AMERICAN LABOUR CONSUMER AFFAIRS:

FOOD RECALLS AND WORKER RIGHTS:

The USA is now at the tail end of the most massive egg recall in its history. As of August 20 520 million ! eggs had been recalled due to contamination with Salmonella. The FDA has a list of brands affected that the reader can access. One of the major producers DeCoster has a long history of brushes with the law in relation to food safety, and according to Yahoo News it is likely that this operation knew of Salmonella contamination in their product for at least two years prior to this events.

A lot could be said about this situation from an anarchist point of view. The first is the massive size of the product affected. Is it really to society's benefit that agribiz should be allowed to expand in such a cancerous fashion such that a problem ends of affected millions of people ? There is certainly nothing magical about small scale production that would guarantee freedom from occasional contamination, but if such a thing were to occur it would have far less of an effect. The second thing is that the system of production for profit with no barriers to gigantism inevitably leads to such monopoly concentration and also to the temptation to cut every corner that can be cut.

One such corner is workers' rights, and the chances of danger to the consumer march hand in hand with poor working conditions, as the following item from the international union federation the IUF makes plain.

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Record US Egg Recall Should Turn Spotlight on Working Conditions and Trade Union Rights

Over 1,500 cases of potentially fatal salmonella enteritidis poisoning across the United States have been linked to production from two interlinked giant producers. The poisonings have led to the largest-ever recall of eggs – over half a billion so far.

Critics of hyper-concentration in the agrifood industry have forcefully made the point that the record number of salmonella cases stem from the operations of just 2 giant Iowa producers - Wright County Egg, owned by Jack DeCoster, and another in which DeCoster is a major investor. DeCoster also owns the company providing feed (suspected as the source of the bacterial contamination) and chicks to the two egg farms. Eggs sourced from DeCoster are supplied under a bewildering variety of names at supermarkets and other retail outlets across the US, making the product origin impossible for consumers to trace. Information posted on a US government website lists some 90 branded eggs under the recall - 3 of them identified only as "No Brand Name Available" in various size retail packaging, with their expiration dates!

The latest tainted food episode, following on a seemingly endless series of food product recalls from meat to nuts to frozen cookie-dough, has again turned the spotlight on the federal agencies largely for food safety, the Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture (it is the FDA which is responsible for shell eggs). DeCoster in fact has a long history of violating federal law at operations from Iowa to Maine - and past fines don't seem to have made a dent in the business model or stimulated regulatory activity. An FDA spokesperson told the New York Times on August 24 “FDA has no inspectional history with either of these facilities in Iowa."

So while many are asking where the federal regulators have been, it's time to ask what the most recent large-scale outbreak of food-borne illness tells us about working conditions and worker rights.

Recent inspections at the farms at the origin of the outbreak reported massive piles of manure under he egg-laying facilities, with maggot and rodent infestations cited among other flagrant violations of elementary hygienic standards. Wild birds were nesting in and flying around a DeCoster feed mill suspected as a source of the salmonella, whose storage and other facilities were full of holes and open to the wild. Identical strains of the salmonella bacteria were detected in water, manure, walkways and equipment at the feed and egg facilities. The FDA, according to their website, is investigating "whether equipment used to handle manure or bird carcasses is also used to handle feed."

Behind the appalling hygiene lies an appalling exploitation of workers, whose role as the guarantors of safe food can only be exercised when they can safely exercise their right to organize. Where chickens are forced to wade through rat- and maggot-infested manure heaps, so too are workers. Inadequate protective clothing at Wright Country Egg meant that workers were potentially spreading bacteria - and serving as potential vectors for the deadly H5N1 virus. should it appear.

In 1997, a DeCoster egg operation in Maine was fined USD 2 million dollars for egregious health and safety violations, In addition to bacterial contamination, government reports cited electrical hazards and unguarded machinery. In a recent blog, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote that "Workers had been forced to live in trailers infested with rats and handle manure and dead chickens with their bare hands. It was an agricultural sweatshop."

In 2002, DeCoster paid USD 1.5 million to settle charges stemming from a lawsuit on behalf of Mexican women workers subjected to sexual abuse by supervisors, including rape..

For an operation like Wright Country Eggs, the fines are a trifle - part of the cost of doing business. One manager who trafficked undocumented workers between facilities for three years was confined to home for three months and fined USD 9,000. The fines are digestible, though the product may be toxic.

When strong unions, with strong health and safety committees, are absent or repressed, the result is hazardous and unsanitary conditions. The conditions which sicken and maim agricultural workers – 8 foot (2.4 meter) piles of rodent-infested manure, unguarded machinery, contaminated water and walkways - are precisely the conditions which turn egg farms into giant salmonella incubators. Denying workers effective legal protection to organize at the workplace deprives consumers of a crucial protection against food hazards.

Increasing the regulatory capacity of government to ensure safe food means securing effective rights for those who produce our food, clearing the way for workers to transform agricultural sweatshops into union shops.

CONSUMER AFFAIRS:

BOTTLED WATER "BUGS" ME:

The world is full of scams. One only has to look at American religious TV to get examples that are so blatant that it's a wonder anybody falls for them. But most people aren't theologians. Neither are they nutritionists. The oft-quoted figure that 95% of "diets" are either ineffective or harmful is actually a "success" rate that equals the best legitimate medical diagnoses. People keep buying nonetheless. Hope springs eternal and bottomless money pits remain bottomless. One of the multitude of scams is that of bottled water, and this scam has the cachet of ersatz elitism attached to it. There are literally restaurants that offer a "selection of waters" like others offer a wine selection. Somehow the various waters are supposed to "taste different" or have some magical health benefit. Homeopathy in drag ??

Most of the bottled water on the market is actually simply tap water from somewhere else, but the very process of bottling it, storing it and shipping it elsewhere adds risks other than that to your pocket book. Here's an interesting article from the Montreal Gazette about just one of the problems, the bacteriological content of bottled waters. Now, applying that highly complex, ultra-high tech sensitive instrument known as common sense, this stands to reason. What can water shipped across a continent and stored on shelves be other than stale water, and the staler the water the more bugs it will have. It's nice, however, to see common sense verified by scientific studies. Here's the article.

BWBWBWBWBWBWBW
Bottled water worse than tap: lab
Very high bacteria count; Some brands had levels 400 times higher
By ALLISON CROSS, Canwest News Service May 26, 2010

Canadian researchers say they've discovered some bottled water in Canada contains more bacteria than what comes out of the tap - although they won't reveal which brands are the culprits.

