The best way to hide your weed: Food safety edition

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Ben Chapman

In fake carrots, of course.

According to News One, over a ton of plastic carrots stuffed with pot, mixed in with a shipment of real carrots were seized by U.S. customs.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection came across $500,000 worth of marijuana disguised as carrots during a traffic stop at the Texas-Mexico border near the Gulf of Mexico.

According to NBCDFW, the discovery occurred last Sunday when agents noticed something peculiar about the tractor-trailer. After a detailed search, over a ton (3,000 lbs) of carrot-shaped packages were found mixed in with the real vegetable. Officials noted the marijuana hidden inside them held a street value of approximately $499,000.

“Once again, drug smuggling organizations have demonstrated their creativity in attempting to smuggle large quantities of narcotics across the U.S./Mexico border,” said Port Director Efrain Solis Jr., of the Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry.

Pot-laced candy packaged like Halloween candy

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Douglas Powell

“Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.”

Those words of wisdom from Lindsay Lohan as Cady in the movie Mean Girls ring true, like the warning from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which recently identified thousands of illicit edible products have been seized in the form of candies, cookies, cereal snacks, and bottled soda, all containing varying amounts of concentrated tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive substance found in the marijuana plant. ?

According to the Sheriff’s Department, these items, packaged to resemble licensed commercial candy and snacks, are being produced locally in clandestine labs and residential kitchens. The items are packaged to be attractive to children and teens. Some items have no label to warn the consumer of their content, and many that are labeled do not contain a reasonable indication of drug content, recommended dosage, or instructions for use. Because their makers intend to remain anonymous, no contact information is listed.?

Some of the processes used to extract and concentrate the THC for the manufacture of these items include the use of chemical solvents, such as liquid butane, to extract THC from the plant material. We are concerned that the methods used to extract the drug may also extract any pesticide or fertilizer residue as well, carrying those potentially toxic chemicals into the items. We are currently pursuing additional testing of these items to better determine this possibility.

?Sheriffs Narcotics Detectives found that the places in which these items were manufactured were highly unsanitary, bringing the potential of other health hazards to users as well. It is the intent of the Sheriffs Department to seek and prosecute similar crimes in the Los Angeles area.

Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, Director of Public Health and Health Officer, said,

“There are too many unknowns regarding the preparation and the amount of marijuana contained in these products. They can be easily mistaken for common foods due to improper labeling and packaging, leading to cases of intoxication from accidental ingestion of ‘pot cookies’ and ‘pot brownies’ that were thought to be ordinary, drug-free snacks. During the coming holiday, we urge parents to carefully screen their children’s treats to ensure that they are properly packaged and labeled, and are from trusted sources.”

Know thy suppliers: UK Kosher Deli fined for supplying meat unfit for human consumption

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Douglas Powell

A kosher food supplier has been ordered to pay £27,000 by the courts for selling a pot of chopped liver containing a potentially deadly bacteria.

Bosses of Kosher Deli UK Ltd., based on the Claremont Industrial Estate, in Claremont Way, Cricklewood, admitted supplying 1kg of meat contaminated with Listeria to a residential care home in May 2008.

An investigation into the company, lead by Barnet Council’s environmental health team, was launched after an 89-year-old care home resident was diagnosed with listeriosis.

A judge at Wood Green Crown Court on Monday said serious issues at Kosher Deli had been set out in an audit report by the Meat Hygiene Service, but accepted the offence represented a lapse over a short period of time in a business which had been operating for 74 years.

Albert Bendahan, managing director of Kosher Deli, said it was “exasperating” that the case was brought based on one allegation from a care home resident, and insisted the family run company took every precaution to ensure food safety was maintained, adding,

“We continuously test and monitor our products, instruct and train our staff and live up to the requirements and beyond of the Food Standards Agency Guidelines.”

Try harder.

ConAgra spends a fortune on advertizing – how about food safety?

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Douglas Powell

ConAgra CEO thingy Gary Rodkin is on a quest

A quest to find what he calls "the big, singular insight that will drive behavior change." If he can do that, he can boost the bottom line (which was $978 million on revenue of $12.7 billion in the fiscal year ended May 31). Rodkin is using theories about buying habits–backed by $399 million a year in advertising, marketing and in-store promotions–to convince grocery stores to provide ample shelves for its 45 consumer brands, which include Chef Boyardee, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Wesson and Swiss Miss.

I have a suggestion. Don’t make people barf, with your Banquet pot pies and your peanut butter. Seriously, $399 million in advertising, and you can’t promise people they won’t barf?

And the best guest speaker you can get is me naked in New Zealand (cost to ConAgra bottom line – nothing).

