Family Farm Ordered to Destroy 50,000 Pounds of Cheese

[Duffster]

I think that link, and the link it has to the 'full story' are just a bit slanted. The FDA posting (Morningland Dairy Conducting Nationwide Voluntary Recall of All Cheese Labeled as Morningland Dairy & Ozark Hills Farm Because of Possible Health Risk) on it sounds like a routine recall. Some of their cheese was tested and found to

"contain Listeria monocytogenes and also has the potential to be contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus."


From Wikipedia:

"Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative anaerobe, intracellular bacterium that is the causative agent of Listeriosis. It is one of the most virulent foodborne pathogens with 20 to 30 percent of clinical infections resulting in death[1]. Responsible for approximately 2,500 illnesses and 500 deaths in the United States (U.S.) annually, Listeriosis is the leading cause of death among foodborne bacterial pathogens with fatality rates exceeding even Salmonella and Clostridium botulinum. [2]"


Sounds like nasty stuff. So the place it was made was ordered to recall and destroy their product. I don't see much unusual about that.

Personally I see a BIG difference between

1)buying some local raw milk from a person you may know and facilities you may inspect when picking up the product (I grew up getting raw milk from a local dairy farmer)

2)buying 'raw' cheese in CA that was made in MO

You have to have some sort of trust... either in the source or in the process by which it came to you.

Part of problem appears to be that the test results and samples where not provided to Morningland according to protocol. I can't see why production would be halted altogether if samples of current production could be tested.

I would agree that the stories are slanted and that we don't have all the information but I think something still stinks here.

 

[Cat_Driver]

..There's no doubt this does suck... However...if there was an outbreak of some kind of food poisoning from the sale of this cheese, what would your reactions be then?

What would be my reaction? The same reaction that I get EVERY time a CERTIFIED FDA APPROVED place gets a break out.

Stuff happens. It happens with the food inspector standing right there OR NOT. Lemme see we have had a dozen or more food poisoning issues in the last 6 months or so, heck we have some going on right now with vegetables, hamburger, eggs, baby formula, so being protected from ourselves isn't working any better than not being protected from ourselves.

 

[Chuck52]

What would be my reaction? The same reaction that I get EVERY time a CERTIFIED FDA APPROVED place gets a break out.

Stuff happens. It happens with the food inspector standing right there OR NOT. Lemme see we have had a dozen or more food poisoning issues in the last 6 months or so, heck we have some going on right now with vegetables, hamburger, eggs, baby formula, so being protected from ourselves isn't working any better than not being protected from ourselves.

Do you really think we'd be better off going back to the days before the FDA? Do you really? Do you have any idea what the food industry was like back in the Good Ole Days? I'm not talking about the family farm here, though food safety was variable there, too, but you really ought to research what the big meat packing plants were like in the Good Ole Days. It just amazes me that we, in this same threade, have people complaining about Big Government interference, and then about how ineffective the FDA is. You want it more effective? Fine. More inspectors will help. Uh Oh! Bigger Government.

Chuck

 

[Chuck52]

Supposed to be, yes - But, just last night I saw on TV Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, say Obama's doing what's "right", rather than what's popular. So, Stalin, I mean Obama, has decided he knows better than The People.

OK. Stalin. Did it bother you when Dick Cheney dismissed the opinion of the majority of Americans with "So?", or do you only get your panties in a wad when Obama tries to do what he thinks is right?

Chuck

 

[blueriver]

Do you really think we'd be better off going back to the days before the FDA? Do you really? Do you have any idea what the food industry was like back in the Good Ole Days? I'm not talking about the family farm here, though food safety was variable there, too, but you really ought to research what the big meat packing plants were like in the Good Ole Days. It just amazes me that we, in this same threade, have people complaining about Big Government interference, and then about how ineffective the FDA is. You want it more effective? Fine. More inspectors will help. Uh Oh! Bigger Government.

Chuck

Chuck ... in the good ole days before the big governmet interference. When the product was bad and folks simply didn't use it ... BANG they where out of business. FDA is not doing the job. Let the good old fashion horse sense of folks make the decision ... oh I forgot .. SENSE no longer prevails!! Todays world folks need to be controlled.

 

[Loren49]

So we just wait for a few thousand to get sick or die and then the business closes and we move forward. Of course with no rules it is likely that the supplier would be unknown. Think I like some regulation. Challenge is to get a reasonable level.

Loren

 

[blueriver]

A reasonable level would be good ...

 

[rbcsaver]

There's no doubt this does suck...
However...if there was an outbreak of some kind of food poisoning from the sale of this cheese, what would your reactions be then?

They should spend more time testing the lead laden and melamine, poisonous products from China! Oh wait, we don't want
the Communist Chinese, our sworn enemy, to be "angry" with the USA.
Big gov't is wasteful and ineffective. If it were to stop "hazardous" for products, say, like moldy bread, then there wouldn't be any
penicillin. The issue here is full condemnation without any tests or data. Funny how that only works one way with the FDA.
Time for an end to big, "all-knowing" govt.

 

[Gator6x4]

August 30, 2010 - Morningland Dairy of Mountain View, Missouri, is recalling 68,957 pounds of cheese because it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes and also has the potential to be contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus.
The recall is a result of regulatory sampling in the State of California. This regulatory sampling of Morningland Dairy cheese, which was taken from the Rawesome store in Venice, California, revealed the Morningland Dairy Hot Pepper Colby and Garlic Colby Cheeses contained the bacteria. Morningland Dairy has suspended the production and distribution of all cheese, as FDA, the Missouri Milk Board, and Morningland Dairy continue their investigation as to the root cause of the problem.

Let’s see, the FDA or other food regulatory agency conducts a food safety test. The agency did not issue a recall order and several children died as a result of eating the cheese. I wonder what would be said then. I wonder if there would be enough courts and lawyers in the US to handle the cases brought against the agency that conducted the test, found the problem and then did not take action.

I have found on my trip through life that laws, rules and regulations are made to protect us not only from actions we as consumers may take but actions to protect us as consumers’ from those whose only purpose in life is make a product, represent it as being harmless, then sell the product on the open market and file for bankruptcy when injury or death occurs.

Others may like to roll the dice and take chances with their own personally safety, health and well being as well as the safety of family members, I do not and am very thankful for the FDA and other regulatory agencies trying to protect me.

Food poison will kill you.

 

[Duffster]

IF the FDA is doing it's job why did it take 6-10 months to find this supposedly tainted cheese?

If the FDA is doing it's jobs why the bad eggs from the "farm" in IA?

Is the FDA doing it's job here or doing big AGs dirty work?