Researchers from C-crest Laboratories in Montreal bought and tested several popular brands of bottled water, and found many of them had heterotrophic bacteria counts that were "surprisingly high."

Heterotrophic bacteria require an organic carbon source in order to grow.

More than 70 per cent of popular brands they tested did not meet the standards set out by the United States Pharmacopeia, a non-governmental agency that sets safety standards for medications and health-care products.

No more than 500 colony-forming units (cfu) of bacteria per millimetre should be present in drinking water, according to the USP.

"Heterotrophic bacteria counts in some of the bottles were found to be in revolting figures of (100) times more than the permitted limit," said Sonish Azam, a researcher on the study, in a news release. Some brands had as much as 70,000 cfu per millilitre - or 400 times higher than tap water - Azam said.

The average number of colony-forming units in tap water samples they tested in order to compare results was 170 per millimetre, she said.

"Despite having the cleanest tap water, a large number of urban Canadians are switching over to bottled water for their daily hydration requirements," Azam said. "The consumer assumes that since bottled water carries a price tag, it is purer and safer than most tap water."

This kind of bacteria doesn't normally cause any disease in healthy people, but could make pregnant women, infants and the elderly sick, she said.

Although researchers didn't actually find any pathogens - or germs - in the bottled water, they said the high bacteria counts mean Canadian regulations should be stricter, just in case.

According to Azam, Health Canada hasn't set an allowable limit for heterotrophic bacteria in bottled water, and neither has the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Their intention is to change Canadian regulations, said researcher Ali Khamessan, and not point the finger at specific companies.

Health Canada points out that bottled water is already regulated under the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations. "Under these regulations, bottled water is required to be free of disease-causing organisms. Like most foods, bottled water may contain naturally occurring bacteria which typically have little or no health significance," it said in a statement.

It contends that a recent World Health Organization study concluded "heterotrophic bacteria counts in drinking water are not a health concern to the general public."

Researchers presented their results yesterday at the general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.


Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Bottled+water+worse+t%20han/3071292/story.html#ixzz0pYg5Egs7

CONSUMER AFFAIRS:

THEY WERE WARNED:

I thought a little item in the previous post deserved emphasis because it has yet to be picked up by the mass media. The present recall of hockey sticks in Canada is not the first such recall. According to an item on the Health Canada website there was a previous recall of "mini-hockey sticks" in 2008. This raises certain interesting questions. Why were further imports of hockey sticks from China not routinely monitored and refused entry before they entered the market ? It isn't as if the problem was a totally new one. How many more such items are floating about the "consumersphere" in this country today ? What exactly is the "coverage" of supposed consumer protection in this country ? How much of the laxity in the regulations is due to an ideological bent to "free trade" and the benefit to importers on the part of our government ? Are there plans to expand the coverage of monitoring in light of this event ? So on and so on and so on. Will the Conservative government once more dodge responsibility in this matter ?

CONSUMER AFFAIRS- INTERNATIONAL LABOUR:

HOCKEY STICKS AND SOLIDARITY:








An old anarchist once remarked that "none will be free until all are free". Recent events have given the 1,000,000,000th proof of this aphorism. What follow below is news from the Vancouver Sun of a recall notice from Health Canada for (literally) 100,000 hockey sticks sold in Canada but actually manufactured in China. To say the least this has been all over the media in recent days, much more so than the 'Canadian souvenirs' manufactured in China for the recent Winter Olympics. The problem is excessive lead levels in the paint on the hockey sticks. Yeah, they may or may not be a threat to Canadian children. I'll withhold judgement on that matter. What I will not withhold judgement on is the obvious fact that they are a much greater and obvious threat to the workers in China who manufacture them. But...



A LITTLE MOLLY NOTICE:
IT WASN'T AS IF THERE WASN'T FAIR WARNING
Looking through the Health Canada site Molly came on the following item from back in October 2008, In that month Health Canada had to recall a lot of 3,240 "mini-hockey sticks", once more from China and once more with excessive lead content. Yet...it happened again. THIS has not hit the popular media yet, though I hope that it will. It says something about the "efficiency" of the agencies that are supposed to protect consumers against this sort of thing. The CBC occasionally drops by this blog. If they catch this I hope they pick it up and run with it.











While emphasizing my own home province of Manitoba and secondarily Canada in general this blog has always been internationalist. This particular item is a stunning example of why internationalism is important, whatever the mean spirited criticisms that may be directed towards it. The chain of causation is obvious. Low wages and repressive government policies in China end up affecting consumers in North America. Even if you don't have hockey playing kids the number of points of interaction in the present global economy are endless.











It is very much in the self interest of people in country "A" to be in solidarity with workers in countries "B to Z" because the "drive to the bottom" of the international corporate economy means that the people of country "A" have to endure side effects of the exploitation of people in other countries. The great "hockey stick scandal" is just the most recent example. Thus, Molly says, pay attention when this blog asks for your support for workers on the other side of the world. In the end your ass is on the line as well. Here's the news of the recall from Health Canada via the Vancouver Sun.
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Andre Bard, manager of Pro Hockey Life in Kanata, Ont., removes recalled Bauer sticks.
One of Canada's largest sports equipment manufacturers is recalling 100,000 children's hockey sticks around the world after Health Canada warned the company of the sticks' high lead content.




"We immediately ordered the sticks pulled from stores," Bauer Hockey CEO Kevin Davis said Thursday in an interview.




Nearly 67,000 sticks from 13 recalled Nike Bauer junior and youth models were sold in Canada between 2004 and 2009, he said. All of the sticks, except one model, were manufactured before 2008 in one of the company's Chinese factories, Davis said.




The worldwide recall is just the latest in a series of incidents involving Chinese-manufactured children's products. The issue first grabbed headlines in 2007 when approximately 470,000 toys in Canada and 25.6 million in the U.S. were recalled because of lead paint.




Thursday's massive recall was prompted after Health Canada informed Bauer on Feb. 18 that it had conducted a random test and discovered the paint on the Nike Bauer Supreme One 50 composite stick contained lead well in excess of the allowable limit. The Health Canada analysis showed that the paint on the recalled sticks contained a total lead level of 2.3 per cent, nearly 40 times the maximum allowable limit of 0.06 per cent, said Stephane Shank, a Health Canada spokesman in an e-mail.




On March 9, Health Canada issued an initial recall of the nearly 8,000 sticks that were sold in Canada.




"We immediately began to independently test all 200 models of our hockey sticks," said Jones.




The Bauer testing turned up the 12 other models which have now been ordered off store shelves, he said.




Lead is extremely toxic for young children because they absorb it more easily than adults, making them more susceptible to its harmful effects.