Live … From the Safe Food Caf?: Cooking the poop out of pot pies

Posted on January 2, 2008 by Douglas Powell

ConAgra announced Nov. 14, 2007, that it was starting to manufacture Banquet pot pies again, and by early December they were available for purchase.

On Oct. 11, 2007, ConAgra announced it was recalling all of its frozen pot pies to fix some label discrepancies. This was two days after an outbreak of Salmonella was linked to Banquet pot pies and the company reassuringly told consumers that getting sick was their own fault and they should be more careful and cook pot pies thoroughly.

In the end, at least 272 people in 35 states had trouble simply cooking the pot pies and got sick with salmonella.

As I documented before, the instructions on the pot pies weren’t so great.

The old labels had statements about how easy it was to cook in the microwave. The new labels are much more explicit, saying the pot pies need to be cooked in at least a 1100 Watt microwave and that a meat thermometer should be used in several places to ensure that an endpoint temperature of 165 F has been reached.

I bought some of the new and improved pot pies and did the same cooking experiment, following what ConAgra called " redesigned easy-to-follow cooking instructions … to help eliminate any potential confusion regarding cooking times."

After four minutes in a 1150 Watt microwave, the interior of the pot pie registered at about 50F. After letting it sit for an additional three minutes — as per label instructions – the temperature varied anywhere from 75 – 190 F.

I decided to cook an additional two minutes.

After six minutes of cooking, and the previous three minutes of resting, the pot pie had tremendous variation in temperature: anywhere from 200F down to 100F. 165 F is required to kill Salmonella.
I wouldn’t want my kids popping these in the microwave after school.

ConAgra has never come clean on which various ingredients may have been the source of the Salmonella. Was it the poultry? How about the vegetables? The pie crust? ConAgra won’t say.

Further, were the new labels tested with consumers? There is a lack of research examining whether safe food handling labels perceived as effective translate into actual safe food handling behavior, including the use of proper thawing and cooking techniques, the use of measures to minimize cross-contamination, and the use of meat thermometers to confirm doneness.

If I was a multi-million dollar corporation like ConAgra headed to a dance with food safety lawyer Bill Marler cause my product made people barf, I’d want some evidence that pot pie fans where actually following the instructions on the labels. I would have tested the new labels with at least 100 teenagers — those afflicted with hormones and horniness — before introducing it to the mass market.
Maybe they did. But that’s up to ConAgra to prove.

And until they do, all products that claim to be safe in the microwave should contain nothing but fully cooked ingredients.

That’s the only way to get the poop out.

Pot pies are back: new labels, same problems

Posted on December 16, 2007 by Douglas Powell

Guess what I found at my local supermarket last week.

ConAgra announced Nov. 14, 2007, that it was starting to manufacture Banquet pot pies again, and earlier last week, they were available for purchase.

In the end, at least 272 people in 35 states had trouble simply cooking the pot pies and got sick with salmonella.

As I documented before, the instructions on the pot pies weren’t so great.

The best the bureaucrats at the British and Irish food safety authorities can come up with is "piping hot" to cook an entire turkey, while American ConAgra expects teenage kids full of hormones and horniness to test pot pies with a meat thermometer in several places so they won’t barf from Salmonella.

It’s not going to happen.

And there’s a risk.

I decided to cook an additional two minutes.

After six minutes of cooking, and the previous three minutes of resting, the pot pie had tremendous variation in temperature: anywhere from 200F down to 100F. 165 F is required to kill Salmonella.

I wouldn’t want my kids popping these in the microwave after school.

ConAgra has never come clean on which various ingredients may have been the source of the Salmonella. Was it the poultry? How about the vegetables? The pie crust? ConAgra won’t say.

Further, were the new labels tested with consumers? If I was a multi-million dollar corporation like ConAgra headed to a dance with food safety lawyer Bill Marler cause my product made people barf, I’d want some evidence that pot pie fans where actually following the instructions on the labels. I would have tested the new labels with at least 100 teenagers afflicted with hormones and horniness before introducing it to the mass market.

Maybe they did. But that’s up to ConAgra to prove.

And until they do, all products that claim to be safe in the microwave should contain nothing but fully cooked ingredients.

That’s the only way to get the poop out.

USA Today reported on the new pot pies Monday morning.

ConAgra pot pies are back after Salmonella otbreak sickens 272

Posted on November 14, 2007 by Douglas Powell

Much rejoicing for Eric Cartmen this evening. ConAgra pot pies are coming back.

The company says environmental tests of its Marshall, Missouri, plant have not shown any trace of salmonella since the Oct. 11 recall, and that lab tests showed that the tainted pot pies were produced between July 13 and July 31.

The pot pies made by ConAgra have been linked to at least 272 cases of salmonella in 35 states. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at least 65 people were hospitalized as part of the outbreak, but no deaths have been linked to the pot pies.

