Back to Food Poisoning

2007 was a bad year for food contamination for people and even pets.

In March, Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans and pouches of pet food sold under more than 100 different brands. The animal food was implicated in the deaths of numerous cats and dogs nationwide.

The recall also launched a major inspection of the safety of foods coming from China when it was discovered that the pet food was contaminated with an industrial chemical called melamine.

China was again in the spotlight in June when the Food and Drug Administration imposed import restrictions on five types of Chinese-raised seafood because many were found to be contaminated with chemicals not allowed in food in the U.S.

In February, came a recall linked to salmonella in peanut butter that was not linked to China. The salmonella outbreak affected at least 290 people in 39 states and was traced to contaminated Peter Pan and Wal-Mart's Great Value peanut butter.

In June, United Food Group recalled 5.7 million pounds of fresh and frozen beef possibly contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Fourteen people in six states got sick after eating the contaminated beef.

In July, the toxin Botulinum showed up in canned chili, hot dog chili sauces, and other products by Castleberry Food. The recall included 27 brands and 91 products sold at over 17,000 stores. At least four people had confirmed food poisoning linked to the products.

Finally in October came the nation's second-largest recall of ground beef ever when 21.7 million pounds of frozen hamburgers were recalled by Topps Meat Company because of potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The bacteria were linked to 27 illnesses and affects of the recall eventually bankrupted Topps Meat.

Reference:

"Food safety: Contamination harms people, pets," USA Today, Elizabeth Weise, December 2007.