Skippy Peanut Butter Recall
Monsanto does it again.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 4, 2011 – Unilever United States, Inc. today announced a limited recall of Skippy® Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter Spread and Skippy® Reduced Fat Super Chunk Peanut Butter Spread, because it may be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
The recall is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). No other Skippy® products are affected by this recall.
The product was distributed to retail outlets in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The affected product, which is packaged in 16.3 oz plastic jars, is as follows:
- UPCs: 048001006812 and 048001006782 (located on the side of the jar’s label below the bar code.)
- Best-If-Used-By Dates: MAY1612LR1, MAY1712LR1, MAY1812LR1, MAY1912LR1, MAY2012LR1 and MAY2112LR1(Stamped on the lid of the jar.)
To date, no illnesses related to this issue have been reported.
The recall was initiated as the result of a routine sampling program by the company, which revealed that these finished products may contain the bacteria.
Consumers who have purchased Skippy® Reduced Fat Peanut Butter Spread with the above UPCs and Best-If-Used-By-Dates are urged to discard the product immediately and call the company for a replacement coupon. Consumers can contact the company at1-800-453-3432, which is operational 24 hours a day, for information on the recall. In addition, a consumer services representative is available Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:30 AM and 6:00 PM EST.
Taco Bell Recalls GMO Taco Shell
For the first time since untested genetically modified foods first invaded our food system back during the 1970’s a GMO product is being recalled. Kraft Foods Inc. is recalling Taco Bell Home Originals brand taco shells from US supermarkets specifically because of its GMO content.
President Jimmy Carter was the first to compromise the nation’s health in exchange for a truckload of the money that Big Ag companies like Monsanto throw around. When Monsanto first approached the FDA about it’s Round-up resistant corn the FDA correctly determined that a good 20 years of research was necessary before allowing it into the nation’s food system.
After a few calls to the White House it was “agreed” that testing wasn’t so necessary after all. The result has been a meteoric rise in diabetes, obesity and pancreatic cancer. Nice job, President Carter.
The problem with the Taco Bell shells is that they contain a strain of GM corn that has not been approved by the FDA. Now on the surface one would have to think that if the FDA hasn’t approved this GMO corn then it must be really bad especially since history has proven the FDA and USDA will approve just about anything for the right amount of money. Take high fructose corn syrup for example.
The discrepancy in the taco shells was discovered by the Friends of the Earth (FOE) which proves the adage even a blind dog finds a bone now and then. They stumbled on a report from an independent lab which indicated an unapproved GMO called StarLink manufactured by Big Ag company Aventis was used even though the FDA has not approved it for human consumption because it is not heat-stable, is resistant to stomach acids and enzymes and potentially causes severe allergic reactions.
FOE is one of those stereotypical environmental groups that care about tax free donations far more than they care about actually protecting the environment. You can tell this because they still haven’t removed their Global Warming section from their site proving their disconnect from reality. Admittedly the link for Global Warming is a bit hard to find because of the deluge of buttons begging for donations. But kudos to FOE for happening upon this issue.
With the exception of FOE, the entire world knows the Global Warming Hoax was exposed in 2009 when tens of thousands of e-mails from the Climate Research Unit at England’s University of East Anglia were leaked. The correspondences revealed that the leading climate scientists have been purposefully fabricating, suppressing and misstating scientific data to perpetuate the Climate Change myth. Since then Global Warming has been completely debunked and the scientists that colluded on it have admitted to their part in the worst scientific scandal of our generation.
I think it is important to point out that these are not necessarily the same shells that Taco Bell sells at their fast food stores but rather the ones Kraft markets for home use under the Taco Bell name. Now the repercussions of the Taco Bell GMO corn recall could prove good for America as a whole since it will continue to flame the fire of discontent most people feel about these dangerous frankenfoods. We don’t need to ban them, per se, but foods that contain them should be labeled so that people can make an informed decision. But the Big Ag groups and their lap dogs in the Obama administration, the FDA and USDA have fought labeling GMO’s which begs the question, “What are they trying to hide?”
Seriously, USDA – A Food Safety Mobile?
The USDA has come up with a brilliant plan to help consumers survive the next salmonella outbreak. It’s called the Food Safety Mobile. The goal of this roving banana of knowledge is to bring safe food handling skills to the masses. Because after all, these constant outbreaks aren’t the result of questionable farming practices by Big Ag companies but rather the fault of the American people for recklessly choosing to eat their lettuce raw.
This is yet another sign that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and his cronies are completely unqualified for the job. Vilsack is not a farmer, nutritionist, doctor, chef or scientist. He is a lobbyist, specifically a lobbyist for Monsanto. That’s why he and his staff continue to miss or ignore the fact that the problem is not with consumers cross contaminating their food but rather with factory-farming that is more factory than farm. In short, Vilsack doesn’t get it.
The Food Safety Mobile is the heart of the USDA’s $1.37 billion push to teach Americans how to wash fruit. In addition to the traveling roadshow the program also maintains a toll-free hotline for your food safety questions providing assistance in both English and Spanish and an online chat. Both are available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Oh, and I would be remiss not to mention the youtube channel, food handling demos, coloring books and of course the Food Safety Mobile Discovery Game.
This is such a waste of tax payer dollars. Hey, Mr. Vilsack, here’s a thought – instead of buying a million dollar lunch truck how about not imposing dangerously lax regulations on genetically modified foods in exchange for campaign contributions for your boss? That way you could save the over-taxed and ignored citizenry a nickle or two. Not to mention how it would help clean up one of the most corrupt branches of the federal government.
You can take a virtual tour of the USDA’s Food Safety Mobile HERE but be warned – the decor has been known to trigger epileptic seizures. You’d think a billion dollars could by an interior that doesn’t look like Walt Disney threw up.