Applesauce pouches may have been contaminated on purpose, FDA foods chief says
Applesauce pouches may have been contaminated on purpose, FDA foods chief says
The food safety agency continues to investigate dozens of incidents of lead poisoning in U.S. children linked to three brands of cinnamon applesauce pouches.
Tainted cinnamon applesauce pouches that have sickened scores of children in the U.S. may have been purposefully contaminated with lead, according to FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones.
“We’re still in the midst of our investigation. But so far all of the signals we’re getting lead to an intentional act on the part of someone in the supply chain and we’re trying to sort of figure that out,” Jones said in an exclusive interview. The pouches found to be contaminated were sold under three brands — Weis, WanaBana and Schnucks — that are all linked to a manufacturing facility in Ecuador. The FDA says it’s conducting an inspection of that facility.
“My instinct is they didn’t think this product was going to end up in a country with a robust regulatory process,” Jones said. “They thought it was going to end up in places that did not have the ability to detect something like this.”
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Why does child food need to be produced thousands of miles away?
Cheap labor, mostly.
Ah, right. How much are the CEOs making as compared to their lowest paid workers?
I know you're not trying to justify it. Just some horse balls is all.
Just some horse balls is all.
Those went into the peach cobbler.
Where can I buy this horse ball cobbler?
Peaches horse farm, in Georgia, probably.
Even if they moved production back to the US, they would just raise prices so we're paying more.
It’s perfectly fine to do that because it increases economic prosperity across the globe, as long as we have regulatory controls. I don’t know, but I think finding this out and being able to find the source of contamination is a win for the FDA, and shows that some part of the process in place does work.
Seriously. Take an apple, throw it in a blender. That was easy.
Great, now you've added arsenic but forgot the cinnamon. Not so easy after all, was it?!
That is indeed the core problem.
And that doesn’t even tackle the problem of getting it pasteurized to rid it of microorganisms or trying to keep it shelfstable for more than a few days of transport, let alone getting it on the shelf long enough to be sold. 
Who’s trying to do that? I’m talking about feeding your kid an apple.
I was talking about applesauce
Sorry, I'll provide more detailed instructions.
- cut the apple in two. Remove the seeds and stem
- add spices and maybe sugar
- gently place it into a blender, with filtered water as needed
- turn it on
- pour it into something
I guess if we're dealing with people who don't understand the basics of food, they might want to buy leaded applesauce from Ecuador since their kids are probably doomed anyway.
Lead is in the spices. The spices come from many different sources.
I’ve read that too. Spices aren’t contaminated to the extent of the sauces that were recalled though. I guess if you’re concerned, you can eat macrobiotic and/or test your soil and grow everything yourself. Of course not everyone can do that though and most climates won’t work for all spices or herbs.
My kid is gonna love his dill apple smoothie
Come on. What kid is going to have dill in a smoothie?
Paprika. That's what you put in a kids' smoothie.
Dill, parsley, chives and juniper grows here. What am I to do?
Guess your baby is going to starve.
Although parsley does make a good garnish to the dill apple baby food.
Just do as my grandmother did when she baby sat me and give me the child homemade gin until they stop fussing.
Gin, there's juniper in that.
Get a cold frame for your peppers like everyone else in a cold environment, they grow field peppers in Quebec for heavens sake. Paprika is not out of your reach.
Of course paprika is doable. But dill seems like a great apple spice.
I was thinking oregano and cayenne!
Juniper & parsley
I have marjoram and sage
That'll give you a crappy excuse for applesauce. Got to peel, core, and slice the apples then cook it in the spices and cider until soft, then mash, sweeten, and reduce.
maybe if you want to preserve it but otherwise probably healthier to eat it raw. I’m fine with just puréed fruit.
Thank you for that comment, made me genuinely laugh aloud.