An article from this morning's NY Times reminds us once again which part of our food system is the real problem -
The frozen pot pies that sickened an estimated 15,000 people with salmonella in 2007 left federal inspectors mystified. At first they suspected the turkey. Then they considered the peas, carrots and potatoes.
The pie maker, ConAgra Foods, began spot-checking the vegetables for pathogens, but could not find the culprit. It also tried cooking the vegetables at high temperatures, a strategy the industry calls a "kill step," to wipe out any lingering microbes. But the vegetables turned to mush in the process.
Cue ConAgra throwing hands up, saying "oh well, we tried!" And now?
So ConAgra - which sold more than 100 million pot pies last year under its popular Banquet label - decided to make the consumer responsible for the kill step. The "food safety" instructions and four-step diagram on the 69-cent pies offer this guidance: "Internal temperature needs to reach 165° F as measured by a food thermometer in several spots."
See? It's your fault if you get sick from the "food" that they sell you (for 69 cents). Silly consumer, safety is up to you!
ConAgra said it was also trying to apply the kill step to as many ingredients as possible, but had not yet found a way to accomplish it without making the pies "unpalatable."
Heh, as if they were ever "palatable" in the first place. Once upon a time, we took meaningful action in this country against companies who put profits before people. Guess we're back in The Jungle these days though, thanks to 28 consecutive years of corporate conservatism in Washington.
As this piece lays out (again), it isn't the local farmer or artisan baker or rancher or cheesemaker responsible for the safety problems with our current food system. Rather, it's the same agribiz conglomerates whose lobbyists have been entrenched in the halls of power across America for years and years. Let's make sure that this time we focus our fixes on the real problems; rather than ridiculously misfired shots at responsible small growers, producers and pet owners. |
