#food safety

[incognitopolls]

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[prokopetz]

I have a friend who’s really into cheese, but was always complaining about how quickly it molds, and it turns out the problem was that they weren’t washing their cheese-knife between meals, so by the next time they used it, the cheese residue from the previous meal had been sitting in the open air for several hours at room temperature, and they were transferring all that schmutz onto the block of cheese when they cut it. Like, forget about mold culture – at that point that knife is developing mold religion. It’s sending mold missionaries at the behest of the Mold Pope to convert the indigenous bacterial cultures.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

I am all for creative sushi, but not when the creator doesn't fully understand the ingredients. A sushi restaurant in Montana served people sushi with raw and very undercooked morel (Morchella spp.) mushrooms on it. Over fifty people ended up sick with gastrointestinal upset, and two people actually died. Other restaurants that served the same batch of morels, fully cooked, had no such issues, and there was no evidence that there was any mishandling of the morels that could have caused a bacterial or other contamination. So it's pretty clear that the raw morels themselves were to blame.

Yes, there are a few wild mushroom species you can eat raw, and only in small amounts). No, Morchella are not among them. Morels have a toxin in them that's neutralized by cooking; Paul Stamets theorized that it's hydrazine, but no one has been able to isolate hydrazine in a morel yet so that's not a done deal. Whatever it is, there's enough of it that it tends to give people nasty gastrointestinal upset when they eat raw morels, even in small quantities. This is the first I've heard of people dying from it.

It's not the only time I've heard of people dying from consuming a commonly-considered-edible mushroom, though. There were two separate incidents--2004 and 2009--in which several people who ate angel wing mushrooms (Pleurocybella porrigens) died of encephalopathy. Now, it did turn out that most of the people sickened had pre-existing liver and/or kidney issues. And a 2011 study identified an unstable amino acid, now named Pleurocybellaziridine, as the possible fatal factor that was found in large quantities in angel wings. It could be that the culprits were flushes of these mushrooms with abnormally high amounts of Pleurocybellaziridine. But you can't tell how much of a given metabolite a given mushroom has just by looking at it, and so that raises enough of an alarm for me personally that as a forager I just put angel wings on the "do not eat" list.

Will I continue to eat morels? Yes. The toxicity associated with raw morels has been known for a long time, and there have been no recorded issues with thoroughly cooked morels (the angel wings were also cooked, meaning the toxin is not thermolabile.) And as mentioned before, almost any edible wild mushroom is going to give you gastrointestinal issues if you eat it raw. The mushrooms you get at the store are a weird outlier that can be safely eaten raw. And by the way, button mushrooms, criminis, and portobellos are all the same species--Agaricus bisporus--at different stages of development.

This is why I emphasize in my foraging classes that you should always cook your wild mushrooms thoroughly, and if you're trying a new species for the first time only eat a small amount and then wait a few days to make sure you don't have any reactions. As the saying goes, there are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters.

[alwaysbewoke]

hell this is still happening today. how many times have i seen old expired meat being sold at grocery stores in black neighborhoods? whole ass studies have been done on this. smfh the more things change the more they stay the same.

[daisiesonafield-blog]

⚠️PSA⚠️ Listeria contaminated food recalls ‼️

More details and products here

More details and products here

More details here and products here

More details and foods here

[starblaster]

hey please go check your freezers if you've bought any bags of frozen strawberries, frozen mixed fruit, or fruit smoothie blends from Walmart, HEB, or Costco; the brands Great Value and Rader Farms (plus Rader Farms: Fresh Start) had products recalled for hepatitis A contamination (source):

Willamette Valley Fruit Co. in Salem, OR is voluntarily recalling select packages of frozen fruit containing strawberries grown in Mexico due to the potential for Hepatitis A contamination. To date (June 13th, 2023), there have been no illnesses associated with this voluntary recall.

Company name: Willamette Valley Fruit Co Brand name: Great Value and Rader Farms Product recalled: Frozen strawberries and frozen fruit blends containing frozen strawberries Reason of the recall: Potential for Hepatitis A contamination FDA Recall date: June 13, 2023

Products were distributed via the following retailers:

Walmart: Great Value Sliced Strawberries, Great Value Mixed Fruit, and Great Value Antioxidant Blend distributed to select Walmart stores in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York state, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming from January 24th, 2023 to June 8th, 2023

Costco Wholesale Stores: Rader Farms Organic Fresh Start Smoothie Blend distributed to Costco Wholesale stores in Colorado, Texas, California, and Arizona from October 3rd, 2022 and June 8th, 2023.

