ALFALFA!

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FOOD AS FILTH: ANOTHER OUTBREAK FROM SH*T IN FOOD

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE:
"Food Safety & Inspection Service: Fact sheets"
"Salmonella Questions and Answers"



YOUR CORPORATE GOVERNMENT AT WORK:
PUTTING SH*T ON YOUR TABLE EVERY DAY

Where's That "Change," Obama? SH*T!

Cantaloupes. Bell peppers. Spinach. Lettuce. Tomatoes. Jalapenas. Peanuts. Pistachios. Sprouts. Every month or two, another item in our food supply turns up with human or animal feces in it or on it, in massive quantities, all over the country. We don't hear about it until months after the initial outbreaks. Because the priority is to protect profits, not people. Because the corporations own our government, lock, stock & barrel. And if that means you have to eat a little sh*t, then you'll just have to eat a little sh*t. If you die, you die.

Doesn't seem like food experts should have that much trouble telling sh*t from food. Do they really need someone to remind them that sh*t is not food, sh*t is poison?

Apparently, they do. But Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats, i.e. Lite Republicans, have been taking money from "agribusiness" for years, in exchange for letting them put sh*t in our food. There are virtually no inspections. Almost nobody is making sure our food is clean and pure today. No one even seems to know where the food is even coming from any more.

Call it "American Roulette." Every time you feed your kids or your elderly parents, your students or your teachers, your friends or your neighbors, your customers or your suppliers, you might be putting actual human or animal feces in their mouths. You might be eating sh*t yourself. You'll just have to chance it. Because, thanks to the conservative "philosophy" of taking money from big business to look the other way, the only way to tell if there is coliform bacteria in your food is to eat it. If you get sick and die, you can thank the Republicans and DINO's, especially those from the farming and food-processing States. If you live and don't get sick, well, that's just luck. Because there is no system to protect you any more.

For that you can thank Richard Nixon, Gerry Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and now Barack Obama. They are all from farming & food-processing States. And they dismantled, watered down or just ignored regulations put in place a hundred years ago to protect the American food supply. They did this for money and power. They did this with the greedy, power-hungry assistance of the United States Congress. You might want to write them and demand that they stop betraying their country. Or you might want to start a move toward socialism and throw them all out of power.

But you don't actually have the right to do that. They'd kill you, lock you up or ruin you somehow. And you don't have the right to clean food and good health, either. So, I guess you'll just have to eat sh*t and die. Or keep gambling with your health and maybe getting lucky, every time you put food in your mouth. Gulp.

PREVIOUS POSTS ON FOOD SAFETY & SALMONELLA OUTBREAKS

Find & write your representatives in Washington, DC.

USA TODAY
"Alfafa sprout warning issued"
This has been going on for over two months. And we're just hearing about this now? WHY???!!! Wouldn't want the shit-suppliers to lose any MONEY!!!

' The Food and Drug Administration is recommending consumers not eat raw alfalfa sprouts until further notice because the popular crunchy greens have been linked to a salmonella saintpaul outbreak in six states. Officials believe infected seeds, sold nationwide, are the source of the outbreak. The warning does not include bean and other types of sprouts. There have been 31 cases of salmonella saintpaul in Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia linked to alfalfa sprouts since mid-March, FDA says. No deaths have been reported. The current outbreak appears to be an extension of an outbreak that sickened more than 100 in February and March in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, and Minnesota, officials say. Raw sprouts have been linked to several outbreaks of salmonella over the past two decades, FDA says. Salmonella can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps and usually lasts four to seven days. It is especially dangerous to the elderly, infants and people with impaired immune systems. '

THE DAILY GREEN.COM
"FDA and CDC Warning: Eat No Sprouts"
Salmonella = shit, folks. Call a spade a spade, you f**king bureaucrats.

' Americans should not eat any raw alfalfa sprouts, or sprout blends containing alfalfa sprouts, until the origins of a salmonella Saintpaul outbreak has been determined, according to the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The do-not-eat warning is most important for the elderly, young children, and those with compromised immune systems, who are at high risk of serious complications from a salmonella infection. So far, 31 people have taken ill since mid-March in Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia, and federal investigators warned that illnesses may be present -- but as yet undiagnosed -- in other states. Federal investigators say the seeds of alfalfa sprouts may be the source of salmonella, since multiple sprout growers in multiple states all appear contaminated. (The widespread outbreak also suggests that growers have failed to adhere to voluntary sanitary guidelines, according to the FDA and CDC, because best practice guidelines call for disinfection with calcium hypochlorite before planting, and routing testing to detect salmonella or E. coli contamination before sprouts reach consumers.) "Because suspect lots of seeds may be sold around the country and may account for a large proportion of the alfalfa seeds currently being used by sprout growers, and cases of illness are spread across multiple states, FDA and CDC are issuing this general advisory (not to eat any alfalfa sprouts)." '

REUTERS
"FDA warns of salmonella in sprouts"
Would they "work with" criminals or terrorists in perpetrating their crimes? Or would they just shut them down? Hard to say, These are Feds. They let the World Trade Center get bombed. Twice. And they knew about it in advance. Maybe they were "working with" them.

