foodmuseumblog

McIcky: Their So-Called "Pork" McRib

"McDonalds' McRib and its cult-like following are back. Thank goodness the "disconcerting" sandwich is only returning for a limited time only, says Meredith Melnick at TIME. Because if you knew about all the unpronounceable ingredients packed into the McRib, you might think twice about wolfing down the sauce-drenched pork concoction. Think you can stomach what's inside? "

Get the gory details Via The Week

( Photo: CC BY: Calgary Reviews )

 

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition » Archive » GMO Alfalfa Approved With No Restrictions? Stay Informed & Take Action

The Obama Administration’s recent decision to allow unlimited, non-restricted commercial planting of genetically-engineered (GE) alfalfa resistant to the herbicide commercially known as Roundup was a huge disappointment to the sustainable and organic agriculture community.

via sustainableagriculture.net

And apparently sugar beets, too.

Tks to Summit Springs Farm, Maine, for the link.

The U.S. Military: Guinea Pigs or Happy Seafood Eaters?

A WaPo piece today relates that the US government is set to be one of the biggest purchasers of post-oil gush Gulf seafood products, " including fish, shrimp, oysters, crab cakes, and packaged Cajun dishes..." The foods will be available at 72 commissaries up and down the East Coast.

Reporter Mary Foster goes on to write that "extensive testing has indicated the food is safe." She says nothing about who tested the seafood, how it was tested, when, and where.

Hey--many of us want to eat Gulf products, and most definitely want to support the fishers, packers, wholesalers and restaurants dependent on income derived from their sale.

But----

'"A recent Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board survey found 70 percent of people are still nervous about eating Gulf seafood,"  said executive director Ewell Smith. "And that's with all the testing that has been done and is still being done," he said.' ( By whom? Where? Which?)

Wary. Nervous. Poorly informed. Lacking confidence in the "testing." That's where I am. University of South Florida scientists, as well as a University of Georgia oceanographer both found oily sediment on the Gulf floor that they then matched to oil from the BP blow. And study of the never-bef0re-encountered dispersants issue is ongoing as well.

Cans Nixed: Further Proof That Fresh ( Or Frozen?) Is Better

The self-described "food politics" website Civil Eats has posted this by Naomi Starkman:

"Consumer Reports’ latest tests of canned foods, including soups, juice, tuna, and green beans, have found that almost all of the 19 name-brand foods tested contain measurable levels of Bisphenol A (BPA). The results are reported in the December 2009 issue and also available online. BPA, which has been used for years in clear plastic bottles and food-can liners, has been restricted in Canada and some U.S. states and municipalities because it has been linked to a wide array of health effects including reproductive abnormalities, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, and heart disease. I’ve reported on BPA here, here, and here."

My pantry, which I just checked, contains a few cans--tomatoes, white beans, black beans, and pumpkin. I stared hard at them just now. A can of green beans never has entered my larder but, yes, tuna has, sardines have, along with the odd cans of beans. As a spontaneous, non recipe-based cook, those beans are vital and always ready to go.  Soaking dry beans overnight-- of course I have done that, but usually when I know that I am preparing a massive portion of black bean soup the next day.

I am sure many of you soak and cook beans ahead, and then freeze them in handy sized amounts, right?  But in what? Plastic bins! Baggies?  Chemical-laden somethings?

Help!

( Tks to http://www.thehungrymouse.com/home/2008/10/24/white-beans-two-ways-garlicky-dip-creamy-soup/ for can pix. It's a site that looks lively and informative, BTW.)

Organic Bananas Taste Better

After a two week utterly informal comparison test, I have decisively concluded that organic bananas do indeed taste better than the usual, much better. 29 cents each vs 19 cents at Trader Joe's. I focused in on the organic bananas because their  texture was firm, their flavor not icky and cloying, and one had the sense that these were fruits  that had not traveled thousands of miles in refrigerated ships and trucks, though of course, they must have.

It's well known that commercially grown bananas experience their share of herbicides and pesticides, as do the people who work with them in the fields and pack them in the sheds. That alone makes the move to organic--only a dime more per banana!--the appropriate choice.

Along with the taste.

Commercial Raw Cookie Dough Addicts, We Are Soooo Sorry!

