More Tainted Food: Totinos & Jenos Pizza
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This keeps happening.
Almost five million Totino’s and Jeno’s frozen pizzas with pepperoni toppings are being recalled because the pepperoni may be contaminated with E. coli, General Mills Inc said on Thursday.
General Mills, which owns the Totino’s and Jeno’s brands, said the recall affects about 414,000 cases of pizza products currently in stores and all similar pizza products that might be in consumers’ freezers. Each case contains 12 pizzas.
The possible E. coli contamination was uncovered by state and federal authorities investigating 21 E. coli-related illnesses in 10 states.
General Mills said nine of the 21 people reported having eaten Totino’s or Jeno’s pizza with pepperoni topping at some point before becoming ill.
But the Republicans and libertarians wonder why normal people look at them like they’re nutty when they argue that we should just let corporations regulate themselves like magical fairies.
23 Responses to “More Tainted Food: Totinos & Jenos Pizza”
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© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
And once again you are operating under the assumption that this case of e-coli was the result of neglect on the part of this company.
Well, Jay, what do you think it was? Magic? There’s a pattern here.
What pattern? Do you realize how many times there have been recalls of food products related to e.coli? Here’s a story from 1996.
Here’s another from 1997.
Why not wait until an investigation is performed before jumping to the conclusion that there was some sort of purposely malfeasance on the part of this company?
Oh right. That would get in the way of your political potshot. Can’t get in the way of that.
It doesn’t have to be “purposeful” malfeasance. I don’t belive, nor do I feel Oliver belives, that there is some CEO at these companies twirling his Snidely Whiplash ‘stache cackling “Muahahaha! Now we shall make hundreds of people sick with our tainted pizza! And tomorrow I shall rule the world!”
It’s more than enough that they likely feel that they can save a couple bucks by just firing an inspector here, not “wasting” time with some safety training there, in the security and confidence that the Bush administration isn’t very interested in holding corporate feets to the fire (we need to be more “bidness friendly” as they say in Texas…)
I think a lot of these companies don’t intentionally taint their food, but they ain’t exactly vigilant about it either – why bother, the penalties they have to actually pay if you go through the process to get them to is a pittance. Not to mention that at a federal level food inspection for a country of our side is ridiculously lacking.
The bottom line is: no, I do not blindly trust MegaGlobalChemcorp to bring us safe food without them being under the threat of a serious thrashing if they violate the public trust. Go capitalism, but not at the expense of people’s lives.
Jay: “Why not wait until an investigation is performed before jumping to the conclusion that there was some sort of purposely malfeasance on the part of this company?”
Wow. Just when you think Jay can’t get any dumber.
“Purposely malfeasance?” That’s the line in the sand you draw?
To me, just not having adequate safety standards to either not catch the e-coli tainted pepperoni when in came into the plant or to have it contaminated at the plant is bad enough. Allowing nearly 5 million pizzas to get to consumers before it’s caught is reason to get the government involved.
But for Jay, as long as the company didn’t intentionally try to poison their customers, we don’t even have reason to complain on a blog.
Good god, no wonder this guy’s a Republican.
—————————–
Rheinhard: “It doesn’t have to be ‘purposeful’ malfeasance. I don’t belive, nor do I feel Oliver belives, that there is some CEO at these companies twirling his Snidely Whiplash ‘stache cackling ‘Muahahaha! Now we shall make hundreds of people sick with our tainted pizza! And tomorrow I shall rule the world!’”
I would pay money to see that movie.
Overlord: “You see, I’ve subverted the world’s food safety systems in a masterful plan to give the population dysentery, which will allow my small army to conquer the world!”
Minion: “Yeah, but who would clean up the mess?”
Overlord: “… Damn.”
It’s more than enough that they likely feel that they can save a couple bucks by just firing an inspector here, not “wasting” time with some safety training there, in the security and confidence that the Bush administration isn’t very interested in holding corporate feets to the fire
So here you’re accusing them of cutting corners in order to save money. Guess what? That would fall under the negligence I was talking about.
And what about the other cases I mentioned? The largest beef recall in the nation’s history occurred under the watchful eye of President Clinton. I guess the guys at Hudson beef canned an inspector or two.
