After his mother died from eating contaminated peanut butter, Jeff Almer went to Washington to push for legislation that might save others from similar fates. And then he went again. And again. And again. But the Senate has still not acted to fix many of the flaws in the nation’s food safety system — although a bill to do so has broad bipartisan support, is a priority for the Obama administration and has the backing of both industry and consumer groups. The House passed its version of the bill more than a year ago. “It’s so frustrating,” said Mr. Almer, of Savage, Minn. “I don’t even know who to blame.”
I blame the Senate, but that part is easy.
I think food producers and all the other links in the chain should start to worry about public trust, and gladly accept increased regulation.
When the latest egg recall came out, I did a simple calculation standing in front of my refrigerator, where I weighed “eating eggs” with “whether I can afford to get sick from eating eggs”.
Since I don’t get paid if I don’t work, I pitched the eggs. I don’t know what other people are doing, but I’m not particularly or extraordinarily cautious with food. The recalls and deaths and illness since, oh, 2005 finally got to me, and I’m going with “not worth it”.
I don’t want to hear any complaints from the ag industry when people approach their products with a lot of trepidation. They should be begging the FDA to help them restore trust, not fighting regulation.
Superluminar
Well when you get sick from an unregulated food item, you could go to an unlicensed doctor for treatment? FREE MARKETZ BITCHEZ!
/glibertarian
Villago Delenda Est
When you think about it (there I go again, thinking) the “conservative” approach is to be cautious, and to take risks into consideration.
Food safety is one area where being cautious should be a no-brainer.
However, to do things like that get in the way of SACRED PROFIT.
The market MIGHT correct things AFTER THE FACT. In the meantime, people are sickened or perhaps even dead. Apparently the threat of massive legal action against those who sacrifice safety because it gets in the way of SACRED PROFIT isn’t enough of a safeguard. The market fails, AGAIN.
kay
@Superluminar:
It’s a weird situation, because it isn’t the big producers who are fighting. It’s the small producers.
I’d take exempting small producers, at this point. They have to do something.
Mike E
…and, somewhere, Upton Sinclair is saying, “WTF?!”
General Stuck
Republicans with a chicken eat chicken mentality.
kay
@General Stuck:
I don’t know, Stuck. One of the high-profile hold-outs is a Republican, but there’s also this guy:
The big producers say the small producers are sloppy, and the small producers blame the big guys on the processing end. I do know that my state agency is a joke, so unless Montana is a lot better, Tester is just wrong.
Josie
@kay: I can’t speak to the food issues, but I am a small producer of soap and bath products. The legislature is currently considering new regulations for cosmetics that would absolutely put me out of business. Requirements that work for large industries are a huge financial burden for the small producer. Those of us who sell in local markets and do our best to produce safe, natural products are hurt by such stringent and costly regulations, and so are the people who want our products.
Superluminar
@kay: It’s even weirder that it’s the small producers: speaking as a consumer my assumption would be that larger companies will have better systems in place/ more of a brand reputation to lose so I’d be more inclined to think their products safe.
WyldPirate
It’s pretty simple. Cook your fucking food, eggs included.
I don’t disagree that the regulations on food producers should be more stringent and those regulations enforced more than they are. However, pasteurization works. Cooking meats and other sorts of products to 165 F interior for ~5 minutes kills almost all the bacterial pathogens found in food; particularly all of the enteric bacteria that cause food borne illness.
Sure, sloppy conditions are bad. With things like peanut butter and other products like veggies that are eaten raw, cooking is obviously a problem. On the other hand, most food borne illnesses are caused by the dumbassery of the person preparing the food.
debbie
And that’s what happens when you fuck up often enough, isn’t it? I’d rather have fewer choices if I knew I could trust them.
I can’t wait until they get all alarmist and warn of fewer choices for the consumer, which then never turn out to be true. This happened just a couple of months ago with the airlines; and just last Friday, I heard the rep for the banker’s lobby warn of fewer choices if the plain-language requirements took effect. He complained that there might be “risks and traps” for banks. Well, welcome to the club, bub. Now you know how it feels to be tricked.