HEB: Rader Farms Organic Berry Trio distributed to HEB stores in Texas from July 18th, 2022 to June 8th, 2023.

Hepatitis A is a contagious liver disease that results from exposure to the Hepatitis A virus, including from food. It can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious illness lasting several months. Illness generally occurs within 15 to 50 days of exposure and includes fatigue, abdominal pain, jaundice, abnormal liver tests, dark urine and pale stool. In rare cases, particularly consumers who have a pre-existing severe illness or are immune compromised, Hepatitis A infection can progress to liver failure. Persons who may have consumed affected product should consult with their health care professional or local health department to determine if a vaccination is appropriate, and consumers with symptoms of Hepatitis A should contact their health care professionals or the local health department immediately.

Recalled products include the following:

Walmart: Great Value Sliced Strawberries are packaged in a 64oz (4lb) 1.81kg plastic bag with the following codes: Lot: 4018305; Best By: 7/19/2024 Lot: 4019305; Best By: 7/20/2024

Great Value Mixed Fruit, packaged in a 64oz (4lb) 1.81kg plastic bag, with the following codes: Lot: 4024205; Best By: 7/25/2024 Lot: 4025305; Best By: 7/26/2024 Lot: 4032305; Best By: 8/3/2024 Lot: 4033305; Best By: 8/4/2024 Lot: 4034305; Best By: 8/5/2024 Lot: 4035305; Best By: 8/6/2024

Great Value Antioxidant Fruit Blend, is packaged in a 40oz (2lb 8oz) 1.13kg plastic bag, with the following codes: Lot: 4018305; Best By: 7/19/2024 Lot: 4019305; Best By: 7/20/2024

Great Value Mixed Fruit, packaged in a 64oz (4lb) 1.81kg plastic bag, with the following codes: Lot: 4024205; Best By: 7/25/2024 Lot: 4025305; Best By: 7/26/2024 Lot: 4032305; Best By: 8/2/2024 Lot: 4033305; Best By: 8/3/2024 Lot: 4034305; Best By: 8/4/2024 Lot: 4035305; Best By: 8/5/2024

Great Value Antioxidant Fruit Blend, is packaged in a 40oz (2lb 8oz) 1.13kg plastic bag, with the following codes: Lot: 4032305; Best By: 8/2/2024

Costco Wholesale: Rader Farms Fresh Start Smoothie Blend, packaged in 48oz (1.36kg) plastic bag containing six 8oz plastic pouches. With the following codes: Lot: 4224202; Best By: 2/11/2024 Lot: 4313202; Best By: 5/10/2024 Lot: 4314202; Best By: 5/11/2024 Lot: 4363202; Best By: 6/29/2024 Lot: 4364202; Best By: 6/30/2024 Lot: 4017302; Best By: 7/18/2024 Lot: 4018302; Best By: 7/19/2024 Lot: 4042306; Best By: 8/12/2024 Lot: 4043306; Best By: 8/13/2024 Lot: 4060306; Best By: 8/30/2024

HEB: Rader Farms Organic Berry Trio distributed to HEB packaged in a 3lb (1.36kg) plastic bag. With the following codes: Lot: 4153205; Best By: 12/2/2023 Lot: 4283202; Best By: 4/10/2024 Lot: 4284202; Best By: 4/11/2024 Lot: 4058302; Best By: 8/28/2024 Lot: 4059302; Best By: 8/29/2024

Consumers are urged to check their freezers for the recalled product, not to consume it and either discard the product or return it to the store for a refund. Products that have different lot code or purchase dates are not subject to this recall.

In case you experienced Hepatitis A symptoms, it is important to report it. It can help to detect [and] resolve issues and prevent others from being harmed, and it enables better surveillance [of food contamination-related illnesses].

