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Food Safety: Even Salt Gets Recalled by the FDA!

January 29th, 2012 Leave a comment Go to comments
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Salt

This is a guest blog post by Olivia Ho, M.S., R.D.

It’s only January but we’re already seeing a long list of food recalls on the FDA’s website foodsafety.gov. Here are some examples, thankfully non are too major:

- M.E. Thompson’s deli turkey and ham

- Winn-Dixie Stores’s bean sprouts

- Coyote Joes Shredded Taco Cheese

- Rich Products Corporation’s sponge cake

- Today Rexall, Inc.’s shellfish

- RSW Distributors, LLC’s diced beef product

An interesting one on the list is a recall you and I would have never thought about…SALT! Yes, you heard me right. Jones Mock Salt, a salt free seasoning has been recalled due to a potential for salmonella poisoning:

This recall has been initiated due to possible Salmonella contamination of the celery seeds ingredient used in Jones Mock Salt. Jones Seasoning Blends LLC is not responsible for the contamination of Salmonella. The supplier of the celery seeds has been recalling the product and Jones Seasoning Blends LLC has also taken every action possible in notifying the public.

Though no illness or death has been reported by far…it raises an alarming issue to ALL of us: How safe is our food? How far should we go to ensure our family is protected?

As a health practitioner who has also been a victim of food poisoning (involving pesticide-heavy spinach), here’s my humble advice:

 - know the origin of your food products and the manufacturer suppliers. Though it may say that it’s a ‘USA product’, it might just mean “packaged in U.S.” OR possibly some of the ingredients are imported.

- Organic means different things in different places. I came across many so-called ‘organic’ products that are imported from oversea (mostly China these days where air and soil is heavily polluted.)

- Stay on top of the game! Sign up for auto alerts at foodsafety.gov.

- If it’s organic produce, be sure to wash it thoroughly before eating.

- Last but not least, support your local farmer markets. Save the ecology and help shorten the food chain.

Olivia HoOlivia Ho, M.S., R.D. is a nutrition professor at San Francisco State University. She is also the Board of Director of The Bread Project and consultant for local and national health agencies. http://www.linkedin.com/in/oliviaho

 

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  • Ksummers79

    Actually, it isn’t salt. It’s a salt replacement. Still not good that it’s being recalled.

  • Paulette

    So it really wasn’t salt at all, which would not support salmonella, but a substitute product.  Personally, I prefer to reduce salt usage gradually learning to appreciate the real taste of food along the way, instead of using “salt substitutes” of any kind. The Jones seasoning blends call themselves out as organic salt free seasonings. But as you can see, organic does not mean free of pathogens like salmonella. 

  • guest

    Organic is a production standard and has nothing to do with microbiological food safety. Seeds (celery seed is the item that tested positive for salmonella in this instance) are incredibly difficult to keep microbiologically safe.  Sprouts, even more so.

  • CT

    Just a note… buying organic or “local” doesn’t mean that your food will be any safer. 

    Having a shorter food chain doesn’t put you at any less risk of a foodborne illness.  Some say the advantage of buying local is that you get to look the person who made/grew/prepared the food directly in the face.  As contamination of food by pathogens is unintentional contamination, looking in someone’s eyes won’t tell you that your food is safe to eat. 

  • Guest

    re the relationship between food chain and food safety, here’s more info and finding: 
    http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/panels/contam.htm?wtrl=01