I think a lot of these companies don’t intentionally taint their food, but they ain’t exactly vigilant about it either – why bother, the penalties they have to actually pay if you go through the process to get them to is a pittance.
Really? Recalling millions of boxes of frozen pizza is a pittance? Recalling millions of pounds of beef is a pittance? Do realize how much money it costs?
The bottom line is: no, I do not blindly trust MegaGlobalChemcorp to bring us safe food without them being under the threat of a serious thrashing if they violate the public trust. Go capitalism, but not at the expense of people’s lives.
You’re arguing against a false premise because the last time I checked, I didn’t see anybody calling for an end to food inspection.
To me, just not having adequate safety standards to either not catch the e-coli tainted pepperoni when in came into the plant or to have it contaminated at the plant is bad enough.
Captain Dumbass, accusing them of not having adequate safety standards in place is accusing them of malfeasance.
Here’s a clue fellas: Sometimes, even with adequate safety measures in place and everybody doing what they’re supposed to do, there is going to be food that gets contaminated with e.coli
It doesn’t mean that the BIG EVIL CORPORTATION is cutting corners or canning an inspector here or there in order to save a few bucks. The BIG EVIL CORPORATIONS actually have what they called risk assessment, and nobody doing risk assessment is going to advise against cutting back on safety and inspection considering what it would cost to have to do a massive recall.
“Really? Recalling millions of boxes of frozen pizza is a pittance? Recalling millions of pounds of beef is a pittance? Do realize how much money it costs?”
Last time you say recalling 21 million pounds of beef was a minor incident, so it can’t cost that much. Now you are saying it’s more than enough to keep companies in line.
Are you lying now, or were you lying then?
“You’re arguing against a false premise because the last time I checked, I didn’t see anybody calling for an end to food inspection.”
Cutting back government inspection to the point they are ineffective is the same thing.
“Here’s a clue fellas…”
Here’s a clue, asshole, there’s a pattern happening here. If you gut the government agencies that regulate businesses, they cut corners to save money and it is the consumers that get it in the end.
How many of these incidents do you need to see before you realize it’s a pattern?
No, it isn’t a new phenomenon under Bush, but they are happening more frequently. If you weren’t such a fucking idiot, I mean Republican, you would have figured that out on your own.
“The BIG EVIL CORPORATIONS actually have what they called risk assessment, and nobody doing risk assessment is going to advise against cutting back on safety and inspection considering what it would cost to have to do a massive recall.”
This is such a fucking joke. This is so god damned stupid it should be legal grounds to have you committed in a mental institute.
Look up the history of the Ford Pinto. The BIG EVIL CORPORATION in question was Ford, and they decided it was too expense to recall the Pinto, and that is was cheaper to just payoff anyone killed or injured.
They intentionally risked the LIVES of their customers to save money.
This is why you need government regulation. This is why you need enough inspectors to police the industry. This is why you need laws that have real teeth.
This is why you need to shut up till you grow up.
Last time you say recalling 21 million pounds of beef was a minor incident
I said no such thing. Here’s the thread.
Cutting back government inspection to the point they are ineffective is the same thing.
And where is the evidence this? You spout a lot of shit without backing it up.
Here’s a clue, asshole, there’s a pattern happening here. If you gut the government agencies that regulate businesses, they cut corners to save money and it is the consumers that get it in the end.
I ask again: Where is the evidence of this?
Answer: It doesn’t exist. Money allocated for food safety and inspection has increased every year. In fact, spending over the last 3-4 years was higher than projected. I can easily provide sources to back that up.
You first since you seem to know everything.
How many of these incidents do you need to see before you realize it’s a pattern?
A pattern of what? Again, do some research and you’ll see that an outbreak of e.coli is something happens almost every year in all kinds of circumstances and scenarios. Hell, there was a case in 1998 at a water park for crying out loud.
Look up the history of the Ford Pinto. The BIG EVIL CORPORATION in question was Ford, and they decided it was too expense to recall the Pinto, and that is was cheaper to just payoff anyone killed or injured.