Who among us does not recall "licking the beaters" when Mom (in her quaint apron) had been baking?
Who has never run a finger inside a bowl used for making, say, muffins, and licked off the uncooked dough residue?
We know you're out there!
Now--- acknowledgment of this happy and innocent indulgence many years ago led to the creation of ice creams containing, supposedly, "cookie dough." As in Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream.
(In the course of my intense research for this post I came across this hilarious, off-the-wall rant from 2004 on "How Much (C.Dough) Is In Cookie Dough Ice Cream?")

Anyway!

Across this great nation,  people who stand in front of their fridges inhaling uncooked c. dough straight from the packaging of Nestle's Toll House Cookie Dough  are getting freakishly ill and tummy achy from E.coli bacteria contained therein. 25 have been hospitalized.

Please do not do this, even with another brand of c.dough. This is a revolting and no longer hidden habit of yours, and  we regret that you have become really, really ill from pursuing it. 

You might look into purchasing and consuming library paste,  if it still exists. Oddball kids at school used to eat it, back in the day.

Exquisite Excess

We have an unemployed, unmarried mother of 6 deciding she absolutely had to have more children; we have a whistle blower filled with info on the nefarious Bernie Madoff ignored for years by the SEC; we have our beloved and leguminous Peanut Corporation of America knowingly shipping out salmonella-afflicted products, inspection reports by the state overlooked by the overworked USDA, slapped in a file cabinet; we have Republican leaders deeply involved in the financial and international debacle of the past eight years whining and wringing their hands on tv because their wisdom is being overlooked----whatever!!

Justice: PCA filed for bankruptcy. Its CEO took the Fifth before Congress days before, his emails piling up as evidence against him.

Questions:  

Did Bernie's wife squirrel away $15 million in chump change before his arrest? Has she Madoff with it?

Where will the nation's Lovebirds in Chief have Valentine's Day dinner? ( In Chicago.)

What would happen if you didn't   A--pay your taxes; B--have a financial plan ready, accurate to the penny, as you are asking for,  ooh, billions of dollars?

Does anyone really like that bizarre red velvet cake?

Scary Peanut Satay Sauce?

As I prepared a leftover multi-grain pasta and veg dish for my lunch yesterday, I considered opening a brand new jar of Trader Joe's Peanut Satay Sauce to go with.
OY!

What about those nasty, scheming, b*****ds at Peanut Corp of Amurrica? Were they in any way involved with TJ's sauce?

I called my local TJ's and asked.   The back and forth of the staff was not that reassuring. 'Hey, Luis-- what about the Satay Sauce?  Peanuts from those guys or what?"

Silence.

Me: Errr, isn't there some kind of list?
Them:   Yeah, well, maybe, I think so, on our website.
Me: Well I know that some of your peanut trail bars are on the USDA list of tainted products.
Them: Oh yeah?
Me: Yeah.
Them: Hang on.
Me: ( gnash, sigh...)
Them: No problem, no worries. The Satay Sauce is not affected.
Me: You're sure?
Them: Luis, are we sure?
Me: ( OY!)
Them: We're sure.

So the fact that I woke up at like, 2 am, with weird tummy things going on was, like, nothing to worry about?   Huh?
OK, so maybe it was just my overactive mind.

Later, like, just now, I checked the TJ's website. At the bottom of the Home page is a tiny line of type that mentions the peanut thing. And when you click on it, it takes you to a page all about their having destroyed those crappy tainted products. No mention of Satay Sauce.

New worries, though: STILTON CHEESE, for gawd's sake. How could anything biologically inappropriate penetrate that stinky, bacterially-awash cheese?

Luis?

USDA Kicks Lethal Legumists Off The List

Verbatim, from the USDA press release:

USDA PROPOSES TO DEBAR PEANUT CORPORATION OF AMERICA

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that it is suspending, and proposing to debar, Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) and its subsidiary Tidewater Blanching LLC from doing business with the federal government. Effective immediately, PCA is excluded from participating in government contracts or subcontracts, as well as federal non procurement programs. PCA will also be excluded from doing business as agents or representatives of other contractors, including serving as a subcontractor to other individuals or companies doing business with the government.

The suspension will remain in effect for one year and the debarment is proposed for three years, beginning today.

"The actions of PCA indicate that the company lacks business integrity and business honesty, which seriously and directly hinders its ability to do business with the federal government," said David Shipman, Acting Administrator of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.

