FDA Warning

[RobinN]

Where is this going to end?
First it was our Pet's food.
Then baby formula. 13,000 babies hospitalized
Now.. how deep is it going to go in our food chain?

Eat fresh my friends, and wash it first.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01891.html

[Birdbomb]

Where is this going to end?
First it was our Pet's food.
Then baby formula. 13,000 babies hospitalized
Now.. how deep is it going to go in our food chain?

Eat fresh my friends, and wash it first.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01891.html

But I can't get the cow in the bathtub!



Even then you have no idea what pesticides and fertilizers used. Rule of thumb, if it has ANYTHING to do with China, stay clear.....

[Georgiagirl88]

Sometimes..I think it would be awesome to move to a big farm..with animals
(cows for milk, chickens etc.) And just live like our ancestors did years ago.
I would really need to learn the basics though. Then I think realistically..and don't know about the whole thing.

Michelle

[RobinN]

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/qfco09_08.html

California is recalling White Rabbit Candy because it may be contaminated with Melamine.

[epileric]

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/qfco09_08.html

California is recalling White Rabbit Candy because it may be contaminated with Melamine.

Canada too!

[RobinN]

FDA Detects Melamine Contamination in Flavored Drink

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has increased inspections and product testing efforts in response to the melamine contamination problem which originated in Chinese dairy products. As a result of the FDA’s on-going testing program, the agency has detected melamine contamination in Blue Cat Flavor Drinks. The distributor of the product, Tristar Food Wholesale Co. Inc., initiated a recall of several flavors of Blue Cat Flavor Drink, based on the FDA’s findings. The FDA advises the public not to consume this product and recommends that retailers and food service operators remove the product from sale or service.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01896.html

[Georgiagirl88]

I believe it is Cadbury chocolates made in China..if I'm not mistaken.

[RobinN]

Dorsey Marketing Inc. (DMI) of Ville St. Laurent, Quebec, Canada, is voluntarily recalling the following three G and J Gourmet Market cocoa products because these products may contain melamine.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just announced another recall of a another food product over melamine contamination. This time, Dorsey Marketing Inc. (DMI) of Ville St. Laurent, Quebec, Canada has voluntarily recalled three of its G&J Gourmet Market Cocoa Products:

* G&J Hot Cocoa Stuffer Item 120144 is a hot coca product, contains UPC 061361201444, and was sold in small green and blue boxes with a backer card, candy cane, and marshmallows.
* G&J His and Hers Hot Cocoa Set Item 120129 is a cocoa product, contains UPC 489702201296, and was sold with two ceramic mugs in a brown box.
* G&J Cocoa item 120126 was sold in two flavors: French Vanilla Cocoa and Double Chocolate Cocoa. The G&J French Vanilla Cocoa contains UPC 061361201260 and was sold in a small green bag with a whisk attached. G&J Double Chocolate Cocoa contains UPC 061361201260 and was sold in a small pink bag, also with a whisk.

Although no injuries have been reported, to date, a few samples have been found to contain melamine and DMI is proceeding with its recall. The recalled products were imported into the United States by DMI and distributed nationwide to Big Lots during the weeks of September 22, 2008 and September 29, 2008 and to Shopko during the week of October 10, 2008. The FDA is advising consumers who purchased these recalled products to return them to the place of purchase for a refund. Consumers with questions may contact Tim Acheson of DMI Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM EST toll free at 1-888-645-1053 or via his email at recall@dmi-global.com.

Melamine has been found in dozens of products exported globally from China including milk teas and coffees, yogurts, candies, cookies, biscuits, cheese, eggs, and crackers, prompting international recalls. It is believed the eggs became contaminated following feed contamination, which has since been linked to certain livestock, including chickens and pigs. Although initial figures indicated about 50,000 children fell ill from melamine contamination, the Chinese government finally released information confirming that nearly 300,000 babies fell ill in that country with urinary and kidney problems linked to melamine tainting.

http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/4406

[RobinN]

Despite concerns over contaminated products reaching US shelves, the IDFA says that it members does not feel the need to monitor melamine in their products, claiming existing safety measures are more than sufficient.

“Ingredient safety and quality measures in the plant include an integrated and multi-layered system of checks and balances starting with state inspection of a representative sample of all dairy farms twice a year, and plant inspections by state dairy regulators four times a year,” Armstrong told DairyReporter.com.

http://www.dairyreporter.com/Safety-...S-dairy-groups

Sure makes me feel warm and cozy

[RobinN]

I believe it is Cadbury chocolates made in China..if I'm not mistaken.

Yes here is a news article on it:

HONG KONG — British candy maker Cadbury said Monday it is recalling 11 types of Chinese-made chocolates after tests found they contained the industrial chemical melamine.

