-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: March 2, 2007 6:18:33 PM PST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Salmonella, Illegal Aliens, and Corporate Thuggery --
Agribusiness as Usual
"ConAgra Foods' products are found in more than 96 percent of
American households, with famous brands including Healthy Choice,
Banquet, Chef Boyardee, PAM, Hebrew National, Reddi-wip, Egg
Beaters, Hunt's, Lamb Weston, Marie Callender's, Orville
Redenbacher's, and many others."
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=64302
FDA Finds Salmonella At Peanut Butter Plant
02 Mar 2007 - 0:00 PST
|
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed that
samples collected at ConAgra's peanut butter plant contained
Salmonella. This follows the recent Salmonella outbreak linked to
peanut butter made at the plant.
Salmonella in samples the FDA took from ConAgra's plant in
Sylvester, Georgia matches the one that infected the people who
fell ill.
The FDA now confirms that the Salmonella got into the jars of
peanut butter before they left the factory.
Last week health officials in several states identified the strain
from jars of open Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter recovered
from consumers who fell ill.
The FDA continues to advise consumers not to eat Peter Pan and
Great Value peanut butter jars stamped with product codes starting
with "2111".
ConAgra is recalling all the peanut butter jars with product code
2111 manufactured since December 2005 from retailers and distributors.
As well as Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter, other products
such as peanut butter toppings may also be contaminated, since
ConAgra sent batches of peanut butter to its plant in Humboldt,
Tennessee.
Three brands of peanut butter topping could be contaminated, these
are:
(1) Sonic Brand Ready-To-Use Peanut Butter Topping in 6 lb 10.5 oz
cans.
(2) Carvel Peanut Butter Topping in 6 lb. 10 oz. cans.
(3) J. Hungerford Smith Peanut Butter Dessert Topping in 6 lb. 10
oz. cans.
Sonic and Carvel outlets used the topping until 16th February, when
the product was recalled.
J. Hungerford Smith topping is used by retailers and restaurants
outlets all over the US but is not available for direct purchase by
the public.
However, consumers may still have some Sonic and Carvel products
containing peanut butter topping at home.
Any Sonic and Carvel brands from the following lists should be
thrown out, said the FDA:
- Sonic Peanut Butter Shake
- Sonic Peanut Butter Fudge Shake
- Sonic Peanut Butter Sundae
- Sonic Peanut Butter Fudge Sundae
- Carvel Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream
- Carvel Peanut Butter Treasure ice cream
- Carvel Peanut Butter & Jelly ice cream
- Carvel Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Sundae Dasher ice cream
- Any other Carvel customized products containing the Peanut Butter
Topping, including peanut butter flavoured ice cream in ice cream
cakes should also be thrown out.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), as of Tuesday this week, 370 people infected with the
outbreak strain of Salmonella Tennessee from 42 states were
reported to the CDC. About 20 per cent of those for whom they have
clinical information were admitted to hospital and no deaths have
been reported.
Infections are believed to have started at the beginning of August
last year. The last reported date of onset was on February 16th
this year, and 62 per cent of the illnesses began after 1st
December 2006.
Symptoms of foodborne Salmonella infection (Salmonellosis) include
fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps, and most people get these
symptoms between 12 and 72 hours after infection.
The illness lasts up to a week and most people recover without
treatment. It can be life-threatening to patients with weakened
immune systems.
The FDA are asking consumers to report any symptoms linked to
eating these products to their doctor so that the health
authorities are alerted.
They are also asking restauranters and food service providers to
report any news of consumers falling ill as a result of eating
these peanut butter products to the health authorities. The data
helps the health authorities accurately to track and assess the
outbreak and put out warnings that may be necessary.
The FDA is currently piloting a 6-month consumer education
programme on how to identify recalled food products.
Oligopoly profile: ConAgra
http://www.oligopolywatch.com/2003/07/20.html
ConAgra is a company few Americans have heard of, but it is a major
force in food production in the US and a $20 billion dollar
corporation.
First, and most notably, it is estimated to be the #3 seller of
retail food products in the world (after Altria/Kraft and Nestle).
Its brands are many, going from Armour to Wesson, a portfolio of
brands it has collected over the past 20 years. It products are
leaders in a number of categories.
It is the largest supplier to food services and restaurants.
The company is one of the top three buyers and processors of grain
products (corn, wheat, etc.) and handles a significant portion of
US grain exports.
