I hereby nominate 2007 as "The year of the food recall". There was a staggering amount of food-related illness, poisonings, contamination, and outbreaks of Listeria, E. coli, botulism, shigella, norovirus, hepatitis A, and salmonella across the United States.
I'm focusing my evil eye on the large meatpacking companies and chain restaurants that made their patrons sick, some repeatedly. The following are my food recall highlights for 2007; this list is in no way complete or comprehensive, there simply isn't enough space (and others have already beaten me to the punch, due to my publishing schedule).
The year starts out slowly with "bangers" in January; 15,500 pounds of sausages are recalled.
In February, Peter Pan is withdrawn from the market. I had a half-finished container with the serial code of painful death stamped on it. I ate it.
In March, Tyson recalls ground beef. This is the first of millions of pounds to be recalled by companies over the next few months.
In April, a coyote wanders in to the beverage cooler at a Chicago Quizno's. The animal control officers name it Adrian and set it free at a wildlife rehab center. While not a recall, it's firmly in the category of neither sanitary nor safe, which pretty much summarizes Quizno's year in food news.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of beef are recalled in May, as well as ready-to-eat turkey.
In June, the United Food Group recalls 5.7 million pounds of ground beef. Tyson Foods recalls ground beef, again. The Really Cool Food Company recalls chicken, and so does the State of Tennessee Cook Chill company (these are real names, I swear).
In July, Castleberry Foods meat sauce is recalled for botulism under many, many, other names - including their pet food brands.
In August, there are recalls of spinach, dog food, egg salad sandwiches, and canned green beans.
In September, Castleberry Foods again recalls canned meat products; three companies recall ground beef, Dole recalls salad mix.
In October, Topps Meat Co. has the second largest beef recall in United States history, leading them to bankruptcy. ConAgra recalls Banquet frozen chicken and turkey potpies. Other companies recall beef, seafood dip, white chocolate (Kraft), and chicken/pasta meals.
In November, Cargill recalls 1,084,300 lbs. of beef. General Mills recalls frozen pizza, and a company you've never heard of recalls 98,000 lbs. of frozen kolaches (Czech sausage rolls).
In December, a 300-cow dairy farm in Massachusetts recalled pasteurized fluid milk contaminated with Listeria. As of today, officials haven't specified the source, but it has not been found on the farm or in the transport equipment.
My advice for reducing the incidence of tummy troubles in 2008: wash your hands, nix the lettuce and tomatoes on your chain-restaurant burger (they are only there for coloring and don't make it healthier), cook to very well done all thawed or frozen pre-packaged raw ground meat, and don't drink so much alcohol that you accidentally eat a can of dog food, mistaking it for chili.
"2007 - The year of the food recall", can I have a second for this nomination?