A Cadbury spokesman said it was too early to say how much of the chemical was in the chocolates.

"These are preliminary findings from tests. And it's too early to say where the source was or the extent of it," the spokesman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

He declined to be named because of company policy.

Cadbury said in a statement it has recalled 11 chocolate products made at its factory in Beijing which are distributed in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia.

The company said, however, that all its dairy suppliers have been cleared by government milk testing.

China's recent food safety scandal started with the discovery of melamine, which is used to make plastics, in baby milk powder.

Four infants have died and some 54,000 have developed kidney stones or other illnesses after drinking the contaminated baby formula.

Authorities say suppliers might have added melamine, which is rich in nitrogen, to watered-down milk to deceive quality tests for protein.

[RobinN]

Can't happen in the U.S.? Oh...sorry, that was the Dairy Industry...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- DEERFIELD, Ill., Dec. 5, 2008 – Walgreens is recalling 173 teddy bears with chocolate bars sold in stores since late September 2008. Analysis by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that certain samples of the chocolate provided with the teddy bears were contaminated with melamine. Customers who purchased any of the 173 teddy bears should return them immediately to the Walgreens stores where they were purchased for a full refund.

Walgreens already has instructed stores to stop selling the product, which is specifically described as an approximately 9-inch high Dressy Teddy Bear with 4-oz. Chocolate Bar. The product's UPC number is 047475864485, and the product tag also includes the item number 291332. Walgreens has not received any reports of illness or injury related to this product.

Walgreens takes the safety of its customers seriously and is working with the FDA on this recall. For additional information, visit Walgreens Web site at http://www.walgreens.com/images/pdfs...uct_Safety.pdf or contact Walgreens Product Quality department at 847-315-2755, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Central time.

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls...eens12_08.html

561 hits came up on the FDA website for melamine
http://google2.fda.gov/search?output...mine&as=Search

[RobinN]

BEIJING (AP) — Six Chinese suspects went on trial Friday accused of making and selling the industrial chemical at the center of a tainted milk scandal blamed for killing six children and sickening nearly 300,000 others.

Among those in court Friday was the owner of a workshop that was allegedly the country's largest source of melamine, the substance responsible for the health crisis that also saw Chinese food products pulled from stores worldwide, state media said.

Police say Zhang Yujun, 40, ran a workshop on the outskirts of Jinan in eastern Shandong province that manufactured and sold a "protein powder" composed mainly of melamine and malt dextrin, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The powder was added to watered-down milk to make it appear higher in protein content.

Prosecutors in the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court accused Zhang of producing 776 tons of the additive powder from October 2007 through August 2008, making it the largest source of melamine in the country. He allegedly sold more than 600 tons with a total value of 6.83 million yuan ($1 million), the court heard.

In the same case, a second man, Zhang Yanzhang, 24, was accused of buying and reselling 230 tons of powder to others.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...xXDiwD95ADQ600

[RobinN]

(NaturalNews) Up to 90 percent of the infant formula sold in the United States may be contaminated with trace amounts of melamine, the toxic chemical linked to kidney damage, according to recent tests. The FDA's test results, which the agency hid from the public and only released after the Associated Press filed a Freedom of Information Act request, showed that Nestle, Mead Johnson and Enfamil infant formula products were all contaminated with melamine.

The AP is also reporting that Abbott Laboratories conducted its own in-house tests that detected trace levels of melamine in its formula products. Together, these infant formula manufacturers make about 90 percent of the infant formula sold in the United States.

Prior to these test results being made public, the FDA had published a document on its website that explained there was no safe level of melamine contamination in infant formula. Specifically, the FDA stated, "FDA is currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns."

Once tests found melamine in U.S.-made formula products, however, the FDA changed its story. As of today, the FDA has now officially declared melamine to be safe in infant formula as long as the contamination level is less than one part per million (1 ppm).

Astonishingly: The FDA has no new science to justify its abrupt decision declaring melamine to be safe!

http://www.naturalnews.com/024947.html

[brain]

Solution:

Own your own herd, and learn
to milk your cows; learn about
Rennet and make your own cheese,
heck - you'll have whipped cream,
butter, milk, and all the good stuff!



Even my own son whines to the fact
that I cannot even go to the 'Ranch'
anymore (it's gone now, all upscale
suburbs now) ... and was more than
free to milk a cow and take it all home
with me! Oh how I missed those days!



And a bonus, if they had too many
calves, I get to take one home (talk
about having a freezer full)!



If I had the $$$ I would purchase
properties and have it into a Ranch
in a heartbeat!

