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[DakotaRidge]

Hypothetical question:

USDA announces a recall of eggs due to salmonella contamination.

I don't see the announcement myself.

The next day I go shopping at the local chain supermarket where I buy eggs.

How likely am I to buy salmonella contaminated eggs? I.e. what are the odds that the chain supermarket either doesn't yet know about the USDA mandated egg recall, or continues to sell potentially contaminated eggs despite knowing about the recall?

Also, understand that the USDA may not announce a recall immediately. I read recently that this happened after USDA staff was cut.

If you are unaware of a recall, you could purchase the item and get sick or die. And you could have purchased a contaminated item weeks or months ago if it has a long shelf life. Yesterday, a friend in California sent me information about black plastic kitchen utensils that disperse microplastics when used.

My take is to track food and medicine recalls as best you can. Sign up with the CDC, USDA, and MSN to get information. You may miss ones here and there, but at least you are making an effort to protect yourself.

Do the same for recalls of meds. I track Metformin recalls myself. In the past few years, 500 mg Metformin has been recalled twice to my knowledge. When my doctor cut my dosage from 1000 mg to 500, I told him no. I told him to keep prescribing 1000 mg, and I will split them in half. That is what I have been doing for the past three years. I refuse to take 500 mg Metformin pills. I probably save a few dollars this way, but I don't trust the manufacture of 500 mg pills.

The other thing is that few food recalls are nationwide. When you track recalls, look for the state(s) where the product was recalled. If your state is not on the list, you may want to ignore the recall. But don't ignore states where you have family members.

Some announcements do not tell you which states received a product. That makes it difficult to track distribution.

Also, check for the plant ID and the stores that received the recalled product. My database does all of this, but the announcement has to be complete. Some agencies give only some of the story. The database tells family what information to look for in announcements.

Folks may need to check two or three sources if a recall is Class 1. Class 1 is the highest level recall. If a recall is Class 1, pay more attention to it.

The database also helps you understand the symptoms to look for and how long they may last. Some events can last a few days, and you can get back to work soon.

The database also suggests what to do if you eat contaminated food. That can save your life or a big hospital bill if you live by yourself.

And finally, the database can tell you if you are more sensitive to an illness than other people. It uses your age and race for this purpose. Many recall announcements say that young kids and senior citizens are more sensitive. Sometimes a Black or Asian person is more sensitive.

Yes, this can be a lot of work. Create a health database and get into a family to share the work. You are better at Access than I ever will be.

Oh yeah, check your cupboards occasionally for recalled products. That old bottle of wine could have floaters.

HTH.

Here's a screenshot that shows my Recall Map with two of my friends. The purple states are where my family members live. My friends say Hello and Stay Safe! I posted another screenshot above.

 

[BlueSpruce]

Not anymore, although I keep meaning to add a "Buy me a coffee" link.

How about starting a GoFundMe campaign? I suggested that in UA, but it was too late.

 

[BlueSpruce]

Also, understand that the USDA may not announce a recall immediately. I read recently that this happened after USDA staff was cut.

If you are unaware of a recall, you could purchase the item and get sick or die. And you could have purchased a contaminated item weeks or months ago if it has a long shelf life. Yesterday, a friend in California sent me information about black plastic kitchen utensils that disperse microplastics when used.

My take is to track food and medicine recalls as best you can. Sign up with the CDC, USDA, and MSN to get information. You may miss ones here and there, but at least you are making an effort to protect yourself.

Do the same for recalls of meds. I track Metformin recalls myself. In the past few years, 500 mg Metformin has been recalled twice to my knowledge. When my doctor cut my dosage from 1000 mg to 500, I told him no. I told him to keep prescribing 1000 mg, and I will split them in half. That is what I have been doing for the past three years. I refuse to take 500 mg Metformin pills. I probably save a few dollars this way, but I don't trust the manufacture of 500 mg pills.

The other thing is that few food recalls are nationwide. When you track recalls, look for the state(s) where the product was recalled. If your state is not on the list, you may want to ignore the recall. But don't ignore states where you have family members.

Some announcements do not tell you which states received a product. That makes it difficult to track distribution.

Also, check for the plant ID and the stores that received the recalled product. My database does all of this, but the announcement has to be complete. Some agencies give only some of the story. The database tells family what information to look for in announcements.

