FDA Recall of Romaine Lettuce
Thanks Monsanto for using e coli to genetically modify corn thus introducing it to the food system. Thanks Michael Taylor (FDA) for making sure Monsanto’s GM corn made it into the food system without being tested. Thanks Tom Vilsack (USDA) for flying around on a Monsanto jet for 30 years convincing us there was nothing wrong with GM corn when you knew it wasn’t safe. Ooh, and a special thank you to President Barrack Obama for turning the nation’s food safety over to these guys in exchange for campaign contributions.
FDA News Release
For Immediate Release: May 6, 2010
Media Inquiries: Michael Herndon 301-796-4673, Michael.Herndon@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
FDA Supports Freshway Foods Voluntary Recall of Lettuce
Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio, announced today a voluntary recall of certain romaine lettuce products because of the possible connection between the recalled romaine lettuce and an outbreak of foodborne disease. FDA supports this action by Freshway Foods. The outbreak, which is still under investigation, involves cases in Michigan, Ohio, and New York of illnesses due to infection with E. coli O145, a harmful bacteria.
On May 5, 2010, the New York state Public Health Laboratory, Wadsworth Center, in Albany reported finding E. coli O145 in an unopened bag of Freshway Foods shredded romaine lettuce being recalled.
A Freshway Foods press release says the recalled shredded romaine lettuce was sold to wholesalers, food service outlets, and some in-store salad bars and delis in the following areas: Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Symptoms of infection with harmful E. coli may range from none to mild diarrhea to severe complications. The acute symptoms include severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea, which may be bloody. Patients may progress to serious complications, such as kidney damage. FDA and CDC encourage anyone with the symptoms listed to contact his or her health care provider immediately.
The recalled shredded romaine lettuce has a “best if used by” date of May 12 or earlier. The Freshway Foods press release advises restaurants, distributors, and retailers to throw out or refrain from using shredded romaine lettuce from Freshway Foods with these “use by” dates. Additionally, Freshway Foods is advising consumers not to eat “grab and go” salads sold in-store salad bars and delis at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh stores.
Shredded romaine lettuce from Freshway Foods with “use by” dates after May 12 are not involved in this voluntary recall. Romaine lettuce and other types of lettuce and leafy greens from other producers are also not affected by this recall.
Multiple lines of evidence have implicated shredded romaine lettuce from one processing facility as a source of infections in a multistate outbreak to which this recall may be related.
To date, 19 confirmed cases of E. coli O145 illnesses have been reported from Michigan, Ohio, and New York. These illnesses include 12 individuals who have been hospitalized, and three with a potentially life threatening complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). HUS is a serious condition in which the body’s blood-clotting mechanisms are altered, causing blocked circulation or bleeding in the brain or kidneys.
The evidence includes preliminary results of product traceback investigations that indicate:
- The shredded romaine lettuce consumed by ill persons in three states originated from one processing facility
- preliminary results of a case-control study in one state that found a statistically significant association between E. coli O145 infection
- and ingestion of lettuce from the same processing facility; and recovery of E. coli O145 from an unopened package of shredded romaine lettuce from the same processing facility that was obtained from a food service entity associated with the outbreak.
For more information on the outbreak of foodborne illness to which this recall may be related, please see http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/ . The FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and state public health officials in Michigan, New York, and Ohio continue to investigate that outbreak and will provide updates as more information is available.
For more information on foodborne illness: http://www.foodsafety.gov.
An Open Letter to Coca Cola
Dear Coca Cola,
I have an idea and I think you are going to like it.
You see, Coke. Can I call you “Coke?” Good.
You see, Coke, your product, though tasty and refreshing, isn’t exactly healthy. Now that in and of itself is not a problem. After all this is America and if a citizen wants to consume something that is not-healthy that is their right. The problem is that your products go beyond not-healthy; they are toxic.
Sure most of the ingredients in your soft drinks are benign but there is one ingredient that is the primary cause of the rise in cancer, Diabetes and obesity in the country over the past 30 years. You know what ingredient I am talking about, High Fructose Corn Syrup. I think you call him HFCS. It’s a nickname or a handle or something. Maybe it’s his Twitter account. I don’t know.
