”

* 15-ounce cans of “SOUTHERN HOME CORNED BEEF HASH.” Each label bears the establishment number “EST. 195” inside the USDA seal of inspection. The bottom of each can is stamped with a “best by” date of “5/3/2009.”

The canned meat products were produced between April 30 and May 22, 2007 and were distributed to retail establishments in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The problem regarding the equipment malfunction was discovered during an investigation into illnesses in Indiana and Texas. The investigation led to a recall by the Food and Drug Administration of three types of meatless hotdog chili sauce. There have been no reports of illness from consumption of the products listed in this news release.

Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin. Symptoms of botulism include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness. The illness can cause paralysis, respiratory failure and death. Symptoms usually occur from 18 to 36 hours after eating contaminated food. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a physician.

Consumers with questions about the recall should contact company Consumer Hotline at (888) 203-8446. Media with questions about the recall should contact the company public affairs representative Della Sweetman at (619) 200-0436 or Doug McGraw at (212) 453-2202.

By: Maureen

Maureen — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:12:51 +0000

Agree with petlover. Sen. Bart Stupak was great at the hearing. The witnesses were well chosen and they came through. The civil service staff will be hung out to dry in their agencies if the Dems don’t keep the majority in 2008; they were that honest about the deterioration of the FDA and were very specific. That was one very long, very thorough hearing. He seemed entirely disgusted when he dismissed Von Eschenbach and the last panel.

By: petlover

petlover — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:21:23 +0000

Bart Stupak was pumped!

By: Kat

Kat — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:05:11 +0000

Here’s the link for the Executive Order:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news.....718-4.html

By: Kat

Kat — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:02:03 +0000

I see Prez. Bush JUST woke up from his ~coma~
& signed an Executive Order for health safety investigation.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20.....0718195555

By: straybaby

straybaby — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:23:07 +0000

Comment by Barb — July 18, 2007 @ 3:02 pm

GO LOU GO!!!!

By: The OTHER Pat

The OTHER Pat — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:19:02 +0000

Oops! The URL from William’s signature (one of the pages there, at least):

https://www.scoringcontainers.com/scoringcontainers/index.cfm

By: The OTHER Pat

The OTHER Pat — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:18:34 +0000

Actually, if you take a look at William Kanitz’s website (if I’m understanding this correctly), you could put an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Tag)on pretty much any product and then be able to pull up a computer file of where each and every ingredient in it came from. Is that right, William?

And would that get around the (unfortunate) loopholes in COOL that say that certain “ingredients” in food don’t need to be COOL-identified (ditto for foods once they’re “processed”, as I understand it). (If Elaine is around, she might be familiar with these particular nuances of COOL.)