@ Josie:
I once got sick from organic tomatillos sold at a farmer’s market. Small producers shouldn’t be exempted. The producer was a friend, and I knew she was doing her “best to produce safe, natural products.” That did me no good.
kay
@Josie:
I buy meat from a local farmer, so I see your problem. I can actually see his operation, though. I’m not over there inspecting or anything, but I guess I’d have to say that if small producers want a total exemption from regulation, and want to sell products that go on or in people, I don’t know if I go along with that.
With the peanut butter, small producers were sending product to large processors, right, and it ended up in school lunches? If they’re exempt, people need to know that.
mistermix
In England, they have a voluntary program with higher standards than the government, and eggs meeting that higher standard get a special seal.
http://www.lioneggs.co.uk/page/lionmark
Seems like the free market solution to the problem, but our producers seem to be focused on the cheapest possible food, without regard to the health consequences.
kay
@WyldPirate:
Oh, good. I cook everything to death, so I should be fine. I’ll just continue with my autoclave approach to food preparation. It’s probably why I’ve been spared.
geg6
Well, as someone who suffered (and I mean suffered) from e coli when the spinach was found to be contaminated, fuck these mother fuckers. My doctors (and yes, I had several during the whole ordeal) said that I probably contracted it before it became apparent that it was a problem nationwide and it took several months for them to figure out what was wrong with me. They never thought to test me for e coli. I was really, really ill and it took me almost a year to get over it completely. I lost well over 30 pounds and considering I normally weigh about 120 pounds, that was debilitating. Luckily, it finally got figured out and I eventually recovered. Not everyone does.
If these bastards would have a family member go through something like that, they’d see that it is an emergency situation for public health. If they think it can’t happen to them, they are sadly mistaken.
Omnes Omnibus
@Josie: The problem is that the fact that a producer is small does not constitute a guarantee that they are doing their best to produce safe, natural products. In your situation, a less caring or greedier producer could cut corners to sell at a lower price or return a higher profit margin. The product they sell could be dangerous. This would hurt anyone who bought their product, but it could also hurt you as a purveyor of quality products. People would not know, except by experience, which products from small producers are safe and effective, and, if they have been harmed by a product once, they will be less likely to take a chance on another. This is not to say that the current or proposed regulations are the best possible way to control safety. Tailoring regulations to make sure that small producers can meet their burdens is a necessity in any well run regulatory program.
General Stuck
@kay: I was speaking in general about regulation with most republicans opposing it on principle of protecting the bottom line, and there are certainly some dems in big Ag states like MT who are going to try and look out for the small producers, which I tend to trust more as I think the larger the producer, the more impersonal and opportunity for things to go wrong.
I suspect Tester will come around once his concerns are dealt with, but I do not expect the government to ever completely protect our food supply. And with bacterial contaminations, it will always largely fall to consumers to cook their food to be safe. I learned this the hard way with getting a terrible case of Salmonella poisoning from eating undercooked chicken meat.
I only eat eggs with an Organic seal and free roaming, though who knows if that is what you get. cook thoroughly ALWAYS is my motto.
cmorenc
A big part of the problem is the many procedural bottlenecks in the current legislative system, particularly the US Senate, that permit just one or a tiny handful of members to obstruct or indefinitely delay legislation (and we haven’t even yet gotten to considering filibusters by a determined minority). The Speaker or Majority leader can considerably help or hinder legislation according to which committee s/he chooses to send it to for primary consideration, and which other committees are deemed to also have to sign off on it. The committee chairs have enormous power of their own to facilitate or obstruct legislation – at the state level, often committee chairs can simply sit on bills they disapprove of, refusing to even put them on the committee schedule.
This is even before we consider the efforts of lobbyists to influence members who control the necks of various bottles legislation the lobbyists have an interest in must pass through.
Patrick
Cooking food to that temperature makes it dry and unpalatable. A good reason nobody cooks and everyone eats out, is that restaurants use salt and cook meat to how people want it (but out of fear won’t cook it themselves).
Having said that, the OP could have hard boiled those eggs and made egg salad.
Omnes Omnibus
@Patrick: Yes, one of the problems I have with the idea of cooking everything to death as a safety measure is that I like my steak medium rare. I like a good spinach salad, but I cannot stand cooked spinach. I would like to be able to trust that the food I buy will not kill me if I prepare it in a way that is pleasing. I do not think that is too much to ask.
