Posted on 07/21/2008 9:18:21 PM PDT by JimPrevor
The FDA continues its habit of making mountains out of mole hills. The discovery of a single jalapeño with Salmonella Saintpaul at the warehouse of a tiny distributor named Agricola Zaragoza on the McAllen Produce Terminal Market simply doesnt mean very much.
...Once again, needlessly and with reckless disregard for the rights of innocent people, the FDA has destroyed an industry.
...Dr. Acheson thinks that it is within his authority to destroy the fortunes of innocents.
...Repeating the words public health as a mantra, though, does not make it true. The bottom line is that the risk for healthy people of eating fresh jalapeños was always inconsequential and, at this date, is de minimis.
...these recommendations are based on nothing other than Dr. Achesons personal metric of risk aversion.
...If the FDA thinks it can just shut down a New Jersey jalapeño farm on the odd chance that maybe it has something to do with something, then we are no longer a government of laws, we are just at the mercy of men like Dr. Acheson.
(Excerpt) Read more at perishablepundit.com ...
I would take the additional few minutes and water bath the jars. Better safe than sorry. Then again, I am particularly particular about food. I read an article (which I saved but can’t find on my hard drive) about bacteria that can grow in tomato products that does not make the product look, taste, or smell, strange in any way. I believe it was a USDA document. Anyway, I’ve not taken any chances since. If I can find it, I’ll get you the text ... it was interesting.
That’s waht I thot too. And I’ve read that about salsa. Evidently the added ingredients take the needed acid out of the finished product.
I finally, finally, jsut got done peeling a half bushel of romas and i’ve got them cooking now. I think what I’m going to do is reheat the hot stuff and add the too hot to the fresh, one dipperful at a time and see waht happens.
We’ve got so many diseases and insects around here that even putting boiling water on the maters, they’re still a pain to peel. I’ve got another half that I want to do up and freeze—gonna have to wait til I get off work tom. My hands are killing me.
Salsa update:
Mine—the milder one, turned out fine. I cooked the new maters, added another ziplock bag of frozen corn and half a bag of cooked black beans and finished filling the bowl up with the new maters. It was ok, so I kept adding the old mixture until I had it all in. Tasty! Ended up with half a dishpan full, made 7 quarts.
Hubbies—there’s no hope. I added more than half a pan of cooked tomatoes—my big blue enamel steamer bottom pan. It is still miserable. That’s alright. I’m going to can it anyway. I figure one quart jar of that in a big pot of chile is going to be jsut about right! Got 7 quarts and 4 pints out of that one.
He came in awhile ago and said—I want you to pickle me some okra this year.
I’m gonna pickle him!
The salsa with the corn and beans sounds delicious. I think you have figured out just the right use for the hotter batch ... good thinking on your part. When you pickle the hubby, watch the salt. You know what happened last year. (ducking)
I've got to start putting up figs tomorrow. Was checking one of the trees this morning and got full just eating them fresh. Not looking forward to the itching though. Jeans, long sleeves and gloves are not going to be comfortable in the 100+ temps we've been having, 113 with the heat index. ;(
No need for anyone except hubby to duck! Not only does he have selective hearing, he has CRS. Can’t remember...anything!
I hear you about the heat! Can’t stand it, although the other day, I did sweat enough that I had a trickle running down my back and my hair was wet. Go figure! i haven’t “perspired” for years and years. I just get heat stroke and end up bad off, therefore I tend to avoid heat like the plague. My body is changing...again. Sigh. I wish it would make up it’s mind!
Our figs are starting to smell good but we won’t get any of the first ones—mockingbird. When he gets tires of figs, tehn we’ll get some. Can’t stand fig leaves/sap. That’s the reason we wait until after frost to take cuttings. I don’t think it matters wehn you take cuttings to root them, except for my comfort. :)
Thanks for the ping...........
My family sold its food company almost twenty years ago. There is no “agenda” — the fact that I worked in the business simply allows me to understand it better. Today I write and speak on the subject. If you have a critique of my ideas you should explain it, not question my motivations without any reason.
Jim Prevor
http://www.PerishablePundit.com
Thank you for your post.
The distinction is twofold: First, a leper, in fact, has leprosy. Second, leprosy is contagious.
A pepper grower in New Jersey who was de facto banned from selling his crop, never had anything to do with the salmonella Saintpaul — as the FDA has now admitted.
Second, Salmonella is common, with an estimated 1.4 million cases a year. Most people do not get sick enough to bother going to the doctor or hospital. They don't get sick at all unless they eat the salmonella. People can further protect themselves by making sure their food is cooked well.
Your comment about salmonella on the inside or outside is actually reversed. Salmonella on the inside would be very serious — it would indicate that Salmonella was internalized in the growing process, a question on which there is great debate as to its feasibility in field — not laboratory — conditions. Salmonella on the outside of a pepper -— or anything else — may or may not mean anything. Someone could have been cutting chicken and not washed his hands thoroughly and put the Salmonella on the exterior of a pepper.
As of today — July 26, 2008 — no further positives have turned up and the FDA won't tell us the number of negatives which we would expect are now well into the thousands.
Appreciate the contribution.
Jim Prevor
http://www.PerishablePundit.com
Our local tomato growers were hit hard by tomatoes bans caused by these toxic jalapeños from Mexico
Irony is that with NAFTA our tomato growers are under tremendous pressure from Mexican tomatoes and here you have Mexican jalapeños hurting them even more
8 years ago Chilean grape and fruit growers lost one billion due FDA foolishness
CHILE MAY SUE U.S. OVER GRAPE BAN
LEAD: Eighteen months after the United States briefly prohibited the import of Chilean fruit when cyanide was found in two grapes, angry farmers, exporters and politicians here are trying to build a case to demand at least $333 million in damages.
Dignity and Prestige
Senator Sergio Romero of the center-right National Renovation Party, the second largest force in the Chilean Congress, said recently that he was in favor of taking any steps ‘’that lead to reparations for the damage caused.’’
‘’The damage is much more than $333 million,’’ he said, ‘’because this involves the dignity of a country and the prestige of the fruit, on which you cannot put a price.’’
The F.D.A. said last March that it had received telephone threats saying that Chilean fruit shipped to the United States had been poisoned as a protest over unspecified policies of the Pinochet Government. Agency investigators tightened inspections of Chilean produce, but found no cyanide. Then, after another threat, investigations were again increased, and two grapes tainted with cyanide were found in an inspection in Philadelphia.
The food agency said its investigators found the two contaminated red grapes because they were discolored and had puncture holes surrounded by white rings of crystalline dust.
Although the scare over poisoned grapes passed quickly in the United States, the bitterness over the issue continued to simmer here and has recently heated up again because of the release by the Exporters Association of a report on studies challenging the F.D.A. test results. The studies, which were commissioned by the exporters, were done at the University of California at Davis and various Chilean universities and private institutes.
(SNIP)
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