ConAgra The Poison Food People, Fires Food Safety Exec Hired After Peter Pan Peanut Butter Salmonella Debacle

ConAgra maintains that Hall was terminated because he violated one of the food giant’s employment policies, and that the move was not related to food safety. But the news only again underscores the food safety problems ConAgra has faced this year. Hall was hired in April 2007, following the February recall of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butters that where produced at ConAgra’s Sylvester, Georgia plant. Those tainted peanut butters were blamed for an outbreak of Salmonella poisoning that sickened more than 600 people. ConAgra faulted a leaky roof and malfunctioning sprinkler system at its production facility for causing the Salmonella contamination. The plant in Sylvester, Georgia was closed due to the recall, but reopened last summer.

In August, ConAgra re-launched Peter Pan, once one of the country’s top-selling peanut butters. The product returned to stores with much fanfare, with ConAgra backing Peter Pan with a 100-percent money back guarantee. Prior to the launch, ConAgra mailed out 2 million coupons for free Peter Pan Peanut Butter, as well as $1-off coupons. ConAgra also redesigned the Peter Pan Peanut Butter jar with a “New Look” label.

But ConAgra’s Peter Pan re-launch was quickly overshadowed by the Banquet Pot Pie Salmonella outbreak. ConAgra’s Banquet and store brand pot pies were first linked to dozens of cases of Salmonella poisoning throughout the country on October 9. That day, ConAgra issued a health alert about the Salmonella pot pie outbreak, warning consumers not to eat any of its 7-ounce store brand or Banquet Pot Pies with the codes “P-9” or “Est 1059” on the package. Despite the health alert, ConAgra did not recall the tainted Banquet pot pies. Instead, ConAgra tried to deflect blame for the Salmonella pot pies by claiming that consumers caused the outbreak by failing to cook the pies properly. On October 11, ConAgra finally did issue a pot pie recall.

Ultimately, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) traced 272 cases of Salmonella poisoning in 35 states to the tainted ConAgra pot pies. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) investigation into the Banquet Pot Pie Salmonella outbreak found flaws with record keeping at the Missouri plant that produced the pot pies, as well as deficiencies with ConAgra’s Hazard Analysis Critical Control plan that spells out what the company does to ensure product safety. The ConAgra Banquet Pot Pie Recall ended up costing ConAgra around $30 million.

a brief review

[...]
But DeWilde isn't thrilled. Instead, he's dismayed at the prospect of Wal-Mart becoming a player in the organic market. He fears that the company will use its market strength to drive down prices and hurt U.S. farmers. "Wal-Mart has the reputation of beating up on its suppliers," says DeWilde. "I certainly don't see 'selling at a lower price' as an opportunity."

CHINESE FOOD. He's hardly the only one. Many farmers who have benefited from the strong demand and healthy margins for organic goods are fretting that the market's newfound success also brings with it newfound risks. As large companies enter the market, from Kraft (KFT ) and Dean Foods (DF ) to Wal-Mart, farmers worry that the corporatization of organic foods could have negative consequences.

Large corporations have taken sizeable steps into the organic market, even if it isn't always obvious from the brands on store shelves. Silk, the best-selling branded soy milk, is a product from Dean Foods, the $10 billion behemoth that sells the most milk in the country. Cascadian Farms, which makes organic cereal, frozen fruits, and other products, is a brand of cereal giant General Mills (GIS ). And Kraft owns Boca Burgers.

The farmers' concerns go beyond simply pushing down prices. DeWilde and others fear that companies like Wal-Mart could try to lower the standards for what is classified as organic food and begin to import more supplies from China and other overseas markets. "Wal-Mart already sources a majority of its products from China, because it's so cheap to produce anything there. Why not foods?" asks Ronnie Cummins, director of the Organic Consumers Assn., a nonprofit organization that promotes natural and organic food.

SHIFTING STANDARDS. The worries that the corporatization of organics could lead to more imports aren't unfounded. Cummins estimates that already 10% of organic foods like meat and citrus are imported into the U.S. Silk soy milk, for instance, is made from organic soybeans that are bought in China and Brazil, where prices tend to be substantially lower than in the U. S. Cascadian Farms buys its organic fruits and vegetables from China and Mexico, among other countries (see BW Online, 3/27/06, "Imports From China Aren't Pricier -- Yet").

