The Canadian Food Inspection Agency have issued two food recalls on sesame crackers and dip sold across the country.
The crackers sold in Gatineau, Que., and Ottawa have been recalled due to fears of salmonella contamination.
According to a news release issued Tuesday, the crackers that are affected by the alert are the Craquelins dores, Raw Golden Chips; Carque Pot, Raw Gourmet Chips, Dulse Vita, Sea Magic and Les Biscrus des Gamins, Raw Cookies.
Consumers should throw out any of these products they bought up to Jan. 30, 2008 and have the label “Depanneur Sylvestre, 9 rue Fortier a Gatineau,” the release said.
The agency said that food that is contaminated with salmonella may not look or smell spoiled but can cause fatal infections in the elderly and the young. For adults, salmonella poisoning can cause fever, headaches, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea and arthritis, according to the release.
The federal food agency has also put out a recall on dip that had been sold in a high-end gourmet food stores…more..
February 6, 2008
US-Yahoo News- Beefs About Poultry Inspections
Public interest in food inspection spikes whenever illness or death highlights the danger of bacterial contamination. In 2007, major recalls affected ground beef, frozen chicken, and turkey potpies. E. coli and salmonella were identified as culprits. Now, a new flap over inspection protocols is bubbling in Washingtonhe Agriculture Dept. wants to reduce the number of federal inspectors in poultry slaughterhouses, moving to a “risk-based” inspection system.
The new method aims to shift the inspection focus toward microbial testing from the physical examination of actual chicken carcasses. The agency maintains the effort will modernize the process, helping to allocate resources closer to the threats of food-borne contaminants.
Food safety groups and workers’ unions allege such moves — which could later transfer to beef inspections — could jeopardize public safety and endanger meat processors. The changes would represent a fundamental shift in how meat is inspected in the U.S., and critics say the risks to consumers could be grave. “The change would produce chaos in the poultry inspection system,” says Felicia Nestor, senior policy analyst for Food & Water Watch, an advocacy group based in Washington. “The nation’s plant inspectors will have to watch diseased, infected birds going out to the public.”..more..
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