PurpleGirl
From the article: has the backing of both industry and consumer groups
It may have the backing of consumer groups, but it looks to me that the backing from industry is only lip service, it even that. There is some reason that senators aren’t voting on it….
Jennifer
I wrote a bit on this over at my joint a few weeks back, in a post entitled “Shorter US Food Purity and Safety Policy: Eat S*** and Die.” My post wasn’t so much about food pathogens as it was about the horrendous things the government allows processors to do without telling you – such as blending the bits of carcass most likely to be contaminated into your burger after “treating” it with ammonia to sanitize it. Is “ammonia” listed on the ingredients label? No. They’re allowed to hide that under some generic “processing agents” heading. (Oh, and – it turns out that the ammonia treatment doesn’t actually kill the pathogens – so now you’re getting to eat ammonia along with e coli – in return for eating cat food. Big win there.)
It would be a big win if we could just find out what they’re actually putting into our food. The reason they don’t tell you is because if you knew, you might not want to eat it.
To sum up: I wouldn’t count on Big Ag coming around to the “restore trust” position any time soon. They’re still in full “help us hide what we’re doing to the stuff people eat” mode.
As for food safety, as someone else noted, your best bet is to cook things to the correct temperature. You can buy pastuerized eggs, and perhaps at some point some producer will come up with the great idea of vaccinating the chickens against salmonella like they do in the UK, and maybe the government will actually allow them to advertise this fact (though maybe not – since they won’t allow beef to be labelled as tested free for mad cow disease – that would hurt the dirty producers’ profits, dontchaknow). For raw vegetables & fruits, I don’t eat anything without first doing the spray of vinegar followed by the spray of peroxide, which not only will kill any pathogens on the surface of the food, but is also completely non-toxic. I still might end up dead from peanut butter, though.
Mike E
The older I get, the more “British” my tastes get when it comes to my breakfast fare–especially eggs. I crave runny yolks, barely cooked eggs, mystery sausage. Methinks a culinary Darwin Award is in my near future.
Josie
@kay: I agree. Transparency in all areas of commerce is the best regulation. I (and most soapmakers) list all ingredients in my products and am willing to answer any questions as to their origin. Food producers should do the same. Some of the proposed cosmetics regulations, however, involve constant testing of formulas already approved and constant registering of new formulas, effectively shutting down producing new products without endless red tape. I am also doubtful that regulations without the personnel to do proper inspections will accomplish much. Some of the egg producers had been cited a number of times and were still supplying the market. The FDA has precious little authority to shut down offenders at this point, which is a big part of the problem. Making more and more regulations won’t solve that.
kay
@Mike E:
I’m going in the opposite direction. The older I get, the more I eat like a 6 year old. Peanut butter, apples, cereal. I’m going to be snacking on Cheerios out of a colorful container soon.
kay
@Josie:
Well, this gives them that authority, inspired by the egg fiasco. The DOA was visiting those egg producers (certifying grade) and knew the conditions were filthy. They didn’t communicate that to the FDA.
Ash Can
@PurpleGirl: “There is some reason that senators aren’t voting on it….”
They may just be in their “don’t-let-the-Dems-pass-anything-especially-something-that-actually-helps-people” mode.
Josie
@kay: Giving the FDA that authority is an excellent idea. I think any producer, large or small, that is found to be unclean should be shut down immediately and should stay that was until they can prove to a live human being that they have cleaned up their act. Requiring a written plan is a waste of time and paper, just like oil companies’ plans for cleaning up oil spills. I don’t have a problem with laws that actually protect consumers, just those that cause extra work and expense with little results.
SiubhanDuinne
Since the ultimate consumer of food products is, you know, the *consumer*, I don’t suppose there’s any way to get Elizabeth Warren to play a part in this regulatory debate?
