Contaminated Chili & Vanishing Brands

I scanned the shelves of my supermarket yesterday for my old favorite Peter Pan Peanut Butter. Couldn't find it anywhere. From a brand that used to monopolize the peanut butter shelves to a ghost is an amazing feat, but all it took was a few cases of salmonella turning up in the creamy stuff to effectively kill the brand from my store. I am unsure if that's the case elsewhere, but I suspect so.

Now another brand sees death looming in it's path. Castleberry's Hot Dog Chili Sauce as well as Austex and the Kroger brand of the same stuff as well as Morton House Hash are being recalled. Seems that four people have been hospitalized with botulism that may have come from the canned food. Botulism is something that has effectively been eradicated from our food supply and about the only way you can get it now is in a diluted version called Botox that is used for instant face lifts.

Fault pasteurization is the usual cause, something that should have been checked on a regular bases at the factory in Augusta, Georgia. At least it didn't come from China this time, but the strange connection is that the bad batch of Peter Pan also came from Georgia. Makes me wonder if the health inspector in that state are being as thorough as they should. Who knows?

Between the tainted pet food from China and the botulism and salmonella, I find myself being extra careful with what I put in my mouth. I check labels for country of manufacture and look for puffiness in the packaging that might signal contamination.

Back in the good old days when the FDA had teeth, Americans ate with the knowledge that their food was inspected and were reasonably sure it was safe. Today, when imports are examined by Homeland Security instead of health inspectors and the FDA is a shadow if it's former self Americans should be cautious.

The old adage, "Let the buyer beware" has never been more germane, and thanks to our delightfully "hands-off" government perhaps it would make sense to have a biological testing kit handy before each meal. I wonder if our King George has a food taster?