This is nearly a month now and the problem continuing to worsen does not inspire confidence that the current administration's FDA is doing its job properly or has the problem under control.
In early July, Taco Bell pulled lettuce at all locations and discontinued using Taylor Farms as a supplier. The FDA claims to have tested lettuce from Taylor Farms and initially identified them as the source of the cyclospora outbreak - however, rapidly backtracked on July 19 by claiming that the test performed was a false positive.
What thickens the plot is Taylor Farms' actions with the current administration. Taylor Farms is a prominent donor to parties supporting food safety deregulation in the US. Immediately prior to the FDA claiming that the cyclospora test was a false positive, Taylor Farms held a meeting with White House officials to discuss what they claimed were "shortfalls" in the FDA's response: https://www.wired.com/story/diarrhea-outbreak-taylor-farms-m...
I know that’s a joke. But there are a lot of voters (and politicians) who think things like federal food standards and inspections are an unwarranted intrusion and waste of tax money.
I don't think Taco Bell are the villains of this story. They got right on tracing the problem down and were open about it, from what I understand. Taylor Farms... not so much.
Lettuce has a shelf-life of ~4 weeks from harvest, the parasite can incubate for ~2 weeks from consumption, and it may take a week or two for the infected person to see a doctor, get positive test results, and have those results reported to the tracking bodies. That means tracking could easily lag distribution of the bad goods by 2 months.
So, tfa does not really cover this in great depth but it looks like it is mostly over in terms of new cases, at least just looking at the graph. Maybe though it is just a time delay between new cases and reporting.
Small farmer here: it’s true. Supermarket food is horrible in terms of nutrition and taste, but it’s laden with literal shit too.
For example, milk is pasteurized because dairies are too lazy careless to keep literal shit out of the milk. Sure, they filter out the chunks, but a huge number of pathogens remain.
When heated those cells die, but guess what? All of their cellular machinery is still present in the final product. It can’t infect you as such, but it sure as hell isn’t anything that you should be drinking.
Look up the USDA standards for contamination. Food production involves industrial processes with necessarily loose safety margins, due to the relative scale of operations. If a small farmer caused this outbreak, they would be burnt to the ground, but anyone think this will impact the guilty beyond a minor dip in stock price?
Those corps do not care one whit about individuals any more than Apple or Facebook cares about their customers, unless you count how it affects their next quarterly statements.
I don't understand the mechanics of how an outbreak like this even happens. It spreads by contact with contaminated feces. So if a few cases happen at a restaurant that's nasty and easy to understand. But how do you get tens of thousands of cases on a national level? Were they cleaning the produce before shipping it off with poop contaminated water or what?
It has long been asserted that processed produce is the riskiest way to purchase it. In this particular case, Taco Bell was receiving lettuce that was pre-shredded at a facility. When a consumer or food service kitchen receives pre-processed produce, it's not recommended to wash it again, for reasons.
So, the lettuce was last washed before being shredded. Then it was shredded in machines or by hand or something. It may have been misted, I guess, like you see in some grocery stores, but the point is that there was ample opportunity for contamination by equipment, vessels, or utensils, in the processing facility, during or after washing the whole lettuce.
This is nearly a month now and the problem continuing to worsen does not inspire confidence that the current administration's FDA is doing its job properly or has the problem under control.
In early July, Taco Bell pulled lettuce at all locations and discontinued using Taylor Farms as a supplier. The FDA claims to have tested lettuce from Taylor Farms and initially identified them as the source of the cyclospora outbreak - however, rapidly backtracked on July 19 by claiming that the test performed was a false positive.
The FDA's own timeline is here: https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investi...
What thickens the plot is Taylor Farms' actions with the current administration. Taylor Farms is a prominent donor to parties supporting food safety deregulation in the US. Immediately prior to the FDA claiming that the cyclospora test was a false positive, Taylor Farms held a meeting with White House officials to discuss what they claimed were "shortfalls" in the FDA's response: https://www.wired.com/story/diarrhea-outbreak-taylor-farms-m...
Taylor Farms' own safety record is rather checkered. This would make them the subject of nine recalls in fifteen years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Farms#Food_safety_and_r...
Cutting staff responsible for monitoring outbreaks like this one appears to have been a mistake.
It depends what you are optimizing for.
I know that’s a joke. But there are a lot of voters (and politicians) who think things like federal food standards and inspections are an unwarranted intrusion and waste of tax money.
I always forget about the explosive diarrhea lobby.
> I always forget about the explosive diarrhea lobby.
I wish, this was just a joke.
"See the <government department> didn't even stop this thing why do we have a government at all!!"
ah, the toilet paper and plumbing lobbies. I knew it!
An excellent illustration of Chesterton's Fence
May the owners and management of Taylor Farms have frequent, watery, and explosive diarrhea.
same with Taco Bell executives - but customers should only be getting the regular, normal amount of explosive diarrhea from their food.
I don't think Taco Bell are the villains of this story. They got right on tracing the problem down and were open about it, from what I understand. Taylor Farms... not so much.
How is this still not contained? Jeez.
Lettuce has a shelf-life of ~4 weeks from harvest, the parasite can incubate for ~2 weeks from consumption, and it may take a week or two for the infected person to see a doctor, get positive test results, and have those results reported to the tracking bodies. That means tracking could easily lag distribution of the bad goods by 2 months.
So, tfa does not really cover this in great depth but it looks like it is mostly over in terms of new cases, at least just looking at the graph. Maybe though it is just a time delay between new cases and reporting.
Why is this flagged?
If you are eating the garbage they sell at supermarkets/chain restaurants then you are not immune to any of this.
Do yourself a favor and get a CSA, a local meat supplier, and knowledge about eating with the seasons.
The whole food supply chain is lined with fecal parasites from field to Sysco sales reps.
Small farmer here: it’s true. Supermarket food is horrible in terms of nutrition and taste, but it’s laden with literal shit too.
For example, milk is pasteurized because dairies are too lazy careless to keep literal shit out of the milk. Sure, they filter out the chunks, but a huge number of pathogens remain.
When heated those cells die, but guess what? All of their cellular machinery is still present in the final product. It can’t infect you as such, but it sure as hell isn’t anything that you should be drinking.
Look up the USDA standards for contamination. Food production involves industrial processes with necessarily loose safety margins, due to the relative scale of operations. If a small farmer caused this outbreak, they would be burnt to the ground, but anyone think this will impact the guilty beyond a minor dip in stock price?
Those corps do not care one whit about individuals any more than Apple or Facebook cares about their customers, unless you count how it affects their next quarterly statements.
Is it any better in Canada
any reason why a foodborne illness would have two "waves" like this? Different batches?
I don't understand the mechanics of how an outbreak like this even happens. It spreads by contact with contaminated feces. So if a few cases happen at a restaurant that's nasty and easy to understand. But how do you get tens of thousands of cases on a national level? Were they cleaning the produce before shipping it off with poop contaminated water or what?
Watering fields with grey water and whoopsie
It has long been asserted that processed produce is the riskiest way to purchase it. In this particular case, Taco Bell was receiving lettuce that was pre-shredded at a facility. When a consumer or food service kitchen receives pre-processed produce, it's not recommended to wash it again, for reasons.
So, the lettuce was last washed before being shredded. Then it was shredded in machines or by hand or something. It may have been misted, I guess, like you see in some grocery stores, but the point is that there was ample opportunity for contamination by equipment, vessels, or utensils, in the processing facility, during or after washing the whole lettuce.