Health Spectator

Today, Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. President Steve Mendell finally admitted that cattle were illegally slaughtered at his plant and that cows too sick to stand were forced into the food supply. Mendell had originally maintained in a written statement to a congressional committee investigating the largest meat recall scandal in U.S. history that the sick cattle filmed in an underground video by the American Humane Society were being moved to a separate pen to be euthanized.

However, today Mendell acknowledged under direct questioning by Representative Bart Stupak (D, MI) that those cattle did indeed enter the food supply.

Mendell was appearing under subpoena before the House Energy and Commerce investigative subcommittee, which Rep. Stupak chairs. He failed to appear at a committee hearing last month.

The Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.’s Chino, California plant was shut down February 17 and 143 million pounds of beef recalled after the Humane Society posted the video on its website. According to the Associated Press, some 50 million pounds of the beef went to federal nutrition programs, mostly school lunches.

The AP report quoted Mendell as saying, “Our company is ruined. We cannot continue. Some 220 employees have lost or are about to lose their jobs.”

(Source: the Environmental Working Group) – Many new parents are aware that the toxic chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) leaches from plastic baby bottles found on the shelves of stores across America. But a new investigation by Environmental Working Group (EWG) reveals that BPA is also used to line nearly all infant formula cans. Indeed, the BPA levels found in liquid formula are likely to be far higher than those that leach from plastic baby bottles under normal use.

The EWG contacted company officials at Nestlé, Ross-Abbot (Similac), MeadJohnson (Enfamil), Hain-Celestial (Earth’s Best), and PBM (sold under various names at Walmart, Kroger, Target and other stores). Each company’s policy was documented a minimum of three times; twice through detailed phone interviews, and once by an e-mail questionnaire. The results reveal that all manufacturers use BPA to line the metal portions of all infant formula containers, including powdered varieties.

“Many parents have switched to BPA-free bottles for their infants. They certainly should have access to BPA-free formula as well,” said Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst with EWG. “U.S. manufacturers of infant formula and baby bottles can and should do the right thing and remove this harmful chemical from their products.”

“There is mounting scientific evidence that BPA is toxic, especially to children,” said Aaron Freeman, Policy Director with Environmental Defence. “Governments should be acting quickly, starting with a ban on BPA in food and beverage containers.” Previous formula testing by EWG and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has shown that BPA leaches from the plastic lining of metal cans into liquid formula, exposing formula-fed babies to potentially harmful concentrations that are higher than levels leaching from the bottles.

BPA levels in powdered formula sold in the United States haven’t been tested, but this formula is diluted with water before being fed to babies, and thus poses less risk. In light of these findings, EWG has created an online guide for parents to help them make the most informed decisions about how they feed their babies.

An expanded recall on September 29 of 21.7 million tons of beef resulted in the bankruptcy a week later of 67-year-old Topps Meat, the largest U.S. maker of frozen beef patties. Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the contagion was likely caused by beef from Ranchers Beef Ltd of Balzac, Alberta, Canada, a company that had ceased operation citing insolvency just a month before.

Nearly 100 people in the U.S. and Canada were sickened by the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, while the recall itself was the second largest in U.S. history.

The chain of events illustrates–with considerable irony–the problems inherent in establishing a farmer’s cooperative under a food distribution system that consolidates control by increasingly centralized producers, processors and distributors within a framework in which adequate inspection and food safety are frequently brushed aside.

The irony is that Ranchers Beef was a new co-op formed by ranchers attempting to overcome exploitation at the hands of centralized packing houses by marketing their own beef.

According to an article run by the Canadian National Post on August 22, just a week after the 14-month-old co-op closed, Ranchers Beef was “christened the Cadillac of food safety in a post-mad-cow era, capable of tracking each bovine as it journeyed from the truck, through the plant, to its end in a box of beef.” One investor claimed that Ranchers Beef was “the only plant eligible to ship to Europe” in all of North America.

The U. S. Food Safety and Inspection Service delisted Ranchers Beef as an importer on October 20. U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Richard Raymond said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) provided pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns—a form of genetic fingerprinting—from Ranchers Beef products that “helped us determine a likely source of contaminated product which led to the September 29 Topps Meat expanded recall.”

Ranchers Beef was not the first Canadian co-op-style meatpacker to close in recent history. In February, Ranchers Choice Beef Co-op Ltd in Dauphin, Manitoba had decided to cease operation under similar financial constraints.

Observers site the U.S. Farm Bill currently working its way through the Senate as a possible mechanism of correcting a food distribution system that increasingly crowds out smaller farmers and ranchers in favor of industrial-style production facilities. While consumers continue paying higher prices for beef and other farm products, smaller farmers and ranchers are under increasing pressure to quit the business, usually by selling out to conglomerates.

