Josh Funk once again reports on how our government, despite finding errors at industrial food facilities, does not feel the necessity to inform the public of its findings. This despite pot pies having been linked to at least 272 cases of salmonella (65 hospitalized) in 35 states. Mr. Funk’s story follows:
USDA inspectors found flaws in the safety plan ConAgra Foods Inc. used at the Missouri plant where it makes the Banquet and private label pot pies that were linked to a salmonella outbreak… A spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Thursday that ConAgra took action to correct the problems inspectors found after the Oct. 11 recall, so the government did not have a problem with the company’s plan to resume production… USDA spokeswoman Amanda Eamich said details of the inspectors’ findings at the plant would be released only through a formal Freedom Of Information Act request.
Eamich would say only that there was a record-keeping problem and an issue with ConAgra’s Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plan that spells out what the company does to ensure its products are safe.