This NPR article titled “FDA finds hazards lurking in parsley, cilantro, guacamole” is a great place to start reading between the headlines.
It talks about the FDA focusing on nasty bugs like salmonella, listeria and E. coli via 107 samples of both domestic and foreign foods – with a plan to test 1600 samples of fresh herbs and avocados.
Although they found contamination in only four samples but wouldn’t announce how much contamination was found in each, the following quote makes things even more peculiar:
“The agency says that no conclusions can be drawn from the results so far, because most of the testing remains to be done.”
If the agency hasn’t even completed 10% of the testing and they acknowledge that no conclusion can be had yet…. why are they releasing this information so early in the testing?
A later paragraph in the article sheds a hint:
“According to the FDA, when it detects any of these disease-causing microbes in products through its tests, it can launch enforcement actions such as a recall, or, in the case of imported food, blocking that food from entering the United States.”
Is it just me or does this suggest that the FDA is gauging the public opinion on the idea of blocking imports?
If that’s the case, the bigger questions is: who keeps buying store made guacamole? Haven’t these people figured out how much better it is to make fresh?