[RobinN]

National Brands Inc. Issues a Nationwide Recall of Topaz brand Wafer Rolls Because of

Possible Health Risks (December 19)
Mon, 05 Jan 2009 08:52:00 -0600

National Brands Inc., Spring Valley NY is initiating a nationwide recall of all their 4.76oz (135gm) cans and 12.3oz (350gm) cans of Topaz brand Wafer Rolls because it may be contaminated with Melamine.

...can't possibly happen here in the US. We have far too many safeguards for that.

[skillefer]

...people took pride in buying American made? *sigh* These types of alerts make me think more and more that it would be best to get a small farm, become as self-sufficient as possible, and go off the grid. Our pioneer ancestors got by with only buying the necessities (coffee, flour, sugar, salt...) why can't we?

[RobinN]

Looks like the new alerts are getting NUTTIER

In another food scare sure to rattle consumers still reeling from the national salmonella outbreak in peanuts, federal food officials now are warning people not to eat any food containing pistachios, which could carry contamination from the same bacteria.

Central California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the nation's second-largest pistachio processor, is voluntarily recalling more than 2 million pounds of its roasted nuts shipped since last fall, the Food and Drug Administration said.

"Our advice to consumers is that they avoid eating pistachio products, and that they hold on to those products," said Dr. David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food safety. "The number of products that are going to be recalled over the coming days will grow, simply because these pistachio nuts have then been repackaged into consumer-level containers."

Two people called the FDA complaining of gastrointestinal illness that could be associated with the nuts, but the link hasn't been confirmed, Acheson said. Still, the plant decided to shut down late last week, officials said.

The recalled nuts represent a small fraction of the 55 million pounds of pistachios that the company's plant processed last year and an even smaller portion of the 278 million pounds produced in the state in the 2008 season, according to the Fresno-based Administrative Committee for Pistachios.

The FDA learned about the problem March 24, when Kraft Foods Inc. notified the agency that it had detected salmonella in roasted pistachios through routine product testing. Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the next day.

The FDA contacted Setton Pistachio and California health officials shortly afterward, in what Acheson called a "proactive move."

By Friday, grocery operator Kroger Co. recalled one of its lines of bagged pistachios because of possible salmonella contamination, saying the California plant also supplied its nuts. Those nuts were sold in 31 states.

Fabia D'Arienzo, a spokeswoman for Tulare County-based Setton Pistachio, said the company was recalling only certain bulk roasted in-shell and roasted shelled pistachios that were shipped on or after Sept. 1.

Because Setton Pistachio shipped tote bags of nuts weighing up to 2,000 pounds to 36 wholesalers across the country, it will take weeks to figure out how many products could be affected, said Jeff Farrar, chief of the Food and Drug Branch of the California Department of Public Health.

"It will be safe to assume based on the volume that this will be an ingredient in a lot of different products, and that may possibly include things like ice cream and cake mixes," Farrar said. "The firm is already turning around trucks in transit to bring those back to the facility."

Newsmax Health 3/31/09

[Meetz1064]

GOOD GRIEF!!!

IS there ANYTHING that we CAN eat??? OK, maybe that's a bit melodramatic, but still, this is NUTS.........(pun intended) *eyeroll*

[RobinN]

I suggest you eat local and not from large factories that don't have the best hygiene.

[Heather]

Commack company at center of national pistachio recall
BY CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN | carrie.mason-draffen@newsday.com
8:58 PM EDT, March 31, 2009

A Commack company at the center of the nationwide recall of pistachios said Tuesday the recalled product represents 5 percent of the total it produces and distributes from its California plant.



The pistachios were processed at central California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., which is in the corporate family of Setton International Foods Inc. The Commack company's Web site says it formed Setton Pistachio in 1986. The plant is the country's second-largest pistachio processor, the site says.



A spokesman said Tuesday the company is recalling more than 2 million pounds of processed pistachios in what it says is its first-ever recall of the nuts in its 13 years in business. Setton Pistachio processes about 600 million pounds of the nuts a year, the California Department of Health said.



The processor ships the nuts to distributors in bulk lots of 1,000 to 2,000 pounds. Those buyers, in turn, further process, repackage or distribute the product. So the pistachios are better known by the brands sold to consumers.


Kraft Foods Tuesday announced a recall of Planters and Back to Nature products containing Setton pistachios and the Ohio-based supermarket chain Kroger is also recalling some shelled pistachios. Gift retailer the Popcorn Factory, owned by Carle Place-based 1-800-Flowers, said its products that previously had contained pistachios would now use other nuts.



Setton International Foods, which dates to 1971, was formed by brothers Joshua and Morris Setton. Before that, the brothers owned a bakery in Brooklyn, selling dried fruit and nuts.



In 1981, Setton International relocated to Plainview. In 1992, it moved to Commack after acquiring a 50,000 square foot warehouse. It employs about 375 on Long Island, according to a D&B business profile.