According to Shank, the government agency has proposed lowering the maximum allowable lead level in some children's products to 0.0009 per cent from 0.06 per cent.




No illnesses related to the hockey stick recall have been reported to Bauer or to Health Canada.




Davis said when consumers return one of the recalled sticks, they will receive a brand new "elite level" hockey stick.

CONSUMER AFFAIRS:

CAN YOU TRUST DRUGS FROM WALMART ?:

Cheaper is not always better-or even worthwhile at all. In search of cheaper pharmaceuticals many consumers head down to the Walmart Pharmacy. Like a regular pharmacy Walmart will dispense generic drugs unless explicitly requested not to by the physician. There is, however, a question about the source of many of Walmart's generic drugs. Generic drugs are not necessarily worse than brand name items, and there are many reputable generic suppliers. does Walmart, however, buy exclusively from such reputable companies ? Apparently not, as the following item from the Wake Up Walmart site explains.

For more on the 'Ranbaxy Scandal' that the article refers to see the Wikipedia article on Ranbaxy Laboratories and this article from the American Enterprise Institute.

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EXPOSED: CHEAP WALMART DRUGS COME FROM DISREPUTABLE SUPPLIER:
Is Walmart taking unacceptable risks sourcing its prescription drugs?
Today we released a new report detailing how Walmart sources its much-touted $4 prescription medications from Ranbaxy, the disgraced Indian drug maker.

According to the Department of Justice, Walmart's supplier is responsible for introducing potentially "subpotent, superpotent, or adulterated" drugs into the market. Medications used by millions of Walmart shoppers could have contained active ingredients from unapproved sources, in unapproved blends, and in amounts weaker than FDA-approved doses.

Despite the company's shady dealings, Walmart saw fit to award Ranbaxy with its "prestigious" Outstanding Supplier Award. In fact, Walmart continues to source from the embattled Indian manufacturer even today.

Don't let Walmart play games with the health of millions. Help us blow the whistle on Walmart for its customers to medications made by its unscrupulous supplier.
Let your local newspaper know the truth about Walmart's irresponsible drug sourcing

Despite years of federal warnings concerning "systemic fraudulent conduct," Walmart continues to source cheap drugs from Ranbaxy. This revelation comes on the heels of extensive PR campaigning to brand Walmart as a global health care and ethical sourcing leader.

If Walmart is interested in providing safe products from responsible suppliers, why is it handing out awards to companies under investigation by the FDA and DOJ? It shows, yet again, that Walmart is interested in little more than its own bottom line.

America deserves to know that Walmart has grossly violated the trust of its customers. Help us put Walmart's misconduct into the public eye: read the report and spread the word.
Write a letter to the editor about Walmart's cozy relationship with Ranbaxy.
Don't let Walmart off the hook, take action today.
Thanks for all that you do,
The Team,

WakeUpWalMart.com

CONSUMER AFFAIRS:

PETITION HARPER TO INVEST IN FOOD SAFETY:

The following is an e-petition sent out by the Care2 online community. For those unfamiliar with Care2, it is basically a "greenie" online network with a great number of online bells and whistles. The following petition is, in Molly's opinion, more than slightly vague. I have had items on this blog in the past dealing with food safety, including Canada and the recent Listeriosis crisis. It's all fine and good to say "invest more", but what does this actually mean ? Invest in what ? So, with those reservations, here is the petition.

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TELL PRIME MINISTER HARPER TO INVEST IN FOOD SAFETY:

I'm sure you heard about the 20 people who were killed by tainted Maple Leaf cold cuts this summer. Since then, Canadian leaders have talked a lot about what they are going to do to improve food safety. But nothing has happened.

Tell Prime Minister Harper to invest in food safety now!

Ottawa has given food companies unprecedented power to police their own safety and sanitation practices. Now is not the time to risk our safety because of inadequate funding and a misplaced trust that food companies will protect the public interest.

Please take action today for the safety of your food. This is more than a worthy investment - it's your health.

Thank you for everything you do.
Sincerely,

Emily

Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team

..........................

Please go to one of the highlighted links above to sign the following petition.

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THE PETITION

Dear Prime Minister,

I am writing to ask you to please invest in improvements to food safety and inspection.

After 20 people died over the summer from listeriosis food poisoning I'm worried that the food on my family's table could make us sick, or worse.

It's been months since this tragedy occurred and there are been dozens of products recalled from the marketplace in the last several months, but little has been done to improve consumer protection.

Please invest to improve food safety and inspection as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

[Your name here]

CANADIAN POLITICS/LABOUR/CONSUMER AFFAIRS:

IS "SELF-POLICING" A GOOD IDEA IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY ?:

As the following article from the Public Values website says, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada has begun a campaign to end the practice of self-regulation in the food industry of Canada. The problems with such practices have recently been exposed by events such as the listeriosis outbreaks this summer. The Professional Institute has a pdf pamphlet on this matter available at their website (see above).

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Federal scientists launch campaign to end self-policing in food industry:
Research, regulation, power to act in the public interest need to be restored.
OTTAWA, November 3, 2008 — in the wake of the listeriosis tragedy and as Canadians face a continuing crisis with tainted foods and unsafe products, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, the union representing 55,000 government professionals and scientists is launching a campaign to defend Public Science.

A series of government actions and policy decisions have seriously undermined both the capacity and the reputation of public science which is intended above all else to be independent, non-partisan and committed to advancing the public interest.

"Playing politics with science is a dangerous game," says Michele Demers, President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. "Too many Canadians have been affected by tainted food. It's about time we put public health and safety first."

"With its gag orders, firings and accusations of partisanship levelled at scientists and regulators, this government has done incalculable damage," adds Demers.

The national campaign launched today features radio advertisements running in markets from coast to coast, transit shelter and bus ads, and a Web site — www.publicscience.ca — which allows visitors to send targeted messages to Members of Parliament. The campaign draws attention to the harm deregulation and underfunding are doing to public scientists' ability to protect Canadians, their environment and their economic prospects.

"Listeriosis is only the tip of the iceberg of the dangers deregulation is opening up in this country," says Demers. "By eliminating rules and handing responsibility for safety to industry in sectors like transportation, food and consumer products, the federal government is playing fast and loose with Canadians health and safety."

In addition to other food borne bacteria and toxins, industry self-policing is also threatening Canadians in the transport sector, as the federal government moves to hand off responsibility for air safety to the airlines having previously done the same with rail safety.

Deregulation has gone hand in hand with cuts to resources ranging from the closure of weather offices and defunding climate research, ending food inspection programs and privatizing federal laboratories.