' "FDA will work with the alfalfa sprout industry to help identify which seeds and alfalfa sprouts are not connected with this contamination, so that this advisory can be changed as quickly as possible." '

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Suggestion Box & Tip Jar We would like to make over this blog to make it easier to access, to read and to comment on. We would also like to serve our readers better by providing more of what you need and want to see. All serious suggestions will be considered. We hope to move to our own domain in the near future, and we would like to ask for your financial assistance in doing that, and in upgrading our hardware & software. Small one-time donations and larger long-term subscriptions are welcome. Exclusive advertising is also available. If you think we are wasting our time in doing all this, please let us know. If you wish to help us, now is the time. As always, negative bullsh*t from right-wing trolls will be sh*tcanned. Thank you to everyone else. Please send feedback & PayPal contributions to cosanostradamusATexciteDOTcom. Thanks.

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NUTS! SH*T! TOGETHER!

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DON'T EAT PISTACHIOS: THEY HAVE RATSH*T IN THEM

MMMMMMM RATSH*T!



Let's See How Obama Handles Food Safety (Couldn't Be Any Worse Than Bush)

So far, so good. They're at least PRETENDING they know the source of the poisoned nut products. But do they? Or is this just the beginning of yet another endless round of bullsh*t? It took Bushco and his corporate masters six months to a year to respond to the poisoned tomatoes, peppers, peanuts, etc. How long before the Democrats sort this out? Is their response so far just bullsh*t? Ratsh*t plus bullsh*t, bad combo.

The food industry is running scared. Having lost billions in previous food poisoning scandals, they are finally beginning to recognize that food safety is in their own best interest. After years of railing against "government regulation," some food companies are now asking for more inspections, and a more robust food safety system. How far this will get once the Republicans and Blue Dog conservative Democrats in Congress get involved is up to you, the voter.

Let your representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House know that you want your food supply secured, right now. Don't wait until you get sick, get arthritis, or lose a child, a senior or a person already in poor health, just because of poorly-inspected foods: Hundreds of thousands are sickened, and nobody knows how many of them die every year from food-borne pathogens in the United States of America. Food safety is do-able. But we're just not doing it. Demand that we do.


CONTACTING THE CONGRESS
"Online Directory for the 111th Congress"
Please write your representatives in Washington today: Just input your zip code.

WHITEHOUSE.GOV
"CONTACT US"
Let the new Administrationknow how you feel about food safety.

YAHOO NEWS
"FDA says to avoid pistachios amid salmonella scare"
At least they're not waiting until people die, this time.

' Federal food safety officials warned Monday that consumers should stop eating all foods containing pistachios while they figure out the source of a possible salmonella contamination. Because Setton Pistachio shipped tote bags of nuts weighing up to 2,000 pounds to 36 wholesalers across the country, it will take weeks to figure out how many products could be affected, said Jeff Farrar, chief of the Food and Drug Branch of the California Department of Public Health. "It will be safe to assume based on the volume that this will be an ingredient in a lot of different products, and that may possibly include things like ice cream and cake mixes," Farrar said. "The firm is already turning around trucks in transit to bring those back to the facility." Salmonella, the most common cause of food-borne illness, is a bacteria that causes diarrhea, fever and cramping. Most people recover, but the infection can be life-threatening for children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. For nuts, roasting is supposed to kill the bacteria. But problems can occur if the roasting is not done correctly or if roasted nuts are re-contaminated. That can happen if mice, rats or birds get into the facility. '

CNN
"FDA: Hang on to your pistachios"
Are they fixing the underlying problems, or not?