And large companies have tried to use their muscle in Washington to their advantage. Last fall, the Organic Trade Assn., which represents corporations like Kraft, Dole, and Dean Foods, lobbied to attach a rider to the 2006 Agricultural Appropriations Bill that would weaken the nation's organic food standards by allowing certain synthetic food substances in the preparation, processing, and packaging of organic foods. That sparked outrage from organic activists. Nevertheless, the bill passed into law in November, and the new standards will go into effect later this year.

Organic farmers are straining to meet rising demand, one of the reasons that legislators have been willing to drop certain requirements for organic foods. In the past year, the demand for organic milk outstripped the supply by 10% and created acute shortages. That even prompted organic dairy company Stonyfield Farms to stop producing its fat-free 32-ounce cups of yogurt. Now Stonyfield has resumed its production, but organic milk consumption nationwide is growing 30% annually.

Wal-Mart is making its aggressive move into organics at the same time it's trying to improve its environmental image. Last year, it embarked on a new green policy and has several initiatives to demonstrate how serious it is. The company recently said that it will require that all its wild-caught fresh and frozen fish meet the Marine Stewardship Council's standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. Fish accounts for a third of all the chain's seafood sales.

AFFORDABLE ORGANICS. While Wal-Mart didn't return phone calls seeking comment, CEO Lee Scott has been clear about his company's goals. "We know that customers at all ends of the income spectrum want organic and natural foods," he said at the company's last annual general meeting.

"But, frankly, most of them just can't afford the high prices the specialty stores charge.Well, we don't think you should have to have a lot of money to feed your family organic foods" (see BW Online, 11/29/05, "Selling Luxury to the Masses").

CEO Scott recently bragged about stocking organic cotton yoga outfits at its Sam's Club division. "We sold out in just 10 weeks...by using organic cotton instead of regular cotton, we saved the equivalent of two jumbo jets of pesticides," says Scott.

Scott is also determined to get affluent customers to spend more when they come in to buy basics like detergent at Wal-Mart. And what better way to lure them than with a range of organic produce. After all, organic foods purveyor Whole Foods typically attracts shoppers who have incomes over $50,000, while Wal-Mart's customers typically earn around $35,000 (see BW, 10/24/05, "Eating Too Fast at Whole Foods").

"CREATING MARKETS." While some farmers are concerned that Wal-Mart may try to squeeze them financially, there could be a more benign impact. Farmers who now use pesticides and other chemicals could turn to organic farming, as they see increased demand. Consider what's happening in California.

Last year, the state showed an increase of 40,000 acres, or 27%, in organic livestock production. The number of acres dedicated to organic vegetable production increased by 5,000 acres, or 12%, according to the California Certified Organic Farmers, an organics trade association. "Strong demand is creating markets here," says Jake Lewin, director of marketing at the organization.

Meanwhile, back in Wisconsin, DeWilde is preparing for warmer weather and the spring planting season. He is worried about how the increasing attention from Wal-Mart and other large companies may change the business of organic foods. Yet he's more convinced than ever of the benefits of the approach his grandfather helped champion. "It's the future of farming," he says.

[...]

General Mills Recalls Frozen Pizza For E-Coli. Food Supply is Unsafe

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 1, 2007 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Inc. said Thursday its Totino's and Jeno's brands are voluntarily recalling frozen pizzas with pepperoni toppings because of possible contamination of the pepperoni with E. coli O157:H7.

The potential problem was uncovered by state and federal authorities investigating 21 occurrences of E. coli-related illnesses in 10 states, General Mills said. About half of those who became ill were hospitalized. The earliest reported case occurred on July 20 and the latest case reported occurred on Oct. 10.

Nine of the 21 people reported having eaten Totino's or Jeno's pizza with pepperoni topping at some point before getting sick, the company said.

The recall affects roughly 414,000 cases of pizza products currently in stores and all similar pizza products in consumers' freezers, General Mills said.

The frozen pizza products were produced in the company's Wellston, Ohio, plant and distributed nationwide.

Since July 1 of this year, General Mills said Totino's and Jeno's have distributed more than 120 million pizzas nationwide.

argill Meat Solutions has been fined $22,000 or operating a scale that failed to meet accuracy tolerances established by the National Institute of Sta

UK deal with what America Ignores to our detriment: Flown-in organic food rule change

Did ConAgra Pay off Inspector?

