Lean Pocket Recall is Latest in a Series of Food Risks

Another food recall has been announced. This time it's a Lean Pocket recall. Lean Pockets are a lower calorie version of the well-known Hot Pockets sandwiches made by Nestle, Inc. Specifically, the Spinach Artichoke Chicken Lean Pocket has been recalled due to multiple reports of small pieces of plastic in this type of Lean Pocket sandwich. Two injuries have been reported due to the Lean Pocket problem.

Lean Pocket Recall not an Isolated Incident

The Lean Pocket recall is just one of a number of recent issues with our nation's food supply. We have seen more than a thousand people diagnosed with salmonella poisoning (with more than 30,000 thought to be affected in total) due to either tomatoes, hot peppers, or maybe cilantro. The FDA can't seem to find a cause.

There is an ongoing recall of Kroger beef due to E. Coli poisoning. Over the past few years we have seen many other cases of contaminated food products being shipped to consumers and causing injury, illness, and even death. The Lean Pocket recall underscores than almost every food product is at risk, not just produce and meats.

The Effects of Foodborne Contamination

With all the recent outbreaks it seems as though the problem is getting worse, not better. As long as there are large manufacturing or processing plants involved in food production and preparation, I think we'll continue to see problems. A single process failure on a single manufacturing line, in a single factory can result in thousands of people falling victim to food poisoning or physical injury from foreign objects as in the case of the lean pocket recall. Large commercial farms can be another point of risk.

The risk of any of these large food producers can never be reduced to absolutely zero. So from time to time, outbreaks will occur. The Center for Disease Control reports that each year, 76 million people fall sick due to foodborne contamination every year in the USA. Of these 325,000 case are serious enough to require hospitalization and 5,000 of the affected people die every year. The Lean Pocket recall is actually a much smaller safety concern. Most people finding a foreign object in their food, have no serious risk of injury. It's a nuisance and upsetting, but usually nothing more.

What You can do to Avoid Foodborne Pathogens and Safety Recalls

I haven't even begun to address the presence of harmful chemicals and pesticides in commercially bought produce. Studies show that washing or even peeling fruits and vegetables does not get rid of the pesticides that are applied in commercial fields. These are all reasons why I advocate growing your own vegetables and fruits if you can.

If you don't have the land for your own vegetable garden, then buying from small local farmers can help. This is not only a safer practice to reduce the risk of incidents like tomato salmonella contamination or the Lean Pocket recall, but is also good for the environment. Reducing the transport of produce from distant commercial farms cuts down on the greenhouse gas emissions of the trucks used to carry that produce to your local supermarket.