September 2008

World-wide, Food safety chiefs have ordered White Rabbit Creamy Candies to be taken off shelves amid fears they may be contaminated with poisonous plastic.   Dangerous levels of the melamine substance have been found in the White Rabbit Creamy Candies, sold in Asian and Chinese food stores, and now banned around the world.  The toxic plastic used in industry has been blamed for a health scare in China after powdered milk was contaminated causing the deaths of four infants and poisoning 50,000 more.

White Rabbit Creamy Candy is perhaps the best known brand of Chinese-made candy in China, and the only one to be marketed significantly outside of that country.  The product is manufactured in Shanghai by Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food, Ltd. (‰∏äʵ∑Â܆ÁîüÂõ≠È£üÂìÅÊúâÈôêÂÖ¨Âè∏; Shàngh«éi GuƒÅnshƒìngyuán Shíp«ên Y«íuxiàn G≈çngsƒ´).

Lest we forget that food safety is not just a China problem, in the USA we are having two E. coli outbreaks going in in California and Michigan.  Also, Tracie Cone wrote in “Report: FDA lax in oversight of produce industry”

The Food and Drug Administration’s efforts to combat food-borne illness are hampered by infrequent inspections, not enough staff and the failure to implement a program devoted to the safety of fresh produce, according to congressional investigators. The Government Accountability Office draft report obtained Thursday by The Associated Press also said that only 1 percent of produce imported into the U.S. is inspected, and that the practice of mixing produce from several sources makes it hard to trace contamination.

A few weeks ago I spoke to the Monterey Herald on my view of the “leafy green” industry in “Ensuring food safety carries high price tag”

When it comes to food safety, there is no silver bullet, says Bill Marler, whose Seattle-based firm Marler Clark LLP specializes in representing victims of food safety illness against restaurants and food companies.

"Ultimately, it’s not going to be one particular thing that allows the mass-produced produce to be sold and marketed," Marler said. "It’ll be a combination: Where are the cows in relation to the field? Where are the flies? Ozone versus chlorine? Are we keeping things cold?"

For more quotes, see below:Continue Reading Melamine White Rabbit Candy Being Pulled From World Markets

Sanlu, now you have done it.  Two gorillas, both from Hangzhou Wildlife World in eastern Zhejiang province and aged one and three, had been diagnosed with crystallization in their urine, according Chinese media.  The news came with the revelation that Chinese officials, suppressing "bad news" during the Olympic games, had ordered a cover-up of the

The number has gone up again – now it’s 26 cases of salmonella that the Amarillo City Health Department is investigating linked (again) to the IHOP on Western in Amarillo.  The IHOP will be closed (again) until the Health Department does its inspection.

The city says the investigation is already underway.  The health department is

The Butte County California Public Health Department (BCPHD), announced today the number of identified E. coli O157:H7 cases has grown to 24 and more are probable as the investigation into the outbreak continues.

Four have been hospitalized.  Six-year-old Olivia Geiger-Titus has developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.  She along with 23 other contracted E. coli poisoning

The same genetic strain of E. coli bacteria that sickened students at Michigan State University this month has been linked to at least eight other cases throughout Michigan, including one at the University of Michigan and five at the Lenawee County Jail.  The findings have led investigators to believe that the patients all got ill

Well, there are several Chinese delegates missing at today’s opening session. However, all of the speakers thus far have all mentioned the ongoing and growing crisis in China infant formula. The numbers still are shocking – 55,000 sickened, 13,000 hospitalized, hundreds with acute kidney failure and four deaths (assuming these numbers are close to accurate). 

It appears that Sanlu, the Chinese company whose tainted powered baby milk has sickened at least 53,000 children, failed to report complaints about the product since last December.  The government today has blamed tainted milk products for four deaths.  In addition, 12,892 children remain hospitalized with kidney problems and 104 of them in serious condition.