Tag: spinach

FDA and Food Safety: Failing Grade

  • Another scare came a few years ago, when spinach was found to be tainted with E. Coli (Photo courtesy of the USDA)

In the wake of this year’s tainted peanut butter scare, Congress is getting ready to approve changes to the Food and Drug Administration. Lawmakers want to give the American public more confidence in the safety of the food supply system. But some people doubt they will be able to
make real change. Julie Grant reports:

Transcript

In the wake of this year’s tainted peanut butter scare,
Congress is getting ready to approve changes to the Food
and Drug Administration. Lawmakers want to give the
American public more confidence in the safety of the food
supply system. But some people doubt they will be able to
make real change. Julie Grant reports:

Gwen Rosenberg is a mom. She has four boys to feed. So
she’d like to be able to trust that the food supply is safe.

But when Rosenberg heard that 8 people died after eating
peanut products earlier this year, and hundreds more got
sick, it confirmed her beliefs: that the Food and Drug
Administration isn’t making sure food is safe.

“There shouldn’t be stories that come out that reveal that the
peanut plant hasn’t been inspected for years. Or when it
was inspected, there was rat feces. They’re not doing their
job.”

Rosenberg wants the FDA to crack down on food
manufacturers. She says they need inspect more – and shut
down facilities when they find dangerous conditions. She
was appalled when she realized the FDA has no authority to
recall tainted foods.

“The fact that they don’t have recall authority essentially
neuters the FDA. I mean, how are we supposed to take
anything they say or do seriously if they end result is, ‘well,
we can’t force you to do this?’ Well, thanks for the
community service message not to eat the tainted peanut
butter, but you’re not actually making me any safer.”

In the case of the Peanut Corporation of America, a test
found salmonella in its products. It retested. When the test
came out negative, it went ahead and shipped out the
products.

And the FDA had no recall authority. Congressman Bart
Stupak says that’s just wrong. He’s co-sponsoring a food
safety bill that would give the FDA some authority in cases
like this.

“What the FDA can do, shut ‘er down. Prove to me that you
cleaned it up. Prove to me, where did you destroy this
product. Give me the facts. They can’t give you the facts,
shut ‘er down right now. Let’s not wait ten days.”

But leaders in the FDA don’t think recall authority would
have made much difference in the tainted peanut product
case.

David Acheson is Associate Commissioner for foods at the
FDA. Once people started getting sick, he says most
companies using the Peanut Corporation of America’s
products voluntarily recalled their cookies and crackers.

“There’s no suggestion that having mandatory recall is a
panacea to solving food safety problems. It’s one more tool
that would be used from time to time when the situation
warrants it, but it’s not the answer to modernizing food
safety.”

Acheson says the real problem is that the FDA is so busy
reacting to public health threats – to putting out fires – that it
can’t get ahead of the problems and fix the food safety
system.

He says the food system needs preventive controls.

There are a lot of points in the food supply chain where
hazards can creep in: when the food is being grown,
processed, distributed, or sold in a store. Acheson says the
food industry needs to identify control points for each food –
where they are most at risk at becoming unsafe.

“Is it a wild animal in a field, is it the water supply for the
spinach, is it the temperature in my freezer in a retail store.
And all these things in between where things can go wrong
and food can either become contaminated or if there is a low
level of contamination then bacteria can grow.”

Once those control points are identified, Acheson says the
FDA needs to do more inspections – to make sure food is
being handlled safely from farms fields to grocery stores.

But that’s going to cost money.

So Congress is considering charging companies fees to pay
for those inspections.

Food manufacturers don’t like that idea. We contacted
several companies, but none of them, not even the Grocery
Manufacturers Association, would comment for this story.

For The Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.

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Leafy, Irradiated Greens

  • The Food and Drug Administration has now approved irradiating iceberg lettuce and spinach to kill the bacteria. (Photo by Ken Hammond, courtesy of the USDA)

The government has cleared the way
to irradiate some produce. Lester Graham
reports if produce companies do use radiation,
it might reduce contamination of leafy greens:

Transcript

The government has cleared the way
to irradiate some produce. Lester Graham
reports if produce companies do use radiation,
it might reduce contamination of leafy greens:

The last few years a lot of people have gotten sick from salmonella and e.coli
contamination. The Food and Drug Administration has now approved irradiating
iceberg lettuce and spinach to kill the bacteria.