It is a leader in producing cattle and hog feed.
Until 2000, when it spun off Swift & Co. to an investor group, it
was one of the top three slaughterers of cattle and hog. It still
has a 48% stake in that company. It is also a major client, buying
meat for processing.
It remains one of the top three poultry processing companies.
It is a major supplier of flavoring (especially garlic) to the food
industry.
It is one of the top world traders in agricultural products.
It has a considerable business in selling seeds, fertilizer, and
agricultural chemicals around the world.
The company is just starting to expand its operation worldwide.
Along with a few other companies (Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland,
Farmland) it forms an oligopsony toward many American farmers, so
these companies are able to dictate prices and conditions to
individual farmers. To supermarkets and food services, it is one of
only a handful of suppliers that can provide needed food products.
The motley collection of brand names in the chart below shows the
scope of the company's efforts. The company is particularly strong
in meats, prepared meals, margarine, and popcorn. The strategy has
been to acquire ready-formed brands that have long histories and
therefore already have mind space (Gulden's mustard, Hunt's tomato
sauce, Butterball turkeys, Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Slim Jim
beef jerky, Peter Pan peanut butter, and many others). Like other
food companies, ConAgra is hedging its bets with organic and
"healthy" alternatives (Light Life, Healthy Choice, Certified
Organic) in addition to its fat- and salt-laden staples.
In other areas, it presents pseudo-variety to cover the shelves.
For example, ConAgra offers three of the most popular brands of
margarine (Parkay, Blue Bonnet, Fleischmann's) and three major
popcorn delivery modes, namely Act II (microwave), Jiffy Pop
(stovetop), and Orville Redenbacher (popper-ready).
The company has continued to aggressively acquire small rivals. For
example, in 2001, it acquired Artel Foods, of Quebec, Canada, a
supplier of frozen foods in the Canadian market. The brands include
DelMaestro (pizzas), Pogo (corn dogs), and Yin Yang (spring rolls).
In 2000,ConAgra acquired Marburger, a Nebraska company that
supplies precooked bacon to the food service industry. In 2001, it
acquired David, the #1 retailer of sunflower seeds. The company ahs
also made discards, getting rid of its BumbleBee tuna operation in
2003.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Health/Cogs_Machine_FFN.html
In January of 1987, Mike Harper told the newly elected governor of
Nebraska, Kay Orr, that ConAgra wanted a number of tax breaks -- or
else it would move its headquarters out of Omaha. The company had
been based in the state for almost 70 years, and Nebraska's tax
rates were among the lowest in the United States.
Nevertheless, a small group of ConAgra executives soon gathered on
a Saturday morning at Harper's house, sat around his kitchen table,
and came up with the basis for legislation that rewrote Nebraska's
tax code. The bills, drafted largely by ConAgra, sought to lower
the state taxes paid not only by large corporations, but also by
wealthy executives.
Mike Harper personally stood to gain about $295,000 from the
proposed 30 percent reduction in the maximum tax rate on personal
income. He was an avid pilot, and the new legislation also provided
tax deductions for ConAgra's corporate jets.
A number of state legislators called Harper's demands "blackmail."
But the legislature granted the tax breaks, afraid that Nebraska
might lose one of its largest private employers.
--------------
Omaha today, the old monopolies have disappeared, their places
taken by the new nonunion plants of ConAgra, Greater Omaha Packing
Company, Nebraska Beef, QPI, and MPS. By 1999 hourly meatpacking
wages had fallen to $4 below the manufacturing average.
The low wages are partly a function of the companies' immigrant
strategy. They've sent recruiting teams to Los Angeles and other
established immigrant communities, advertised on radio stations
along the Mexican border, and sent buses to pick up recruits as
they cross over.
"Companies like Tyson and Conagra have profited from paying low
wages, pushing production lines faster and hiring workers who are
much more willing to endure the hazardous conditions of a meat-
processing plant, industry experts say. Professor Heffernan says,
"This has been around for a long time in the meat-processing
industry. And employers can take advantage of these people because
they can threaten to send them back." . . .
According to Bill Christison of the National Farm Family Coalition,
the decline of family farms has its roots in corporate globalization.
