Who has the safest food in the world?
It's a pretty difficult to answer that question -- and it's a trap. 
Yesterday I attended the N.C. Ag Commissioner's Food Safety Forum, where a mix of regulators, industry and academia got together to food safety nerd it up (in a good way). Peanut butter and Salmonella were popular topics as was food safety legislation like HR2749.
One of the speakers mentioned that we "enjoy the safest food supply in the world" in North Carolina, and I thought I didn't realize it was a competition and how would that even be measured? We've written about this statement a lot before, but something I've never thought about is that it provides a false sense of security and doesn't help move towards a food safety culture. I don't get the sense that the "safest food supply" comment leads to increased consumer confidence (but who knows, maybe it does). Talking frankly about food safety risks and how they are addressed seems more important to me. While there are lots (like in the hundreds of millions) of meals eaten in the U.S. every day that don't cause illnesses, there are a few that do.
Another speaker, N.C. Dept of Public Health's David Bergmire-Sweat said something that had much more substance than the "safest food" comment: When an outbreak happens, it's an opportunity to figure out what part of the farm-to-fork continuum failed. Whether it was inadequate prevention measures, or
effective prevention measures being implemented inadequately, it's a chance for food safety risk managers to learn what to do next time to avoid the problems.
The safest food supply in the world is a subjective pissing contest (like saying Winnipeg is the funnest place in the world, I guess it depends on your perspective). What matters more is the food supply isn't safe enough, regardless of location, and those responsible for food safety (whether producers, distributors, retailers, regulators and academics) better be able to demonstrate that they can learn from past outbreaks and address risks, not just say how great everyone is doing.
Safest food in the world: American cattlemen's edition
It’s been awhile, but Dr. Sam Ives, director of veterinary services and associate director of research at Cactus Feeders, Ltd., testified today on behalf of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) at a U.S. House Agriculture Committee Hearing on food safety that the U.S. has the safest food in the world.
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“There is no question that the United States has the safest food supply in the world and other countries consider the U.S. the 'gold standard.' Cattle producers support the establishment of realistic food safety objectives designed to protect public health to the maximum extent possible.
“…The U.S. has the safest food supply in the world, which is an achievement worth noting. Science is a critical component of the beef industry and through science-based improvements in animal genetics, management practices, nutrition and health, beef production per cow has increased from 400 pounds of beef in the mid 1960s to 585 pounds of beef in 2005. … The beef industry will continue to dedicate time and resources to ensure the safety of beef.”
But that doesn’t mean the U.S. has the safest food supply in the world. For a group so dedicated to science, perhaps they could provide some science to substantiate the claim?
Poisoned Deviled Eggs
Yesterday on Days of Our Lives, Kate tried to poison Daniel and Chloe with an undetectable substance that she put on a tray of deviled eggs. When she caught her son, Lucas, trying to snatch an egg, she freaked out.
As recounted by Prevuze:
Lucas opens his mouth (something he's very experienced at) and prepares to snack on the delectable poison egg. Kate walks into the kitchen and sees him about to commit eggicide. As predicted by thousands of viewers, Kate dives across the room and slaps the egg away from him. The egg goes one way, the tray goes another and the people in the room dive for cover to avoid the shower of garbage. Lucas has a total conniption, but Kate doesn't back off. She stomps on the offending egg and grinds it under her shoe. Daniel and Chloe walk in, all properly zipped up.
Lucas explodes, "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR, HUH? WHAT? WAS IT POISONED OR SOMETHING?"
Finally Kate comes up with an excuse:
"I poisoned the eggs. I did it without thinking. I put mayonnaise in them and they sat under the hot TV lights."
Lucas echoes what all of us are thinking, "This is lame, Mom."
Lame for sure. As Doug has explained, the danger of leaving deviled eggs out in the heat is not from the mayonnaise which, if bought from the supermarket, should have pasteurized ingredients. If you’re making mayonnaise from scratch, however, it does contain raw egg. Whether it’s temperature abused or not, raw egg can contain Salmonella. Somehow I doubt that Kate or Aunt Maggie make their own homemade mayo.
