>July 14, 2001
Allergy Alert: Michigan Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products
Dearborn, MI (SafetyAlerts) - Academy Packing Company, Inc. is voluntarily
recalling approximately 29,000 pounds of fresh and frozen ground beef
products because they contain an undeclared allergen (soy), the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has
announced.
Product labels do not reflect that the ground beef products were made
with
soy, which is a known allergen. Persons who have an allergy or severe
sensitivity to soy run the risk of possible serious allergic reactions if
they consume the product.
The products being recalled are:
"MR. MEAT" brand "MEAT BALLS HAMBURGER" in 10 lb.
cases
"MR. MEAT" brand "MEAT BALLS GROUND BEEF" in 10 lb.
cases
"MR. MEAT" brand "HAMBURGER" in 20 lb. cases
"MR. MEAT" brand "GROUND BEEF" in 5, 6, 7.5, 10, and
20 lb. cases
Each case bears a date code ranging from "0615" to "0713,"
and "EST. 2559"
appears on the label inside the USDA seal of inspection.
The products were produced between June 15 and July 13, and distributed
to
restaurants and institutions in the Detroit, Mich., area.
"Consumers may wish to ask at restaurants or places where they consume
ground beef if the product or meal contains the recalled product,"
said
Margaret Glavin, FSIS associate administrator.
The problem was discovered through routine FSIS microbiological testing.
FSIS is not aware of any illnesses associated with consumption of the
products. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a physician.
Consumers and media with questions about the recall may contact Mark
Polk,
manager, Academy Packing Company, Inc., at (313) 841-4900.
Consumers with other food safety questions can phone the toll-free USDA
Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-800-535-4555. The hotline can be reached from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time), Monday through Friday, and recorded food
safety messages are available 24 hours a day.
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>QUESTION & ANSWER
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QUESTION: A lady called who just bought a bag of potatoes from a grocery
store. Every potato in the bag is green under the skin. Even when you cut
the potato in half you can see green roots. Is this safe? Should she
return the potatoes?
ANSWER: She should not eat the potatoes. She has the option of throwing
them out or returning them to the store for a refund.
Many plants contain small amounts of naturally occurring toxic chemicals.
For example, two commonly eaten foods, the potato and the tomato, come from
the nightshade family. The nightshade family is known to contain toxic
compounds called alkaloids.
The alkaloid in the potato is solanine. In the United States, healthy
potatoes contain 1 to 5 milligrams of solanine per small potato. Under
current FDA regulations, 20 milligrams of solanine per 100 grams (a small
potato) can render it unfit to eat.
Solanine is produced as the potato gets old or is exposed to light. So
we
need to tell consumers to avoid potatoes that are old, sunburned (green
under the skin) or spongy. Under these conditions, the solanine levels can
increase sevenfold or more. And definitely do not eat the eyes because they
contain a high concentration of solanine.
Toxic amounts of solanine can seriously affect the nervous system and
have
caused death.
Source: Angela Fraser, Ph.D., assistant professor, food safety education
specialist, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, North Carolina
State University.
**************
QUESTION: Can you tell me the stats on how many people get botulism each
year from improperly canned green beans? If they get botulism from green
beans, what is the treatment?
ANSWER: According to Mead et al. (2000), the estimated annual number
of
cases of food borne botulism is 58. Keep in mind that the estimated number
of cases of food borne illnesses due to all bacterial agents is more than
5
million. Therefore, in the total scheme of things, food borne botulism is
not considered to be a major cause of food borne illness.
SOURCES: In recent years, there has not been a reported outbreak associated
with home-canned food, probably because we have been quite diligent about
sharing proper home canning procedures with consumers. Historically, as
you
well know, low-acid canned foods have been associated with botulism.
However, recent outbreaks have involved foods not usually associated with
botulism, such as:
1977 -- 59 cases -- home-canned peppers
1978 -- 34 cases -- potato salad
1984 -- 38 cases -- sautéed onions
1985 -- 36 cases -- garlic in oil
MORTALITY RATE: The current mortality rate of food borne botulism is
about
13 percent.
TREATMENT: Intravenous administration as soon as possible of two vials
of
trivalent (ABE) botulinum antitoxin, available from CDC, Atlanta, through
state health departments, is considered a part of routine treatment. Serum
should be collected to identify the specific toxin before antitoxin is
administered, but antitoxin should not be withheld pending test results.
Most important is immediate access to an intensive care unit so that
respiratory failure, the usual cause of death, can be anticipated and
managed promptly.
Source: Angela Fraser, Ph.D., assistant professor, food safety education
specialist, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, North Carolina
State University.
**************
QUESTION: I am interested in finding any periodicals or texts that cover
trends in nutritional habits in the 1950s and something that does a
decade-by-decade look at eating habits.
ANSWER: A place to start is the January-April 2000 issue of Food Review,
published by the Economic Research Service of USDA. The issue's title is
"Eating in the 20th Century." It's available on the Web at
<http://www.ers.usda.gov/epubs/pdf/foodrevw/jan2000/>.
Source: Lora Wilder, Sc.D., R.D., Food and Nutrition Information Center,
USDA/National Agricultural Library.
*************
QUESTION: Is it safe to can homemade tomato soup? I found a recipe for it
in "Putting Food By," copyright 1991, but there isn't anything
in the Ball
Blue Book.
ANSWER: Soups containing vegetables (and meat) are low-acid products.
They
must be processed in a pressure canner to assure their safety.
The problem with tomato soup is that most recipes call for a thickening
agent such as flour or milk/cream. The USDA does not recommend adding
noodles, milk, or thickening agents to home canned soups. If the recipe
contains only tomatoes, small amounts of onions, mushrooms and garlic for
seasoning, and water, then you could process it using the instructions for
standard tomato sauce found in the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning.
If
it contains other ingredients, such as milk/cream or a thickening agent,
then it should not be home canned.
Source: Angela Fraser, Ph.D., assistant professor, food safety education
specialist, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, North Carolina
State University.
*********
Question: When translating, can I simply hire a translator to transform
educational pieces from English to another language?
Answer: We try not to translate materials designed for "mainstream"
populations into languages spoken by minority populations. Members of
minority communities can always tell when educational materials designed
for
the mainstream are being used with them because the materials generally
are
not culturally relevant to them. Instead, we search for bilingual,
bicultural nutritionists who can write the material in the language of the
target population. They design the materials so they are culturally
relevant. Please remember, just as one-size-fits-all panty hose don't fit
anyone, neither does one-size-fits-all nutrition education materials!
Source: Joanne Ikeda, co-director, Center on Weight and Health, Cooperative
Extension nutrition education specialist, Department of Nutritional
Sciences, University of California, Berkeley.
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PAUSE TO PONDER
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"If we learn from the experience, there is no failure, only delayed
victory." Anonymous