That's right, we've got another voluntary recall due to concerns over "Potential Health Risk Due to Possible Contamination of Salmonella". This is becoming a more common occurrence and it's happening with foods that one might not make the connection.
First we had leafy greens, then we had the peanut butter recall. And people got sick, not just a little sick, there were deaths involved and the hardest hit were kids. We cannot take the safety of our food supply for granted as big AG takes risk with our health and compromise safety for cheap production standards and use big lobbying money to further weaken government standards so they can pad their bottom line.
So were faced with more recalls...
Here is the official release from the Food and Drug Administration.
Five Crowns Marketing traced back the entire lot of cantaloupes and is advising all customers who received the recalled cantaloupes. Although based on harvest and shipping dates from November 4 through November 13, 2009 would indicate that the cantaloupes have now passed through the distribution chain with no reported illnesses. The cantaloupes in the identified lots were harvested and shipped to wholesalers, retailers, and food service operators in the states of Alabama, California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
Cantaloupes were packed in various sizes with and without individual label stickers. All cartons carry the label "Majesty" and are further identified with lot numbers 198 2 or 198 3, packed dates Nov 4, Nov 6, and Nov 10. Also those cantaloupes that contain stickered labels are identified with the label "Majesty".
...
Consumers who have recently bought cantaloupes should check with their place of purchase to determine if their fruit is affected by the recall. Wholesale, retail, and food service entities should contact Five Crown Marketing at 760-344-1390 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. PST.
And then you have this recall of Watermelon from Business Wire...
DAVIS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Timco Worldwide Inc. is recalling a limited number of its Large Seedless Watermelons because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this occurrence.
...
The Large Seedless Watermelons included in this voluntary recall were distributed to select grocers, wholesalers and processors in California and Texas.
The Large Seedless Watermelons are stickered with the "MelonUp!" label with the PLU (Price Look Up) # 4032 and UPC # 0 33383 40240 6.
The potential for contamination was noted after routine testing, by a distribution company on Thursday, November 19, 2009. This revealed the presence of Salmonella on the outside rind of a melon randomly selected for testing.
Timco Worldwide Inc. elected to exercise an abundance of caution and initiate the recall in the interest of public health. No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this occurrence.
Consumers who have purchased Large Seedless Watermelons in the markets noted above (with the MelonUp! label) are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-530-757-1000 press "4" for Food Safety. (Hours of business: Monday through Friday 8AM to 5PM PST).
As with all fresh fruits and vegetables, Timco Worldwide Inc. recommends that fresh melons are washed before cutting and/or consumption.
Thanks to S.T.O.P. (Safe Tables Our Priority) for this important alert on both these recalls.
Jill Richardson has been covering the latest Food Safety bill going through the Senate and it's important legislation, Food Safety Bill Passes Senate Committee and were very lucky to have Senator Merekely doing his best to make sure to protect organic and sustainable farming practices.
Big AG has been attacking small farms and organic practices as unclean as a means to undercut their competition, more dirty tricks by the few large companies that have far too much control over our food supply and policies in this Country.
Thank you to Merkely and the other Senators who drafted this letter to help save Organics and sustainable practices so that they wouldn't be hurt by new safety laws, which was all the buzz this summer in the food community. The practices they use are exactly what helps protect our environment (crop rotation and natural pest control methods are just two examples).
Food safety issues will always be an issue from the Farmer's market to the supermarket, but we can take such issues into our hands and be well informed.
Note - This is Ellinorianne and I'm writing on behalf of Eat Cleaner. I am currently unpaid and doing community outreach on behalf of Eat Cleaner and on my own because this has become my passion. I hope that as soon as Eat Cleaner is able to hire me I will be writing more and doing more on behalf of anything food and environment related.