/wishful thinking
wrb
Sounds like a good way to guarantee a less-safe food supply. Wipe out everyone raisings safe pesticide and antibiotic-free food so we can get only the good stuff from disgusting but regulated factory farms.
aimai
In the absence of any real information on the detail and structure of the regulations imposed on small producers of, say, soaps or other miracle skin cures, I’d have to say I don’t immiediatly side with the small producer. Historically speaking (prior to the birth of large corporations devoted to the marketing of soap, hair care products, and cosmetics) most such production was “small” and “local.” That didn’t make it safe. Au contraire. Pretty gelatin soaps are nice at my farmer’s market, but that’s just because I’m pretty sure its cheaper to make them with simple, straightforward, glycerin and a few scents. I can’t say the same for skin care products, hair care products, or other such things made locally. The chinese subsitute toxins for respectable and safe ingredients for a reason: because its cheaper. In the absence of regulation and liscencing for producers some percentage of our noble, home grown, granola-y, farmer’s market selling buddies are going to take a cheap out and poison or injure someone.
aimai
El Cid
On the egg thing — Sweden eliminated its salmonella problem in poultry (and eggs) by strictly regulating all parts of the production process, from start to finish, including distribution. Clearly the Swedes are a bunch of cowards afraid of free market innovations such as exploding shit lagoons.
WyldPirate
The temperature I cited above is for insuring all of the pathogenic bacteria will be killed, that doesn’t mean that one can’t enjoy a rare steak. I’m a microbiologist and I eat rare to medium rare steaks. I would rather eat. But I don’t eat steak tartar, hamburgers that are pink inside or raw oysters or eggs “over easy” or “sunnyside up”.
Processed meats–particularly of the ground variety–offer more of a problem than cuts like chops, steaks, roasts and other types of cuts.
With ground meats, huge quantities of meat–often from “scrap” type cuts–get combined together. This meat lays around in big bins until it gets ground. Then it goes through the grinding and packaging process. All of the extra handling and machinery involved in processing makes contamination more likely. Thus, there are greater chances for the meat to become contaminated than when a steak is simply cut by a meat saw.
IT simply amazes me that people seem to think that all of their food should be free of bacterial contamination. Animals come into slaughter houses with all of their normal bacterial flora on them. Some of the normal flora causes disease in humans. Hell, our normal flora causes problems if it gets in the wrong place sometimes They often have significant quantities of feces on their hides. So, it is nearly impossible to eliminate ALL bacterial contaminants in food unless we irradiate it or use other extreme measures that causes problems in palatability.
The food industry actually does a pretty damned good job now. Yes, the “incidents”, sickness and such that happen are a problem and tragic, but it is more of a “if it bleeds it leads” mentality with the news media that causes hysteria that is not unlike the hype one sees with the media’s love of the asswipes like Palin and the Tea Partiers.
The real crux of the problem is the lack of sufficient inspection at processing plants and the like. It’s not unlike many of the other problems that we have in the US; we often have adequate laws on the books, but we lack the personnel to insure enforcement of regulations. Businesses and people fall prey to cutting corners to maximize profits and, sometimes, just carelessness and laziness by its workers. They need to have the threat of getting inspected and shutdown to keep them honest. If they go for extended periods–or they are allowed to “self-report” problems–without inspections, that’s when problems become more prevalent.
However, the consumer has a responsibility, too. Don’t be stupid and cut fresh veggies with a knife and on a cutting board that you just cut up raw poultry or ground beef on. Wash your vegetables well before you cook them. Hell, if you’re really paranoid, make a 3% solution of bleach and rinse your salad materials in that and then rinse throughly with water.
Sometimes we need to get a grip and use some common sense.
Ash Can
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m sure she wouldn’t make so much as a peep about such topics over the course of hanging around the White House. ::wink::
@wrb: Except that the actual problems so far have had nothing to do with overuse of pesticides or antibiotics, and everything to do with lack of cleanliness. It’s a different problem, and a more immediate one, as in it leads directly to sickness and death on a large scale.
Robert Waldmann
I think that this post is irresponsible. It does no good to blame “the Senate.” We will have a Senate whether we want one or not. In this case it is very easy to identify the one person who is to blame Senator Dr Coburn R-Okla.
I had a sense that I knew that and googled. Google sent me to the linked article which clearly explains that the blame is not shared by the whole senate as you assert.