FDA Failed to Follow Up on 2004 Peanut Butter Contamination

Inspector visited ConAgra plant but agency dropped the ball
At least four deaths blamed on subsequent Salmonella outbreak

ConAgra's Poion Peanut Butter Plant Reopens after 6 Months

a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 200 people in 35 states

The following brands and all varieties of frozen pot pie products, including chicken, turkey and beef, are subject to the recall:

· Banquet

· Kroger (sold at King Soopers and City Market)

· Great Value (sold at Wal-Mart nationally)

· Albertson's

· Food Lion

· Hill Country Fare

· Kirkwood

· Meijer

· Western Family

Recalled frozen pot pies include all varieties in 7-ounce single serving packages bearing an establishment number "P-9" or "Est. 1059" printed on the side of the package.

repulsive Corporatist Pigs Who Poison America with Impunity day in and Out suggest you just cook your tainted food better

[...]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a health alert about the problem and ConAgra voluntarily stopped production of the pies. So far, so good. But here's the punchline: "No recall is planned as the company maintains that its pies are safe if cooked properly."
So in case anyone missed it, even if you buy a salmonella-tainted product, all you have to do is cook it long enough and everything will be fine.
These words seem to me less than reassuring since they come from a company that only last year was forced to stop production and recall its peanut butter after 600 were sickened by salmonella contamination. Maybe those 600 "bellyachers" should have just cooked their peanut butter? Is it too much to ask that ConAgra just make uncontaminated food in the first place?
[...]

The food inspectors are not doing their job

U.S. regulators issued 72 letters in the first eight months of the year warning food suppliers of safety violations, the fewest in a decade, even after tainted spinach and peanut butter sickened hundreds of Americans.

The number of Food and Drug Administration warnings was a quarter of the comparable 2001 total, public records analyzed by Bloomberg showed. The agency cut its food inspection staff 28 percent from four years ago and visited fewer of the 329,000 facilities in the U.S. and abroad for which it is responsible.

In the past 13 months, there have been nationwide recalls of spinach contaminated with E.coli and peanut butter tainted with salmonella. The FDA issued warnings that seafood from China may contain cancer-causing additives. Reduced FDA oversight increases the danger that unsafe food will reach consumers, causing illness or death, former regulators say.

``The potential for greater risk is there,'' Mark McClellan, who was FDA commissioner under President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2004, said in an interview. ``Limited resources are stretching the agency too far'' after managers diverted staff to drugs and medical devices.

[...]

See How the heartless bastards at Con Agra waited to recall their salmonella tainted crap?

[...]

The move came on the same day that a Minnesota mother, angry that Banquet pot pies believed to have sickened her daughter and dozens more could still be found in stores, filed a lawsuit against ConAgra.

ConAgra, based in Omaha, Neb., had maintained that better cooking directions were the remedy for a salmonella outbreak now tied to 165 cases in 31 states, including Oregon.

UPDATE 2-US food companies discount probe of Iraq deals

Con Agra claims poisoning regular run of the mil Americans is quite enough for them. But we'll see. Certainly no one at any agribusiness conglomerate has a shred of credibility.
[...]

The Wall Street Journal said the Justice Department and the Defense Department were examining whether the companies charged excessively high prices to the Army's primary food contractor in the war zone, a Kuwaiti firm called Agility (AGLT.KW: Quote, Profile, Research).

Agility's dealings are the subject of "a very large and active investigation into criminal and civil fraud involving hundreds of millions of dollars," Justice Department lawyer Brian Mizoguchi told a judge in Federal Claims Court in Washington on June 12, the Journal reported.

ConAgra Foods Inc (CAG.N: Quote, Profile, Research), a leading packaged-food vendor, said it had been assured by the Defense Department that its role in the investigation "is limited to that of a witness."

[...]

Georgia Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due To Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination

Arko Veal Co., a Forest Park, Ga., establishment, is voluntarily recalling approximately 1,900 pounds of ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

The product subject to recall includes:

-50-pound cases of "BEEF PATTIES MIX," "80/20." Each case bears the establishment number "Est. 20766" inside the USDA mark of inspection and a product code of "502250." Each case bears a production date of "07-Oct-07," "08-Oct-07" or "09-Oct-07."

