Recalls – Cantaloupe & Pear Juice

News Alerts Comments (1)

Man am I in a pissed off mood.

To begin with, Saturday Night we went grocery shopping, and decided to get some cantaloupe for my Mother, who is 90 years old. I mean, she enjoys it, and hell, it makes her happy, so why not? Right?  WRONG!

March 22, 2008 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume cantaloupes from Agropecuaria Montelibano, a Honduran grower and packer, because these cantaloupes appear to be associated with a Salmonella Litchfield outbreak in the Unites States and Canada. (Canadian Recall Details Here and US Recall Details Here)

Now we bought this at our local Thrifty Foods Store, and today went back to find out if the piece we bought came from Hondura. The produce clerk said, yes he thought so but would check. We mentioned there had been a recall notice, and he comes back, telling us that what they had was from Quatemala but that earlier in the week it was from Honduros, but they pulled them earlier.

The Public ALERT Is Dated March 22 2008.

Both at the FDA release site, and at the Canadian Government Release site. SO my question to Thrifty Foods is, HOW DID YOU KNOW EARLIER IN THE WEEK?

I suppose it is possible that merchants receive notice before it is released to the Public, which makes some sense. But here is a bit from the Canadian Site that is what gets me steamed about Thrifty Foods and other so called responsible merchants.

However, it is possible that other distributers or retailers may have received cantaloupes from Agropecuaria Montelibano. The CFIA is continuing its investigation.

Consumers who have recently purchased whole cantaloupe or in-store products containing pieces of fresh cantaloupe are advised to check with their place of purchase to determine if the fruit came from this specific grower and packer. (CDN Source)

What has me boiling mad, is that there is NO NOTICE listed at the grocery store about this. Now obviously some had to have been SOLD, yet unless they read the snippets that I do, or this Blog, HOW WOULD THEY KNOW?

Seriously, we rely way too much on our businesses to protect us. Grocery Stores ARE NOT INFORMING THE PUBLIC and well, let’s be honest, the damn MEDIA SURE ISN’T EITHER. I mean our local paper had NOTHING ON THIS in today’s paper, and as we aren’t listening to any radio shows, OUR ONLY way of knowing, is if the STORE PUTS UP A NOTICE.

I understand business a bit. I have been involved in business since I was eleven years old, working or helping out with the family ventures. It is in my blood, and I know this. Bad publicity can be a killer, but at the same time, having the trust of your customers can be the difference between success and failure. By posting notices about recalls, about insuring that the product you are selling isn’t one of them, and letting customer’s know, is not bad publicity, it is good public relations. It inspires confidence in the store’s products. Doing anything less leads to much worse.

Maybe I don’t spend hundreds of dollars at Thrifty Food’s each day, but you know, in checking we used to spend about $ 150 a week there. WE DON’T ANYMORE! This is just one more example, of why we are shopping elsewhere.

I simply no longer have confidence in that firm to insure that the food they sell is safe for consumption, or is as advertised.

This is what business risks when it fails to take an active role in insuring that it is monitoring these things. A notice in the store, by the cantaloupe would have gone a long way to keep my business, to maintain my confidence. Now I know, the other’s aren’t any better, and I suppose that is what pisses me off. WHY AREN’T THEY?

Many stores use the produce they buy, in their Deli’s. Thrifty Food’s has a fruit salad in their deli, with cut up cantaloupe in it. How can I, the consumer, now trust that the ingredients in their Deli is safe to consume? It isn’t just the fruit salad, but are they using expired chicken for the chicken salad? What about the potatoe salad, is it fresh mayo being used?

This is what happens when YOU DO NOT NOTIFY CUSTOMERS OF RISKS. You create fear, perhaps unfounded, perhaps not. I mean are they using the chicken that had a ‘use best before‘ of today, or are they using fresh chicken?

And Pear Juice for Toddlers, also recalled March 11 2008 because of possible contamination with Arsenic? I mean come on here, how the hell does Arsenic get mixed up into fruit juice?

OTTAWA, March 11, 2008 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Loblaws Inc. are warning the public not to consume certain pear juices for toddlers because these products may be contaminated with arsenic. (Recall Details Here)

I do not understand, nor can I comprehend, what is obviously the total lack of care being shown from business today. I mean, come on, what the hell are they so afraid of? Accidents happen, and I think that while we don’t like it, we aren’t going to stop shopping somewhere because we are warned about a particular brand or product. Sure, maybe President’s Choice will suffer a hit, but uh, they’ll suffer a lot more if some toddler dies from Arsenic Poisoning ingested from their fruit juice.

I believe in PREVENTION. To not FULLY DISCLOSE RECALLS, these companies, government, and Media sources, are insuring that we, the consumer, cannot take preventive measures. It seems that it is more important to protect Business Profits, than it is to protect citizen lives. AND THAT IS WRONG!

The Media has an obligation TO INFORM.

The Government has an obligation TO SERVE THE PEOPLE.

In my mind, both are failing miserably in there obligations to us, and I don’t care if they are Liberal, NDP, Democrat, Republican, Conservative, they should be booted out of office. The Media needs to be REGULATED to where they are held accountable for their LIES, their MIS INFORMATION, that they spew.

Ian @ March 23, 2008