Safest food in the world: Minnesota academic edition
Fewer than one in four consumers now believe the U.S. food supply is safer than it was a year ago, according to new data from the University of Minnesota's Food Industry Center.
That’s an awkward sentence. But not as awkward as the statement by study co-author Dennis Degeneffe , a research fellow at the center, who told a Minnesota paper that,
Even with low consumer confidence in food safety and intense media scrutiny of recent contaminations, it’s important for consumers to keep in mind that the industry as a whole is safe.
“The truth of the matter is, we have the safest food supply in the world, and it’s probably getting better with technology.”
Tell that to the sick people. And provide some data to back it up.
Obama wants Sebelius to seek out the science of health
Being that I’m living in the middle of Kansas, I just caught a live broadcast of President Obama announcing his nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Media sources emphasize that, as Secretary of HHS, Sebelius would be implementing the president’s plans for health care reform, along with Nancy-Ann DeParle – an American expert on health care issues and Obama’s pick for “Health Reform Czar”.
However, Obama pointed out in his announcement that it’s not all about health insurance; the position is also responsible for the oversight of several agencies that serve as protective forces, including the FDA and the CDC.
The president alluded to changes in that area of the department as well, and noted the importance of science over politics when determining the best approaches to protecting the health of Americans.
Sebelius will have her work cut out for her on many levels, so I hope she holds that mind: Keeping the poop out of food safety policy is a great way to keep poop out of food.
Looking out for the farmers of the "safest food in the world"
This summer at the Kansas State Fair, I felt like I was getting a lot of strange looks. I tried to brush it off, telling myself that it was no crime to have never slopped a pig or stolen eggs from under a roosting a hen—I should still be welcome at the fair.
I was positive there were other non-farm girls there. Probably even some that grew up in the city; I, at least, shared a property line with a cow pasture. But people just kept staring.
I really got embarrassed when a representative from the Farm Bureau Federation started to laugh out loud and point at me.
When it finally donned on me that I was wearing my Don’t Eat Poop t-shirt that day, I turned to let him read the back: Wash Your Hands.
I explained that I worked for an organization that wants to turn the public’s attention to food safety.
He seemed to think that particular method was effective. “But do you make farmers look bad?” he asked while raising one eyebrow.
I told him we felt it was important that everyone does their part, from the farm to the fork.
He smiled, but I think he remained skeptical.
I raised my eyebrow today at a press release in which the director of congressional relations in the California Farm Bureau National Affairs and Research Division, Josh Rolph, was quoted as saying,
"Congress and the new administration will be sure to consider changes to the way the government oversees the safety of food production. We want to make sure that any changes don't prove to be burdensome to farmers, who are growing the safest food supply in the world."
I wish I could meet this guy and stare strangely at him. If anyone’s going to claim to grow the safest food in the world, they’re going to have to take some pains to prove it.
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“The nation's farming community understands the need to improve food safety, Rolph said, but the farm-level impact to producers must be considered in any new food safety proposals.”
Salinas vegetable farmer Dirk Giannini referred to the surge in food safety action plans following the outbreak of E. coli from spinach in 2006, and explained that a frenzy of “non-scientific ideas” were putting farmers out.
"And don't get me wrong,” said Giannini, “The farmers do not want to jeopardize anyone's health or life—we have the safest food supply in the world. But the scientific-based decisions are the ones that we need to move forward."
Of course any actions to increase the safety of the food supply should be backed by scientific evidence, but public claims of safety should have the same foundation.
To the farmers who grow the food I appreciate every day: In your products and in your claims, Don’t Sell Poop.
Natural Grocers defends itself against salmonella
Founded on the belief that "health should not be expensive," Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage grinds its own peanut butter in-store using only domestic, U.S.D.A. certified organic peanuts.