' If you have a stash of pistachios in your house, pistachio ice cream in your freezer or trail mix in your backpack, don't eat any of it. Wait until an inquiry into possible salmonella contamination is further along, advises FDA Associate Commissioner David Acheson. He said the FDA is "ahead of the curve" in the current investigation. "I want to emphasize that this recall was not triggered because of an outbreak, in contrast to some of the previous situations, for example, like the peanuts where people were getting sick and it was determined that peanuts, peanut butter was the likely cause," Acheson said. "This is a situation that the recall is being triggered because of ... action taken on the part of the food industry," he added. "What we're doing here is getting out ahead of the curve. It's a proactive approach by the FDA and the California Department of Health." Jeff Cronin, spokesman for the advocacy organization Center for Science in the Public Interest, had a mixed reaction to Acheson's comments. "I think it's partly the case," Cronin said. "It's good that the FDA is proactively issuing advice to consumers." But "this still begets the question of 'how did this contamination happen in the first place?' Is this an isolated problem, or are we going to be hearing the same kind of horror stories that we heard about ... the company that produced the peanuts?" He said he wondered when was the last time the FDA visited Setton Farms and whether it had known of problems there. In February, the Texas Department of State Health Services ordered the recall of all products shipped from the Peanut Corporation of America's plant in Plainview, Texas, after discovering dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in the plant. The company's peanut butter and peanut paste products produced at its plant in Blakely, Georgia, were linked to a nationwide outbreak of salmonella poisoning that affected 600 people, nine of whom died. According to state health officials and many experts, the deadly outbreak of salmonella was fueled by poor oversight by food safety regulators and a slow response by federal agencies. The first problem is that almost nothing can stop companies from shipping contaminated food, William Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner, told a U.S. Senate committee in February. He also said there are not enough federal inspections. '

GUARDIAN ONLINE
"US food safety officials issue pistachio nut recall"
Beef? Global? Iran? There's a LOT we don't know about pistachios! We have a feeling we're about to get educated.

' US food safety officials have recalled more than 1m pounds (454,000 kilograms) of pistachio nuts from more than 30 states after traces of salmonella were found in batches sold by a California company. The agency said it first learned of the problem last week, when food industry giant Kraft Foods traced salmonella contamination in a brand of trail mix back to Setton. The agency warned the recall could affect many products because the nuts are widely used as a food ingredient in everything from beef dishes to ice cream. The recall covers a fraction of the more than 400m pounds of pistachios grown every year in California, which accounts for 98% of US production. In 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the US was the world's second-largest producer of pistachios behind Iran, according to the United Nations. The US is also a top exporter of pistachios, accounting for about 14% of global trade. '

CONSUMER AFFAIRS.COM
"Kraft Recalls Trail Mix Containing Pistachio Nuts"
So, you can get arthritis from eating health food? That explains all the old fogies limping around the health food store.

' “Our advice to consumers is that they avoid eating pistachio products, and that they hold onto those products,” Dr. David Acheson, the FDA’s assistant commissioner for food safety, said. “The number of products that are going to be recalled over the coming days will grow, simply because these pistachio nuts have then been repackaged into consumer-level containers.” FDA officials said they learned just a few days ago, on March 24, that Kraft Foods’ Back to Nature Trail Mix had tested positive for salmonella. Kraft identified the source of the contamination as pistachios from Setton and notified the FDA. Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. also recalled the Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the following day. In rare circumstances, the organism can get into the bloodstream and cause more severe illnesses such as arterial infections, endocarditis, and arthritis. '

US FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION
"Pistachio Product Recalls: Salmonella"
They're makin' a list, checkin' it twice, the FDA knows who's naughty or nice...

' List of Latest Company Recalls: * Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc. Announces Nationwide Recall of Pistachios Because of Possible Health Risk * The Georgia Nut Company Issues Voluntary Recall of Certain Snack Products Containing Shelled Pistachio Nuts Because of Possible Health Risk * Back to Nature Foods Company Conducts Nationwide Recall of Nantucket Blend Trail Mix Containing Pistachio Nuts Because of Possible Health Risk * Kroger Recalls Shelled Pistachios Due to Possible Health Risk '

US CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
"About Salmonella"
"Salmonellosis"
Salmonella has it's own home page! Who knew! Your tax dollars at work, we guess. Does it have a FaceBook page, though?

' -What is salmonellosis? Salmonellosis is an infection with bacteria called Salmonella. Most persons infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment. However, in some persons, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. In these patients, the Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness. -Are there long term consequences to a Salmonella infection? Persons with diarrhea usually recover completely, although it may be several months before their bowel habits are entirely normal. A small number of persons with Salmonella develop pain in their joints, irritation of the eyes, and painful urination. This is called Reiter's syndrome. It can last for months or years, and can lead to chronic arthritis which is difficult to treat. Antibiotic treatment does not make a difference in whether or not the person develops arthritis. '

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IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM YOUR BLOGGERS:

Suggestion Box & Tip Jar We would like to make over this blog to make it easier to access, to read and to comment on. We would also like to serve our readers better by providing more of what you need and want to see. All serious suggestions will be considered. We hope to move to our own domain in the near future, and we would like to ask for your financial assistance in doing that, and in upgrading our hardware & software. Small one-time donations and larger long-term subscriptions are welcome. Exclusive advertising is also available. If you think we are wasting our time in doing all this, please let us know. If you wish to help us, now is the time. As always, negative bullsh*t from right-wing trolls will be sh*tcanned. Thank you to everyone else. Please send feedback & PayPal contributions to cosanostradamusATexciteDOTcom. Thanks.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS: BRING THEM ALL HOME ALIVE, NOW!