Dennis Olson is a scientist at Iowa State University. He says like irradiating meat,
people will accept this too.

“There are a lot of consumer activists groups that are opposed to the technology and
they get a lot of media attention that says consumers hate it or don’t want it. And yet, in
fact, when we’ve introduced the products – with some education – consumers are very
willing to accept it.”

Olson says the FDA should okay irradiating other produce too. It’s expensive, but it
might mean fewer costly recalls for produce companies, and means longer shelf life for
lettuce and spinach.

For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.

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Color Changing Bacteria Detector

  • A team at Tufts University is working on sensors that could change color to tell you if a bag of lettuce has dangerous bacteria in it. (Photo by Ken Hammond, courtesy of the USDA)

Researchers are working on a tool
that could tell you if your food is safe
to eat before you break open the bag.
Rebecca Williams has more:

Transcript

Researchers are working on a tool
that could tell you if your food is safe
to eat before you break open the bag.
Rebecca Williams has more:

A team at Tufts University is working on sensors that could change color to
tell you if a bag of lettuce has dangerous bacteria in it.

The special ingredient is silk. They boiled silkworm cocoons. And made a
thin silk film out of the proteins. The silk film has color changing properties
– like a butterfly’s wing.

Fio Omenetto is the lead researcher. He says it could be possible to activate
the film so it detects the presence of E. coli. Then the film could be put in a
bag of spinach.

“So immediately by looking at color change you will be able to tell whether
the spinach is good to eat or not.”

Omenetto says this is still pretty futuristic at this point. He says it’ll
probably be at least five years before you might see this at the grocery store.

For The Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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Gao Reports Food Safety at High Risk

A government watchdog agency is adding to
its list of high-risk problems that the federal
government is failing to fix. Lester Graham reports
that keeping up with transportation demands and keeping
food safe are issues being added to the high-risk list:

Transcript

A government watchdog agency is adding to
its list of high-risk problems that the federal
government is failing to fix. Lester Graham reports
that keeping up with transportation demands and keeping
food safe are issues being added to the high-risk list:


Every two years the Government Accountability Office
identifies areas where the government is putting people or
tax money at risk.


This time the GAO identified three new high-risk areas.
First is financing transportation needs. Government
funding is eroding as traffic congestion is growing. The
second is protecting defense technologies from espionage.
The report says outmoded methods don’t work in a high-tech
world. The third high-risk area is food safety. The
report says the current fragmented federal system causes
inconsistent oversight, ineffective coordination and
inefficient use of resources.


The GAO says the government needs a better system to detect
and respond to food problems, such as the recent E. coli
bacteria contamination of spinach. Congress and the White
House pay attention to the GAO’s high-risk report, although
solutions to the problems often take years to develop.


For the Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.

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Spinach Controversy to Benefit Small Farmers?

Last month, more than 150 people fell sick from spinach tainted with E. coli bacteria. The spinach has been traced to a California-based produce company. While this means trouble for large-scale agricultural producers, Brian Bull reports the outbreak might help smaller, independent farmers:

Transcript

Last month, more than 150 people fell sick from spinach tainted with
the E. coli bacteria. The spinach has been traced to a California-
based produce company. While this means trouble for large-scale agricultural
producers, Brian Bull reports the outbreak might help smaller,
independent farmers:


Bill Warner owns an organic spinach farm. He sells his crop at local
farmers’ markets and restaurants in Wisconsin and to some restaurants
in Chicago. Warner says he thinks the E. coli incident will steer
consumers toward smaller, organic farms like his.


“We just will tell people that in every step of the way we
do, we’re eating our spinach. We drink the same well water that we
water with. So it may get people more back to, ‘Y’know we don’t want
the big conglomerate foods, let’s go back to buying from who we
know.'”


Warner says many, if not most, organic farmers are extra careful.
They don’t seal their spinach in bags, and don’t use manure in their
fertilizer. Instead, they use a vegetable-based compost and wash
their greens with clean well water. Warner says this helps alleviate
the risk of E. coli bacteria contamination.


For the Environment Report, I’m Brian Bull.