Now, the US Government knows that HFCS is toxic but they don’t want to come out and say it. You see, there’s a company named Monsanto (you know who I’m talking about) and they not only invented HFCS but they also manufacture the main ingredient in making it, Genetically Modified Corn. So Monsanto doesn’t want the masses knowing their creation is lethal. Therefore they entered into a “business” agreement with the White House.
Now this is not a recent event, they did it back in 1991 and they have maintained a flow of “support” to the Oval Office ever since. In fact, it appears Monsanto has increased that “support” in the last year and a half. We’ve noticed a lot of landscaping being done by the new tenets. These upgrades coincide with Monsanto lobbyists taking on policy making positions within the departments that are supposed to regulate them.
Equate it to our criminal system. It doesn’t matter how much evidence the police (modern science) compiles if the Prosecutor (USDA, FDA) doesn’t indict then the jury never gets to hear that evidence. And just to be on the safe side they (Monsanto) also make sure that the Judge (the President) will throw out the verdict.
I know what you are saying, Coke, calm down. No it is not your fault that our government is corrupt. But here’s the rub, rather than admit that HFCS is a problem they are calling ALL forms of sugar evil and are even threatening to levy a tax on soft drinks so that people can’t afford them anymore.
Here’s my idea: you come out and admit that HFCS is toxic. It doesn’t even have to be an out and out admission just say that recent studies have brought into question the use of High Fructose Corn Syrup. And say that you are going to offer an option. Say you are doing it for the good of the people; we always buy that because we want to believe it is true. The government loves to use that one themselves.
Say that you are now going to offer all of your great Coke products in both the economical HFCS recipe and for the “more discerning” Coke lover a recipe sweetened with all natural cane sugar called Coke Premium. If you phrase it right people will pay the extra five or ten cents you charge per serving.
In fact, it may generate the kind of sales you got when you did the whole “New Coke” thing just to disguise the fact that you changed to HFCS to begin with. People will be rushing the stores to try Coke Premium. Not to mention all of the labs and university science programs that will be buying both products so they can do head-to-head comparisons as to how they effect our health.
I’m telling you, Coke, this is a good idea that takes care of everyone. Monsanto still gets to sell their poison, the government gets to continue taking kick backs from Monsanto, you get to keep selling cheap soft drinks to a lazy consumer that believes water is bland and tea is too much trouble and those of us who enjoy a Coke now and then but not the effects of HFCS can splurge on Coke that tastes like the Coke of old.
I’m telling you, it’s brilliant.
XXX OOO,
Stuart
The Corn Ultimatum – A Trilogy
The following is a work of fiction. Though much of the information is documented fact certain elements have been fictionalized.
Des Moines, IW
The year is 2007. Illinois Senator Barrack Obama tells attendees of the Iowa Democratic Primary Debate, “. . . we can also improve the economic engines in a lot of these rural communities, and that is something that I’m absolutely committed to doing as President, but it’s going to require overcoming the excess influence of agribusiness lobbying.”
Campaigning on a platform of change and promising an end to business-as-usual politics Obama says, “I don’t take a dime of their [lobbyist] money, and when I am President, they won’t find a job in my White House.” Based mainly on this promise Obama is elected the 44th President of the United States.
Before taking office, the President was sent a list of 12 highly qualified experts in food safety and/or conscientious farming by environmentalists and sustainable food activists. They called them the Sustainable Dozen.
On December 17, 2008 President-elect Obama named former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack as his nominee as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. As head of the USDA, Vilsak will be making policy that greatly effects the bottom line of Monsanto and other agribusinesses and their lobbyists.
Obama’s other candidates for USDA chief were Representative Collin Peterson (D – Minnesota) a conservative Democrat who has on occasion championed Monsanto and Representative Charlie Stenholm (D – Texas) another conservative Democrat who has, from time-to-time been a proponent of Monsanto.
So why did the President choose Vilsack? Apparently because the other two were not pro-Monsanto enough. While leading the state of Iowa, Vilsack was often ridiculed for betraying voters in favor of Big Ag companies and was even named Governor of the Year by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a GM seed lobby group. For years Vilsack has traveled in a private jet “on loan” from Monsanto.
