Trust In Manufacturers, Retailers and Supermarkets Ill-Placed & Ill-Advised

By Theodora Filis

 

North Americans are hospitalized for food poisoning every year. 

We all place our faith in manufacturers, designers, marketers, and retailers, trusting that the products we buy are safe. Sometimes, that trust is broken when these products cause injury or even death.

According to statistics compiled by the U.S. Center for Disease Control, there are approximately 200 known diseases that can be transmitted through food. When a food-borne illness is the result of unsanitary restaurant conditions, improper packaging, or insufficient supervision of staff hygiene, it makes food poisoning cases even more tragic.

Deli meat is recalled nationally for containing food-borne illnesses, one of the most common reasons people visit the emergency room.

One of the worst and most potentially fatal food-borne diseases is Listeria monocytogenes. It is one of the most virulent food-borne pathogens with 20 to 30 percent of clinical infections resulting in death. Though approximately 2,500 people contract the disease each year, 500 of them die from it.

E. coli found in Dole baby spinach caused hundreds of illnesses, 103 hospitalizations, and three deaths, according to the Consumers Union.

Massive packaged food recall hit the US when Salmonella was detected in dozens of packaged food products after a common flavor enhancer, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, was found to be tainted with Salmonella. As a result, nearly a hundred types of every day prepared food products, as well as organic, vegetarian, and vegan foods, were recalled.

Packaged salads labeled “pre-washed” or “triple-washed” might not be very clean at all. Government standards may not be enough to protect consumers from tainted vegetables. 

Even if mixed salads in bags, clamshells, and other packages don’t contain deadly E. coli or Salmonella, they could still contain harmful contaminants that can reach the greens before and even during their pre-washing, a Consumers Union study found.