"U.S. corporate agribusiness has been imposing their agenda through
international trade agreements for the past two decades. U.S. farm
policy has been tinkered with for many years with ConAgra and
Cargill and other transnational corporations often directly
influencing the legislative process as well as the regulatory
process through their influential role within the U.S. Department
of Agriculture."
ConAgra Foods retains a 48 percent stake in the Swift & Co. brand
name. December 2006: Immigration authorities raid Swift & Co
plants in several states, arresting over 1000 undocumented
immigrants, some of whom are using stolen Social Security numbers
to obtain jobs.
-------------------
FEDERAL JUDGE RULES THAT USDA CAN NO LONGER
REQUIRE [PENALTIES] FOR VIOLATING
SALMONELLA FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS
http://www.electricarrow.com/carp/agbiz/138.htm
JILL CARROLL, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: In a victory for the meat-
processing industry, the Agriculture Department said it no longer
will close processors that violate its five-year-old salmonella
food-safety standard. The announcement followed a federal appeals-
court ruling that the department's standard wasn't scientifically
based and couldn't be used as an indicator for the presence of
other more dangerous bacteria in meat products.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans said
the USDA lacked the authority to enforce its salmonella standard
and shut Supreme Beef Processors Inc., of Dallas, in 1999 after the
company repeatedly failed tests for salmonella. Supreme Beef, a
major supplier of the USDA's school-lunch program until 1999, was
the first company shut as a result of the salmonella standard.
Supreme Beef sued, arguing that the government's salmonella
standards couldn't be justified scientifically. A federal judge
agreed, but the USDA continued to enforce the standard during its
appeal. Officials said few if any other plants were closed by the
actions. The USDA is reviewing the appeals-court ruling and hasn't
said if it will appeal again.
The USDA started testing for salmonella in 1996 as part of new
rules it developed to prevent meat contamination. Salmonella
sickens at least 40,000 people a year and kills about 1,000,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The
most susceptible are children and the elderly, although most people
recover fully. The USDA used the levels of salmonella in meat
produced at a plant as an indication that more dangerous germs
could be in the meat.
The appeals-court decision was heralded by the meat industry, which
said better ways must be developed to measure the contamination
level of meat. "We are gratified, but not surprised, that the court
has affirmed that the salmonella performance standard is
scientifically insupportable as a measure of plant sanitation,"
said J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute, an
industry group in Arlington, Virginia. The decision applies to beef
as well as poultry processors. The meat and poultry industries
together sell $100 billion a year.
Consumer advocates decried the decision, saying the USDA now has no
way to independently assure that meat from a plant is safe. . . . .
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL: A recent ruling by a federal appeals
court in New Orleans has undermined the government's ability to
police the safety of the nation's meat supply effectively, creating
an urgent need for remedial action by Congress and the Bush
administration.
The misguided decision by a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit
Court of Appeals sided with a federal district court judge in Texas
who ruled last year that the Agriculture Department had overstepped
its authority by shutting down the Supreme Beef Processors plant in
Dallas after its ground beef failed three rounds of tests for
salmonella contamination over a year. The appeals court reasoned
that salmonella was not subject to regulation under the Federal
Meat Inspection Act because it was not harmful since the bacteria
are destroyed in normal cooking, and because meat may already be
contaminated when it arrives at a processing plant.
The court's logic is seriously flawed. It ignores both the
government's broad discretion under the law to police unsanitary
conditions in meat plants and the serious danger, unresolved by
proper cooking, that arises when contaminated raw meat and poultry
come in contact with cutting boards, utensils and other foods, such
as fruits and vegetables.
The Agriculture Department contends it can continue to reduce
harmful pathogens in meat without the ability to shut down
processing plants that repeatedly fail to control the salmonella
bacteria. But consumer groups are right to be alarmed. The
decision's practical impact was to gut the government's power to
rely on new scientific methods of policing meat safety that make it
easier to detect and significantly limit the invisible hazard of
bacterial contamination. These methods have begun to reduce the
incidence of food-borne illness.
Earlier this year, Congress declined to adopt an amendment that
would have permitted the Agriculture Department to continue
enforcing the salmonella standard regardless of the court's
decision. Now that the ruling's threat to meat inspections is no
longer just theoretical, Congress needs to reverse course and
authorize the government's use of salmonella sampling to police
health standards at meat plants when it reconvenes in January. It
would help if the Bush administration acknowledged the serious gap
in the nation's food safety system, and worked with Congress to fix
it.
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