"Government regulators, inspectors and researchers are working with their hands tied behind their backs. They don't have the mandate, the time or the resources to do their jobs," says Demers. "Worse yet, they don't have the legal tools they need to get dangerous products off the market and punish companies that break the law."

Through the Public Science campaign, the Professional Institute and its members will work with allies in the scientific community and beyond to highlight the importance of public science and to press the newly elected Parliament to reverse the government's course. The campaign will advocate for an immediate end to industry self-policing, adequate resources for important research, and new powers and resources for independent regulators to enforce laws to protect all Canadians.

"The public good depends on good public science," concludes Demers. "Our campaign will make sure that Canadians are aware of the achievements and contributions of public science and how we can't afford to do without it."

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada is a national union representing 55,000 professionals and scientists across Canada.

CONSUMER AFFAIRS/CANADIAN LABOUR:

"TOXIC AIRLINES" CANADIAN PREMIERE:

Here's something to consider the next time you fly. Airline employees have been struggling around this issue for years, and now there's a film about it. for almost 50 years airline passengers and crew have been breathing unfiltered air taken directly from aircraft engines. Here's the story about the Canadian premiere of 'Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines' by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). To learn more about the film or to order it see 'Toxic Airlines' and 'DFT Enterprises'.

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CUPE Flight Attendants: “Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines” a must see:
TORONTO – The Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is inviting its members, air travellers and concerned citizens to the North American premiere of “Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines,” a ground-breaking documentary on aircraft contaminated air. The event will take place on Sunday, October 26, 2008 at 1 p.m., at the Planet in Focus International Environmental Film & Video Festival in Toronto.

The film tells the story of what some airline crews call the biggest cover up in aviation history. Passengers and crews have been breathing unfiltered air taken directly from aircraft engines for nearly 50 years, this despite the fact that the air is believed to be contaminated with engine oil containing neurotoxins, carcinogens and other hazardous chemicals.

“This is a very powerful documentary, which addresses serious concerns about the health and safety of airline crews and passengers. CUPE is studying the issue and developing information for its members and health and safety representatives,” said Brian Buchanan, flight attendant and health and safety representative with CUPE 4090.

WHAT:

North American premiere of documentary film

“Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines”
WHO:

Brian Buchanan, health and safety chair, CUPE 4090

(Air Canada Halifax flight attendants) will be present and available for comments
WHEN:

Sunday, October 26, 2008 at 1 p.m.
WHERE:

Planet in Focus International Environmental Film & Video Festival

Royal Ontario Museum

100 Queen’s Park

Toronto
Information: Humberto da Silva, CUPE National Representative – 416-839-9550

Sébastien Goulet, CUPE Communications – 613-808-0675

http://cupe.ca/airlines

CONSUMER AFFAIRS:

HALLOWEEN CANDY ALERT:


It seems that the melamine/milk scandal isn't quite over. The following product has been flagged by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on October 8 as being possibly contaminated by melamine:
SHERWOOD BRAND PIRATES GOLD MILK CHOCOLATE COINS




These treats have been sold across Canada at Costco stores and may also have been on the shelves at various dollar and bulk stores. If you have purchased such items prior to Halloween or if you are a parent with children who may be trick or treating be advised to discard any of this product.




Sort of sad actually. The fake gold coins were always one of Molly's favourite junk foods. Even more amazing to find out that they are made with product imported from China. You don't have to go very far to find the nearest cow around here in Winnipeg. One wonders how the Chinese product could be competitive with all the transport costs included. Maybe sweatshop wages have something to do with it.



Here are two more products that the CFIA has flagged for melamine content in the month of October:
*Mengniu Strawberry Flavour Sour Milk (Oct 15)
*OK OK Kaiser Pretzels (Oct 1)



Looks bad ? It's nothing compared to the ongoing listeriosis saga. The new Conservative government may proceed with its plans to privatize food inspection, plans that led to the present listeria contamination problem. Here's another list, this time for products flagged in the month of October-so far- for containing listeria. think about this, and the deaths that have resulted so far from listeria when you hear about how much more "efficient" industry self-regulation is.
*Dunn's Famous brand smoked meat (Oct 7)
*Plaisirs Gastronomiques brand sandwiches (Oct 20)
*Roast beef sold at certain deli counters in Ontario (Oct 21)
*SAVCOM brand sandwiches (Oct 22)
*Roast beef sold at certain deli counters in Ontario (Oct 22)
*Oickles Tasty Bite sandwiches (Oct 23)
*Deli roast beef sold at certain stores in Atlantic Canada (Oct 24)
*William Davis roast beef sandwiches (Oct 24)

Molly has a little bone to pick on this matter personally as she has a standing promise to reply to a comment on this blog made by either a manager or owner of Beef Northwest in the USA, where they claim that they are oh-so-good because they conform to the "standards", as they are, of an industry set up regulatory body down America way. But more on this later.

CONSUMER AFFAIRS:

LISTERIOSIS ROUND 2:

Since September 17th the Maple Leaf Foods plant at the centre of the recent listeriosis outbreak in Canada has been reopened, and it is now processing meats even though the release of the product has still not been authorized. In the meantime, two days ago, the CFIA has also announced a recall of Dunn's Famous brand smoked meats distributed to Costco stores in Québec, Ottawa and the Atlantic provinces.

Today,however, it came to light that intensive testing has shown that foods from the Maple Leaf plant are still occasionally contaminated by Listeria. See the article below from today's Globe and Mail.

Company spokesman Michael McCain rushed to put a positive spin on matters. You can see the basic story of his reply in an article from the Windsor Star today. The main thrust of his argument is that "listeria is everywhere", and that we inevitably consume the bacteria everyday. I guess this means that we shouldn't worry about it if it appears in his plant. The good gentleman made some rather "weaselly" comparisons to the positive rate in the Maple Leaf plant and other surveys in Canada and the USA where sampling was done at the point of sale. In actual fact US law requires that there be no listeria at the point of production, as already pointed out on this blog. Sampling days later after transport and the opportunity for the bacteria to multiply would inevitably lead to a higher positive rate. What McCain is actually saying is that his company should be allowed to slip back into a less intensive regime of testing because somehow Listeria is ubiquitous. Molly would suggest that the opposite is true, that this "trial run" shows that the Maple Leaf plant should remain under permanent high levels of testing and supervision. They have proven, after all, that they cannot achieve the standards required , and achieved,across the border, and this says that the only way to assure the safety of their product is to keep the present testing regime. Perhaps make it even tighter.