Vilsack’s appointment came as a slap in the face to the very people that elected the President. Letters were written, favors cashed in and e-mails did whatever it is e-mails metaphorically do. As a peace offering President Obama created the toothless position of Sustainable Foods Czar and appointed one of the Sustainable Dozen, Kathleen Merrigan to fill it. The appointment means little except a salary and a nifty parking spot. Clearly a waste of a talented and dedicated person.
However, President Obama wasn’t done. He has added more Big Ag goons to the US Government than the past three Presidents combined:
- Islam Siddiqui – vice president of CropLife America a PR firm representing Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta and DuPont. Siddiqui also was a Barrack financial contributor who donated the highest legal amount to the ’09 election.
- Roger Beachy – a scientist who actually helped develop GM corn and recently questioned the safety of organic foods. Beachy was another campaign contributor.
- Dr. Michael Osterholm – vehement defender of food irradiation (the largely untested practice of dosing food with Gamma radiation). His research facilities are financed by CFC Logistics – a maker of food irradiation equipment.
- Dr. Regina Benjamin a “consultant” for Burger King, was paid $10,000 by the fast food giant just prior to being named the nation’s latest Surgeon General.
- And the most agredious appointment – July 7, 2009, Michael Taylor returns to DC as President Obama’s hand-picked “senior adviser” to the FDA.
Taylor, whose position is technically under that of FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret “Peggy” Hamburg, took it upon himself to create a new division of the FDA called the Office of Foods in August of 2009. This new department will employee 350 people, none of whom have any real duties to perform. Humorously, the FDA’s web site has a section entitled Meet Michael R. Taylor which spends an entire page detailing Taylor’s numerous token appointments and meaningless board of trustees seats but only dedicates one half of one sentence to his 30 plus years of service to Monsanto.
So now with a gaggle of Big Ag henchmen as part of his administration the President is set to attack the long list of problems assailing the country. Surely he would address the nation’s dire unemployment numbers or prosecute the Wall Street executives who broke the law and as a result needed the American tax payers to save their industry. At the very least he will attempt to wrangle the growing national debt. No, instead he turns his full attention towards nationalizing the health care system.
The President and First Lady also begin a campaign against childhood obesity. Obesity it would seem has been the primary cause of increasing health care costs. The chief cause of obesity is GM products (food is too liberal a word) and the chemicals derived from them like HFCS.
On that point the First Lady plants an organic garden at the White House that will provide produce for the First Family and their guests to enjoy. A staff is hired to maintain the garden for the Obamas. They also suggest that schools plant similar gardens. After all GM foods are poisonous and drive up health care costs.
Then the First Lady announces her new initiative, Let’s Move. The program’s goal is to, “give parents the support they need, provide healthier food in schools, help our kids to be more physically active, and make healthy, affordable food available in every part of our country.” Mrs. Obama made her plans public on February 9, 2010 in a live broadcast that aired on WhiteHouse.gov.
At the First Lady’s side were Tom Vilsak (Secretary of the USDA and Monsanto lobbyist) and Dr. Regina Benjamin (US Surgeon General and Burger King employee) making the entire program appear little more than window dressing. Also joining Mrs. Obama at the announcement was hypocrisy. After all Vilsack has worked for decades for the company that invented the chemical responsible for the obesity epidemic, HFCS and Benjamin advices a company that puts HFCS into virtually everything it sells.
Just as Monsanto had told President Carter in those smokey backrooms of the 1970’s, if their genetically modified corn turned out to be unhealthy then all is well. It would likely cause a health crisis giving some future President ammunition to pass the long sought after state-run health care system.
The first President Bush left a crack in the door for Monsanto to plant a genetically modified seed of corruption. President Clinton opened the door all the way, Bush Jr. took the door off the hinges and President Obama has unlocked the backdoor and smashed out all of the windows.
There is no savior for our food system. There is no one in Washington DC we can trust. The only thing DC politicians care about is fortifying their own coffers.