I am quite angry about this post. I think it illustrates what is wrong with the US polity. It is easy to blame “the senate” or to be just a bit more broad “politicians” or “jerks in Washington.” However, suck broad blame does not guide any useful response. People vote for individual politicians. If they know who to blame with first name last name and a medical degree which is being disgraced by a medical doctor who doesn’t care that he is causing human deaths, they can do something about it (not in 2010 but in 2012).
Sloppy lazy people like you who won’t even bother to read to the end of the article are consumed by anger *and* confusion. People who are as lazy and sloppy as you are going to vote for Republicans because they are angry that the Senate doesn’t function because of Republicans.
Always spreading the blame, even when one person is clearly responsible is a way to paralyze the Democratic process. With this post you demonstrate that you are a threat to properly functioning democracy.
I hope I have made it clear that I expect better from Balloon Juice.
Ash Can
@Robert Waldmann: Feel free to try the decaf.
El Cid
@WyldPirate: This is true as far as normal consumer responsibility and understanding should go. However, it is also true that there is a high degree of variability of contamination rates and severity between nations with different models of inspections and regulations.
And in the US, much of the decrease in the number of inspectors, therefore the number of inspections, and the strictness of enforcement, plummeted when Ronald Reagan actively attacked the regulatory agencies’ capacity to do their jobs, most famously in the mass poultry production industries. After that, the scale of production grew so quickly that as a consequence political campaign fund bribery by mass poultry and pork producers just flatly warped the state and local regulation system, and it hasn’t changed its nature since.
Josie
@aimai: I really don’t think you should make such negative assumptions about small producers unless you have proof. I belong to a large group of small producers of skin care and bath products, and they are all extremely careful and ethical in their practices. And, just for the record, I do not sell pretty, gelatin soaps or miracle skin cures. I sell good homemade soap made with such ingredients as avocado oil, jojoba oil, shea butter, etc. and other items with similar beneficial items. I make no special claims for my stuff and label everything. Nothing in my products comes from China and none are cheap. People are willing to pay more in order to know what is in the product and to be able to read the list of ingredients without a chemistry book.
WyldPirate
El Cid @32, for the most part I agree with you. Ronald Fucking Ray-Gun was one of the worst things that ever happened to this country and I doubt that we will ever be able to recover.
I hate the fact that I was a dumb-ass 20-year old, uneducated, Southern Boy redneck and then a 24 year-old Army officer who wanted to “kill commies for Uncle Ronnie” and I pulled the lever for that smarmy old bastard both times. Those are the two biggest electoral mistakes I’ve made in my voting life.
I do have a minor quibble, though. You’re right in that large producers and the mass scale of the food industry has the ability to “buy off” the regulatory system and weaken regulations and inspections. The flip-side of that same coin is that they also have the coin to make the mass scale stuff work with modern equipment and sanitation in a way that many small “mom and pop” type outfits can’t.
Someone pointed out something very true above. Even the “mom and pop” producers of goods will cut corners.
But overall, you nailed the real problem–we are governed by a bunch of people who are bought off by the highest bidder. Until that ends, the US will continue to circle down the toliet bowl towards tird world status.
kay
@Robert Waldmann:
Except that’s not true.
In the article, they author lays out the various issues and constituencies in play. The large producers recognize the PR threat to huge recalls, and agreed to a fee to fund more rigorous FDA inspections (in the House) Small producers are afraid the increased regulatory burden would put them out of business, and there’s a rumor in play, too, that organic producers would be shut down.
I don’t think this is a R v D issue. It’s more complicated than that.
Jon Tester (who isn’t a Republican and isn’t Coburn) objects to any federal role re: small producers, as outlined in the article. He’s holding out for an exemption that insures only state regulation of his small farmers.
I’m sympathetic to the state/parochial interests of Senators. I think that’s one of the reasons we have a Senate. I do think it is incredibly frustrating when people perceive a national interest, and that national interest can’t trump Senate process. My question was why don’t interested ag producers move the bill.
However, if you want me to cherry-pick Coburn to advance this:
Well, I don’t think that’s an honest portrayal of what’s going on here, so I won’t.
kay
@WyldPirate:
I don’t think all food should be free of bacteria. The issue with the egg producers was, the place was filthy. I’m not looking for a sterile egg farm. But your point about “common sense” is well-taken. It seems the egg producers could run a cleaner operation, and lessen the risk.