You’re such an idiot. You’re probably the same kind of simp that Dateline was hoping to hook with their exploding trucks exclusive. I suggest you read up on the Pinto escapade. Specifically, read Gary Schwartz paper about the car and the “smoking gun” memo.
Me: “Last time you say recalling 21 million pounds of beef was a minor incident”
Jay: “I said no such thing. Here’s the thread.”
I was paraphrasing.
Here’s the post…
———-
Me: “There’s supposed to be a system in place to prevent this from happening. Minor outbreaks are regrettable but unavoidable. They had such a major outbreak that it forced them into bankruptcy. Are you seriously telling me there’s nothing to investigate here?”
Jay: “Major outbreak? 30 cases? Tens of thousands of people a year are affected with e.coli you stooge.”
———-
And you never did answer my question.
“And where is the evidence this?”
Gee, I don’t know. Could it be basic economics.
Seriously, you are asking for evidence that raising the price of something will cause people to do it less. Increasing the taxes on cigarettes will reduce the number of people who smoke. Are you seriously going to argue against that claim?
As for increases e.coli outbreaks…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_North_American_E._coli_outbreak
“Answer: It doesn’t exist. Money allocated for food safety and inspection has increased every year. In fact, spending over the last 3-4 years was higher than projected. I can easily provide sources to back that up.”
Go for it. Provide your evidence, I bet you are still wrong.
“Specifically, read Gary Schwartz paper about the car and the “smoking gun” memo.”
Did you read the paper? The memo exists, it wasn’t talking about the rear-end collision, but Ford still decided instead of recalling and fixing a known problem, it was cheaper to pay the lawsuits for the resulting injuries and death.
Your own evidence proves I was right and you are fucking stupid.
I was paraphrasing.
The comments in question were about whether or not the e.coli represented a “major outbreak.” It doesn’t come close to me saying that recalling 21 million pounds of beef is a “minor incident.”
So, you were wrong. Move along.
Gee, I don’t know. Could it be basic economics.
Seriously, you are asking for evidence that raising the price of something will cause people to do it less.
What in the world are you talking about? You said this:
Cutting back government inspection to the point they are ineffective is the same thing.
I asked you to provide evidence that government inspections were being cut back. You reiterated that point AGAIN when you wrote:
If you gut the government agencies that regulate businesses, they cut corners to save money and it is the consumers that get it in the end.
You:
A. Made the claim that government inspections have been cut back
B. Made the claim that the government agencies that regulate this (in this case it would be Food Safety and Inspection service within the Dept of Agriculture) have been “gutted.”
Again, where is your evidence that this happened?
The memo exists, it wasn’t talking about the rear-end collision, but Ford still decided instead of recalling and fixing a known problem, it was cheaper to pay the lawsuits for the resulting injuries and death.
You really are intellectually lazy. The memo in question had nothing to do with the Pinto, or any other Ford vehicle in general. Read something for once:
The actual memo did not pertain to Pintos, or even Ford products, but to American cars in general; it dealt with rollovers, not rear-end collisions; it did not contemplate the matter of tort liability at all, let alone accept it as cheaper than a design change; it assigned a value to human life because federal regulators, for whose eyes it was meant, themselves employed that concept in their deliberations; and the value it used was one that they, the regulators, had set forth in documents.
Cripes.
C.S.
Your intentions are admirable but your counter to Jay’s blathering give the poor misguided soul the only reason to exist, if (all) previous comments by Jay are any indication. Jay is simply a SHIT DISTURBER and unfortunately, the worst kind…stupid…repetitive…and…agonizingly dull.
I don’t dismiss Jay offhand but the drek is just too much to bear.
C.S. You’re too informative and erudite to waste time on triflers.
Right Doggedly. CS makes unsubstantiated claims about government inspections, and repeats the kind of crap that makes Snopes famous about the Ford Pinto and he’s “informative and erudite.”
What kind of bizarro freaking world do you inhabit?
“The comments in question were about whether or not the e.coli represented a “major outbreak.” It doesn’t come close to me saying that recalling 21 million pounds of beef is a “minor incident.”
So, you were wrong. Move along.”
No one here believes you… well, maybe SaveFarris would. You are splitting hairs and nothing more. You tried to downplay the extent of that incident, just like you are with this one.