Peanut Eaters---Explore This List

If you buy peanutty "health" bars, cookies, crackers and more, you may want to avoid the items on this massive list generated at the FDA website. All involved contaminated peanut products from the now legendarily reckless Blakely, GA processing plant of the Peanut Corporation of America.

"All Natural;" "No Preservatives!" Caveat Emptor, Shoppers.

Yeah, right.  In quotes, that's what it says on a 12 oz carton of grape tomatoes I bought recently. Yep, from Mexico, and distributed by Legend Distributing, Glendale, AZ. ( Not local!)

Anyway under those statements it reads, " Coated with food grade petroleum-based wax to maintain freshness."  Does not "maintain freshness" imply "preservatives?"

OK.   So I Googled the wax and was oh so reassured to learn that the Bush-era FDA says it is healthy for humans to eat. ( And it's applied in tiny amounts, people, so...)  The very same FDA that ignored repeated nasty inspection reports re the Peanut Corp of America plant in Blakely, GA.

I am returning the 'maters. I should have read the fine print in any case. And I should have snagged some cans of organic toms instead.

Guilt.

NB  Not all FDA employees are snakes and charlatans. Their budgets have been cut, they don't have enough inspectors, and so on.   Grrr..........

( Photo above from website re food poisoning--http://www.foodpoisonblog.com/articles/foodborne-illness-outbreaks/)

Dirt, Rust, Grease, Even Salmonella--Thank You, P.Nut Corp. of America!

The Peanut Corporation of America plant in Georgia has finally been closed. Within its less than pristine walls, salmonella invaded the plant's industrial peanut paste, and then turned up in over 125 products, making 500 people ill across the country, and, apparently, contributing to the deaths of seven people.

According to a piece in the NYT by Roni Caryn Rabin, "The processing plant in Georgia that produced peanut butter tainted by salmonella has a history of sanitation lapses and was cited repeatedly in 2006 and 2007 for having dirty surfaces and walls and grease residue and dirt build-up throughout the plant, according to state health inspection reports.

Inspections of the plant in Blakely, Ga., by the state agriculture department found areas of rust that could flake into food, gaps in warehouse doors large enough for rodents to get through, unmarked spray bottles and containers, and numerous violations of other practices designed to prevent food contamination."

The state does its inspections for the FDA, a government entity that did not act on these reports, nor on other writeups done in 2008.  The corporate legumes responsible--Peanut Corp is based in Lynchburg, VA, ---clearly were not into self-regulation, that glorious cornerstone of free enterprise. Nor were they available to the Times for comment.

PC's website still proclaims: "Processor of the World's Finest Peanut Products."  OY.

ps   I love peanuts, peanut butter, and last month ate an incredible piece of chocolate cake glazed with peanut frosting. Superb. Yum. Either my tum is made of steel, or the peanut product involved did not originate in Blakely.

UPDATE, Jan. 27    The aforesaid Peanut Corp apparently shipped scungy peanut material knowingly, according to this report in the WaPost.

Lou Dobbs Fired Up to Impeach Bush Over 'Mater Muckup

Really Angry Guy Lou Dobbs, of CNN, took a moment off from assailing illegal immigrants on June 19 and called for the impeachment of President George W. Bush over.............the salmonella tomato thing!  Could have knocked me over with a cutworm. Lou is hopping mad at the ineptitude of the FDA and wants to hold Dubya accountable at least on this one failure of leadership. Maybe Lou reads this blog, wherein I have stated more than once that protection of what we eat in this country is a major Homeland Security issue. YEAH!

Yes, We Have No Tomatoes...

You've all no doubt noted the current salmonella- tainted tomato debacle we're in, although apparently Florida's crop being harvested now has been approved for sale. Food safety is my number one Homeland Security issue, because I don't think Al Qaeda operatives are going to turn up in rubber dinghies on the Rio Grande or along Tampa Bay anytime soon. It's tough to maintain healthy food standards with on-going government cutbacks of budgets, inspectors and the lot.

Local supermarkets have posted notices about what tomatoes are presumed safe, though none are as pampered as my own bin-grown babies on my patio. But--in this Washington Post article, the Center for Science in the Public Interest does praise the FDA for acting swiftly to alert consumers and vendors of the 'mater problem. Still, the source of the contamination is unknown.