[wingwaver]

Hey, if you've bought any cinnamon or cinnamon sugar from Dollar Tree recently please throw it out or take it back to the store for a refund and disposal, there could be elevated levels of lead in it

We just got this in our store notifs today about it.

[resistancekitty]

[copperbadge]

Hello: In the post with a picture of vintage pyrex I thought I remembered a website that said there was lead in that pattern so I replied with a link, but then google showed Snopes saying it is unproven, so I deleted my reply. I had googled lead paint pyrex amish butterprint. I read an article in the Guardian recently about lead on vintage glassware and it got me worried.

Hey, thanks for letting me know! FWIW it didn't even pop on my activity feed so you must have deleted pretty fast :D

I'd honestly rather people let me know if they've heard of something like that; of course it's best to look up the facts first but usually if someone's like "Oh Sam no that's the Leaded Cookware" I'll still go investigate for myself. I appreciate that you were looking out for me because lead poisoning truly is awful. It's one of my huge fears in life, the idea of consuming something that slowly starts to degrade my cognition and I don't notice because it's degrading.

I do take comfort in the fact that it takes a lot of specific exposure over a long period of time, generally, to absorb lead from cooking/serving vessels; you definitely shouldn't just throw caution to the wind, like maybe don't drink from the Tainted Garfield Glasses, but you have to cook and eat a LOT of food from a very high-lead pan before you start having issues.

[stlsystembuster]

read the ingredients - how are the things they're putting in our food legal?

[batwynn]

I’m on my knees begging people to stop making ‘snackle boxes’ and cat litter box ‘cakes’ or wtfever in actual tackle boxes and cat litter pans that are

NOT FOOD SAFE PLASTIC!!!

Please! STOP!! We have enough PFAS and microplastics getting into our bodies as it is without you literally eating out of UNSAFE PLASTIC MADE FOR NON-FOOD ITEMS LIKE YOUR CATS POOP!! It does not matter how clean they are, or if they’re brand new. You’re eating out of a potentially toxic container not meant for food. Please. I’m begging you. Please at least line it thoroughly with something. Please

[mwahmichelle]

the correct way to come out of a fast 🎀

i’m not a health acc, nor am i an ed acc, but i see a lot of girlies ending their fasts wrong, and that can be super dangerous. life threatening, even. so i decided to write thus cus i have s lot of experience with fasting 🫶🏼

(if on a liquid diet, skip to step 4)

1. time

it’s a super simple process, but it’s definitely time consuming. the amount of time you were fasting is the amount of time it takes to come out of a fast. (e.g. one year i fasted for all of ramadan, even at night. i only fasted for two weeks, then slowly incorporated food back into my diet for the other two weeks)

2. liquid food

i saw someone eat an apple straight after their fast.

you cannot under any circumstances do that!!

shocking your system with food is dangerous. the first thing you should be having is a teaspoon of *blended* apple in a glass of water. (blend a peeled apple with a little bit of water to get the right consistency. do not use store bought apple juice)

it’s gross, but it’s necessary.

slowly over time, increase the ratio, until you are just drinking the blended apple. (the amount of time it takes depends on the amount of time you fasted)

3. liquid food cont.

once you start drinking just the apple, start mixing in other fresh fruits and veggies - preferably ones with a lot of nutrients. make sure it’s not too heavy.

(side note: don’t add any milk or yogurt to the smoothies nothing but plain water!)

4. food (kinda?)

you can’t eat normally just yet, just a little more to go!! there are two options of how to do this step

one is to make the smoothies chunkier, so you have something to chew

the second is cutting yourself a *tiny* piece of apple and chewing it until you physically can’t anymore.

they are pretty similar, so it’s up to you :) (make sure to chew very well for both btw, not just the second option)

as always, slowly increase the mount of solids until…

5. FOOD! (finally 😮‍💨)

congrats! you can now eat normally!! 🥳🥳🥳

it sucks that it takes so long, but i cannot stress enough how important it is! people have actually died from ending a fact wrong before. please look after your health 🤍

id you don’t like apples, or are allergic, you can substitute them for blueberries, though you’ll have to strain the skin out until you can start chewing 🤷🏼‍♀️ (if you don’t like blueberries, then use cucumbers or lettuce, idk)

i rly hope this helped someone. pls be safe 🫶🏼🫶🏼