Tainted Food, American Style.

Whoa. I didn’t think China would hand down the death penalty to two men involved in the Melamine milk scandal. And the Chinese courts didn’t stop there; three others got life in prison, one got a suspended death sentence and 15 others were given prison terms that may stretch 15 years.

NYT has more about the melamine scandal and the punishments from Chinese courts.

This scandal was definitely a big deal; at least six children were killed and another 300,000 suffered kidney stones and other ailments. As I read the NY Times article, my mind drifted off to the fact that imported foods entering the U.S. (and the stomachs of citizens) receive almost zero inspection. That’s not a good thing considering almost 15% of the average American diet is imported. 

However, China isn’t the only country troubled with their food. Oh no, we in America do a particularly fabulous job of tainting our own food supply. Consider an especially gross example:

Swill Milk Scandal: New York City & San Francisco, 1858. At least 8,000 children were killed.

In 1858, about 90,000 quarts of milk entered New York City daily. This didn’t match the 120,000 quarts that were delivered to customers. Investigation discovered:

Some of the increase was due to New York dairymen padding their milk with water, and then restoring its richness with flour – just like their latter-day Chinese counterparts, who increased the protein levels in watered-down milk by adding the noxious chemical melamine. But the greater part was swill milk, a filthy, bluish substance milked from cows tied up in crowded stables adjoining city distilleries and fed the hot alcoholic mash left from making whiskey. This too was doctored – with plaster of Paris to take away the blueness, starch and eggs to thicken it and molasses to give it the buttercup hue of honest Orange County milk.

Ewww… I know, you may be thinking “That was 1858. Today is different.” The swill milk scandal was pretty blatant. And companies did learn their lesson. Today, companies are a lot smarter about how they alter their foods to increase profits.

Of course, some of these ingredients end up in our food on accident (inappropriate handling, dirty equipment, failing factory conditions, poor agricultural practices, etc.). We’re amidst one of these accidents right now (way to go, peanut butter). Here’s what the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has to say about our tainted food: 

The food safety system in America is broken. As a result hundreds of thousands of Americans may require hospitalization and as many as 5,000 may die this year from preventable foodborne illnesses. Foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have caused a number of recent national outbreaks and recalls:

August and September 2006: E. coli in bagged spinach sickened 204 people in 26 states, killing three.

June 2007: Ground beef contaminated with E. coli caused 14 illnesses leading to a recall of ground beef that had been shipped to 11 western states.

September 2007: The second largest beef recall in U.S. history (21.7 million pounds) began after E. coli contamination was found in Topps Frozen Hamburgers and Patties.

September 2006: Salmonella found in tomatoes sickened 183 people in 21 states.

December 2006: Iceberg lettuce contaminated with E. coli at Taco Bell and Taco John restaurants sickened 152 people.

February 2007: Peter Pan peanut butter contaminated with Salmonella sickened 425 people in 44 states.

February and March 2007: One hundred brands of pet food distributed nationwide were recalled after the FDA received thousands of complaints of illnesses and deaths among cats and dogs due to melamine contamination.

June 2007: Veggie Booty snacks caused 65 illnesses in 20 states from Salmonella.

July 2007: Canned chili and meats containing Clostridium botulinum were recalled after causing eight illnesses in three states.

August 2007: Almost one year after the September E. coli outbreak a nationwide recall of fresh spinach followed discovery of Salmonella in a test batch. Foods regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have also triggered many nationwide outbreaks and recalls:

January to October 2007: Illnesses were reported in 31 states before Banquet Turkey and Chicken Pot Pies carrying Salmonella were recalled in October.

Check out the full report: Building a Modern Food Safety System: For FDA Regulated Foods. It’s very interesting. Also, CSPI has an outbreak database where you can search by food, pathogen or state to find lists of reported outbreaks.   

As I mentioned earlier, companies have smartened up when it comes to altering their food products. They now depend on biased research studies to confuse the public about the ingredients that they use. This is the same exact technique that Big Tobacco used to deceive the public about the safety of cigarettes. And unfortunately, the FDA looks over many of these ingredients because they have financial motives to support the industries.

Tomorrow, I’ll post my “Never” list. These are ingredients in foods that I will not consume because of strong research to support adverse health effects or a lack of research to support the ingredient’s safety.

But, for today, let’s share some stories about tainted food. The CDC reports that each year, 76 million Americans get sick and 325,000 are hospitalized from foodborne hazards (and 5,000 die yearly as stated above). If you’ve had a “tainted food” experience, share it here. What happened, where were you, how did you feel?