A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

Giant Foods has recalled all of its garlic bread and garlic spread products, according to the FDA. The products contain a milk ingredient that wasn’t labeled. Stop n Shop has also pulled the same products from its shelves.

KROGER RECALLS GROUND BEEF

The grocery chain, Kroger Co., is recalling all of its ground beef products sold between May 21 and June 8 thoughout Michigan and Ohio. The beef was linked to an E. coli strain that has sickened several people in those two states, according to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Though none of the products remains on grocery shelves, consumers are encouraged to check their freezers or refrigerators and return the beef to their local Kroger store.

JUST IN TIME FOR SUMMER — Frozen novelty pops recalled

Kids in Arizona, Nevada and California will be that much hotter for awhile as several brands of frozen novelty pops were recalled by the manufacturer due to a safety hazard from pieces of plastic, according to the FDA.

The recall includes Rainbow Glacier Astro Pops, sold at Wal-Mart; Sunnyside Farms Missile Pops, sold at Save Mart and Raley’s; and, Vitafreze Frozen Astronot Pops, sold in various California stores.

NOT-SO-PURE PURIFIED WATER

One-gallon sizes of Nestle Pure Life Purified Drinking Water have been recalled from Shop-Rite stores in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

The water may contain a cleaning compound (food grade) that gives it a bitter or sour taste. Perfect to wash down that tomato and burger meal.

ECOLIOHIO — Sixteen cases of e. coli confirmed

Sixteen cases of E. coli in central Ohio are being investigated by both federal and state officials, according to the Columbus Post-Dispatch. The source is expected to be identified by mid-week, but similar cases in Michigan are believed to be related to ground beef.

PETCO’S FOOD STORAGE FOR THE BIRDS — FDA raids company’s warehouses

If there is something wrong with your pet’s food, it may not be China’s fault this time. After repeated visits and warnings to PETCO, the FDA requested U.S. Marshals to seize animal food products stored under “extremely unsanitary conditions,” according to an FDA press release.

The storage facility, in Joliet, Illinois, distributes pet food to 16 states. Though no illnesses have been reported, consumers are advised to wash any products purchased at Petco as well as any surfaces that the products have touched.

TOMATO TIMELINE

USA Today has published a timeline from when the first salmonella case was reported in New Mexico (April 10) to when a pattern was discovered (May 19) to when warnings were posted and so forth. You can view the response as timely or not, possibly depending on your view of federal regulation in general.

FOREIGN FOOD LAB RESULTS SUBPOENAED BY CONGRESS

A House Subcommittee has subpoenaed the records of companies that analyze “the most dangerous foods” entering our food supply from other countries.

The private labs have not been willing to turn over their results voluntarily because they were afraid that their importer-clients would not be happy.

It appears to be routine practice to either keep testing until the right results are found, or to take the food to a less reputable lab where the right result is guaranteed. Either way allows potentially dangerous food to cross into the country.

FROM FARM TO FORK

Right now, the Food Safety Act of 2007 is under consideration in the House. (The fact that it’s well into 2008 is not that surprising, but thanks for noticing.) The Act gives the FDA and the USDA the power to issue a mandatory recall of contaminated food. What’s missing from the act, according to an editorial in the Washington Post, is a provision that would require the food processing industry to track their products “from farm to to fork.” Certain legislators are pushing for the provision, and when the toll reaches a thousand or more sick from salmonella-bearing tomatoes, they should be able to get it passed.

CLEAN MEAT

Those who are inclined to believe that we can use technology to make life, or at least food, safer will take heart in the recent example discussed in the Washington Post about Sheldon Roth and his beef processing plants that are microbe-free, producing beef products that are so far beyond federal standards that they can’t even see them from here.

Of course, if consumers still insist on under-cooking them or mixing the juices carelessly, well, not even Roth can prevent that.