In a statement addressing Natural Grocers' connection to the outbreak of salmonella in Peanut Corp. of America peanuts, Executive Vice President and Co-Owner of Vitamin Cottage Heather Isely says,
"We are a relatively small, family-owned company that only sells carefully screened natural and organic products, and we work hard to source our products domestically because we believe in the quality controls in place in this country. We – among others – have been hurt by this one unscrupulous supplier..."
The company may have learned the hard way that natural and organic products are not invincible to foodborne pathogens.
Elsewhere in the statement, Isely says,
"[W]e trusted our government and industry food inspection process, which usually works extraordinarily well."
Since January 30, the fresh ground peanut butter made in Vitamin Cottage stores has contained peanuts from a new supplier, Hampton Farms.
"To further reassure our customers," Isely states, "we are now testing each lot of the new peanut butter stock for salmonella. We are working to find even more ways of keeping our customers safe."
Way to be proactive... now that you have to.
Rat in peanut roaster; safest food in the world?
A former employee of the Georgia peanut plant at the center of a criminal investigation in a nationwide salmonella outbreak told CBS News he saw a rat dry-roasting in a peanut area.
Jonathan Prather, one of 50 people who lost their jobs last month when the Peanut Corporation of America shut down its plant in Blakely, told Early Show national correspondent Jeff Glor the facility is dirty.
"Roaches get up there in the dry roast. Some of them blend in with the peanuts. You'd never know they're there.” … (There were) "plenty of holes in the roof, throughout the roof. And when it rained, water just came through the whole plant."
Prather says it saddens him that many people have been impacted by the salmonella, adding he's speaking out now because his mother always raised him to tell the truth.
Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler told The Early Show Tuesday,
"... The problem is we don't have a system of preventive controls. We're always reacting in this country. It's always chasing the horse after it's out of the barn. … We have the safest food system in the world, but that doesn't mean it can't be safer. And each of us has responsibilities. Making sure that our food is well-cooked, good hygiene, those things are still important. … (Our food is) certainly safe, but our system is broken. And it needs to be improved, and it needs to be improved quickly."
Not sure what the basis is for the good doctor’s safest-food-in-the-world bit. Are rats in the roaster part of the equation?
Safest food in the world - Kansas edition
John Schlageck, described as a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas and “whose writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion,” provides absolutely no evidence to support his assertion in The Emporia Gazette that America “enjoys the safest, most wholesome food in the world.”
Schlageck also asks, “where do the most significant food safety problems occur — on the farm or in the kitchen?
“If you guessed the kitchen, you’re probably one of those wise consumers who may already be well on your way to a wholesome, healthy eating lifestyle. On the other hand if you guessed the farm, chances are your kitchen may be a place where food is mishandled or poorly prepared.”
Phrases like “on the other hand” are a waste of words my university students get penalized for using. I reward clear writing, in the tradition of Strunk and White in The Elements of Style.
Schlageck also offers no evidence for his claim that the majority of food safety problems happen in the home. The evidence is contradictory, and we have a review that will be published soon.
Bad writing and bad food safety assumptions need to be continually challenged. Blaming consumers may not be the best way to empower individuals.
Safest food in the world alert: Texas edition
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“Texans can be assured that we continue to enjoy the safest food supply in the world.”Staples also finds it necessary to remind Texans that,
“Consumers should always properly wash and prepare all food items, as this is a basic part of family food safety.”
Except this outbreak, from all available evidence, is not a consumer issue, unless people in 43 states are all mishandling produce in the same manner.
Follow the poop - not the bullshit
In the context of the on-going Salmonella outbreak, with 971 confirmed illnesses and at least 189 hospitalizations, Charlie Jackson, director of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, says people should not be too concerned, adding,
“In the whole scheme of things, we have the safest food in the world. There is more danger in driving to the market than eating a tomato that is going to make you sick.”
How compassionate. If someone in industry or government said that they would be rightly skewered.
Jackson also said local food is inherently safer than food shipped in from far away, adding, “The big and astounding problem is that they don’t know where it (the salmonella) came from. That doesn’t occur when you buy the product right from the farmer who grew it.”
