How do you recall 114 tons of spinach without telling the public?
The United States Food and Drug Administration and the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency did just that, beginning New Year’s Eve,
according to information posted on her eFoodAlert website by microbiologist
Phyllis Entis.
"I
realize that not all recalls are created equal, and that not all recalls
require public notification. But I cannot understand the rationale behind NOT
publicizing a Class I Hazard recall of a ready-to-eat item of produce that may
be contaminated with a potentially lethal pathogen," Entis wrote. "Would
anyone care to explain this to me?"
Sorry, Ms. Entis, but it will be a frosty day in July when Canada's Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz explains anything to you, he of "death by a thousand cold cuts" fame.
FDA
and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency did not publish public notices of this
recall in December or January - and still have not -- and the FDA enforcement
report did not say whether there were any illnesses linked to the recalled
spinach.
According
to the enforcement report, Tiro Tres Farms notified its own customers of the
recall by letter on Dec. 31, 2011, but the FDA report does not indicate if any
of the spinach was sold by retailers.
Entis
says the potentially contaminated spinach from Tiro Tres Farms of Eagle Pass, Texas, was
distributed in Ontario, Quebec, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts and
Pennsylvania.
I recall that after a major food poisoning was linked to spinach from California, the head of company that provides fresh salads to McDonald's Restaurants of Canada said he stopped including spinach in the mix long before that outbreak surfaced because he deemed the product too risky. The bacteria can hide in crevices in the leaves. Cooked spinach, anyone?
