Food News Juxtipostion
(Food • )
1. Trent Loos, a one-man public relations armada exploding communications bombshells on behalf of the pork industry and other large-scale agriculture interests, sends me a missive taking aim at Chipotle Mexican Grill’s marketing message:
“On behalf of today’s food producers, Loos has asked Chipotle to immediately refrain from using the phrase ‘food with integrity’ out of concern for the future of the American farmer as well as the American consumer. He also is urging that consumers and farmers not frequent Chipotle establishments until the company is willing to change its ways and stop being disingenuous about its motives.”“Unlike that which is portrayed in Chipotle’s marketing campaign, Loos believes that modern agriculture and confined animal agriculture are sustainable. His advice to consumers is that, ‘If anyone attempts to tell you otherwise, they are probably trying to sell you on their product, and I suggest you double-check their integrity and true objectives.’”
Loos, who describes himself as a “sixth-generation U.S. farmer” who has “personally provided daily care for more than 1 million farm animals in his lifetime,” is, I suspect, trying to sell me on his product, as he recites praises about “today’s modern confinement pork production system, where comprehensive manure management plans are in place to protect the environment…”
2.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has found E. coli O157:H7 (a bacterium that can cause serious food borne illness) in a sample of prepackaged Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough currently under recall by the manufacturer and marketer, Nestlé USA. The contaminated sample was collected at Nestlé’s facility in Danville, Va. on June 25, 2009.On June 19, the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7. The warning was based on an epidemiological study conducted by the CDC and several state and local health departments. As of Thursday, June 25, the CDC reports that 69 persons from 29 states have been infected with the outbreak strain. Thirty-four persons have been hospitalized, nine with a severe complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome. No one has died.
E. coli is commonly found in the digestive tracts of cattle, pigs and other domesticated and wild animals, such as deer and elk. It is most decidedly not commonly found in any of the ingredients normally included in recipes for cookie dough. Somebody at Nestle, I suspect, has some ‘splainin’ to do.
3. Last night we feasted on a large pile of fresh shrimp and blue crabs harvested earlier that day from the blue-green waters off San Jose Island, augmented by fresh sweet corn and new potatoes and washed down with Pacifico beer. I suspect I could eat from this limited menu for at least several consecutive days without any reason for complaint whatsoever.
→ B.Dunn, Jun 30, 2009, 07 31 am