ConAgra Foods also said on Wednesday said a recent recall of pot pies due to salmonella contamination would cost about $30 million — or 4 cents per share, and that earnings in its trading and merchandising group would be stronger than expected and would offset the recall costs.

A company statement today notes,

redesigned easy-to-follow cooking instructions are now in place to help eliminate any potential confusion regarding cooking times.

I look forward to checking these out for myself. The directions on the previous pot pies really sucked. And didn’t work.

Seattle attorney William Marler, who as of today had filed five lawsuits related to the outbreak, told the Tri City Herald in Washington State today that he would continue to file lawsuits against ConAgra until it begins compensating clients for damages.

Did your microwave nuke the bacteria?

Posted on October 13, 2007 by Douglas Powell

N.Y. Times business columnist Andrew Martin writes in Sunday’s paper (Oct. 14/07) that he’s gotten used to the idea that hamburgers can make you sick. But frozen dinners?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says at least 165 people in 31 states have become ill with the same strain of salmonella, with the Banquet pot pies being the likely source.

Martin says,

"it is relatively easy to figure out when a hamburger is well done by checking to see that it is no longer pink."

Uh-oh. Color is a lousy indicator of doneness. But more about that in upcoming weeks.

Martn continues,

"it’s preposterous to expect consumers to know how the cooking power of their microwave compares with others."

Douglas Powell, an associate professor and scientific director of the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University said,

"Even if I have a 1,000-watt microwave, how do I know if it’s high, medium or low?"

Professor Powell bought one of the pot pies and cooked it, following the instructions, then checked the temperature with a thermometer.

After four minutes, the pie was 48 degrees, leading him to conclude his microwave was low wattage. After six minutes, it was 204 degrees near the top but 127 degrees farther into the pie.

He finally ate it after zapping it for another two minutes, when the pie temperature was 194 degrees. (An account of the experiment is at barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu)

Martin further says,

with the proliferation of ready-to-cook foods in the frozen foods aisle, the variation in the cooking times is a little scary. Is it long enough to kill the bugs, even if my microwave is 15 years old?

ConAgra Foods finally came to its senses on Thursday night and recalled all of its pot pies. It also acknowledged problems with its cooking instructions.

Cooking the poop out of pot pies

Posted on October 12, 2007 by Douglas Powell

My wife Amy says she ate a lot of pot pies growing up in Montana and "they were always frozen in the middle."

Kids come home from school, are told to fend for themselves, grab something from the freezer, pop it into the microwave, and sometimes, instant gratification.

People have been eating frozen pot pies for a long time and haven’t gotten sick.

But somehow, a whole pile of poop — that’s where salmonella comes from — got into the batch of ConAgra Banquet turkey and chicken pot pies with the code P9 on the side panel.

It was either a failure to cook the meat, or it was in the potatoes or carrots or flour. Poop is everywhere. It should not be eaten; unless it’s cooked.

Until last night, when ConAgra finally recalled all pot pies produced at its Missouri plant, the company insisted it was up to consumers to cook that poop.

But are consumers really the ones who are supposed to be responsible here?

Stephanie Childs, a spokesperson for ConAgra, says that as long as consumers follow the instructions on the package, Banquet brand frozen pot pies are safe to eat.

Amy questions that. So do the 152 people across the U.S. confirmed with Salmonella linked to the ConAgra pot pies. With that many sick people, of which 20 required hospitalization, there were probably thousands of people barfing or planted on the porcelain throne because they could not figure out how to follow the simple instructions to make the poop safe.

So I gave it a try.

The details are available at:
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2007/10/articles/food-safety-communication/cooking-a-frozen-pot-pie-in-a-microwave/

The short version is, the cooking instructions, for me, in one trial, failed to yield a safe internal temperature of 165F; the pie only got to 148F. That’s not safe. If salmonella was there, it would make me poop.

ConAgra was somehow allowed to blame consumers for several days — if not months — for the poop in their pot pies.

Now ConAgra says it is going to rewrite its cooking instructions on its pot pie packaging — something that should have done before 152 people started barfing.

But why just pot pies? There is a cacophony of frozen, raw or cooked products available in the supermarket freezer section, and there have been several outbreaks of foodborne illness related to those products containing raw ingredients.

In 2006 the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued guidelines requiring companies to clearly label uncooked products and include a statement such as "must be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F as measured by use of a thermometer" in a prominent spot on the package.

But it’s still confusing. Raw, frozen, chicken strips, for instance, are sold side-by-side with fully cooked, frozen chicken strips. Kids looking for an after-school snack may not read the label instructions before popping something in the microwave. And telling consumers to cook out the poop may not be the best marketing strategy.

Frozen products like nuggets, strips and pot pies should only contain fully cooked ingredients.

Douglas Powell is scientific director of the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University.

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