The report of McCain's press release on the radio today was even more bizarre than what was reported in the Windsor Star. Molly will try and search down the full text, in the hopes it hasn't been altered by after the fact proof-reading. Really, the proof-reading should have been done before issuing the statement. There were some real howlers there. Is Listeria really "the oldest organism on Earth" ? Cough,cough !. Then there was the Maoesque statement that ""Listeria is benign to the masses". Glad to hear that Chairman McCain, and assuredly it isn't the "primary contradiction". Wellllllll, I guess the "masses" don't include AIDS patients, organ transplant recipients, diabetics, old people, pregnant women, and newborn babies. The fate of such "running dogs" shouldn't impede the great and glorious march to profitability of the 'Peoples' Maple Leaf Party' , relying on Mao TseCain Thought. Wow, I love it.

Anyways, here's the article from the Globe and Mail. Do check in at the Food Safety First website for breaking news on this front as it develops.

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Listeriosis bacteria found at Toronto plant:
Four new positive tests confirmed in samples of meat at reopened Maple Leaf site
BILL CURRY
October 9, 2008
OTTAWA -- Four new positive tests for listeriosis have been confirmed in samples of meat at the Maple Leaf plant at the centre of the outbreak that has left 20 Canadians dead.

The plant was allowed to reopen on Sept. 17, but no product has so far been allowed to enter the market.

Yesterday federal officials from the Prime Minister's Office, the Privy Council Office and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency met to discuss the new findings that the bacteria is still present in the plant.

Since the plant resumed production, there have been 2,700 product samples and four positive test results for Listeria monocytogenes.

Paul Mayers, associate vice-president of the CFIA, confirmed the results in a telephone interview with The Globe and Mail.

"We've just received results related to these four positives," Mr. Mayers said. "The plant is operating. The product isn't reaching the marketplace.

"We will, with Health Canada, conduct an assessment to assess what these findings might mean in terms of the ongoing activities in the plant and whether any additional measures would be necessary in relation to product from that plant. Of course, that assessment has not yet been conducted."

He said CFIA and Health Canada will now do a full assessment and evaluation of the positive findings.

Mr. Mayers confirmed that the CFIA informed both the Privy Council Office and the PMO about the positive findings and said both agencies are regularly in the loop on new developments related to listeria.

The findings, which were posted last night on the CFIA's website in the wake of inquiries from The Globe, come as the public service is under orders not to create waves during the federal election campaign.

Bob Kingston, president of the Agriculture Union representing CFIA inspectors, said he was "flabbergasted" by the positive tests, given the scrutiny the plant is under. "It's mind-boggling. They're cleaning up their place with the whole world watching and they still don't get it right?"
The union leader said the findings underscore his organization's campaign to block efforts to transfer certain food safety responsibilities to industry.

The most recent government announcement related to listeriosis was a recall issued Tuesday by CFIA, warning the public not to eat certain Dunn's Famous brand smoked meat pouches that were distributed to Costco in Quebec, Ottawa and the Atlantic provinces.

To date, there have been 20 deaths where listeriosis was the underlying or contributing cause, another three deaths where listeriosis was present and a further six deaths in Ontario that are still under investigation.

The latest development comes as the outbreak has already become an issue in the federal election campaign. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz was forced to apologize earlier in the campaign for joking about the issue during an internal government conference call. In that call, Mr. Ritz reportedly said the government was suffering a death by a thousand cuts, "or should I say cold cuts."

Since the outbreak began, there have also been numerous news media reports based on government documents either leaked to the news media or obtained through access to information requests showing concern had been expressed internally about the quality of food safety in Canada.

On Sept. 6, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced an independent investigation into the listeria outbreak, which traced back to a Maple Leaf meat plant in Toronto. The government has yet to name the head of the investigation, but has released terms of reference.

The investigation will not be allowed to come to conclusions regarding the civil or criminal liability of any person or organization.

CONSUMER PROTECTION/CANADIAN POLITICS/CANADIAN LABOUR:

FOOD SAFETY AS AN ELECTION ISSUE:

The following appeal comes via the Straight Goods online newsmagazine, and its original source is the Public Service Alliance of Canada which represents federal meat inspectors. It asks you to help make the safety of Canada's food supply an election issue by querying your candidates on their commitment to such.

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Take action to protect food safety:‏
It’s a sad day when we can’t trust that the food we eat is safe. One thing is clear from the wave of food poisoning deaths and illness that is sweeping the country: cuts to food safety programs and industry self-policing have gone too far.

That’s why I’m writing, with the support of the union representing Canada's food inspectors, to urge you to visit www.foodsafetyfirst.ca where you can send a message to the candidates in your riding asking them to make a commitment for safer food.

Decisions by the Harper government created this mess. Let’s tell our local candidates that the price of our support is their commitment to making the food we eat safer. With only one week before election day, it’s urgent that you act. Please visit http://www.foodsafetyfirst.ca/ right now.

Yours sincerely,

Ish Theilheimer

Publisher

The StraightGoods.ca family of news websites

p.s. http://www.foodsafetyfirst.ca/ is sponsored by the Agriculture Union - PSAC, which represents Canada’s food inspectors.

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And, to whet your appetite about how the scandalous actions of our Conservative government led to the Listeriosis outbreak, here's one of many items from the FoodSafetyFirst site, an article from the Toronto Star of October 6.

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Listeria reporting rule dropped before crisis:
Meat plants not required to tell food inspectors when bacteria found

October 6, 2008
Robert Cribb

STAFF REPORTER
Four months before the Maple Leaf outbreak started claiming lives, Canada's food safety agency quietly dropped its rule requiring meat-processing companies to alert the agency about listeria-tainted meat, a Toronto Star/CBC investigation has found.

Twenty people died as a result of the outbreak this past summer, and federal meat inspectors and their union say this rule change likely made the country's listeria outbreak far worse than it had to be.

Before April 1, if a company preparing meat for sale to the public had a positive test showing listeria it "would have had to have been, not only brought to the (federal) inspector's attention, but the inspector would have been involved in overseeing the cleanup," says Bob Kingston, head of the union that represents Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspectors.

Kingston and four veteran inspectors interviewed for this story fear the change, part of the deregulation of Canada's food safety net, continues to pose a public health threat.

The inspection agency confirmed to the Star/CBC that there is currently no onus on companies to alert inspectors about positive bacterial results. The change came as part of a federal decision to allow companies to write their own food safety plans, with federal approval.

"If I walk in as an inspector, the plant doesn't come up to me and say we had positive tests today," said Tom Graham, the safety agency's national inspection manager. But he says the rule likely will be reinstated as a result of the federal investigation into the outbreak.