Folks may need to check two or three sources if a recall is Class 1. Class 1 is the highest level recall. If a recall is Class 1, pay more attention to it.

The database also helps you understand the symptoms to look for and how long they may last. Some events can last a few days, and you can get back to work soon.

The database also suggests what to do if you eat contaminated food. That can save your life or a big hospital bill if you live by yourself.

And finally, the database can tell you if you are more sensitive to an illness than other people. It uses your age and race for this purpose. Many recall announcements say that young kids and senior citizens are more sensitive. Sometimes a Black or Asian person is more sensitive.

Yes, this can be a lot of work. Create a health database and get into a family to share the work. You are better at Access than I ever will be.

Oh yeah, check your cupboards occasionally for recalled products. That old bottle of wine could have floaters.

HTH.

Here's a screenshot that shows my Recall Map with two of my friends. The purple states are where my family members live. My friends say Hello and Stay Safe! I posted another screenshot above.

View attachment 120809

News nowadays travels real fast on the internet and TV. I keep the Bloomberg and CNBC channels tuned throughout the day and have heard several recalls on them because they have an immediate impact on those companies stock values.

 

[DakotaRidge]

Hypothetical question:

USDA announces a recall of eggs due to salmonella contamination.

I don't see the announcement myself.

The next day I go shopping at the local chain supermarket where I buy eggs.

How likely am I to buy salmonella contaminated eggs? I.e. what are the odds that the chain supermarket either doesn't yet know about the USDA mandated egg recall, or continues to sell potentially contaminated eggs despite knowing about the recall?

George, I forgot to respond to one part of your question. I suppose a supermarket chain could fail to remove a contaminated product from one or more of its stores. I don't know for sure.

When 500 mg Metformin was recalled the last time, I went to the pharmacy where I shop and I asked one of the clerks about it. He had no knowledge of the recall. I did not ask the pharmacist.

I have never asked one of the people in the vegetable area about recalls. So, I have no idea how grocery stores track and respond to recalls. The fact that contaminated food causes illness and death from time to time suggests that contaminated food does get past the system.

As I suggested above, you need to know the symptoms of contaminated food so you can correctly respond to an illness. You need to know when to reach for an OTC, call your physician, or check into the ER.

 

[DakotaRidge]

News nowadays travels real fast on the internet and TV. I keep the Bloomberg and CNBC channels tuned throughout the day and have heard several recalls on them because they have an immediate impact on those companies stock values.

Excellent BlueSpruce. My database has a field for storing URLs, so you can revisit a recall announcement if you miss something important.

Also, know that the government updates recall information from time to time.

One piece of information to look for is the expansion of the impacted area. The impact area can expand from a few states to several. Some recalls are nationwide.

Sometimes a product comes into the US from other countries. This was the case with a recent fish recall.

I don't have enough information yet to say which products, stores, or producers to watch more closely, but that is my goal. I am still building the forms and reports in my database.

Let me know what analyses I can implement. I want to address things like "Store XX has more recalled veggies or eggs than most stores in the area." Similarly, "Most recalls of BxBxBx occur in the summer months." Another is. "Most recalls involving salmonella are Class 1."

Some weeks, I see two announcements. I haven't used Bloomberg or CNBC.

 

[BlueSpruce]

George, I forgot to respond to one part of your question. I suppose a supermarket chain could fail to remove a contaminated product from one or more of its stores. I don't know for sure.

When 500 mg Metformin was recalled the last time, I went to the pharmacy where I shop and I asked one of the clerks about it. He had no knowledge of the recall. I did not ask the pharmacist.

I have never asked one of the people in the vegetable area about recalls. So, I have no idea how grocery stores track and respond to recalls. The fact that contaminated food causes illness and death from time to time suggests that contaminated food does get past the system.

As I suggested above, you need to know the symptoms of contaminated food so you can correctly respond to an illness. You need to know when to reach for an OTC, call your physician, or check into the ER.