FOOD SAFETY: IT'S NOT PEANUTS!

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ANOTHER POISONING-FOR-PROFIT CASE

WILL THE FDA EVER PROSECUTE THESE SICK, GREEDY BASTARDS?

YOUTUBE: NBC "The Today Show"
"Feb 2, Matt Lauer interview with President Barack Obama"
FDA critique at 7minutes 35seconds in on the video.


Obama Promises To Fix America's Food Safety Net (Before It Kills Us All)

Terrorism? Nearly 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington DC. Every year an unknown number of people worldwide die from consuming tainted food. Millions are sickened by toxins in foods every year without even realizing the cause, doctors say.

The attacks on the World Trade Center were deliberate political acts perpetrated by foreign terrorists to force changes in US policy, or so Bush told us. The attacks on our food supply every day are deliberate economic acts perpetrated by incompetent and greedy American and "friendly" foreign nations' business people, strictly for cold hard cash.

The 9/11 attacks missed their mark: If anything, American foreign and domestic policy toward Muslims and Arabs became even worse, from almost any point of view. The attacks on our supplies of food supply are an ongoing and smashing success, earning trillions of dollars for the worldwide food industry each year, every year.

9/11 was the only known successful major attack on the "homeland" by the alleged perpetrators, Al Qaida. The attacks by persons and corporations unknown and very well known goes on day after day in the United States. We may have succeeded in stopping Osama Bin Laden in America, but we have done absolutely nothing to protect our food here. And that is truly terrifying.

The peanut butter you feed your kids may be poisoned. We don't really know. We thought the tomatoes we eat were making us sick last summer, but we didn't have any idea where they were coming from, or how to stop the poison from reaching our dinner tables. Then we were told it was peppers from Mexico, not tomatoes from the US. But a lot of people got sick, and some even died, before the problem was fixed. Whatever it was...

Well, there's a bigger problem. Despite the fact that our move to ensure food safety was greatly advanced by Republican Teddy Roosevelt over a hundred years ago, Republicans and Lite-Republicans have been dismantling our food safety system for the last forty years. They believe in de-regulation of everything, just so businesses can make bigger profits without making better products. That's their rationale for everything. That's why they hate unions and the minimum wage, work safety and pollution standards, keeping jobs in America and demanding fair trade instead of "free" trade: They only care about money, not people. They don't give a good God damn about America, though they wrap themselves in the flag at every opportunity. They are the worst sort of whores, and they have been running our country since Nixon took over in 1968. That's why we voted for change, at long last, in 2008.

This is change we desperately need to believe in. Even some of the big food processing companies themselves are calling for more regulation. The severe lack of consumer confidence in America today starts in the grocery store. When every aisle presents you and your family with potential dangers, who can be confident? Who can spend more money buying more stuff, knowing that, instead of enjoying nourishing ourselves and our families, we fear poisoning them? Hello? Think we have a crisis here?

The bottom line is, of course, people gotta eat. But we don't gotta eat sh*t: Literally; the peanut butter has sh*t in it. Is it any wonder that we are losing confidence in far-away corporations and their well-wrapped packages of unknown content? This may help the local food businesses, so, in the long run, some good may come of this. But if government and industry want our trust and confidence back, they'd better completely reverse this deregulation of our food safety system, and start acting like they give a sh*t about us, and not on us. Otherwise, it's going to be a very long recession.


"Previous Posts On Food Safety"
All about the attack of the killer tomatoes.


WASHINGTON POST
"Officials Still Seek Source of Salmonella Outbreak"
Four months in, still no answers.

' The source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened almost 400 Americans in 42 states remains unknown, U.S. health officials said Friday, adding that more cases are expected. The strain of salmonella has been identified as Salmonella Typhimurium, the most common of the more than 2,500 types of salmonella bacteria in the United States. It's often found in uncooked eggs and meats, said officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who have been investigating the outbreak for several weeks. "Cases are continuing to occur, and it is an ongoing investigation," said Dr. Rajal Mody, a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer. "The first people began getting ill in September, but it usually takes several weeks before enough cases have been reported to start noticing a possible outbreak." '

REUTERS
"Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter"
OK, maybe it's peanut butter.