As the tomato is right up there with the potato as America's favorite veggie ( fries with ketchup?) I trust this latest saga will be ended soon. For regularly updated tomato reports click on the FDA page.

UPDATE:  Dana Milbank of the WaPost has an amusing take today on tomato-related hearings in the House Commerce subcommittee. I have enjoyed his political riffs during the Dem Primary and personally find humor in most subjects, especially pomposity and hypocrisy among our elected reps. But---- food safety is not a(n )hilarious topic, because if we can't fuel ourselves safely, then what? ( We can always turn to white pizza...)

" First we eat, then we do everything else."

(That's the little Heinz tomato guy pictured above. http://www.heinz.com/Promotion.aspx)

Which Fish?

Having finally found two reputable fish markets near my rental in St. Pete, FL, now I stand paralyzed in front of their numerous offerings. We all knew about mercury in fish, right, but largely ignored it? Recent articles on mercury, by Marian Burros in the NYTimes, among others, have poked us into researching what fish we can eat, either on an eco-friendly basis or a health basis.

Char, bass, trout, croaker? Wild Pacific halibut? Striped bass? None of my personal faves in that list, save pink trout.  Then there's klip, a delicious firm, white fish we had last week. A rockfish from S. Africa, Google tells me. OY. NG.  Croaker? One website tells me this fish is "full-flavored." This could be an iffy choice, then. Char, too, is apparently "strong."

Clearly I need to find a local fisherperson and grill her/him as to what's coming out of FL waters. With a tad of butter and Meyer lemon from our own small tree.

They Eat Pizzas, Don't They? Food Issues and the Pols

I  don't know if you are as weary as I am of the non-issues making headlines among the current crop of pols vying for our attention. Who has religion and what kind, and what about those pesky gay people, who have always been here in every area of endeavor, and always will, and so on.......

As many of you know, the motto of The FOOD Museum On-Line, of which this blog is an offshoot, is a line from writer M.F.K.Fisher, " First we eat, then we do everything else." So as a member of the Foodie political persuasion, I thought I would examine some of the Presidential candidates' websites to see where food, the major national security and health issue for Americans, appears on their agendas.

In my informal and incomplete survey,  New Mexico's Governor Bill Richardson, Arkansas' Mike Huckabee and John Edwards of North Carolina give space to food issues. Richardson pledges new legislation to protect the safety of America's food, as well as anti-trust legislation to support the farm sector.  Huckabee states that America's security in part rests on its ability to feed itself. ( A factor Huckabee, a famously successful dieter, is familiar with.) Of the three, Edwards has the most detailed plan for food safety on any website. Chris Dodd of Connecticut has this item--he wants to open new markets for American agricultural products.

Massachusett's Mitt Romney's wife Ann is intent on gathering American family recipes for his website, incluidng the current one posted for Welsh skillet cakes. In her words, "the kitchen lies at the heart of our home."  I certainly agree. Filling our tums and hanging out in kitchens are cherished pasttimes for us all.

Obama? Hillary?  Fred T. ? Rudy G? Nothing readily apparent.

Ron Paul, MD, of Texas, everybody's favorite maverick, says this on his website:

"Americans are justifiably concerned over the government’s escalating intervention into their freedom to choose what they eat and how they take care of their health.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in order to comply with standards dictated by supra-national organizations such as the UN‘s World Food Code (CODEX), NAFTA, and CAFTA, has been assuming greater control over nutrients, vitamins and natural health care providers to restrict your right to choose the manner in which you manage your health and nutritional needs. "

  ps I've always loved Joe Biden and I'm sure he eats and cares. His Iowa team created this hilarious corn-themed visual to point out his vast experience, as compared to, well, a couple of front-runners.

( "Ears" from Biden's website; official headshot of Hil, who also eats, from hers.)

Just When You Thought....Now It's Frozen Pizzas

Ugh to frozen pizzas anyway. But--apparently General Mills' Totino and Jeno's frozen pepperoni pies may contain a strain of E. coli, so the company is recalling a gazillion of them.

