Response to: "As Food-Safety Push Grows, Consumers Sort Out Dos, Dont's"

Article by: Laura Landro


With new food-safety legislation making its way through Congress, safety advocates are hoping the FDA will soon have sweeping new powers to protect the nation’s food supply, as I write in the Informed Patient column today.

But in the debate over how to make food safer, it can be tough for consumers to figure out what’s safe to eat. Take a study released earlier this month by Consumers Union, which analyzed 208 samples of bagged, pre-washed salad, and reported finding “indicator organisms” –- bacteria found in the digestive tracts of humans, animals and the environment. The study authors say those bacteria indicate the potential for the presence of more dangerous bacteria, but none of the dangerous bacteria were found in the salad packages tested.

A spokeswoman for the Produce Marketing Association, which represents the fresh fruit and vegetable industry, says the study found no evidence of public health risk. And while cautious consumers might decide to re-wash the bagged salad to be on the safe side, she recommends against it: a scientific panel that studied the issue in 2007 warned that re-washing ready-to-eat, packaged leafy greens introduces a risk of cross-contamination of other surfaces in the unlikley event that harmful bacteria is present.

Likewise, a number of dairy producers and consumers are strongly advocating consumption of raw milk, on the grounds that it is more nutritious, better tasting and no more harmful than pasteurized milk, which is heated to kill bacteria. But its sale is illegal in many states, and the FDA warns that raw milk can harbor dangerous microorganisms that can pose serious health risks, such as E. coli and listeria.

The Health Blog asked food-safety specialist Sam Beattie at Iowa University about both issues. While he says bagged salad should be considered safe to eat because of steps taken by processors to test for pathogens, he suggests using products furthest from the expiration date on the package and avoiding bags whose contents look wet or wilted.

When it comes to raw milk, however, he recommends against it. “I can’t think of a more unsafe food,” he says. His advice: steer clear of unpasteurized dairy products in general.

Think about comparing bagged salad and raw milk like comparing apples and oranges. Bagged salad has a huge distribution - one that ranges from coast to coast in grocery changes - it is a global food. Raw Milk on the other hand is a localized food. If there are problems with bagged salad it will affect the entire USA, ifs its with Raw Milk its very localized and can be determined quickly which cannot be the same for the BS which can take weeks to sort out with hundreds if not thousands more people becoming ill (and dying). Comparing the two in this article is both wrong and deceitful.

What a double standard. Bagged salad has been behind several statewide recalls (that cannot be said for Raw Milk) and the fact that it is a bagged salad advocate with a stake in sales making the ‘determination’ that it is safe should set off warning bells for any consumer. His stake is his profit not anyones safety. Mass produced food has become a danger to society afflicting thousands while small farm foods have less potential to make people ill on a wide scale. I wonder who pays Sam Beattie’s bills and research dollars… its not going to be the small farmers that are being targeted for products like Raw Milk which are not as unsafe as people believe.