“A. Made the claim that government inspections have been cut back
B. Made the claim that the government agencies that regulate this (in this case it would be Food Safety and Inspection service within the Dept of Agriculture) have been ‘gutted.’
Again, where is your evidence that this happened?”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a4Mmf8MiatEU&refer=us
“The potential for greater risk is there,” Mark McClellan, who was FDA commissioner under President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2004, said in an interview. “Limited resources are stretching the agency too far” after managers diverted staff to drugs and medical devices.”
Right there. And yes, I know this particular product falls under the Department of Agriculture, but the tainted spinach and lettuce falls under FDA authority.
And this is part of the Bush philosophy of letting corporations do what they want. They might be spending the money, but they aren’t doing what they should be doing.
“You really are intellectually lazy. ”
My god, you are fucking stupid.
I’ll explain, and I’ll put it in bold for you…
WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT MATTER? THE MEMO SHOWED THAT CORPORATIONS WERE PUTTING COSTS AHEAD OF THE LIVES OF THEIR CUSTOMERS.
Do you get it now? Or are you determined to argue semantics and not substance?
C.S.
Your intentions are admirable but your counter to Jay’s blathering give the poor misguided soul the only reason to exist, if (all) previous comments by Jay are any indication. Jay is simply a SHIT DISTURBER and unfortunately, the worst kind…stupid…repetitive…and…agonizingly dull.
I don’t dismiss Jay offhand but the drek is just too much to bear.
C.S. You’re too informative and erudite to waste time on triflers.
You tried to downplay the extent of that incident, just like you are with this one.
You said it was a “major outbreak” of e.coli poisoning. I said it wasn’t. I was right. You were wrong. Now you’re saying that I said recalling 21 million pounds of meat was a “minor incident.” I said no such thing, nor did I come close to saying such a thing.
You’re such an intellectually dishonest stooge.
Right there. And yes, I know this particular product falls under the Department of Agriculture, but the tainted spinach and lettuce falls under FDA authority.
Once again, your skills at using Google are on display, but you don’t have any supporting facts. Do you know why resources were diverted within the FDA? It was due largely to asinine legislation like the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. Passed with overwhelming votes on both sides of the aisle, this legislation saw to it that many funds were put into making sure the US wasn’t the victim of terror attacks within our food system.
You still haven’t proven any kind of actions on behalf of the administration that shows they just simply allowed companies to sell tainted spinach and burgers.
I cannot fathom why it is that you people insist that somebody must be blamed for something like this. There always has to be a bad guy. Always somebody behind that curtain. It’s never something that happens and needs to addressed.
WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT MATTER? THE MEMO SHOWED THAT CORPORATIONS WERE PUTTING COSTS AHEAD OF THE LIVES OF THEIR CUSTOMERS.
You’re not getting it. The automobile companies were REQUIRED BY REGULATORS to submit such memos. They were not INTERNAL company memos that somebody go their hands on where Ford was shown to be putting costs ahead of lives. Is that so difficult for you to comprehend? It was attached to a letter written to the National Highway Transportation Safety Bureau (NHTSA) concerning a proposed regulation. It is a MYTH that this was a company memo circulated by the upper management of the Ford Motor Company showing that it would just be cheaper for them to let some people die than change the design of the Pinto. The document had nothing to do with the design of the Pinto.
Why is this so difficult for you to understand?
Sorry I’ve been too busy to join in on the pileon…
Jay,
Unfortunately, you’re correct about the budgets–but you’re still wrong! It IS true that the budgets for inspection for foods (both FDA and USDA) have risen over the years. Unfortunately, that number doesn’t really dictate how many products get inspected out of the total number sold. The real question is if those budget increases are adequate to meet the increases in the size of industry (number of products and number of covered entities) over that time.
It has been the case since the 1994 Gingrich Republican Revolution, that the budgets of the various U.S. Regulatory Agencies (FDA, EPA, parts of USDA) have been relatively flat when compared with the increases in their regulatory responsibilities. The number of import items alone tracks like a logarithmic curve.
It is true that the budget malfeasance can be shared by both parties, but the political process paints the Dems in a better light. The Clinton budgets improved these agencies, but Congress (mostly Republican majorities) only gave the agencies pennies.
