Corporate E. Coli

[Tace]

Joshua Frank -- World News Trust

The latest string of E. Coli outbreaks should raise serious questions about the vulnerability of our country’s food supply. While most public health officials blame the cases on a violent strain of noxious bacteria, the corporate food industry continues to evade its due scrutiny.

Indeed our corporate- dominated food system is the real culprit in dispersing infected spinach across the country. As of this writing, the Food and Drug Administration is still tracing the origins of the most recent E. Coli epidemic, which has killed one person and sickened over a hundred more. The FDA’s task isn’t an easy one. The path America’s food travels from field to plate, is a long, unstable journey. Not only does our food often voyage hundreds upon hundreds of miles before it reaches our grocery store shelves, it also passes through dozens of different hands along the way.

The fact that people in New York are getting sick from spinach allegedly grown in California should be telling enough of our unsustainable consumer habits, as well as the inherent problems of our commercialized food industry. Corporate giants like Phillip Morris and General Mills have driven out small independent farmers. The food we eat is no longer grown close to home. If it were, the most recent E. Coli scare would not be as widespread or as difficult to rein in.

Natural Selection Foods LLC of California is currently thought to be the originator of last week’s E. Coli eruption. Natural Selection produces spinach that is packaged by Earthbound Organics, Dole, Green Harvest, Natural Selection Foods, Rave Spinach, Ready Pac, Trader Joe's, among others. With such a widespread distribution it’s not hard to understand why so many people in so many different states have been fallen ill.

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http://www.worldnewstrust.com/content/view/162/lang,en/

[Rainscents]

1. When PLASTIC bag are seal tight with raw veggie in it....

With no oxygen, bacteria love to grow and multiply! I don't eat veggies in the seal bag because this reason.

[Tace]

3. Yes, Plus Bagged Veggies Are Very Expensive

The stores love them because the profit margin is so high. Compare the price per pound for those bagged mini carrots with a simple bunch of whole carrots.

[pooja]

2. Exactly... also remeber that E. Coli is killed by cooking--

it is still ok to eat if you are cooking your spinach, using it in casseroles, etc. That's why we cook chicken and hamburger... because they contain bacteria that would be bad for you if you ate it raw. So, don't give up on Spinach yet.

I am glad though that it happened. It makes people question what is going on in the process. and if it happened to the Spinach, how long before salads, tomatos, squash... the other day I bought a red pepper that was grown in Canada and I live in FL. (normally I would go to veg. stand)... why am I buying a red pepper from Canada. $1.50 for the damn thing tells me a lot.

[Nikia]

4. People do work hard though to assure this doesn't happen more often

Sometimes passing through more hands can actually be protective. For example, I test incoming ingredients that come through the plant that I work at and the products we send to another company might test them as well. On the otherhand, consumers often don't know the real culprit if they get sick or get a substandard product. They might switch brands only to actually be getting the same product or product made with the problem ingredients.
Generally food companies must have a recall policy and be able to trace everything if something such as the spinach incident occurr.

[fed-up]

5. kick and R, people need to understand the food chain n/t