"That will happen. It's definitely ... on the table. There are a number of recommendations that will come from this," Graham said.

Neither Maple Leaf nor the safety agency will release to the public the specifics of the listeria outbreak at the plant, located on Bartor Rd. near Sheppard Ave. W. and Highway 400, so it is not possible to determine how the reporting rule would have affected the case.

The first of the 20 deaths attributable to the listeriosis outbreak happened in July, officials have said.

One Toronto inspector said there had been a "trend" in positive listeria tests leading up to the outbreak that was never reported by the plant to federal inspectors. The inspector, and three others across the country, spoke on condition of anonymity because they fear disciplinary action if they spoke publicly. "There's something wrong, that an inspector isn't aware of a trend in their own plant," the inspector said.

Inspectors and their union say the rule changes, part of the new Compliance Verification System at the safety agency, have reduced their role to paper auditors, checking the results of company tests when they visit the plant. Under current rules, the inspectors only review bacterial test results twice a month.

Maple Leaf spokesperson Linda Smith said her company makes all of its paperwork and testing available to inspectors but doesn't alert them to positive test results.

"As per the regulations, there is no requirement to inform the CFIA about any listeria test result," she said. "The protocol Maple Leaf had in place was if they found a positive, they would sanitize the area and then you'd need to find three negatives in a row to leave that area alone. In (the Maple Leaf plant from which the outbreak was traced), there were occasional positives. ... They would sanitize and test three subsequent times and in all of those cases, they did not find another positive in that area."

During the outbreak, Maple Leaf president Michael McCain said the company tests the Toronto plant's surfaces 3,000 times a year.

"Positive results for listeria inside a food plant are common," he told reporters at the time, adding that "there was nothing out of the norm" leading up to the outbreak.

Asked for the listeria test results leading up to the outbreak, Smith said last week the company would not release them publicly.

At the union representing federal inspectors, national president Kingston said he has been pushing to have the reporting rule reinstated for the past month.

If inspectors had known about the positive listeria tests, "the CFIA would have been doing their own testing to validate the success of the cleanup," Kingston said, adding after April 1, no rules required inspectors be told of any cleanup activities or repeated positives.

A Toronto-area inspector said that if Maple Leaf had been required to report the listeria test results, alarms would have gone off at the federal food safety agency.

"Bells and whistles would have been sounding if (Maple Leaf officials) had to report positive test findings to an inspector."

"We're seeing (20) people dead. We might not have had anybody dead (if company officials were still obligated to report positive listeria findings). ... It's terrible. My dad eats this stuff all the time. I eat it," the inspector said.

A veteran inspector in the Vancouver area said the safety agency needs to go back to being more hands-on in plants. "(The new system) isn't working. Let's go back to basics, get the inspector back in the plant, spending more time there."

Dr. Vinita Dubey, Toronto's associate medical officer of health, said the reporting change is "absolutely a concern. This may be a perfect example of how self-regulation may not be appropriate."

In the aftermath of the outbreak, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz publicly defended the new inspection regime, saying about 50 per cent of an inspector's time is on the floor of plants and "the other 50 per cent is overseeing paperwork, most of it scientific in nature, test results and the like."

Not so, say inspectors, estimating their time on plant floors is down to between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of their day. "We shouldn't be called inspectors anymore," says one inspector in Vancouver. "We should be called auditors. I think the public wants inspectors on the floor, sleeves rolled up."

Another Toronto inspector says she and her colleagues used to be aware of everything happening in a plant. "Things have changed now. We're more the oversight and they run their own show. The problem ... is, it can all look good on paper, but you've got to be out there to see what's going on."

One inspector was startled to find no reference to mandatory reporting in the safety plans of plants he inspects. "There's nowhere in (the new system) that tells them they have to inform you of a high bacterial load."

That lost oversight, he says, had to play a role in the outbreak.

"I think it would have prevented a preventable situation like the listeria (outbreak). It has alarmed me and it's disappointing. It's a travesty for the department and a shakeup the CFIA needs to get grassroots feedback about what works and what doesn't. (This) isn't working."
But the agency's Graham said the system still protects the public.

"Are we missing things? It's unfortunate what's happened here with the outbreak. There's no doubt about that. None of us are happy about that. But is our system a good system? Yes, it is."
Toronto Star

CANADIAN POLITICS:

HARPER POLICIES PREPARED GROUND FOR LISTERIOSIS OUTBREAK:

The following article from the Harper Index details how previous policies prepared the ground for the recent outbreak of food born listeriosis that has killed about 20 people in Canada so far. Meanwhile the Minister in Charge, Gerry Ritz, has been banished to "the cone of silence" as Sneaky Stevie ensures that he makes no more funnies about death and cold cuts. Where are you Gerry ?

Molly has to point out that she disagrees with the opinion of the author that government is "a force for the common good", and she also has to point out that Harper and his crew are hardly consistent in their opposition to government. In terms of such things as the military, prisons and corporate handouts the bigger the better according to the Book of Sneaky Stevie. That being said I would hardly say that the actual useful functions that government performs can be eliminated until we have better, more libertarian, organizations to take over such functions. Self-regulation (sic) by the corporations is no such better system.

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Poison food crisis shows Harper’s contempt for government:
How many more people must die before the Harper government realizes that public health and safety must always transcend the boundaries of ideology?

by James Clancy, National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)

Each passing week since the deadly outbreak of listeriosis at a Maple Leaf Foods Inc. plant in Toronto brings more evidence of the Harper government's ineptitude in responding to public health emergencies.

The botching of this life-and-death crisis also betrays something deeper and more chilling about the Harper government that should cause everyone to be afraid.

It reflects an ideological hostility to the very idea of using the government as a force for the common good, proving that the consequences of such inaction can indeed be deadly.

Experts say decisive and prompt action is crucial to saving lives during a public health emergency. Yet from the beginning of the listeriosis outbreak a peculiar paralysis took over within the most senior ranks of the Harper government.

The first deaths occurred in June and by mid-August the problem had been traced to the source. By Aug. 17, positive lab tests confirmed that several deaths were directly linked to contaminated meat products made at the Maple Leaf plant.
Politics before people
Yet the Harper administration failed to adequately warn the public about the magnitude of the problem until Aug. 20. Then, instead of announcing new resources and regulations to ensure public safety, we had the spectacle of a series of cabinet ministers issuing blithe quips and limp assurances that everything was under control.

This was followed by Harper himself, fretting about political fallout on the eve of an election, promising an internal 'independent' investigation, a move that amounts to no more than a political gambit to shield the government from allegations of negligence toward public health.