Wrong. The big problem is poop on food, wherever it came from, along with bullshit statements from hucksters.
Renay Knapp, a family consumer science agent with the N.C. Cooperative Extension in Henderson County, says
“Probably the most important thing is to keep hot food hot and cold foods cold. That’s where it all starts.”
Nope. It starts on the farm and keeping poop away from the food.
And these are pictures, for no particular reason, of Wellington, New Zealand, where Amy and I are currently camped out, and yesterday’s lunch. We don’t get mussels like that in Kansas.
Safest food in the world - Barack Obama edition
Obama wrote on Friday in a letter to Cow Calf Weekly (great reading for the beach),“America continues to have the safest, most abundant and cheapest food supply in the world. … Beef producers are a key component in a healthy and vibrant rural America. By strengthening USDA and working to enhance food safety and meat processing, my administration will assist the industry in providing a wholesome and safe product to your customers.”
Maybe Barack is using the same PR folks as the Taste of Chicago. And with over 800 people sick from Salmonella in tomatoes and no source in sight, is it really the right time to be making claims about who has the safest food?
Thanks to Kansas State PhD student Charles Dodd for forwarding the item.
(Unsubstantiated) food safety statements
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I'll review the mp3 file when the producer sends it along and see if I said anything silly. I try to keep the unsubstantiated food safety statements to a minimum. But, while providing company for truck drivers, insomniacs and conspiracy theorists, who knows what will slip out (doing Coast-to-Coat AM radio from 1 - 2 a.m on June 10 was actually a lot of fun).Ken Givens, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, wrote in a particularly lucid article in The Tennessean yesterday,
"Our agency alone licenses and inspects more than 9,200 retail food establishments, 900 food manufacturers and 475 food warehouses for sanitation and proper food storage and handling. ... Food safety starts at the farm. In association with the UT Institute of Agriculture, we're launching a new initiative aimed at helping fruit and vegetable growers and distributors institute good agricultural practices, such as using safe sources of irrigation in the field and proper washing and handling after harvesting. "
But then, Commissioner Givens joins our safest-food-in-the-world list, by stating,
"America still has the safest, most affordable and abundant food supply in the world."
Not to be outdone, Carol B. Dover, President/CEO, Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, Tallahasse, writes in yesterday's Orlando Sentinel that,
"… according to Florida Department of Health statistics, less than half of reported foodborne illness cases are attributable to restaurants. While it is easy to blame the last restaurant visited, the source is very likely improperly prepared home-cooked food."
It is very likely that Carol Dover can't back that statement up. It's easy to blame consumers, but there are too many outbreaks that are simply beyond a consumer's control. Sorta like Salmonella and tomatoes.
And for no particular reason, this is a picture Bill Marler sent me of a butcher's shop in Wales. Reminds me of last year in France and the rampant cross-contamination Amy and I witnessed at our local butcher in the beach town of Maubuisson.
Who has the safest food in the world?
Scientists and journalists have a couple of things in common -- at least that's what I was told all those years ago.
Both require the ability to ask the right question. And both have to sell the same idea at least three times to make a living.
Yesterday, Bob Brackett, senior vice president and chief science and regulatory affairs officer for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, wrote in the Denver Post that "no other country in the world can claim a safer food supply than the United States."
Except that a couple of Canadian researchers at the University of Regina have done just that, issuing a report last week which purports to rank 17 industrialized countries.
The problem is, based on what is publicly available, it's impossible to tell how countries were ranked on various scores.
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For example, the report says,
"Canada would be considered as one of the world’s leading countries in relation to consumer affairs in food safety. In terms of incidences of reported illness by food-borne pathogens, Canada is (in) the normal range since it has the incidence between 5,000 and 15,000 per 100,000 persons. Even if Canada has more incidences, it has a decreasing trend of late, which means that all levels of the government had begun to control the situation."