' Minnesota health officials issued a product alert for peanut butter on Friday after finding a jar that was contaminated with a strain of salmonella linked to an outbreak across the United States. While the bacteria in the peanut butter match the outbreak strain genetically, the health officials said it was not clear yet that the peanut butter could be linked to any cases. The outbreak of salmonella food poisoning has sickened at least 399 people and put 70 or more into hospital since September. '

WASHINGTON POST
"Peanut Butter Recalled as Salmonella Search Continues"
No worries, peanut butter's only poisoning hospitals.

' An Ohio peanut butter distributor issued a voluntary recall Saturday for two brands of peanut butter after health officials in Minnesota on Friday said they had found salmonella bacteria in a tub of peanut butter that is distributed to schools and hospitals. The recall, and the Minnesota report, could be the breakthrough in the search for the source of a salmonella outbreak that has struck in 42 states so far. '

YAHOO NEWS
"Officials link salmonella to deaths in Va., Minn."
The old, the young, the sick, the weak. You know, the people the Right would like to recycle, anyway.

' Three deaths associated with a national salmonella outbreak occurred in Virginia and Minnesota, health officials confirmed Tuesday. Health officials are urging nursing homes, hospitals, schools, universities and restaurants to toss out specific containers of peanut butter linked to a salmonella outbreak in 43 states and possibly to the deaths of three people. '

YAHOO NEWS
"Test: Some peanut butter at Ga. plant contaminated"
I told you to stay away from those Georgia crackers.

' Some peanut butter at a Georgia plant shows signs of contamination, but officials said Thursday they don't know if it's linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds and prompted Kellogg to pull crackers from store shelves. Samples of the microbes found at the Peanut Corp. of America plant in Blakely will be tested for salmonella, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said. If it proves to be the food-borne bacteria, further tests would determine whether it is the same strain that has sickened more than 450 people in 43 states and may have contributed to five deaths. "We do not have a positive confirmation for salmonella," Irvin said in a statement. "However, results of two tests completed so far mean that we cannot eliminate salmonella as a possibility." '

ABC NEWS
"Recall: Kellogg Takes Peanut Butter Snacks off Shelves"
Would you trust Kelloggs? You'll have to, if you're eating their foods.

' Kellogg Co said on Wednesday it was removing its Austin and Keebler branded peanut butter snacks from store shelves and put a hold their shipments due to the current Salmonella food poisoning outbreak. But the company said its own investigation has not indicated any concerns over its products, nor has Kellogg received any consumer illness complaints. '

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT
"Peanut Butter Product Recalls Mount"
Ten days further on, and the poison is still spreading.

' The drum roll for recalls of peanut butter products continued without letup Monday, as more companies pulled back everything from cookies to candies on store shelves. The actions followed a U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning Saturday that consumers should avoid peanut butter products containing peanut butter or peanut butter paste while the salmonella outbreak probe continued. The U.S. health warning is focused on products made with peanut butter, like crackers, not jars of peanut butter on store shelves, the agency said. "We are urging people not to eat products that have peanut butter until we have better information, and they can make an informed choice," Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said at a Saturday teleconference, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. '

YAHOO NEWS
"FDA: 125-plus products recalled in peanut outbreak"
Goin' to the dawgs.

' More than 125 products have been recalled in a salmonella-and-peanuts investigation that keeps getting bigger, federal health officials said Wednesday. The list ranges from goodies like cookies and ice cream to energy bars. Even food for pooches may not be entirely safe, with a national company recalling some of its dog treats. On Tuesday, PetSmart recalled seven kinds of its Grreat Choice dog biscuits. On Wednesday, the weight loss company NutriSystem was among the latest caught up in the investigation, issuing a recall for peanut butter granola bars. Last week, Kellogg recalled some of its Austin and Keebler brand peanut butter crackers. Salmonella was confirmed in a package of Austin crackers. To help consumers, the Food and Drug Administration has set up on its Web site a searchable database of recalled peanut products. "We expect (the) number to continue to increase," said Stephen Sundlof, head of the FDA's food safety program. No major brands of peanut butter sold in jars are implicated. '

USA TODAY
"Officials call for criminal probe into salmonella recall"
Oh, so it was deliberate. How could that happen? [EASY] What are we going to do about it? [NOTHING]

' Senior congressional and state officials called Wednesday for a federal probe of possible criminal violations at a Georgia peanut processing plant linked to the nationwide salmonella outbreak. The government Tuesday accused the peanut butter manufacturer Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) of shipping products in 2007 and 2008 after internal tests found bacterial contamination, violating food safety regulations. The company's actions "can only be described as reprehensible and criminal," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who oversees Food and Drug Administration funding. "Not only did this company knowingly sell tainted products, it shopped for a laboratory that would provide the acceptable results they were seeking. This behavior represents the worst of our current food safety regulatory system." '

YAHOO NEWS
"Food makers don't report in-house test results"
Poisoners are on the honor system?