According to Environment News Service, "The recall affects 414,000 cases of pizza products Totino's and Jeno's now in stores and all similar pizza products in consumers' freezers. Consumers are advised to discard the products. "

Is microwaving to blame for not killing off naughty bacteria? I heard one talking head on the news suggest that, with no real scientific backup. Could baking a frozen pizza in a proper oven kill off the stuff?  Maybe, at 450 degrees?   

Topps Goes Bottoms Up After Burger Recall

According to today's NYTimes report, the first hint that frozen hamburger patties from Topps Meat Company of Elizabeth, NJ might carry the E.coli bacteria came on July 5 when a girl in Pennsylvania sickened after eating one. Testing confirmed the bacteria to be present on September 7.  ( Over a month for these results??)

Yet the USDA apparently did not announce the recall of 21.7 million pounds of meat until September 25. Today Topps, in business since 1940, closed its doors and sent 87 employees home.

The Times stated that "Anthony D’Urso, the chief operating officer at Topps, said the company was unable to withstand the financial burden of the recall.

“This is tragic for all concerned,” Mr. D’Urso said in a statement. “In one week we have gone from the largest U.S. manufacturer of frozen hamburgers to a company that cannot overcome the economic reality of a recall this large.”"   I think he missed the part about being falling ill from eating his company's tainted products...

The USDA website has a different, somewhat more complex report on this.

Deputy Assistant Administrator for the USDA Office of Policy, Dr. Daniel Engeljohn, said the agency would require all beef plants to demonstrate they have E.coli: 0157: H7 under control, based on a checklist established in 2002.

He went on to say, limply, "We are notifying all slaughter and grinder establishments that it is their responsibility to ensure that these measures are in place. " 

(The words "slaughter and grinder" really stick in my craw, like a piece of tainted meat. Mass animal processing described in raw terms.)

Depressing Food News From All Over

LifeScience informs us that mussels are declining in North American waters. " ...mussels now are one of the most endangered groups of animals on the continent, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Humans are primarily responsible for the disappearance of mussels through water pollution and changes to their physical habitat wrought by the construction of dams, dredging and the introduction of exotic species."

So eating mussels locally will start to be challenging--we will all be making moules frites with Dutch bivalves, or worse, those huge greenies from New Zealand.

Meanwhile, good old beleaguered China now has a killer pig virus problem, apparently. According to the Washington Post,  "Moving rapidly from one farm to the next, the virus has been devastating pig communities throughout China for more than a year, wiping out entire herds, driving pork prices up nearly 87 percent in a year and helping push the country's inflation rate to its highest levels since 1996. "   International authorities are concerned that the virus may easily spread beyond Asia--it's already in Vietnam and Burma--to affect people worldwide.

The Dole bagged salad people are doing a voluntary recall of their Heart Delight salad mix after one bag in Canada tested positive for the E. coli bacteria.

And then, in Michigan, former president Gerald Ford's bulgy-eyed likeness--the poor guy is even wearing a striped tie!-- has been carved from a corn field at Gull Meadow Farms.

( Thanks to pbs.org for the mussels shot and a nifty-seeming recipe at the webiste link  for "Mussels steamed on the grill with chourico sausage in a white wine butter sauce, served with Texas toast .")

Not Just China--Vietnam Suffers From Food Scares

A country  known for its healthy, veggie-rich cuisine is reeling from news reports of toxic domestically-raised soy sauce, cancer-causing chemicals saturating greens, and formaldehyde in the country's signature pho noodle soup.

Agrarian Vietnam, "where three quarters of people are farmers"  is being rapidly transformed into a "industrialized and market-driven economy," according to a report from Agence France Presse.

"A recent survey by the state-run Plant Protection Department found pesticides on 30 to 60 percent of the vegetables tested in Hanoi markets, including substances that are banned in Vietnam and other countries.

One of them was the insecticide metamidophos, which has been linked to health problems in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and the United States. Many farmers in Vietnam and neighbouring China use high doses of chemical fertilisers and pesticides to boost production in a cut-throat market where margins are slim, even though many know the substances pose health risks."

One farmer, Nguyen Thi Nhuong, admitted she and her family do not eat what she grows commercially.

"We have set aside a small part of our garden for vegetables that grow naturally for our daily use. We are afraid the chemicals will harm our health."

(Thanks to http://www.dgfoundation.org/programs/country-gateway-support.html for the photo of  Vietnamese farmers.)