Feces-Tainted Jalapenos? Somebody Git A Rope! FDA Reform, Now!

As one who leans left politically on notoriously right-wing turf, I've usually been something of an outsider in my home state of Texas. But Texan cultural mores, at least the better ones, stick with us natives. And one of the things I would cry bitter tears at having to part with would be the jalapeno pepper.

And it makes my South Texican blood simmer to learn that, for months before the recent salmonella outbreak, federal officials at the Mexican border were turning away fetid, contaminated shipments of fresh and dried chile peppers without unusual concern. These bozos, despite their reduced numbers, could and should have known that many such shipments were getting through, and that the resulting pico de gallo, chili powder and fresh jalapeno slices would threaten people's health.

More below the fold.

At first the illnesses were blamed on tomatoes. Later, cilantro was mentioned. Finally, the outbreak was reportedly traced to two farms in Mexico where jalapenos and other chile peppers were grown for export.

With the ingredients we have so far, just add fresh onion and lime juice, and you've got the popular and usually healthful condiment called pico de gallo. Goes great with any style of beans, or with Spanish rice. And a plate of sizzling fajitas just wouldn't be the same without it.

Now, because of the negligence of those who are supposed to be watching out for our food safety -- not to mention the foolhardiness of certain free-trade agreements -- fans of Tex-Mex have to think twice, or thrice, before savoring pico de gallo or many other styles of chiles.

Yes, I realize there are hungry people all over the world who couldn't care less about chiles. But let's not digress. It isn't just about hot peppers. Americans, in the era after the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, used to be able to trust much more in the wholesomeness of our food supply. Now, because of misguided economics, minimalist views of government and just plain greed, we cannot.

Predictably, deep cuts in FDA food safety and field staffers have been critical in this failure of government oversight. Because the reduced number of inspectors are overwhelmed, very little imported produce is turned away. That's not just hot chiles.

Here's the link to the CBS News online report about this continuing outrage.

I didn't grow up in a family of chileheads, so my initiation to the Texican Fraternity of the Holy Jalapeno was gradual. As a teen, I made the mistake a couple of times of trying to eat a pickled jalapeno neat. I wouldn't think anything about doing that now, but that's after 30-plus years of building tolerance for the heat. Back then, a Hispanic friend of mine managed to suppress laughter long enough to explain to my gringo ass that these are meant to be eaten with something, a small bite at a time, like with a sandwich or a burrito.

By the time I was 30 or so, I had graduated to the fresh, crisp ones. Muy caliente, y mas picoso!

But now, I can't trust in the safety of them, damn it. And, Texans of all ethnic backgrounds should be pissed. I've eaten in Vietnamese restaurants, too, and when you order the traditional noodle soups, fresh jalapeno slices are on the side.

We Americans, not just Texans, need to do something about this food debacle. Here's a link to a site at consumersunion.org that petitions Congress.

Texicans, and Americans -- when it comes to food safety, it's time to turn up the heat on our lawmakers.

Crossposted at Manifesto Joe.

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Downer cows make for killer burgers

Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. President Steve Mendell fessed up to using downer cows in his company’s Southern California slaughterhouse. Downer cattle are supposed to verboten due to fears of mad cow disease.

Of course, that was only after a Congressional committee confronted him with undercover video.

Mendell was under subpoena to appear before the House Energy and Commerce investigative subcommittee. Without a subpoena, he was a no-show last month, which carries an implication of guilt in my book right there.

And, what did he not want to talk about?

This imagery that should just want to make you rush out to buy fast food, or some hamburger at the grocery store NOT:

Mendell watched red-faced and grim, sometimes resting his head on his hand, as cows were dragged by chains, sprayed in the nostrils with water, shocked and harshly prodded with forklifts to get them into the box where they would be slaughtered.

Earlier, in written testimony, Mendell claimed no downers went through his slaughterhouse. He then admitted he was changing his testimony because he got caught red-handed. Meanwhile, his legal mouthpiece, a familiar old Republican flunky, tried to spin even that:

Asked about the discrepancy with his written testimony, Mendell said, “I had not seen what I saw here today.” He said that the Agriculture Department had not shared with him some of the undercover video shot by the Humane Society of the United States.

Stupak pointed out that the video has been available on the Humane Society website.

After Mendell’s testimony, his lawyer sought to clarify Mendell’s remarks. Asa Hutchinson, a former GOP congressman from Arkansas who once led the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Mendell would not dispute logical conclusions drawn by Stupak about downed cattle illegally entering the food supply.

“But it can’t be conclusive because he does not know all the facts of it, he hasn’t studied it and he only saw one brief shot at it during his testimony,” Hutchinson said.