' A federal probe into a deadly salmonella outbreak has exposed a dirty secret: Food producers in most states are not required to alert health regulators if internal tests show possible contamination at their plants. The legal loophole surfaced this week when federal investigators disclosed internal Peanut Corp. of America reports that documented at least 12 positive tests for salmonella between 2007 and 2008 at their Blakely, Ga., plant, which has been identified as the source of the nationwide outbreak. In each case, the plant did not alert state or federal regulators. The flaw has infuriated regulators and food safety experts, who are pushing legislation that would require the alerts at the first sign of contamination. They say stricter requirements could have stemmed an outbreak, which may have started months ago and has sickened at least 500 people and may have led to eight deaths. '

WASHINGTON POST
"FDA Investigating Peanut Company Behind Recall"
Feds "investigating." Like the "investigated" the 9/11 bombers and let 9/11 happen anyway? Now we're REALLY in trouble!

' The federal government has begun a criminal investigation of the peanut company responsible for an outbreak of salmonella illness that has sickened hundreds of people, killed at least eight and prompted one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history. The Food and Drug Administration is working with the Justice Department to explore possible criminal charges against the Peanut Corporation of America of Lynchburg, Va., which shipped contaminated products made in its plant in Blakely, Ga., officials said yesterday. "There is a criminal investigation that has been initiated through our office of criminal investigation at the FDA. They have to work through the Department of Justice to develop a case and prosecute, if that's what it comes to," said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "It's an open investigation." '

YAHOO NEWS
"Feds rarely file charges in tainted food cases"
After all, who cares? Poisoning hardly ever happens, so we don't need a deterrent, right?

' As federal officials launch a criminal investigation into a Georgia peanut processor at the center of a deadly salmonella outbreak, food safety experts say they hope it's a signal that the government plans to be more aggressive in prosecuting other cases in the future. Food safety watchdogs and legal experts say criminal charges have only been brought against a handful of companies involved in high-profile outbreaks though federal law allows cases to be prosecuted without proof the company knew it was distributing contaminated food. They say the law is not used often because there has been little will to pursue criminal charges in all but the most noteworthy and outrageous cases, and that has put the public at risk. "Part of that system is the ability to penalize the people that fail," said Michael Taylor, a food safety scientist at George Washington University. "And there's been a real failure to do so at the federal and state level." Food safety advocates hope that is starting to change. '

NY NEWSDAY
"Latest peanut scare may be linked to previous outbreak"
Hunh. I guess it does happen often. Hey, maybe we do need a deterrent. HANG 'EM HIGH!!!

' Authorities are investigating the possibility that the current nationwide salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 530 people may be linked to an outbreak that infected more than 700 people two years ago. A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms the source of the current Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak - responsible for one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history - is the Peanut Corporation of America's Blakely, Ga., processing plant. While eight deaths have been linked to the outbreak, with 529 confirmed cases in the U.S. and one in Canada, the report notes the real number sickened could range in to many thousands. That's because, according to the CDC, only an estimated 3 percent of salmonella infections ever reach the stage of being laboratory-confirmed and reported to its surveillance systems. '

US FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION
"Peanut Butter and other Peanut Containing Products Recall List"
NOW they tell us: ATTENTION: You Have Just Been Poisoned. How about PREVENTING this sh*t???

' Information current as of 12 PM February 3, 2009. 1085 products in list. Peanut Containing Product Recall (Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak): Main Page. Do's and Don'ts During the Peanut Salmonella Outbreak: FDAs Dr. Stephen Sundlof. Note: This list includes human and pet food subject to recall in the United States since January 2009 related to peanut products recalled by Peanut Corporation of America. This list will be updated as new information is received. The information is current as of the date indicated. Once included, all human and pet food recalls will remain listed. If we learn that any information is not accurate, we will revise the list as soon as possible. When available, this database also includes photos of recalled human and pet food products that have been voluntarily submitted by recalling firms to the FDA to assist the public in identifying those products that are subject to recall. '

US CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
"Clinical Features/Signs and Symptoms"
Apparently, eating sh*t makes you sh*t. Kinda of a natural laxative. And a breath freshner.

' Most persons infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12–72 hours after infection. Infection is usually diagnosed by culture of a stool sample. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. Although most people recover without treatment, severe infections may occur. Infants, elderly persons, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness. When severe infection occurs, Salmonella may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. '

US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
"Salmonella Questions and Answers"
I'm sick of your sh*t. Literally, peanut-heads!