Finally, we learn that at the height of the crisis, during a conference call with scientists, bureaucrats and political staff, the federal agriculture minister trivialized the crisis, and insulted victims, by making insensitive jokes. Yet Gerry Ritz remains a member of the Harper cabinet.

The entire handling of this emergency demonstrates callous incompetence. Worse, it reveals a lethal contempt by Harper for the most basic role of government - ensuring public health and safety. It also reflects a hostility toward government as a constructive force in our society.

Sadly, this comes as no great surprise. Harper has, after all, spent his entire career denigrating government and public services. Why would anyone be shocked now that a government run by him should fail to rise to such an occasion?
Cuts go back to 2006
Since his first days in office in 2006, Harper has steadily cut funding for food safety programs and inspectors, shifting ever greater responsibility to the food companies themselves.

According to current Treasury Board of Canada forecasts, funding for food safety programs will have declined by almost 30% from $359 million in 2006-07 to $254 million in 2010-11 under Harper's watch.

At the same time, a secret government document recently brought to light by a government employee reveals that the government has been planning to let the foxes further guard the henhouse by expanding industry self-policing of food safety.

The listeriosis crisis is reminiscent of the poison water scandal that rocked Walkerton, Ont., in 2000. That disaster was caused in large part by government cutbacks and a deliberate weakening of provincial inspection and safety procedures by the Ontario regime of Conservative Premier Mike Harris.

Harper's cabinet now includes some of the same ministers who were part of the Harris government, ministers who should have learned the obvious lessons of the Walkerton tragedy.

That they did not makes an even more chilling point: the ineptitude now apparent in Ottawa is not merely a failure to learn the lessons of Walkerton. It bespeaks an ideological contempt for anything and everything that government can do to better society.
How many more deaths?
The listeriosis outbreak is an especially deadly lesson in why effective and rigorous government oversight and action offers the best guarantee of public health and safety. But how many more people will die before the Harper government realizes that public health and safety must always transcend political ideology?
Links and sources

National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)

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WHAT IS LISTERIOSIS?:

Like the ongoing scandal surrounding "melamine" in milk containing products imported from China the word "listeriosis" may not be familiar to the average reader. Here's a little Molly guide to the illness.

The genus Listeria (named for Joseph Lister)is a bacterial genus with six species including L. monocytogenes, the cause of listeriosis. L. monocytogenes is a gram positive, motile(under 30 degrees), rod shaped organism commonly found in soil, water, sewage, plants and food. It is a rare cause of food poisoning, but a deadly one as the case fatality rate may each 25%. The bacterium is very hardy in the environment, and is able to grow at temperatures ranging from 4 degrees (your fridge) to 37 degrees (your body).

It wasn't until 1981 that L. monocytogenes was recognized as a cause of food poisoning due to an outbreak in Halifax, Nova Scotia, amongst pregnant women and infants. There were 41 cases and 18 deaths in that incident- due to cabbage in coleslaw that had been contaminated by sheep manure. Most normal adults are resistant to the organism, and up to 10% of people may actually harbour the species in their intestines. Neonates, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems are, however, much more susceptible. Infection during pregnancy may result in spontaneous abortion or in serious neonatal illness. The disease can involve many different body systems, gastrointestinal, respiratory,and nervous system but its deadliest forms involve septicemia and meningoencephalitis.

Many different foods have been implicated in various outbreaks, including milk (especially unpasteurized milk), meats, cheese (especially soft cheeses), raw vegetables and fish. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has produced a 'Meet the Bugs:Food Safety Guide' that gives an extensive listing.

In Canada's recent outbreak the source was the Maple Leaf Foods Bartor Road plant in North York,Toronto, and the main products affected were packaged deli meats. There were about 220 different products affected, and all bear the code "97B" near the best before date. The company instituted a voluntary recall, but products already purchased may be in consumers' freezers and the organism may have a latent period of up to three months. This means that the problem is likely far from over.

The Canadian Medical Association has weighed in with an editorial in the October 7 edition of their journal, placing much of the blame for the outbreak on the policies of the Harper government ie:

*the transfer of inspection duties to employees of the meat industry itself due to a 'Strategic Review' conducted last November. In the case of Maple Leaf this meant that the company only had to test finished product once a month.

*the refusal to modify Canada's standards for Listeria contamination to reflect the tougher standards now in place and accepted by the World Health Organization and the United States. Astoundingly enough the Harper government actually "lobbied to have American standards lowered" as part of trade negotiations.

*elimination of the cabinet post for the Public Health Agency of Canada.

*calling for an incredibly weak and toothless "independent investigation" that "will be inferior to every epidemic inquiry in Canadian history". See the Canadian Medical Association's editorial for the full details of this typical Harperesque card trick.

Meanwhile in Québec a similar but smaller story has been developing around a recall of any and all cheese that may have come in contact with 2 brands found to have been contaminated by Listeria. While, according to yesterday's Globe and Mail ,the Québec government is offering $8.4 million in aid and $11.3 million in loans to the industry the opposition parties claim that this reaction was more one of panic and could have been avoided if the government had implemented a 2005 report calling for improvements in the inspection process. Well, you can't accuse the Québec government of going backwards like the Canadian one has, but they sure haven't been going forward either.

All of this points out some inherent difficulties with a sole dependence on government to protect the consumer. Not that industry is likely to do a bang-up job either, but it is conceivable that organizations independent of both the state and the corporations might do far better. For now there are four seperate class-action lawsuits being filed in Ontario, Québec, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. All are being handled by the Merchant Law Group.

CONSUMER PROTECTION:

MELAMINE IN MILK SCANDAL GROWS-USA AND CANADA STILL DELAY BAN:

As more and more countries worldwide institute total bans on any products containing milk byproducts from China the Canadian and American governments continue to "hold the line" by only calling for recalls on a limited range of products. As Molly has mentioned before on this blog, this is very reminiscent of the actions of the Chinese government in delaying action on the scandal because of the Olympics. In Canada and the USA the reasons are very much elections rather than Olympics. This is especially true in Canada where there is already an ongoing food contamination problem in the listeriosis outbreak, where there are plans afoot to further decrease food inspection and where the Minister in charge has been essentially gagged so that he cannot put his foot in his mouth in the coming two weeks. Sneaky Stevie Harper is nothing if not a master of the idea of "staying on message".

Two more countries that have banned all products containing Chinese milk byproducts in recent days include the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, most importantly, yesterday Russia according to a report by the Russian Novosti News Agency. This should be seen as significant as the country of my mother's birth is hardly famed for decisive action for protection of its citizens in the case of consumer goods. If nothing else the Canadian and American governments should be shamed into action by the fact that even Russia takes the matter more seriously than they do.