Based on a population of just over 33 million, that means 1.65 -- 4.95 million reported illnesses by foodborne pathogens, I'm assuming per year. Nowhere near that many cases of foodborne illness are actually reported. And the best guess on the actual incidence of foodborne illness in Canada is 11-13 million cases per year, slightly higher that the World Health Organization's estimate of 30 per cent of citizens in developed countries getting sick from the food and water they consume each year.
The report authors also claim,
"Canada was also rated as a 'progressive' country based on its food safety education programs for consumers. Unlike other countries, the level of cooperation among the different levels of government in the country is significant and most programs target all segments of the population."
Apparently, no effort was made to assess whether such information was accurate.
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Canada finished fifth, and the U.S. came in seventh. The United Kingdom had the highest ranking of the 17 countries studied. Make mine piping hot.
Who has the safest food in the world? Wrong question.
Which country has the safest food in the world? No one knows
It's impossible to say. The statistics don't exist to make such a claim. But that doesn't stop meatpackers, lobbyists, lawmakers and even government regulators who should know better, from repeating the claim every time there's a food-borne illness outbreak or major food recall.
So says Philip Brasher, writing today in the Des Moines Register.
Brasher says unfounded claims can undermine the credibility of the government and the industry and he cites barfblog.com and our special safest-food-in-the-world section at http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/safest-food-in-the-world/.
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Kansas State University Professor Doug Powell wrote on a blog where he tracks food safety news,"Bland blanket statements serve only to amplify rather than mollify consumers (concerns)."
Brasher goes on to say that the problem with making these claims is that it's now impossible to compare one country's statistics to another country's, experts say. Most foodborne illnesses go unreported, so government agencies must come up with estimates of how many actually occur. How to do that varies.
Paul Frenzen, a demographer with the Agriculture Department's Economic Research who specializes in food safety, said that even a factor that would seem relatively simple to measure, such as cases of food-related diarrhea, isn't easy to track because definitions vary, and there are also cultural differences between countries as to when victims of foodborne illness go to the doctor.
Other countries offer universal health insurance, making it more likely that people will get to a doctor when they're sick.
Brasher concludes that after the nation's largest meat recall was announced earlier this year, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer didn't claim that U.S. food is the world's safest. Instead, he said,
"The United States enjoys one of the safest food supplies in the world."
No one is going to argue with that.
Canada's food not the safest in the world: prof
In the most appropriate use of the word "eh" I've seen today, Holley asked his audience in a March 19 seminar,
"So food in Canada is the safest in the world, eh?"
Every year, one in three people suffered a food-related illness, and around 500 to 1,000 cases were fatal.
Holley said if an outbreak does occur, only one in five people seek medical attention and, out of these, samples are only collected from 13 per cent of these cases. Twice as many Canadians are infected with salmonella and camylobacter when compared to Americans, and eight times as many Canadians than American report E. coli infections.
"These aren’t exactly results you would expect to see if Canada’s food is the safest in the world."
Holley also noted the United States has set targets to drastically cut the spread of these illnesses, which Canada has not.
Safest meat in the world -- especially in pot pies
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While introducing a Senate motion to block the movement of older Canadian cattle into the U.S., U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) couldn't help himself and played the "safest meat in the world" card."American beef is the safest in the world, but increased importation of higher risk Canadian beef and cattle would undermine the confidence of our trading partners and cause further damage to our domestic beef industry."
Observers said it was doubtful the motion would pass.
U.S. has safest meat in the world; outbreaks increase
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I don't know much about farm bills and state versus federal inspection. But claims that,
"U.S. consumers enjoy the safest meat and poultry products in the world,"
especially as E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks in the U.S. appear on the rise and more sick people are identified in Wisconsin, seems to be the height of hubris.
But that's what Ron de Yong, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture, wrote in the Montana Billings Gazette this morning.