More on the jump.


So, Mendell is trying to blame the USDA, and Hutchison is trying to claim Mendell doesn’t know what goes on in his own company. Typical Republican, just like our glorious CEO president.

If Mendell didn’t know about shit like this, literally, shit, from the feces that cling to downers, it’s because he didn’t want to. The company had a quota of 500 slaughters a day. As for his claim that his plant had good training, well, that might be true in theory, but if you’re running that many cows through, it’s not that way in reality.

And, given the fact Mendell was a no-show at the previous committee meeting, as I noted above, Hutchison knows that anybody with half a brain sees through the spin.

As for the “killer burgers” part of the head, it’s a legitimate fear:

Richard Raymond, Agriculture Department undersecretary for food safety, acknowledged “there is that remote possibility” that cases of mad cow could emerge years from now as a result of the Westland/Hallmark practices.

And, there may be more in the system:

Raymond also said that the Agriculture Department had found evidence of more than the two non-ambulatory cattle shown in videos Wednesday improperly entering the food supply. Even though carcasses also undergo inspection and can be discarded after slaughter, “it’s a reasonable statement to assume it did enter commerce, some of it,” Raymond said.

As for Mendell, he’s now worried about his own future. He claims he’s received death threats and people have told him they’re “praying for us to suffer and die like the cows.”

Well, you know, if we went by the “eye for an eye” idea, something like that would make a fitting punishment for Mendell, should he be criminally convicted of everything.

One hamburger a day, every day for the rest of his life, made of the recalled beef from his slaughterhouse. Given that it was the subject of the largest recall in history, I’m sure it would be no problem cooking him up a daily quarter-pounder, or even double quarter-pounder. And, no, that’s not totally tongue in cheek.

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Safe Food? Safe Working Environments? That's Crazy Talk!

How ironic the Bush administration’s dual-sided approach to security is: you have a White house, on one hand, hell-bent on illegally wiretapping citizens' phone lines and throwing others into prison in the name of "national security," while, on the other hand, adopting an extremely lax approach to enforcing worker and food security standards.

This week another meat company is recalling 129,000 pounds of beef products in 15 states (including Missouri) because of yet another possible E. coli contamination. And U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) has introduced the Food Safety Act of 2007:

Spurred by deadly outbreaks of E. coli and other food-borne pathogens, a group of U.S. lawmakers is pushing to put all food safety oversight under a single federal agency.

[snip]

Currently, 12 federal agencies and 35 laws govern food safety, often with overlapping jurisdictions and different priorities.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration play the biggest roles in making sure the food Americans eat is safe. The USDA oversees meat and poultry, while the FDA is responsible for eggs and produce. (Interactive: How science can help keep our food safe )

The lines are not always clear-cut. For example, cheese pizzas fall under the FDA, while pepperoni pizzas fall under the Department of Agriculture.

In January, the Government Accountability Office added federal oversight of food safety to its list of "high risk" programs in need of "broad-based transformation." The GAO urged Congress to consider "a fundamental re-examination of the system ... before public health and safety is compromised."

Critics point to the FDA, in particular, as needing reform. The FDA oversees 80 percent of the food supply but receives only 20 percent of the funding.

"I call it 'Katrina on your plate.' You've got an agency, the FDA, that's understaffed, under-funded, without leadership, and it's not doing its job. And it's causing a real life suffering and death for people," said Andrew Kimbrell, director of the Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit watchdog group in Washington.

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have introduced a companion bill in the Senate. And it's about time.

Only one major safety rule has been enacted by OSHA since George W. Bush took office, and only after it was ordered by a federal court. The FDA has inspected only 20,662 food shipments out of the more than 8.9 million delivered to American ports. That's less than one percent inspected. Since 200 the number of food shipments has more than doubled.

This critical negligence is the result of the Bush administration's belief that new safety standards and regulations should be limited while old ones be rolled back to prevent the imposition of additional, cumbersome costs on businesses. Slash funds from essential oversight programs in order to pay for tax breaks for the rich.

While OSHA officials point to figures showing declines in both fatality and injury rates since 2001, critics dispute the numbers. Labor and health experts say those numbers severely undercount the actual numbers because the Bush administration has decreased the categories of recognized injuries, and because the majority of the most dangerous jobs are now done by undocumented immigrants.

Many have warned of the distinct possibility of terrorists successfully smuggling biological or chemical weapons in to the U.S. through the laxly inspected ports. But the increasing outbreaks of illnesses present a serious health crisis. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that terrorists could take advantage of lax food inspection to attack the U.S.

"Security president?" Hardly.

[cross-posted at Lost Chord]

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