About that Listeriosis outbreak
(Here's a quick rundown of the situation for non-Canadians who might not have heard about this.)
Ok, now this just pisses me off.
Read it. I'll wait.
Done?
What a bunch of "blame the consumer" crap!
First of all, most of the contaminated foods were deli meats and frozen goods, correct? (And premade sandwiches.) Generally, the frozen products have instructions that include "cook from frozen," so there's no dangerous "thawing on the counter time" for the Darwin candidates out there. And deli meats, for the average consumer, are kept in the fridge, pulled out to make a quick sandwich, and then stuck right back in the fridge. Explain to me when someone is going to take the time to cook their pre-cooked deli meats?
But this is the part - right before the lecture on how to handle food products - that really pisses me off.
Despite the tremendous protective layers of safeguards and improvements in processing technologies, post-processing contamination - even in the consumer's home - remains a potential risk. The potential for contamination by various bacteria dictates that proper food handling procedures and sanitation are essential at any step of the food chain for protecting at-risk consumers from this pathogen.
Excuse me? This is exactly the same argument that the meat industry uses when they are faced with an E. coli outbreak. Basically, because you didn't cook your burger to a charred briquette, you got E.coli. BZZT! WRONG! No, you got E.coli either because you touched something that had E.coli on it (like, oh, the cow droppings you keep in your kitchen??), or because the hamburger showed up at the fucking store with E.coli! E.coli doesn't magically appear if you don't cook your hamburger all the way through.
But they're trying to imply that because these people didn't use proper food handling techniques, there was some kind of miraculous abiogenesis that created Listeria on their deli meat. Never mind that everyone who got sick ate meats that were produced at the same plant. I'll repeat the important part of that press release so you can see it...
"Despite the tremendous protective layers of safeguards and improvements in processing technologies, post-processing contamination - even in the consumer's home - remains a potential risk. "
Because everyone who got sick managed to contaminate their food in the exact same manner so as to get themselves sick with one specific strain of Listeria. Right.
Maple Leaf is being very clear that they know which plant caused the problem. The Canadian Meat Council are doing their best to shift the blame back onto those bad consumers, who must have done something silly that let them get sick in the first place... You know, like not cooking their pre-cooked deli meats.
Here's a thought, guys. Maybe if the meat didn't arrive at the supermarket with bacteria in it, those silly consumers wouldn't get sick on your products.
But don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Canadian Consumer! We're going to let the food industry do its own inspections. I'm sure that'll be much safer than the way we're doing it now.
Ok, now this just pisses me off.
Read it. I'll wait.
Done?
What a bunch of "blame the consumer" crap!
First of all, most of the contaminated foods were deli meats and frozen goods, correct? (And premade sandwiches.) Generally, the frozen products have instructions that include "cook from frozen," so there's no dangerous "thawing on the counter time" for the Darwin candidates out there. And deli meats, for the average consumer, are kept in the fridge, pulled out to make a quick sandwich, and then stuck right back in the fridge. Explain to me when someone is going to take the time to cook their pre-cooked deli meats?
But this is the part - right before the lecture on how to handle food products - that really pisses me off.
Despite the tremendous protective layers of safeguards and improvements in processing technologies, post-processing contamination - even in the consumer's home - remains a potential risk. The potential for contamination by various bacteria dictates that proper food handling procedures and sanitation are essential at any step of the food chain for protecting at-risk consumers from this pathogen.
Excuse me? This is exactly the same argument that the meat industry uses when they are faced with an E. coli outbreak. Basically, because you didn't cook your burger to a charred briquette, you got E.coli. BZZT! WRONG! No, you got E.coli either because you touched something that had E.coli on it (like, oh, the cow droppings you keep in your kitchen??), or because the hamburger showed up at the fucking store with E.coli! E.coli doesn't magically appear if you don't cook your hamburger all the way through.
But they're trying to imply that because these people didn't use proper food handling techniques, there was some kind of miraculous abiogenesis that created Listeria on their deli meat. Never mind that everyone who got sick ate meats that were produced at the same plant. I'll repeat the important part of that press release so you can see it...
"Despite the tremendous protective layers of safeguards and improvements in processing technologies, post-processing contamination - even in the consumer's home - remains a potential risk. "
Because everyone who got sick managed to contaminate their food in the exact same manner so as to get themselves sick with one specific strain of Listeria. Right.
Maple Leaf is being very clear that they know which plant caused the problem. The Canadian Meat Council are doing their best to shift the blame back onto those bad consumers, who must have done something silly that let them get sick in the first place... You know, like not cooking their pre-cooked deli meats.
Here's a thought, guys. Maybe if the meat didn't arrive at the supermarket with bacteria in it, those silly consumers wouldn't get sick on your products.
But don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Canadian Consumer! We're going to let the food industry do its own inspections. I'm sure that'll be much safer than the way we're doing it now.