That such a large distributor as Topps Meat should be brought down by the recall illustrates yet another irony of the current system: because meat products are intermingled on such a grand scale without prior testing for safety, when a problem does arise, the resulting recall is farm more extensive than it would have been had a smaller batch been distributed on a local level.

What’s more, according to the National Post, Ranchers Beef plans to market premium beef tested for bovine spongioform encephalopathy (BSE), were disallowed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. That a plant designed for preventing and tracking BSE should be blamed for an E. coli outbreak, which is caused by poor sanitary procedures during slaughtering, was just one more painful bit of irony.

[Editor's Note: to see Dan Rather's thought-provoking coverage of the U.S. Farm Bill, click here.]

We can’t say we’ve yet read Barbara Kingsolver’s popular book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. However, assuming the following quotes excerpted from her interview on another channel are representative of her work, we look forward to doing so:

On average, 85 cents of every food dollar goes to the processors, packagers, advertisers and oil companies who profit handsomely from our lack of regard for soil, water, climate and the future. Farmers have no choice but to respond to consumer demand. They can only grow what we will buy….

It’s not “natural” that organic and whole foods cost more than tallow-fried junk. We choose that through our tacit approval of the Farm Bill that defines food and nutrition policy in this country. We’ve elected to subsidize corporate commodity farms while leaving small, diversified fruit and vegetable farmers on their own, trying to compete. For organic farmers it’s even worse-–-we make them pay for their own inspection and oversight. If we’d like to flip this over and subsidize healthy rather than unhealthy foods, we can call our legislators and start talking. This is a good time to do it, because the Farm Bill is being renegotiated at this moment.

We think Ms. Kingsolver’s notion of contacting your legislative representatives is a good one. To make it easier, you can find contact information for all your U.S. government officials here. (In fact, this source will show you how to contact your state representatives as well.)

As for the Farm Bill, it has passed the House and is now being debated and modified by the Senate. You can find additional information and ideas about what the Farm Bill might better include at OxFam America. As a general guide, agribusiness doesn’t need help to keep going. But small farmers—who have to compete with the large farms and their economies of scale—can use all the help they can get. They are the main source of hope for healthy and sustainable—not to mention local and organic—agriculture.

Thus, while “farm subsidies” has become a near-epithet for many in recent years, we shouldn’t overlook aid to small farmers, particularly those who are bucking the current trend in conventional agriculture by producing organic farm products. As Ms. Kingsolver points out, why should organic farmers have to bear an additional economic burden in paying for inspection and oversight to make sure they are farming in a way that we should all hope they do? Perhaps the U.S. should pay more attention to subsidizing small-scale, sustainable, organic farming techniques so that we can all have healthier choices of food that don’t degrade the environment.

It’s a good idea to let your representatives know how you feel about topics such as the Farm Bill, organic farming, and genetic modification. And if you’re not sure how you feel about those topics, go to our site search or our category listings on the left sidebar and find articles we’ve provided on these subjects.

We hope to be bringing you more in the near future. Come to think of it, you might even use the Make a Donation button at left to help assure that we can.

[Editor's Note: to see Dan Rather's thought-provoking coverage of the U.S. Farm Bill, click here.]

China is once again in the news over food contamination, this time regarding contaminated fish exported to the U.S. for human consumption. USA Today is reporting that “in the past 13 months, at least two dozen shipments of catfish, eel and tilapia from Meihua [China] were rejected for entry into the USA by the Food and Drug Administration,” based on FDA records.

The irony is that some of the shipments were rejected because they were contaminated with an antifungal that protects fish but is not allowed by the FDA because it increases cancer rates in lab animals. Others were rejected because of “suspected” contamination or for other contaminants.

But the FDA, meanwhile, is battling food contamination closer to home. Robert’s American Gourmet (Sea Cliff, N.Y.) is recalling the snack food Veggie Booty after the FDA linked the snack to salmonellosis outbreaks in 17 states. So far, 51 people have been infected, mostly children.

Symptoms of salmonella poisoning include fever, nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. The infection is especially troublesome among children, the aged, and those with weakened immune systems, who have been known to die from the effects of salmonella.

Although Robert’s American Gourmet is still saying that the link between the salmonellosis and the snack food is unproven and circumstantial, an FDA source states unequivocally that “an ongoing investigation has identified Veggie Booty as the source of a multi-state outbreak of salmonellosis.”

The ongoing investigation began in March.

As we reported two days ago, a major recall of ground beef produced by United Food Group LLC has affected 13 Western states in the U.S.

Today, Safeway Inc.—which was not listed in our previous report—has announced an expanded voluntary recall of ground beef products with sell-by dates of April 7 through May 1, 2007.

The affected Safeway stores are only in Arizona.