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Hybrid Car Ownership Drives People Together

Some hybrid car owners are starting clubs to socialize and to learn how to squeeze even more miles per gallon out of their fuel-efficient vehicles. The number of hybrid owners is still small enough that the owners feel a little “special.” The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

Some hybrid car owners are starting clubs to socialize and to learn
how to squeeze even more miles per gallon out of their fuel-efficient
vehicles. The number of hybrid owners is still small enough that the
owners feel a little “special.” The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Bradley Fons says he already thought about the environment a lot before he
purchased a used hybrid car three years ago. He bought a Honda Insight:


“…And I kind of figured out how to drive it to get the best mileage but there
was no support, no help out there at that point to assist me.”


Eventually, Fons found a group of hybrid owners who helped him answer
some questions about the car.


(Sound of group meeting)


But this year, with some help from his family, Fons has done one better: he’s
organized a hybrid owners club.


(Marie Fons) “…And put your name on one of these little things, for a door prize. I know, work, work, work, work, work. Here, you guys want to work on the
door prize thing?”


Bradley Fons’ wife, Marie, is helping about two dozen people check in. This
is the first meeting of the hybrid owners group. They get to know each
other by their name, their city, and the kind of hybrid they drive:


“I’m Kathy Moody from Racine and I have a ’05 Prius.”


“I’m Bill Vaness from Waukesha and I ride in my wife’s ’03 Prius (laughs).”


(Group member) “At least you’re honest.”


“My name is Sherrie Schneider, I’m from Bristol and I have an ’06 Civic. Picked it up about a month ago and I’m here to learn a lot ’cause I don’t know how to get the mileage you all
are getting but I’m going to learn (laughs).”


And so Bradley and Marie Fons go into teaching mode, offering encouragement and advice about how to get the most miles per gallon from the cars. The hybrid of gas engine and electric batteries usually cost more to buy more than similarly sized conventional cars. So the new owners are anxious about getting the best mileage possible.


Bradley Fons preaches patience. He says for new vehicles, owners have to work through
the car’s several thousand mile break-in period before they get the kind of gas
efficiency the cars can reach:


“So if you’re getting in the forties, ya know, high 40, mid 40, to low 50s in
a Prius and it’s new, don’t worry about it, ya know. It’ll come.”


Fons says some of these cars will get miles-per-gallon in the 60s and 70s. Then there are
the controversial people who’ve become what’s known as “hyper-milers,” getting 80 or 90
miles per gallon through various means that even the hyper-milers concede aren’t
completely safe.


Fons introduces Wayne Gerdes, who tells how to steer a hybrid
in the air draft right behind 18-wheel trucks:


“Hopefully you’ll understand that this close in, is this one car to one and a half second
back, that’s a dangerous area. I don’t recommend anybody doing it, but you’re gonna find
your fuel economy going through the roof on that.”


The hybrid owners club that the Fons family has organized also takes club
members out in hybrids for some lessons on the road:


“So we’ll go down, ya know, another set of streets.”


Bradley Fons sits in the front passenger seat of a Toyota hybrid. He’s
teaching a club member named Bill a driving method called the “pulse-and-
glide.” Basically, it involves only occasionally tapping the gas pedal and coasting
a lot, so that neither the car’s motor or electric battery system is operating much.


When pulse-and-glide is done right, a monitor on the dashboard reports a surge in
fuel efficiency. After some difficulty, Fons helps Bill get the hang of it:


“All right, foot totally off. Now just on a little, there you are. You’re in it, hold it,


(Bill) “Do you take your foot off when you’re in there, though?”


“No, you have to leave pressure on it. Boy, that was the longest glide you did (laughs)!”


It’s moments like these that make Bradley Fons glad he and his family are helping to
spread the hybrid car message. But Fons sees an opportunity for members of his club to
go outside the group and become pro-hybrid activists:


“Hoping dealers get more hybrid cars, working for candidates that push alternative fuels,
sustainable energy, anything that can be done…because at this point in time it hasn’t been
coming from the government. They’ve done some, but our group doesn’t feel they’ve done
enough.”


Fons says politicians should listen to hybrid owners and hybrid clubs, because they’re
offering part of the solution to America’s oil addiction.


For the GLRC, I’m Chuck Quirmbach

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Invasive Species or Delectable Green?