The FDA didn’t have authority to shut them down, so it wasn’t a matter of having power they weren’t using.
That’s what the bill is intended to address.
daryljfontaine
@Ash Can: Actually, I’m with him. I would love to see an ad with copy something like this:
With a much larger and more detailed list of sins, calling out specific bad actors when necessary, and with a better copywriter. This kind of ad should be running in pretty much every remotely competitive district through the election.
D
Jennifer
BTW, complete agreement with Wyld Pirate above.
You absolutely do not have the same issues or levels of contamination with non-ground meats. Contamination on a steak is pretty much going to be only on the outside surface of the meat, which even if you eat it rare, is going to reach a high enough temperature to kill the bugs. With ground meat, the contamination on the outside gets mixed up with everything else, so it’s got to be cooked thoroughly all the way through to be safe.
kay
@Robert Waldmann:
Further, they carved out an exemption for Tester, and that’s still not enough. He’s probably getting enormous pressure from small producers.
He’s a Democrat in Montana, so I see his problem. It’s a Senate sort of problem, and it’s bigger than Republicans versus Democrats, or regulation versus deregulation.
The small farmers probably see it as Big Ag versus Little Ag, and I see that argument.
kay
@Robert Waldmann:
Well, and then it gets really complicated because Tester (D) is himself an organic farmer and rancher.
So there’s that to contend with, Coburn aside. I agree with you, the Senate is a complex place.
Bella Q
@Josie: Of course, my issue is that there are many small soap and cosmetic manufacturers who “do their best to produce safe, natural products” but are not educated enough to know whether their “natural” products are in fact safe. It’s an industry that is full of people who want to sell what I call faith based products, ones that are formulated based on the belief that “natural is better” and “chemicals are bad.” Now, cold process soap is (generally) unlikely to be too dangerous other than being lye heavy and thus harsh. But once you start talking cosmetics, and lotions and scrubs and such that need to contain preservatives in order not to grow organisms, I’m actually kind of in favor of some regulation. Even knowing how burdensome it is to the small producer. I remind people that death, as well as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Clostridium botulinum are all quite natural. I’d really rather be pretty certain that a producer of cosmetics takes chemically appropriate steps to keep the latter 3 out of cosmetics.
I would settle, however, for a certification program that would identify who has some education on the issue of proper preservation. But I recognize that I am not the typical consumer.
Josie
@Bella Q: That is a good solution. In Texas you have to pass a food handler’s test to be certified to work in the food service industry. I see no problem with something like that for people who work with cosmetics. It would be easy enough to test people’s knowledge of various yeasts, molds, and other contaminants and what percentages of each preservative would be effective. Anyone who orders supplies to produce such articles has access to this information from their suppliers and should be well versed in it. Then you wouldn’t have the repetitive testing of products costing extra money and time. You could also do random testing and ratings like they do here with restaurants. I am not opposed to standards, just to standards that are ineffective and wasteful.
gustopher
Well, until we can get decent regulation to avoid issues of contamination before they get to market, can we get manslaughter charges against the negligent producers after they kill people?
Cain
@mistermix:
That sounds like the best way of doing it. Secondly, maybe have warning label that says that you have to wash/cook the food properly. Let people make their own decisions. I don’t know how that would help with the person who died from peanut butter poisoning… it shouldn’t happen.
Really, if we treat people as stupid then they will be stupid.
In India, milk cannot be trusted to be pasteurized. We boil the milk as soon as we get it and store it. Everything is cooked well at home. I don’t hear about large swathes of salmonella poisoning going on in such a dense country. Maybe they just have stronger immune system for that kind of thing. I dont’ know.
cain
chopper
the other problem with really overcooking your food is it ruins a lot of the vitamins innit. which sucks because most food we eat isn’t grown or raised for its nutrients – most cultivars of veggies grown (even at farmer’s markets) are the grow-fast-grow-strong-no-need-for-vitamins types. same with the meat we eat.
that being said, you don’t have to really cook the stuff either – salmonella dies at something like 138 degrees, you don’t have to stew the bird for the whole day to make it safe.
JR
The creation of the United States Senate was, simply put, one of the greatest mistakes the Founders made. There was nothing great about that compromise.