An outdated federal law prohibits state-inspected plants from selling products across state lines despite a provision in the law that requires these plants to have safety standards that equal or exceed those of USDA-inspected facilities. …
There are many reasons to abolish the 1967 prohibition on interstate shipments of state-inspected meat. … Enabling interstate sales of state-inspected meat and poultry will provide economic fairness and open markets. New marketing opportunities not only will benefit producers, processors and small businesses, but also will give consumers more choices at the supermarket. This change is common sense and it's the right thing to do.
Maybe. But spouting off about the safest anything in the world without the comparative data to back up such claims seems like a bad way to sell an idea.
"Safest meat products of any country in the world"
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Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., apparently ignored my plea for a moratorium on the "we have the safest food in the world" comments unless some data was provided. Go figure.
The Billings Gazette cited Rehberg as saying Wednesday that U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab has assured him that the Bush administration will not push a free-trade agreement with South Korea until the country opens its market to U.S. beef.
Rehberg said the country was using "false arguments" to keep its markets closed.
"We have the safest meat products of any country in the world."
Bland blanket statements serve only to amplify rather than mollify consumer concerns.
China GM: Our food is the safest in the world
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Those Chinese learn fast. No sooner had I posted about a USDA official proclaiming that the U.S. had the safest meat supply in the world as 25 were barfing from E. coli O157:H7, then China jumped into the fray, borrowing a page from the US, Canadian, British and Kiwi (and lots of other countries) playbook.
Zhong Yuhua, the general manager, Fusheng Food Co., was quoted as telling reporters who were invited on a government-organized tour of three food exporters in Shandong province, southeast of Beijing that,
"I am very confident in saying our food is excellent and the safest in the world."
The story says that Fusheng is part of a Chinese food industry elite of export-oriented companies that, often with foreign help, have improved quality to meet import standards in Japan, the United States and elsewhere.
I don't believe any of youse. How about a moratorium on, "We have the safest food in the world," until someone publishes some meaningful comparative data in a peer reviewed journal. Or at least back the statement up with some data. Anything. Bland blanket statements serve only to amplify rather than mollify consumer concerns.
U.S. official says meat supply safest in world; 25 react by barfing
Dr. Richard Raymond, the Agriculture Department's undersecretary of food Safety, said on CBS's ""The Early Show'' this morning that,
"I think the American meat supply is the safest in the world. A recall like this does show that we are on the job, we are doing our inspections, our investigation, and we respond when we find problems to make sure that supply is safe.''
Raymond joins the Brits, Canadians and Kiwis, who all apparently have the safest food supply in the world.
They can't all be right.
Meanwhile, an Associated Press story notes cited a Topps official as saying over the weekend that the company has now augmented its procedures with microbiologists and food-safety experts.
I'm sure all this is a tremendous relief to the at least 25 individuals who have been barfing with E. coli O157:H7 in eight states.
Jittering jingoism
First it was the Brits, now the Kiwis are jumping into the jingoism wars.AgResearch New Zealand senior microbiologist Guill le Roux was quoted as telling the Waikato Times, "Eat it (meat) and enjoy it; we have the safest meat in the world. But for goodness sake, prepare and cook it properly."
le Roux was further quoted as saying,
"In general, we are better than most other places in the world. In the States, for instance, they use largely untrained Mexican labour, so there's a language problem for a start. They have about 80 per cent staff turnover annually. And they work with very dirty animals, which are kept on feed lots where there's mud and manure, which increases the possibility of disease. … We are lucky here, there is very little risk, even in hamburgers which are notorious overseas. But we can't get complacent, because the goal posts are moving all the time especially in export markets."
The story notes that le Roux gained a certain profile a few years ago when he was reported as saying that New Zealand had the worst incidence of campylobacter in the world, adding, "We were at a conference and everyone else was saying the same thing, but the media focused on me."
He is quick to point out the statement needs clarification. "These bacteria can be found in water and in many food products such as chicken, fruit and vegetables. However, the high reported incidence in New Zealand is probably due to our good reporting systems as much as anything else."
Any country that claims to have the safest food in the world is probably wrong. Only one can be correct. Some data would bolster a claim of safety.