  • Garlic mustard looks like any average weed, but because it's an exotic species in the Midwest, it doesn't have any natural predators. That means it can push out native plant species and disrupt ecosystems in Great Lakes states. (Photo by Corbin Sullivan)

Of all the non-native plants and animals that have invaded the Great Lakes region, garlic mustard is one of the most prolific. The leafy green plant is an invasive species that can be found in people’s backyards, in wetlands, even growing through cracks in concrete. Invasive species can hurt natural areas by displacing native plants. So to get rid of garlic mustard, people are dumping it in landfills or killing it with herbicide. But a nature group in Michigan has found a better way to deal with it – by eating it. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin Toner attended a benefit dinner where garlic mustard was featured in every single recipe. Toner produced this audio postcard:

Transcript

Of all the non-native plants and animals that have invaded the
Great Lakes region, garlic mustard is one of the most prolific. The
leafy green plant is an invasive species that can be found in people’s
backyards, in wetlands, even growing through cracks in concrete.
Invasive species can hurt natural areas by displacing native plants.
So to get rid of garlic mustard, people are dumping it in landfills or
killing it with herbicide. But a nature group in Michigan has found
a better way to deal with it – by eating it. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Erin Toner attended a benefit dinner where garlic mustard
was featured in every single recipe. Toner produced this audio postcard:


“Hi, I’m Jeremy Emmi. I’m the executive director of the Michigan Nature Association. There are a lot of invasive species out there that people don’t know about. Most people have invasive species in their backyard or their woodlot or their farm and they really don’t know they’re there. Garlic mustard is actually pretty simple to deal with, although very labor intensive.


“And the way we deal with it is pulling it, and that’s really the best way. You can use herbicide, but because it grows in such pristine habitats a lot of the time you don’t want to use herbicide because you don’t want to kill the native plants that are around it. So you’re in a catch 22. So really the best way is just to pull it.”


“Hi, I’m Natalie Kent. I’m the GIS technician and development associate for the Michigan Nature Association. I was helping out at one of MNA’s workdays and we were removing garlic mustard and I was working with my coworker Sherri. And we were coming back home and we were talking and she said she had had garlic mustard in salad the weekend before. And I said “Oh, you can eat it.” And she said “Oh yeah, it’s edible, you can have it fresh in salads, you can cook it like spinach.” And then the first thought that popped into my head was, if we can eat it, why are we throwing it away?


“…It looks different, depending on when you see it. In early spring, it’s in the form of a basil rosette and it sort of looks similar to a violet leaf, similar in the shape. But to me, I always tell people it looks like Pac Man.”


“My name is Ruth and I am eating something called Jade Soup, which I think is essentially a broth with lots of boiled garlic mustard leaves in it and actually it’s very good. It kind of tastes like a spinach soup, kind of, but it tastes good and mild and not at all overwhelming which you might think it would be. And also the garlic pesto bread is absolutely fabulous.”


“I’m Cynthia and I was born in Detroit, Michigan. Oh, I think it’s great. It has a slight zing and zip to it. It’s refreshing. It’s the kind of thing that would cleanse the palette after a heavy meal. It’s really an enjoyable plant.”


I’m Clifford Welch, and I’m a retired professor at Michigan State University and my retirement’s devoted to ecological restoration. I spend now almost 70 percent of my time on invasive species. The invasive vegetation is a huge, huge problem. What I have is a bunch of dishes that have garlic mustard in it. This is what I really need to taste, here’s the garlic mustard right here, and I’ve never eaten it before and I’m anxious to see what this tastes like.


(sound of chewing)


“It has a mustardy taste to it. It needs something on it, though, badly.”


“I’m Mary, and I was about to try – this is a cheese ball with garlic mustard. It’s actually good, it adds a, I don’t want to say peppery flavor, but I guess a garlic flavor to the cheese. It is good. So if somebody’s willing to take the time to harvest it, you can add it to things and I guess it’s supposed to be really healthy based on the literature. It has a lot of Vitamin A and Vitamin C in it. We’re all trying to eat healthier these days.”


HOST TAG: The voices of people trying foods made with mustard garlic: an invasive species that naturalists are removing from the wild and eating, rather than throwing it away. Our audio postcard was produced by the GLRC’s Erin Toner.

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