Family Farm Ordered to Destroy 50,000 Pounds of Cheese

[aczlan]

Even though Morning Lands cheese was verified to contain Staph and Listeria by another lab they refuse to destroy it.

They are (from what I understand of the article you posted) still talking about the original samples which (according to Morningland) were not taken according to state protocol (as I understand it, state protocol requires that the samples have to have a chain of custody established AND samples of the samples that failed are to be provided to the farm so that they can perform independent testing if they wish. From what I have read, neither of these have been done to Morningland's satisfaction).
Now it looks like the milk board is saying that they will not consider taking another set of samples and that Morningland cannot appeal the decision which was based on (allegedly) unreliable samples.

It seems extreme to me to order ALL cheese made between 1 Jan and 26 Aug destroyed unless you have proof that ALL of the batches were contaminated.

Aaron Z

 

[charlz]

Was it though? I think that is part of the problem.

Original tests were done in California, which started the whole thing then:

"After the recall, Morningland Dairy, under the supervision of the State Milk Board, sent 14 samples of Morningland Dairy痴 cheese to a St. Louis laboratory to be tested. All 14 samples tested positive for Staphylococcus Aureus and 6 of the samples tested positive for Listeria Monocytogenes. The State Milk Board on October 1 condemned all cheese products the company manufactured between January 1 and August 26 and ordered that they be destroyed. Morningland Dairy refused to destroy the condemned cheese. "

So I would say that is 'verified', another lab in another state gets the same results.

 

[Duffster]

Original tests were done in California, which started the whole thing then:

"After the recall, Morningland Dairy, under the supervision of the State Milk Board, sent 14 samples of Morningland Dairy痴 cheese to a St. Louis laboratory to be tested. All 14 samples tested positive for Staphylococcus Aureus and 6 of the samples tested positive for Listeria Monocytogenes. The State Milk Board on October 1 condemned all cheese products the company manufactured between January 1 and August 26 and ordered that they be destroyed. Morningland Dairy refused to destroy the condemned cheese. "

So I would say that is 'verified', another lab in another state gets the same results.

What Aaron said.

 

[aczlan]

Original tests were done in California, which started the whole thing then:
"After the recall, Morningland Dairy, under the supervision of the State Milk Board, sent 14 samples of Morningland Dairy痴 cheese to a St. Louis laboratory to be tested. All 14 samples tested positive for Staphylococcus Aureus and 6 of the samples tested positive for Listeria Monocytogenes. The State Milk Board on October 1 condemned all cheese products the company manufactured between January 1 and August 26 and ordered that they be destroyed. Morningland Dairy refused to destroy the condemned cheese. "
So I would say that is 'verified', another lab in another state gets the same results.

So, having one batch be tested as bad means that all batches can be condemned without any more testing? I do not know the whole story (all that I know is what I have read online), but if the milk board has not tested every batch of cheese, I do not see how they can order all 50,000 pounds of cheese to be destroyed.


Aaron Z

 

[charlz]

So, having one batch be tested as bad means that all batches can be condemned without any more testing? I do not know the whole story (all that I know is what I have read online), but if the milk board has not tested every batch of cheese, I do not see how they can order all 50,000 pounds of cheese to be destroyed.

I dunno, maybe back to the last 'clean' set of tests?

The way that one press release reads Morningland Dairy themselves provided the samples under supervision of the Milk Board.

"Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium commonly found in soil, stream water, sewage, plants, and food."
[snip]
"Vegetables can become contaminated from the soil, and animals can also be carriers. Listeria has been found in uncooked meats, uncooked vegetables, unpasteurized milk, foods made from unpasteurized milk, and processed foods. Pasteurization and sufficient cooking kill listeria; however, contamination may occur after cooking and before packaging. For example, meat processing plants producing ready-to-eat foods, such as hot dogs and deli meats, must follow extensive sanitation policies and procedures to prevent listeria contamination."


Seems like following even basic sterile sampling procedures it would be hard to contaminate the samples with Listeria unless you were rolling your sampling tools around in the dirt or washing them in the creek.

 

[NorTracNY]

A little info on Corporations - many are economically larger than many countries - recently given increased influence on US elections - send thousands of lobbyists to Washington - have little individual liability - can hide their activities from public scrutiny - not like the true small business down the street

The Rise of Corporations ? Global Issues

Of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are corporations; only 49 are countries (based on a comparison of corporate sales and country GDPs).

Of the U.S. corporations on the list, 44 did not pay the full standard 35 percent federal corporate tax rate during the period 1996-1998. Seven of the firms actually paid less than zero in federal income taxes in 1998 (because of rebates). These include: Texaco, Chevron, PepsiCo, Enron, Worldcom, McKesson and the world's biggest corporation - General Motors.

Loren

I do hope people realize this when they talk about the newer/green/renewable energy rebates. The government subsidizes oil. Not to get too off topic, but how much would you charge me to store a shoebox for 10,000yrs? Don't call nuclear cheap energy. I'm not against it, but make sure you're not fooling yourself on the cost.

 

[dmccarty]

I do hope people realize this when they talk about the newer/green/renewable energy rebates. The government subsidizes oil. Not to get too off topic, but how much would you charge me to store a shoebox for 10,000yrs? Don't call nuclear cheap energy. I'm not against it, but make sure you're not fooling yourself on the cost.

The data posted was for one year ago and in the last century.

I looked up how much the evil big oil companies received in tax rebates/refunds a few weeks ago. The data was on very anti oil websites. The amount of money was only a few billion dollars a year. The oil companies paid more than that in taxes.

I am all for the oil companies paying their taxes and not receiving tax payer aid. But I do not want green companies getting my taxed money either. I wonder what ADM gets for ethanol?

Look at the games Google just did to reduce their tax burden. U2 played the same tune to lower their taxes. Bono is all for asking the US government for financial aid for his projects. You would think he would be ok with paying his fair share to Ireland so his government could spend his money they way they want too. But I guess it is better for Bono to have the US government take my money to fund his projects. Bono has far more money than I.

Can we add U2 to the list of tax avoiding companies?

Later,
Dan