The beef products were produced between Oct. 7 and Oct. 9, 2007, and were distributed to restaurants in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. There was no retail distribution of these products.
[...]

What passes for food in America or a list of some ConAgra's Crap

• Act II - Microwave Popcorn
• Andy Capp's fries - flavoured corn and potato snack made to look like French fries.
• Banquet - Frozen chicken and ready-to-heat meals
• Big Mama Sausage - Snack-sized preserved sausages
• Blue Bonnet - Margarine and bread spreads
• Chef Boyardee - Ready-to-eat pasta meals
• Crunch 'n Munch - Snack food
• David Sunflower Seeds - Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
• Dennison's - Chili
• Egg Beaters - Processed egg product
• Fiddle Faddle - Snack food
• Fleischmann's - Bread spreads
• Gebhardt - Tex-Mex style foods
• Gilardi Foods - Italian-style foods
• Golden Cuisine - Ready-made food for seniors
• Gulden's - Mustard
• Healthy Choice - Ready-to-eat and prepared foods
• Hebrew National - Kosher sausages, cold cuts and condiments
• Hunt's - Canned tomato products, ketchup and barbecue sauce
• Hunt's Snack Pack Pudding - Shelf-stable pudding
• J. Hungerford Smith - Dessert ingredients for restaurants
• Jiffy Pop - Popcorn
• Kid Cuisine - Prepared foods for children
• Knott's Berry Farm - Jams and jellies
• La Choy - Chinese-style foods
• Lamb Weston Inland Valley - Consumer sales of frozen potato products
• Lightlife - Vegetarian meat product substitutes
• Luck's - Canned baked beans
• MaMa Rosa's - Frozen pizzas and snack foods
• Manwich - Canned sloppy Joe mix
• Margherita - Italian-style processed meats
• Marie Callender's - Frozen meals
• Move Over Butter - Margarine
• Orville Redenbacher's - Popcorn
• PAM - Spray cooking oils
• Parkay - Bread spreads
• Patio - Tex-Mex-style frozen meals
• Pemmican - Beef and turkey jerky
• Penrose - Pickled sausages
• Peter Pan - Peanut butter
• Poppycock - Snack food
• Ranch Style - Baked and Refried beans
• Reddi-wip - Whipped cream
• Ro*tel - Canned tomato sauce
• Rosarita - Mexican-style foods
• Slim Jim - Meat snacks
• Swiss Miss -Powdered cocoa for hot chocolate and pudding
• Squeez 'N Go - Prepared pudding
• Van Camp's - Canned beans
• VH - Sauces (Available in Canada only)
• Wesson - Cooking oils
• Wolf Brand Chili - Chili
• Wolfgang Puck - Prepared foods branded by Chef Wolfgang Puck, founder of Spago

ConAgra.

Environmental record

ConAgra has been criticized for its lack of response to global warming. A 2006 report by CERES, a non-profit organization that works to address global climate change and other sustainability issues, titled "Corporate Governance and Climate Change: Making the Connection," measures how 100 leading global companies are responding to global warming. Companies in the report were evaluated on a 0 to 100 scale. ConAgra scored a total of 4 points, the lowest of any of the food companies rated.^[2]

In 2003-2004, ConAgra participated in a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency voluntary investigation and clean-up program. Through the program, the company cleaned up a property previously used for lithium ore processing and constructed a new 80,000 square foot (7,000 m²) office/warehouse building. ^[3]

Labor record

In May 2003, ConAgra and its subsidiary Gilroy Foods agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle charges of hiring discrimination brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The charges involved a July 1999 Teamsters strike at a plant in King City, then owned by Basic Vegetable Products LP but later purchased by ConAgra. In August 2001, the company successfully negotiated with the union to end the two-year strike with a new contract that would recall workers based on seniority. However, the recall process excluded workers who were on leave at the time of the purchase including those out due to work injury or pregnancy. Others were denied jobs due to a history of previous injury or illness, despite their having no restrictions on returning to work. According to the EEOC, most of the 39 workers who were excluded from the recall process had been working at the plant for 10 to 20 years and were primarily Hispanic and female. ^[4]

The company's Greeley Colorado plant had been cited almost 10 times from 1999 to 2002 for violating worker safety^[5].