' Q. What is Salmonella? A. Salmonella is a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacilli that can cause diarrheal illness in humans. They are microscopic living creatures that pass from the feces of people or animals to other people or other animals. '

MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE
"Obama: FDA too slow tracking tainted food; wants review of agency and salmonella outbreak"
Saved by The Kids In The White House.

' President Obama had critical words for the Food and Drug Administration yesterday in the midst of a massive recall of peanut products linked to a nationwide outbreak of salmonella illness that has killed eight people and sickened another 550. "I think the FDA has not been able to catch some of these things as quickly as I expect them to catch them, so we're going to be doing a complete review of FDA operations," Obama told Matt Lauer during an interview broadcast on NBC's "Today" show. "At a bare minimum, we should be able to count on our government keeping our kids safe when they eat peanut butter," the president said. "That's what Sasha eats for lunch," Obama said, referring to his 7-year-old daughter. "Probably three times a week. I don't want to worry about whether she's going to get sick as a consequence of eating her lunch." '

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SURPRISE, SURPRISE! IT AIN'T TOMATERS!! HYUK-HYUK!!!

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THE STRAIGHT(?) POOP FROM THE FDA RUBES

AFTER THREE MONTHS OF POISONINGS NATIONWIDE, FEDS PIN IT ALL ON ONE SMALL TEXAS PEPPER-PACKER

YOU TUBE

"Viva Gorditas"

Or, Maybe The Food & Drug Administration Doesn't Wash It's Own Hands After Using The Toilet

My own personal suspicion is that the outbreak could have been caused by incompetent Federal food inspectors. They are the only link between the many victims. They are the only person, place or thing common to poisonings in over thirty States. They are the only traceable factor over the entire period of three months.

The only way to verify this is to slaughter the entire herd of inspectors, and analyze their carcasses for contamination. It may seem cruel, but so is nature. We have an epidemic to stop here, before it kills another industry... and some Mexican-food-eaters (who, to be fair, have accepted a certain amount of risk in eating jalapenas in the first place). Taco Bell must be saved. Won't you help that poor little dog?

Wait. Maybe it was the dog! He is a known Communist!

GUARDIAN ONLINE
"Tomatoes back on menu after 'not guilty' in salmonella outbreak"

' America's tomato industry has begun the process of recovering up to $200m (£100m) from the US government in lost revenues caused by the fruit being falsely blamed for a major salmonella outbreak. On Thursday, after seven weeks under investigation, tomatoes were cleared and the US watchdog, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), shifted suspicion to hot peppers and coriander. All three are ingredients in salsa. The bad news for American consumers is that after a near two-month investigation, the FDA still has no idea where, why or how the outbreak, which has stricken more than 1,200 people in more than 40 states, started. Indications that a Mexican processing plant might be to blame are being mentioned but there has been no confirmation. '

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
"FDA: Salmonella found in jalapeno"

' The latest discovery was made after federal authorities plucked a pepper from Agricola Zaragoza Inc., a three-employee McAllen produce packing company. Tomatoes initially were named as the suspect, and Acheson said they still haven't been totally absolved even though the FDA last week said consumers could again safely eat them. He also said it isn't yet clear whether tomatoes were also handled by Agricola Zaragoza. A woman who answered the company's phone said the general manager, who could discuss the FDA investigation, was not available. The company has recalled the jalapeno peppers it distributed after June 30 because of the discovery of salmonella. The company's small size left one food safety expert skeptical that it could be a sole source of the salmonella problem. "It would be something different if this were a big distribution place," said Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union. "But they only have three people there and $600,000 in estimated annual sales. So this can't be it." Still, having even one piece of the puzzle to work on is a breakthrough. The FDA and CDC have been pressured by an election-year Congress to solve the salmonella mystery, which Acheson characterized as one of the most complex contamination cases he has experienced. '

MISSISSIPPI CLARION-LEDGER
"Do you practice these guidelines to prevent salmonella infection?"

' Frequent hand washing is critical to prevent the spread of salmonella when preparing or serving food. Experts recommend the use of several different cutting boards so that raw meats and juices do not come in contact with vegetables or fruits during meal preparation. The cutting board or container used to hold raw meats should not be used again for cooked meats. If you marinate raw meats before cooking, never baste the meat with marinade it was soaked in. Wash all utensils and knives with hot, soapy water before moving to the next food item. Use disposable paper towels and disinfecting cleanser instead of a sponge for kitchen cleaning. Refrigerate or freeze cooked foods within an hour or two, and reheat leftovers to 165 degrees before eating. '

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WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SAL MONELLA?