Meanwhile the list of high profile "western" brands implicated in the scandal grows by the day. In addition to the Starbucks, Nestlé, and Heinz companies Pizza Hut in Taiwan (in relation to its cheese) , Oreo cookies from Kraft Foods and M&Ms and Snickers from Mars in Indonesia have now come under a cloud of suspicion, according to an article in the Asian News. The reaction of Kraft and Mars has been less than sterling as they disputed the Indonesian findings, claiming that the products in question are "counterfeit". We'll see. We'll see. Denial was an early feature of many companies eventually implicated in the contaminated pet food scandal last year.

The same article also mentions that the British Cadbury Company has withdrawn 11 of its products produced in China and distributed in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia. The article also notes the massive size of imports to both the EU and the USA of sweets ,in the case of the EU, and the milk "protein" (maybe) in the case of the USA in the past year. In the EU, according to an article in the VOA News melamine has been found in cookies marketed under the Koala brand. This article also mentions that melamine was found in Ritz Crackers manufactured by the Nabisco Company in South Korea.

According to yet another article in the Christian Science Monitor Lipton's milk tea has had to be pulled from shelves across Asia. Add Lipton's to the list. The article also notes a couple of interesting facts. One is "strong laws" cannot solve the continuing problem of food adulteration in China (or in many other countries such as the USA and Canada) because the "policing" aspect of such laws is missing. China is actually very "strict" in terms of its laws, and execution would be a probable fate of any arrested executive found implicated in this most recent scandal. Yet stern penalties hardly deter opportunists when the chance of "getting caught" are minimal given the state of inspections in that country, a situation that conservatives in both the USA and Canada see as an admirable situation. The second point is that the company most deeply implicated in the problem in China, Sanlu, is actually a joint venture with the New Zealand Fonterra (mentioned before on this blog) and the Chinese state itself. Yup, this problem developed in a situation where the government itself was the major stakeholder. Interesting ! According to an article in the New York Times over 200,000 children have been brought in for examination in the Chinese province of Hubei alone. the Chinese government has not issued any updates about the number actually affected since last week.

Meanwhile back in the USA the Department of Health has responded by finally promising to press for more stringent 'country of origin" labelling , according to an article at the ABS-CNN News. this comes in the wake of the American ban on milk imports from China (a basically nonexistent item) while not addressing the much more prevalent problem of "milk byproducts".Wait a minute here, for those with a memory. Weren't such "requirements" part of the "lessons learned" to be implemented from last year's pet food scandal ???? Love those promises ! Let's see what happens with the latest vows.

If you want to follow this story as it develops Molly can recommend the following blogs:

1)From a scientific point of view the Science Base blog.

2)For the political and "scandal" aspects (and practical recommendations) the Daily Kos blog.

The material on this matter is starting to accumulate in a pile beside Molly's desk. Last year during the pet food scandal the pile of printouts reached about 1.5 foot high in a box . Molly suspects that this matter may exceed that amount when all is said and done.

Meanwhile, here is yet another view from the IUF website, properly referenced this time for those with touchy feelings, on the role of New Zealand's Fonterra Group in these events.

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Fonterra and the China milk scandal - too many unanswered questions:

Share this article.

State media in China first began reporting about babies falling ill from milk formula on September 11, after one baby had died from kidney stones in Gansu province. The first reports spoke of "an unknown number of infants in at least seven provinces and regions suffering from kidney stones after drinking milk formula marked San Lu".

San Lu is the joint venture partner of New-Zealand-based dairy giant Fonterra Co-operative Group.

The following day, as Chinese authorities revealed that the chemical compound melamine had been found in samples of baby milk powders, Chinese media reported that the San Lu Group had issued an immediate recall of milk formula made before August 6. The only comment that could be drawn from Fonterra was, "We understand that the product involved is only sold in China."

On September 15, as the Chinese media reported a second death from melamine-laced milk powder, the New Zealand Prime Minister announced that it was her government that had blown the whistle on the tainted milk scandal and set off the recall following the failed attempt by Fonterra to have its joint venture partner's products removed from sale.

That same day, Fonterra issued a statement which was stunningly ambiguous and evasive. They revealed that they had been advised of the contamination of baby formula at a San Lu Board meeting which had taken place on August 2! The statement goes on to say that they "pushed hard" for San Lu to recall the formula and that San Lu "immediately implemented a trade recall of infant formula" followed by "a full public recall of all infant formula". However, this "immediate recall" didn't happen until September 12 - 5 days after the New Zealand government alerted the Chinese government after having been alerted by Fonterra 3 days before.

What was Fonterra doing between August 2 and September 5, when it took the step to inform the New Zealand government?

At a media conference on September 24 to announce its 2007/08 results and cash distribution to farmer-shareholders, Fonterra management offered an answer to explain its scandalous omission: "We firmly felt the most effective way to get the product off the shelves and away from consumers was to work within the Chinese system".

But did it take one month for Fonterra to realize that working within the Chinese system wasn't working? The long history of official complicity and complacency in the face of food contamination scandals in China should have been taken as a call to immediate action.

Amazingly, company management continues to contend they had done all they possibly could during this period, and are now trying to relativize their responsibility by calling San Lu's handling of the melamine scandal "appalling" and accusing them of having attempted to cover up the contamination since December 2007.

Fonterra's own handling of the crisis can only be called a cover up - not only of the contamination scandal, but of its own negligence. Why was Fonterra not aware that San Lu had been receiving complaints about contaminated milk powder since December 2007? The answer might be found in the company's own admission that only one of its 3 directors on the Board of San Lu is a Mandarin speaker. Unofficial websites had been asking questions about tainted milk powder from San Lu for months. Why was Fonterra not monitoring these blogs about food safety? Why did Fonterra fail to put people and systems in place to ensure standards and product safety? Why did it fail to put any efforts into securing the safety of the supply chain?

It is clear that working within the Chinese system has not brought the hoped-for results. Four babies have died and some 50,000 more are ill from adulterated milk powder; Fonterra has taken an impairment charge of the equivalent of USD 95 million to cover the cost of the product recall and loss in San Lu's brand value; and Fonterra's own goodwill has been damaged as the public continues to ask how the company could possibly have let this scandal for so long without publicly sounding the alarm.

Fonterra have talked about the tragedy of the deaths and the thousands seriously ill. They have talked about damage to the brand and loss to their investment. What they have not talked about is that their negligence in China and damage to their reputation puts jobs and livelihoods at risk, including in New Zealand where their products represent 25% of export revenue.