Health record

In 2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture halted operations at two ConAgra plants because of health violations. The company was threatened with shutdowns at least a half dozen more times. ^{[citation needed]} The ConAgra facility in Longmont, Colorado, had the highest rate of salmonella among all the turkey processors tested by the Department during 2001. Nearly half of the turkeys processed at ConAgra’s Longmont, Colorado, facility were contaminated with harmful Salmonella bacteria, compared with a rate of 13 percent for the industry at large.^[6]

In 2002, ConAgra, together with other major food and beverage companies including PepsiCo, General Mills, Kellogg, Sara Lee, and H.J. Heinz Co., spent heavily to defeat Oregon's measure 27, which would have required food companies to label products that contain genetically modified ingredients.^[7] According to the Oregon Secretary of State, ConAgra contributed $71,000 to the campaign to defeat the ballot initiative.^[8]

Ethical record

In 1997 ConAgra pled guilty to federal criminal charges that its Peavey Grain unit illegally sprayed water on stored grain to increase its weight and value and also bribed Federal inspectors. The company agreed to pay $8.3 million to resolve the charges, which included a $4.4 million criminal fine, $3.45 million as compensation for illegal profits and $450,000 to reimburse the U.S. Department of Agriculture for storage and investigation expenses. ConAgra had also paid $2 million to settle a related civil case filed by a group of Indiana farmers. ^[9] Multinational Monitor, a corporate watchdog organization, named ConAgra one of the 'Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990s'.^[10]

ConAgra Doesn't care if its customers get sick or die from Salmonella

[...]

ConAgra issued a health alert Tuesday afternoon and asked stores nationwide to stop selling Banquet and store-brand chicken and turkey pot pies, but the company didn't recall the pies until Thursday evening. The company and federal officials warned customers not to eat the pot pies and to throw them away, and ConAgra is offering refunds.

The recall, which also includes beef pot pies to avoid confusion, affects all varieties sold under the store brands Albertson's, Hill Country Fare, Food Lion, Great Value (sold at Wal-Mart stores), Kirkwood, Kroger, Meijer and Western Family.

Even though the pot pies made by ConAgra have been linked to at least 174 cases of salmonella in 32 states, the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not have the authority to require the company to recall the pot pies. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at least 33 people have been hospitalized as part of the ongoing outbreak, but so far no deaths have been reported.

[...]

Bill Marler, a lawyer from Seattle-based firm Marler Clark, said if anyone bought ConAgra's pot pies after the company knew about the link to the salmonella outbreak, the company could face punitive damages in a lawsuit because the product wasn't immediately recalled.

[...]

"You're looking at the perfect example of a broken system," Rep. Rosa DeLauro said about the pot pie recall.

Earlier this year, the Connecticut Democrat helped introduce legislation that would give the FDA the power to order mandatory recalls of adulterated food products, plus establish fines for companies that don't promptly report contaminated products.

"It is a voluntary recall, so it is up to the industry," DeLauro said.

[...]

Stop Importing Food From China

The United States can’t safely import food from China and should only allow imports from that country if the foods are certified by the Chinese government as safe, House Energy and Commerce Committee investigators testified Thursday. The melamine-tainted products that entered the United States from China earlier this year and killed hundreds of cats and dogs lacked that certification but FDA procedures didn’t require agency inspectors to look for it, one of the investigators told a House Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee hearing.

[...]

largest meat recalls in history unfolds, Congress is considering legislation that would reduce required federal inspections for meat

WASHINGTON - As one of the largest meat recalls in history unfolds, Congress is considering legislation that would reduce required federal inspections for meat that is produced by small companies and then shipped to another state.

Because of a little-noticed legislative change buried deep within the 2007 farm bill approved in July by the House, only state inspections would be required for some meat products.

The measure was planted in the farm bill by Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), according to congressional staffers familiar with the bill. It would be a boon to small meat processing companies whose products must remain in the state of origin because they lack a federal inspection stamp.

Tainted-Beef Recall Sparks Consumer Concerns

EPA to Approve New Fumigant for Crops

he Environmental Protection Agency is expected within days to approve a new toxic fumigant for use by fruit and vegetable farmers, despite opposition from California regulators, prominent scientists and environmental and farmworker groups.

The agency intends to register methyl iodide as a substitute for the pesticide methyl bromide, which is being phased out by international treaty, according to government officials familiar with the decision. The new product is MIDAS, a methyl iodide compound manufactured by Tokyo-based Arysta LifeScience Corp.