Metal Fragments in Peanuts

Perhaps with the peanut butter related illnesses, deaths and massive recalls, the assumption would have been that the situation could not deteriorate further. Unfortunately, that assumption would be wrong:

“The government acknowledged Friday that a shipment of peanuts from the plant linked to a salmonella outbreak contained a “filthy, putrid or decomposed substance” later identified as metal fragments. The shipment was returned to the U.S. in April, months earlier than reflected in a federal tracking database.”

link: Peanuts tainted with metal fragments

It is daunting that material described as a “filthy, putrid or decomposed substance” had even a remote possibility of entering the food chain.

I would like to address an point raised in a few comments that have appeared on this salmonella topic. It has been pointed out that the number of illnesses and deaths caused by this problem constitutes only a minuscule sample of the American population. The argument follows along the lines of ‘its not significant problem’. The question then becomes ‘at what point does having a contaminated food product in the supply chain reach significance?’. The deterioration of the security standard for food safety should concern every citizen. I would venture to say that these people who deem this problem as insignificant would have a change of opinion should a food tragedy visit upon one of their family members.

Catherine Forsythe