Food Tampering Advisory (Washington State)

[Generic Other]

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a vague and, frankly, frustrating warning to consumers in Western Washington to check for possible tampering on any recently purchased supermarket product.

The agency says this is a precautionary measure because of an anonymous letter describing puncturing of a small number of products.

But -- and this is important -- no actual tampering has been reported.

KOMO 4 News has been making calls all day long to try and get more information. We've called several officials at the FDA and the White House -- even the commissioner of the FDA to find out what's behind the advisory but frankly, no one had much to add, only that it's an ongoing investigation.

However, Friday afternoon, KOMO 4 News did learn through our newspaper partner, the Peninsula Daily News, that the investigation centers on a Safeway Store on the east side of Port Angeles.

http://www.komotv.com/stories/27306.htm

[jono]

1. This must be

the most irritating thing I've read all day. (Of course, I've stayed out of GD.) It's good to take precautions, but talk about scare tactics!

[Generic Other]

2. Sorry, but they were reporting it on all the Seattle networks

even as the feds were being tightlipped. So, now we must check all the food we bought in the last few days but we don't know why.

[Heddi]

3. I just saw this on local Seattle news

basically said the same thing---in fact, I think it *WAS* KOMO that I was watching.

said the FDA or someone received a letter talking about a few products that had been tampered with, and to look for 'puncture' marks on your foods b/c the letter stated something about puncturing through packaging....

which might be noticeable if a large-gauge needle was used....but there are hypodermic needles (if that's what was used) that are used on neonates (babies) and older people with fragile veins that are very, very small, and most likely would NOT be visible unless you were looking very very closely...

....what frightens me the most is that things can be tampered with in such a way that you would have NO idea something was punched through the packaging....if they were to 'puncture' along the seams or on the back or bottom of a package, it would be MUCH harder to detect than, say, if they put a really big hole right in the front of the package.

Also disturbing is that there is nothing specific about this alert. Should we be looking more closely at, say, frozen foods than dry goods? Mouth wash over ramen noodles?

what about fruits and veggies? that would be VERY hard to detect...

eek. me no eat no time soon :-/

[flamingyouth]

4. Hey, everyone!

Be afraid of all of your food! But not to worry!

gag me...

[Newsjock]

5. Quick! Everybody buy all new food!

This message brought to you by the Department of Homeland Shopping.

[Heddi]

6. aaah nooo...see

the warning wasn't specific, and the FDA & FBI are quite tight-lipped about when the letter was received, and the thing they had on local news tonight was not to be concerned ONLY about food that you've already bought, but food that you WILL buy...

I think I'm going to sustain myself on the piddling staples I have here in the house that (luckily) were bought 2 weeks ago since we were out of town last week....

....


....I sure hope 2 packs of ramen noodles and some hush-puppy mix can get us through the next year or so :-/

[Generic Other]

7. Port Angeles is port of entry from Canada

so is it al Queada or is it Carlyle? Maybe Monsanto.

[Generic Other]

8. Now they are calling it a biological agent

WTF?

Are my carrots contaminated with night soil?

Anthrax on my cheerios?

Mad cowburgers from Alberta?

Pot in my brownies? Hmmm...

[Newsjock]

9. The fear machine is in HIGH GEAR

We here in the newsroom watched the 6:30 news on all three Seattle stations, and we were aghast.

This is a prime example of what the Culture of Fear has done to us. "Biological agents," "vague warning," etc. -- all just another way for KOMO (especially), KIRO, and KING to keep us so scared that we'll watch their next news update.

I just want to barf -- and not because I've eaten any bad meat.

[pfitz59]

10. BC Hothouse Vegetables.......

Some of the best tomatoes and cukes in the world! Hope this warning doesn't apply to them!

[Newsjock]

11. Updated story: Piece of paper being tested, not for anthrax

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/140574_fda20.html

FBI asked for test of paper bearing grocery-tampering threat

By TOM PAULSON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

An anonymous letter sent to a Port Angeles Safeway store threatening of tampered supermarket products is being tested at the state public health laboratory for bacterial contaminants at the request of the FBI.

"We don't believe there's any terrorist activity involved," said Ray Lauer, spokesman for the Seattle office of the FBI. Lauer declined to provide details of the investigation but did say the letter contained no suspicious white powder and was not being tested for anthrax.

... According to the Peninsula Daily News, a letter sent Thursday to a Safeway grocery store just east of Port Angeles on U.S. Route 101 made threats and claimed to have tampered with products. Jim Manders, news editor for the Port Angeles newspaper, said the FBI had questioned employees of the store and planned to fingerprint them.

more

[Voltaire99]

12. This just proves we need a missile defense system!

Also, invading Syria and Iran will prevent these food tampering incidents, as will cutting the capital gains tax and restoring prayer in school.

[jsw_81]

13. Scary

It brings back memories of that crazy woman who was sneaking cyanide onto the store shelves a few years back. One of the victims in that case lived just down the road from my house.

:scared:

[Buck Turgidson]

14. Geezus, I shop at that store all the time.

Oh, well. There's another Safeway in town, so I'm safe.!

[bicentennial_baby]

15. Remember the Rajneeshes!!!

"On September 25, 1984 local health authorities closed down all restaurant salad bars in the town of The Dalles, Oregon, after an abrupt increase of gastroenteritis occurred in persons known to have consumed food from salad bars. Upon subsequent investigation by local and state health authorities and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it was discovered that the organism responsible for the outbreak was Salmonella Typhimurium, isolated in stool specimens of 388 patients.

Although the investigators clearly established an association between disease and food consumption at restaurants in The Dalles, the source of the Salmonella Typhimurium was not identified in the initial investigation. More than one year after the outbreak, state and federal criminal agents entered the compound of a local cult called the Rajneeshees and confiscated an open vial of a standard strain of Salmonella Typhimurium that turned out to be indistinguishable from the strain isolated from patients during the outbreak.

It was discovered that cult members had intentionally contaminated food items in several local restaurants to determine whether they could potentially incapacitate the local voting populous enough to influence the November, 1984 elections in the cult’s favor. Although use of other organisms including Salmonella typhii, Giardia lamblia, and HIV were discussed among the group, the stock strain of Salmonella Typhimurium was acquired from a commercial medical supply company between October, 1983 and February 1984. Large scale production of the organism then took place on the cult’s grounds and the organism was deliberately fed via drinking water to a judge and two commissioners who visited the cult grounds on August 29, 1984."

http://bt.rti.org/His1984.html