If this whole ordeal has shown us anything is that this issue is not about party affiliation. Those who align themselves along party lines are fools. Both Democrats and Republicans have betrayed the American people for the pursuit of the all mighty dollar. From Bush Sr. to Obama all have put more stock into the desires of Monsanto than they do the voter.
Politicians will never change things unless it is profitable for them. The only way we get out of this is by doing it ourselves. Re-elect no one. Impeachment is a tool the founding fathers gave us in case we were betrayed. Let’s use it; after all we’ve been betrayed. Write letters, make phone calls, send e-mails, organize petitions and write “call to arms” blog posts just like this one. Do something to save us from the Monsanto Revolving Door.
Make yourself heard.
Get caught up by reading The Corn Identity and The Corn Supremacy.
The Corn Supremacy – A Trilogy
The following is a work of fiction. Though much of the information is documented fact certain elements have been fictionalized.
St. Louis, Missouri
Realizing that the manipulation of the federal government that had steam rolled their genetically modified corn into the nation’s food supply was over with the election of Ronald Reagan, Monsanto took their operations underground. They would spend the 1980’s cross pollinating their corn with corn free of their still untested genetic modifications.
Why you may ask would they do that? Because if they could show modified genes in the corn being grown on farms that did not purchase their seed from Monsanto they then could claim trademark infringement. If they could convince a judge that their trademark had been infringed upon they would offer the farmer a settlement – either purchase a licensing agreement for growing Monsanto corn or we’ll take your farm away.
The plan was simple really, just plant GM corn up wind from real corn; let Mother Nature do the rest. Of course to be on the safe side they would load trucks with plenty of pollen from their Frankencorn. The trucks had no destination, their job was simply to drive by field after field of real corn letting the pollen do its thing.
It was also during this underground period that Monsanto began developing other GM crops. They expanded to canola and soy bean with great success. Today if there is a plant that springs from a seed, Monsanto has a mutant version of it.
It was during the George H. W. Bush administration that Monsanto was able to infiltrate the US Government again. Michael Taylor, a lifelong Monsanto lobbyist, was appointed as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Policy. Despite having no training or practical knowledge of food science or biology, Taylor was passed off as an expert on food safety. Years later the Huffington Post would describe Taylor as, “The person who may be responsible for more food-related illness and death than anyone in history. . . ”
It didn’t take long for Monsanto’s mole to begin manipulating policy in favor of Big Ag though at the peril of the American public. It was Taylor who championed the concept of substantial equivalence which states that genetically modified foods should be considered the same as natural foods and therefore require no testing.
Substantial equivalence remains the policy at the FDA to this day. In addition to opening the flood gates to untested mutant produce, Taylor was also instrumental in legalizing the genetically modified bovine growth hormone (BGH).
Taylor’s tenure with the FDA began what is now referred to as the Monsanto revolving door, a series of Big Ag cronies placed in positions of great influence within government departments that regulate Big Ag.
When the elder Bush’s tenure ended Taylor returned to the private sector where he was rewarded for his work at the FDA by being named vice-president of Monsanto. There he would instruct a whole generation of Monsanto moles that would weave in and out of the FDA and USDA during the Clinton and George W. Bush years.
The 16 years of Clinton/Bush would see Monsanto’s GM corn sneak its way into 80% of the US food supply. Cancer, Type II Diabetes and child obesity have sky rocketed, the result of which has put a colossal strain on the nation’s health care system driving prices up. Many politicians have begun heavily investing in pharmaceutical companies despite the clear conflict of interest.
Monsanto became the predominant recipient of the US farm subsidies that were intended for family-owned farms, not factory farms run by corporations. With those billions of dollars in farm subsidies, Monsanto was able to under cut the price of it’s product so that they all but eliminated the family farm. By throwing some of that cash at a handful of Federal judges Monsanto slowly began absorbing many of the remaining family farms after they were found guilty of unintentionally infringing on Monsanto’s trademarked seeds.
With the world on the brink of collapse only a savior can preserve the Union and slay the corporate dragon.
Get caught up by reading The Corn Identity. Next time The Corn Ultimatum.
