Word: listeria
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...processed-meat industry is patting itself on the back for getting the Bush Administration to water down a new plan aimed at keeping a deadly bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes, out of deli meats. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman pledged to step up testing after last summer's outbreak of listeriosis--seven deaths, three miscarriages and dozens of hospitalizations--was traced to tainted turkey from a processor near Philadelphia. Veneman came up with a blueprint directing federal inspectors to hunt down Listeria on the equipment, surfaces and drains of every major producer of ready-to-eat meat and poultry. (Though the USDA selectively...
...made the industry a lot happier. The USDA will limit its plant testing to those that make the riskiest products and to plants that do not do their own testing or don't share their results with the USDA. The final version dropped plans to fine companies where Listeria was discovered. The changes outraged consumer advocates, who claim the USDA is compromising safety to satisfy industry. The N.F.P.A. gloated in a Nov. 11 members-only newsletter obtained by TIME that "a number of key [USDA] personnel have bought into much of the industry proposal." It added that the tough federal...
...Drug Administration and three separate agencies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) share authority over school lunches. Yet none has the power to recall tainted foods. The ineptness of this bureaucracy was on display last month after 1.8 million lbs. of Wampler Foods turkey meat linked to listeria were distributed to schools as part of the National School Lunch Program. It took five days for officials to tell the Cumberland Valley School District in Mechanicsburg, Pa., that the Wampler turkey slices it had continued to serve at its salad bars were part of the recall...
...this year the USDA intends to announce a plan allowing schools to purchase meat that has been irradiated. The process, which involves blasting meat with low-level radiation to kill bacteria like listeria, has its opponents, who claim it also kills nutrients. But serving meats spoiled during processing are only part of the food-borne--illness problem. The much more common causes are poor preparation in the cafeteria and poor hygiene among children, who often forget to wash their hands before picking at the salad bar. Many districts are following the lead of New Orleans, which after the Turkey...
Although it is unclear exactly what caused the listeria outbreak, Glickman said listeria can be caused by improper cooking or unsanitary conditions...