Wegmans

  • Fresh Anaheim peppers pulled from Wegmans on Salmonella suspicion

    Posted: July 3rd, 2009 - 10:51am by Doug Powell

    Wegmans has removed fresh Anaheim peppers from its Produce departments due to the possibility of salmonella contamination.  The FDA is currently investigating the situation.

    If you still have Anaheim peppers, please throw them away.  Do not return them to the store.  You may go to the service desk for information on receiving a refund.

    For more information, please call Wegmans Consumer Affairs at 1-800-934-6267, x-4760, Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm.
     

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    Salmonella  |  0 Comments
    Anaheim, Food Recall, Peppers, Wegmans
  • Grocers claim audits reduce foodborne illness; no evidence provided

    Posted: May 25th, 2009 - 10:50am by Doug Powell

    Two weeks ago, the U.S. Grocery Manufacturers Association came out with a whopper that no one seems to have noticed.

    In a press release intended to highlight private sector initiatives to bolster food safety – which I’m all for, they make the profit, they should shoulder the burden when they make their customers barf – GMA said,

    “Ultimately, wider use of third party certification/audits will reduce the risk of food-borne illnesses.”

    There is absolutely no evidence to support that statement.

    In case there is some confusion, here is the statement in full:

    Third party audits are an important part of America’s food safety net.  To ensure rigor and integrity in third party certification, policymakers and industry leaders should encourage the engagement of auditors employed by certification bodies accredited to international standards by recognized organizations such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). … By increasing the number of well-qualified auditors and developing universal food safety auditing criteria, industry leaders and policymakers will ensure that auditors are competent to review a particular facility, discourage duplicative audits, reduce auditing costs, and encourage wider use of third party certification/audits throughout the food industry. Ultimately, wider use of third party certification/audits will reduce the risk of food-borne illnesses.

    I’ve been hearing such statements for 15 years, and while it sounds good, I’ve seen little evidence to back such proclamations. As I’ve written before,

    The third-party food safety audit scheme that processors and retailers insisted upon is no better than a financial Ponzi scheme. The vast number of facilities and suppliers means audits are required, but people have been replaced by paper. Audits, inspections, training and systems are no substitute for developing a strong food safety culture, farm-to-fork, and marketing food safety directly to consumers.

    If someone barfs, they’re going to go after the biggest name they can find, whether it’s a retailer or a processor. So protect that brand. Have your own people and some institutional expertise to assess food safety risks. And avoid unsubstantiated statements.
     

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    Food Safety Policy  |  1 Comment
    Auditors, Barf, Grocery Manufacturers Association, Illness, Third-party Audits, Wegmans
  • Grocers speak on food safety

    Posted: December 13th, 2008 - 2:44am by Doug Powell

    I don’t really know Bob Brackett other than an annual chat when we run into each other at meetings. Years ago I started calling him the best-dressed man in food safety ‘cause he always wore a sharp suit.

    Bracket started out in academia, established himself at the University of Georgia, then went to government as director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and then to industry as senior vice president and chief science and regulatory affairs officer of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. That’s a lot of titles. And gives Bracket a credibility others can only talk about. This guy walks the talk, and has done it in various shoes.

    Bracket writes in this morning’s N.Y. Times that the Grocery Manufacturers Association agrees with the Dec. 6, 2008 Times editorial that that the Food and Drug Administration should be given more resources and authority to prevent contamination of the nation’s food supplies.

    Once in office, President-elect Barack Obama and his administration should commit to increasing annual food-related spending to $900 million by 2012 and should work with Congress to quickly modernize our food safety laws.

    Specifically, the F.D.A. should be allowed to set and enforce safety standards for fruits and vegetables; require every food manufacturer to adopt, regularly update and make available for F.D.A. confirmation a food safety plan; and require food importers to document the steps they are taking to police their foreign suppliers.

    By doing much more to prevent contamination — and by expanding and better targeting inspections — the next administration can immediately address the challenges of rising food imports and changing consumer preferences.

    Good on ya.

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    Food Safety Policy  |  0 Comments
    Fda, Grocery Manufacturers Association, Robert Bracket, Wegmans
  • Hepatitis A clinics cost $500,000 so far; vaccination is cheaper

    Posted: February 15th, 2008 - 3:01am by Doug Powell

    WGRZ is reporting that the hepatitis A positive Wegmans' employee has led to at least $500,000 being spent on vaccination clinics in upstate New York.

    So far, more than 8,300 people have been vaccinated.

    Dr. Anthony Billittier said,

    "When it comes to protecting the public's health we need to do what we need to do."

    Erie County Executive Chris Collins said,

    "We've redeployed workers out of the Rath building to go to the ECC clinic. They aren't doing their jobs in the Rath building but we're paying them anyway, so is it a cost for the Hepatitis clinic, yes, because when they come back their work is piling up." And they may have to work overtime to catch up.

    It's also costing taxpayers money to rents screen to give patients privacy, for the needles to inject the vaccine, and for the NFTA buses on standby to keep people waiting warm.

    These hepatitis A cases are a weekly occurrence in the U.S. A food worker parties in Mexico or the Dominican where hepatitis A is endemic. Food worker comes home, is fine for two weeks, then spends the next two weeks crapping out virus. And unless food worker is really diligent about handwashing, he's spreading virus-containing poop on food -- especially fresh produce or salads. After four weeks, food worker turns yellow and goes to the doctor where a diagnosis is made. Then the clinics start.

    Get vaccinated for hepatitis A. And dude, wash your damn hands.
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    Hepatitis A  |  0 Comments
    Wegmans