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AND WHY DOESN'T ANYBODY KNOW?

SHIT HAPPENS. DID IT HAPPEN ON OUR TOMATOES?

The Real Question Is, How Can FOUR U.S. Gov't. Agcy's STILL Not Know, After Almost A MONTH? The Politics Of Food Safety:

CDC
Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases
Salmonellosis
"Salmonella live in the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals, including birds. Salmonella are usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces. "

We all know that big business and their lackeys in the Republican Administration don't give a shit about public health. These are the people who brought you tobacco, alcohol, sugar-water, fast food, polyunsaturated fats, and even baby food with no food in it at all, just chemicals. And babies were their business, their only business.

So, when these same assholes decided to go with mega-doses of cancerous chemical fertilizers, pesticides & herbicides, growth hormones, animals eating their own kind, secretly genetically engineered franken-foods, gigantic anti-family factory farms and food from God knows where in the Third World, did anybody think they would exercise proper precautions? Why would they suddenly start giving a shit about us? We're like ants to them.

Still, fascists are at least supposed to make the trains run on time, right? Efficiency and control, above all. Everything is computerized and you can track anything anywhere, right? Whenever there's a bad batch of burgers now, they publish lists of the manufacturers and batch numbers, retailers and sale dates, within hours. OK, maybe some people die before they actually bother to recall the rotten, shit-covered, poisonous meat. But they do catch it, eventually.

Now, we have an entire tomato crop tainted with salmonella bacteria. How come they can't even narrow down the source of these infected tomatoes to one State? They put out a list of the States whose tomatoes are NOT poison. How can they say that without knowing which States tomatoes ARE poison? They act like they don't have a clue. They say they won't have a clue for quite a while. Just stop eating the shit, they say. Eat those other tomatoes, they haven't killed anybody yet. Don't worry, be happy, move along, nothing to see here, fuggeddaboutit. Not!

FDA
Food Protection Plan
Update On The Outbreak
"The Food and Drug Administration is alerting consumers nationwide that a salmonellosis outbreak appears to be linked to consumption of certain types of raw red tomatoes and products containing raw red tomatoes. The bacteria causing the illnesses are Salmonella serotype Saintpaul, an uncommon type of Salmonella.
FDA recommends consuming raw red plum, raw red Roma, or raw round red tomatoes grown and harvested only from the following areas that HAVE NOT BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE OUTBREAK: (list)"

You'd think the industry would want to get this over with: Find the sources of the poison tomatoes and shut it down, clean it up, lock somebody up, whatever. They're losing a fortune as people everywhere just quit eating all tomatoes. Most people will probably avoid the love-apples for quite a while; many may never touch the fruit again. So why isn't the tomato biz getting to the bottom of this?

Are they THAT incompetent? Then they shouldn't be allowed to TOUCH our food. Are they covering something up? Then they should be imprisoned, and banned forever from the food business. People have died here.

USDA
Food Safety & Inspection Service
USDA News Releases
Nothing about tomatoes.

But the scariest thing is that the FDA, the Dept of Agriculture, even the CDC can't figure out how tomato A got to supermarket X on truck B from farm Y. Why is that? We're talking millions of tomatoes here, all over the country. Is there no common factor? Or are tomatoes just poisonous naturally, all of a sudden? How come these stores don't know where there produce is coming from? If the Gov. can't track and identify something as big as a fucking tomato, how can they ever be trusted to protect us from deadly little microscopic molds, fungi, bacteria and viruses? This is just a natural occurrence, or an accident of some kind, right? What is the big deal?

If they can't follow the trail of a tomato, how can they follow the trail of a terrorist? Were these veggies delivered by an army of black-ops commando's, driving hundreds of stealth produce trucks in the dead of night? Was this a veggie-terror attack? Then where is Homeland Security? Why can't ANYONE tell us where these goddamned things come from? Are they that incompetent? Or is there a cover-up here?

DHS
Office of Health Affairs
National Center for Food Protection and Defense
A talk shop & pork barrel.

Is NAFTA to blame? Did these tomatoes come from outside the US? Is Bushco hiding this for McCain's benefit? Did the Bushies let them in on Mexican trucks? (Notice Belgium is on the list of safe tomato-sources; so is Canada, and Guatemala. But not Mexico.) Did his food inspectors and customs agents give them a free pass? Notice that previous poisoned tomato outbreaks started in Eastern Florida and Virginia. They're not on the clean list, either. And they're both "battleground States" in this election. Coincidence? HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW???!!!

What the fuck is going on? Why aren't the media asking these questions? How long can it take before we get some answers? Is our food in good, clean hands, or has it all gone to shit?



[UPDATE HERE]
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