The New Food Safety Bill – Do You Bite?

Do you feel safer with the new Food Safety Bill?

This week, President Obama signed the revolutionary Food Safety Modernization Act into law, a $1.4 billion proposition and the most sweeping policy related to food safety in almost 100 years – this nearly two years after a salmonella outbreak linked to contaminated peanuts sparked renewed focus on the FDA’s food-safety function. The United States has also seen high-profile recalls of eggs, spinach and other products in recent years and a mass recall of sprouts just this week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that about one in six Americans gets sick, and 3,000 die, from food borne diseases each year.

But what does all this policy jargon mean to YOU?  Let’s boil it down:

If you’re a restaurant, food manufacturer or distributor:

- Increased number of facility inspections and food safety records to be reviewed

- Mandatory recalls if a company does not volunteer to stop selling tainted products, trace food outbreaks to its source and step up food inspections. In the past, company recalls were not enforced

- Owners, operators, or agents in charge of a food facility must identify and implement preventive controls to significantly minimize or prevent hazards that could affect food manufactured, processed, packed, or held by such facility.

- Allows for fines to be imposed on companies that have issued recalls and food facility re-inspections.

If you’re a consumer:

- Possibly higher food prices, from grocery stores to restaurants. Everyone will be absorbing the increases.

- More traceable food. Manufacturers will now be required to implement a traceability program. Look for scan codes on every piece of produce you purchase.

- Voluntary food allergy and anaphylaxis management guidelines for schools and early childhood education programs.

- Hopefully, much safer food across the board.  But then again, can the government really control it all, or are they biting off more than they can chew?

Weigh in.

Don’t be a statistic on Turkey Day

Turkey?  Check.  Fixin’s?  Check. Centerpiece?  Check.  Salmonella?  Let’s keep that one off the menu.

Being the perfect host or hostess is not just about a beautiful table or delicious food.  It’s also about keeping your family and friends food safe – you don’t want to be remembered as the host or hostess who sent their guests to the hospital at the holidays. 

Every year there are 78 million reported cases of food borne illness – 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths.  On Thanksgiving day alone, an average of 200,000 people will get food poisoning.  Who wants to spend the day on their days praying to the ceramic altar?  We’ll pass.

Tune in Monday, 11/21 and watch ‘The Fit Foody’ show how to host a healthy, food safe holiday

The Fit Foody– food and safety expert Mareya Ibrahim of Eat Cleaner has a few simple tricks of the trade to show how to keep the holiday season happy and worry free. 

-        Don’t let fowl go foul:  For your main event, taking measures to clean and prep your turkey properly can help your table be Salmonella-free.

-        Pick and clean fixin’s properly: Before your produce reaches you, it has been touched by around 20 different sets of hands and has traveled at least 1,500 miles.  Preparation and handling is key to producing food borne illness-free results.

-        Cook it done:  You can’t always judge a food by it’s color, simple tricks to tell you when your bird is really cooked.

-        Keep it cool:  Don’t let the tryptophan kick in, why it’s important to clean up now rather than later and just how much later.

Mareya Ibrahim is The Fit Foody and the Founder of the Cleaner Plate Club.  She is a food safety expert and advocate based in Orange County, CA.

FOOD SAFETY ALERT: Second Fresh Express Recall in last 60 days

The second recall in less than two months for Fresh Express bagged salad products. The recall for the romaine lettuce salad products was issued on July 14 for the potential of being contaminated with E.coli. (product list below)

A positive result for E. coli O157:H7 in a random sample test of a single Hearts of Romaine salad conducted by the FDA.

The recalled Fresh Express bagged salads were sold in the following states: Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Nebraska, Montana, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

In May, a number of Fresh Express bagged salad products were recalled due to salmonella contamination.

Check your refrigerator for Fresh Express salad products. The bagged salads in the July 14 recall have the “use by” dates of July 8-12 and an “S” in the product code

Information from the FDA:

No illnesses have been reported in association with the recall. Fresh Express customer service representatives have already contacted a majority of retailers and are in the process of confirming that the recalled product is not in the stream of commerce.

E. coli O157:H7 is a bacterium that can cause serious foodborne illness in a person who eats a food item contaminated with it. Symptoms of infection may include severe and often bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain and vomiting. Consumers who may experience these symptoms should consult a doctor.

Retailers and Consumers who have any remaining expired product should not consume it, but rather discard it. Retailers and Consumers with questions may call the Fresh Express Consumer Response Center at               (800) 242-5472         (800) 242-5472, Monday – Friday, 5 a.m. – 8 p.m., Pacific Time.

Fresh Express Bagged Salad Recall

This recall continues at:  http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm219057.htm