In March 2000, a Reuters report cited by the Organic Consumers Association estimated that 89% of ground beef in the U.S. was tainted by small quantities of Escherichia coli 0157:H7, one of the most virulent of the disease-causing strains of the bacterium. (Ironically, E. coli constitutes a natural and healthy part of intestinal flora, although hundreds of strains of animal origin are known to be pathogenic in humans.) According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as few as 10 of the organisms can start an infection that results in bloody diarrhea, fever, kidney failure and death.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers the e. coli strain in question to be one of the deadliest foodborne illnesses. The CDC estimated in 2000 that 52 Americans die annually from food contaminated with the bacteria, and 62,000 others are sickened. Those estimates have since risen and fallen, but remain close to current actuality. Less severe infections frequently go undiagnosed, while severe ones are more accurately reported now than they were previously. Twenty-five years ago, e. coli was not even recognized as a potential pathogen.

The best way to prevent illness resulting from eating the contaminated beef (other than avoiding it entirely) is to heat it to an internal temperature of 160° F (71° C) (well done).

On the other hand, better industry practice could completely eliminate the problem. For one thing, only acid-resistant e. coli 0157:H7 is problematic. E. coli does not normally survive exposure to stomach acid, but commercially raised cattle are fed grain rather than grazed on grass. Although grain-fed cattle fatten faster, the fermentation of the grain in the animal’s intestine leads to the acid-resistant strain that survives human digestion.

Furthermore, the existence of e. coli in beef indicates that the meat has been contaminated by feces.

A ground beef recall so far affecting only Western states is in effect for beef originating from United Food Group and sold in 13 supermarket chains. The ground beef in question has been tainted with e. coli, a contaminant usually found as the result of poor slaughterhouse hygiene or practices.

So far, no one has died from eating the tainted beef, though four people have been hospitalized. E. coli contamination is of special concern for children under five and the elderly, who are most likely to be affected. So far, the illnesses have been reported in the five states of California, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.

The ground meat is apparently being sold in tubes under the brand names Moran’s All Natural, Miller Meat Company, Stater Bros., Inter-American Products Inc., and Basha’s. Sell-by dates have been reported as April 20 to May 7, but recent reports indicate the beef may be tainted outside those sell dates, so consumers should be cautious. The supermarket chains involved include Albertson’s, Basha’s, Grocery Outlet, Fry’s, “R” Ranch Markets, Sam’s Club, Save-A-Lot, Save-Mart, Scolari’s Wholesale Markets, Smart and Final, Smith’s, Stater Bros. and Superior Warehouse Club supermarkets.

Sam’s Clubs were only stocked with the tainted beef in California, Arizona, and Nevada.

US consumers may have a lot to think about when they visit the supermarket, what with pesticides in our fruits and vegetables and hormones in our meat.

But pity the poor Chinese consumer. Imagine what consumer protection is like in China if we hear frequent complaints about our FDA and EPA. The recent ongoing series of pet-food recalls in this country were, after all, the result of contaminations that originated in China. In fact, Reuters reports, “China’s citizens are treated to a near-daily diet of stories of mass food poisonings or tainted products, and the government is starting to take action.”

A Chinese official—Zheng Xiaoyu, a former head of the national food and drug agency, the equivalent of our FDA—was sentenced to death “for taking bribes in exchange for drug approvals.”

Now that’s what we call taking action!

In a major health crisis, the BBC is reporting that Irish city Galway has been struck by a cryptosporidium outbreak.

Cryptosporidium is a protozoan that can cause severe vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps in humans (cryptosporodiosis). What’s worse, infestation by this intestinal parasite can be fatal to children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems, such as AIDS patients.

Galway is not the first city to be struck by such a crisis, nor is it likely to be the last. Cryptosporidium spreads by use of an oocyst phase that is not affected by chlorine or most other common disinfectants. Once this water-borne parasite invades a water supply, it is likely to cause illness in up to 50% of the citizens drinking the affected water.

A major outbreak of cryptosporidium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1993 killed more than 100 people out of an estimated 880,000 served by the affected water treatment facility. The plant was shut down, but during the two week period that it remained open, 403,000 residents became ill. This was the worst waterborne disease outbreak documented in the United States.

Ozonation and treatment with ultraviolet light have been shown to be effective treatments for disabling the protozoan, but filtration and boiling are the most commonly used methods to achieve water safety.

Unlike many parasites, cryptosporidium passes its entire life cycle in a single host, so an infected host will excrete oocysts in its feces. If those oocysts can reach a water supply, the cycle continues.

Some recent reports indicated that the Galway outbreak occurred through leakage from a sewage treatment plant. However, others have reported that the waste causing contamination was animal as well as human, indicating that agricultural runoff could be involved as well.