I avoid consuming products that have shown a repeated pattern of contamination. I also avoid products produced in Mexico, China, and other foreign countries. In some countries they use human manure fertilizer and that exposes you to bacteria your body has not been exposed to before, aka Montezuma's Revenge. Sometimes contaminated water is used for irrigation which incubates E.Coli. The FDA and Customs don't seem to properly scrutinise imported products. Walmart is notorious for selling contaminated products, so I don't buy everything there. I buy meats and vegetables only at Publix Supermarkets because they thoroughly inspect perishables. I also inspect before buying perishables. I have even seen Publix remove products that are about to expire, or when refrigeration fails to maintain proper temperature. I have never seen rodents, roaches, or flying bugs inside Publix. They always keep their stores clean and proper ambient temperature. All of that doesn't guarantee I will never consume a contaminated product, but it certainly minimises the chances. Another alternative is to grow your own food, but then you have to frequently care for it, a fulltime job.

 

[BlueSpruce]

One piece of information to look for is the expansion of the impacted area. The impact area can expand from a few states to several. Some recalls are nationwide.

I remember back in the 1970's when someone put poison in Tylenol and some people died from it. That news quickly traveled worldwide and nobody was buying Tylenol. Shortly after, the FDA required tamper proof packaging on all OTC meds. Most consumables are sealed with Mylar plastic. We live in a remedial world instead of a preventive one. Unfortunate few pay the price for the world not being preventive. Contamination and viruses are always going to affect some, but bad news travels fast and most people react fast. I think Covid could've been a lot worse. Most victims had weak immune systems, some became carriers, others didn't get affected. Typical nature of viral evolution. However, if man keeps playing with fire by engineering viruses, it could wipeout civilization.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

However, if man keeps playing with fire by engineering viruses, it could wipeout civilization.

Well, YOUR name just went on the Chinese Communist Party's list.

 

[BlueSpruce]

Well, YOUR name just went on the Chinese Communist Party's list.

I've been on that list for a long time. They've been screwing us for a long time and I have been boycotting anything made in China since the 1970's. I have never trusted them. I don't even eat chinese food.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I've been on that list for a long time. They've been screwing us for a long time and I have been boycotting anything made in China since the 1970's. I have never trusted them. I don't even eat chinese food.

If it weren't that our favorite Chinese restaurant is run by Filipinos, I might boycott them too. However, at the grocery, we only buy domestically caught shrimp, crawfish, and crab meat. At the moment, local crawfish are $20 a pound whereas Chinese imported crawfish are $8 a pound. But we still don't buy Chinese goods if we can help it.

 

[DakotaRidge]

I avoid consuming products that have shown a repeated pattern of contamination. I also avoid products produced in Mexico, China, and other foreign countries. In some countries they use human manure fertilizer and that exposes you to bacteria your body has not been exposed to before, aka Montezuma's Revenge. Sometimes contaminated water is used for irrigation which incubates E.Coli. The FDA and Customs don't seem to properly scrutinise imported products. Walmart is notorious for selling contaminated products, so I don't buy everything there. I buy meats and vegetables only at Publix Supermarkets because they thoroughly inspect perishables. I also inspect before buying perishables. I have even seen Publix remove products that are about to expire, or when refrigeration fails to maintain proper temperature. I have never seen rodents, roaches, or flying bugs inside Publix. They always keep their stores clean and proper ambient temperature. All of that doesn't guarantee I will never consume a contaminated product, but it certainly minimises the chances. Another alternative is to grow your own food, but then you have to frequently care for it, a fulltime job.

That's great BlueSpruce. I have only been compiling information about food recalls for a few months.

Avoid Foods is one of 12 domains in my database. I have several subdomains in Avoid Foods. Some of the subdomains address foods to avoid if you have such diseases as diabetes, kidney failure, and cancer. There is also a Recalls subdomain in the Medicines domain. I add a new subdomain every few days.

 

[DakotaRidge]

If it weren't that our favorite Chinese restaurant is run by Filipinos, I might boycott them too. However, at the grocery, we only buy domestically caught shrimp, crawfish, and crab meat. At the moment, local crawfish are $20 a pound whereas Chinese imported crawfish are $8 a pound. But we still don't buy Chinese goods if we can help it.

Doc_Man, I boycotted Louisiana crawfish for several years. After the oil spill in the Gulf, those crawfish were contaminated. They were black and they did not taste the same as they did before the spill. I was surprised that the government did not take them off the market. I suppose it was an economic decision made in DC.

I only purchase tilapia from Chile these days.

 

[DakotaRidge]

To connect with another thread, I should mention that nine of subdomains in the two domains above have MVFs. I will fix that in the next few days by adding MVFs to other subdomains.