It’s also important to remember the quality of mid-level oversight by political appointees. If the FDA General Counsel is not willing to send enforcement actions over to DoJ (and DoJ doesn’t act on them), then no one in industry gets the slap on the wrist. Additionally, if you slow-walk certain regulatory processes, particularly for emerging threats (Mad Cow, anyone?) the public is at risk.
Take it from someone who’s had to read the FDA budgets for the last five years, they’re really, really lacking in resources. That’s why they had to go to such crazy fiscal lengths to get by–I’m thinking of the various user fee programs used to pay the salaries of product reviewers. To give Jay a sense at how bad it has gotten, the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (passed in September) authorized or reauthorized a number of user fees (drugs, devices, DTC ad reviews) to name a few.
If Jay is looking for evidence that the inspection capacity of these Agencies have been gutted, all he needs to do is read their budgets. They have lots of nifty little graphs that clearly show the problem.
it is the consumers that get it in the end.
That made me laugh out loud.
How soon before CNN reports 14-year old Al Qaeda operatives are taking a dump in the nation’s food supply?
And anyway, that stuff is crap. Good riddance if they pull it off the shelf. if it stops one person from having a fucking heart attack, then it’s all worth it.
Jay: “You said it was a “major outbreak” of e.coli poisoning. I said it wasn’t. I was right. You were wrong.”
Hey Jay, you’re opinion on what is right and wrong is worthless. Just like you are.
10 tons of meat was recalled. The company went bankrupt. That’s major.
JaY: “Do you know why resources were diverted within the FDA? ”
Who gives a fuck? The guy who was in charge said there wasn’t enough resources to adequately do their job. The reasons why are not an issue.
“You still haven’t proven any kind of actions on behalf of the administration that shows they just simply allowed companies to sell tainted spinach and burgers.”
Strawman fallacy. Also known as a fucking lie.
“You’re not getting it. The automobile companies were REQUIRED BY REGULATORS to submit such memos.”
So. Fucking. What.
It still puts profit ahead of consumer safety, something you claim corporations would never do.
All you’ve done is prove it is standard procedure.
Congratulations, you have just proven you are completely wrong.
So. Fucking. What.
It still puts profit ahead of consumer safety, something you claim corporations would never do.
Oh my God. Oh my God. Sorry for using this word folks, but CS you must be RETARDED. Seriously.
What will it take you to comprehend that the memo did not put profits ahead of consumer safety?
I guess it would take a miracle because you’re like Rainman. I feel like I’m Charlie and you’re Ray talking about undewear from K-Mart.
The memo in question had the price tag of $200,000 on a human life. This absurdly low figure was set BY THE GOVERNMENT. The memo was submitted as required to see the cost analysis of a newly proposed regulation. The $200,000 figure was set by the government so that they could easily do the math on the issue.
I will repeat for the last time: IT WAS NOT AN OFFICIAL MEMO AND WAS NOT PART OF ANY COMPANY POLICY NOR WERE THE FIGURES FOR SHOWING IT WOULD COST LESS TO DEAL WITH LAWSUITS THAN FIX A PART PART OF ANY ACTION PLAN BY THOSE COMPANIES.
There. Do you finally understand, retard?
Jay are you really searching for companies that put profits above public welfare and consumer’s life and limb? Why argue some ancient history like exploding Pintos, which incidently, was a crappy car even if it didn’t explode. EPA. Pollution. You can find example after example there, and a Bush-gutted regulatory agency.
“There. Do you finally understand, retard?”
Are you trying to be stupid? The fucking memo puts a price tag on a human life. And this is standard practice in every industry.
You claimed that companies will not put profits ahead of the risk of a recall. This shows that this is not true, as a known flaw was allowed over the risk of killing nearly 200 people because the risk analysis showed it was not fiscally feasible. And this is the standard operating procedure not just for Ford, not just for the automobile industry, but nationwide.
In other words…
You. Are. Wrong.
You are also too stupid to realize you are wrong, but that’s another debate.
By they way, I noticed how you dropped all the other points. At least you were man enough to admit defeat there.