Frozen strawberries have sickened over 11,200 people, sending 32 of them to the hospital. And the kicker? Most of these people were children. The contaminated strawberries were in foods served in schools and daycare centers -- where the most vulnerable to food poisoning are.
11,000! That's huge. Usually when there's a recall notice, it turns out only a handful of people, if that, have gotten sick. But this wasn't even a recall, just a horrible contamination outbreak. I'll give you one guess which country these berries came from ...
The frozen strawberries came from China, which is the world's largest exporter of strawberries. The contamination outbreak happened in Germany, so it looks like we're safe from this particular incident. But what are the chances we'll eventually get hit with contaminated strawberries here, too?
The food distributor, Sodexo, bought the contaminated strawberries from China. And Sodexo is huge here in the U.S., too -- they supply major restaurant chains and school systems. So that's scary. The berries were used for desserts, and apparently weren't heated enough when they were thawed. The noroviruses are resistant to both cold and heat. It's hard to kill off those little buggers!
What with arsenic in apple juice and melamine in baby formula, why is anyone buying food from China? Because it's cheap, that's why. And because we want to keep eating strawberries even in the middle of autumn. Sheesh! One more reason to stay local and seasonal as much as I can, especially with non-essential "fun" foods like strawberries.
Did you even know China grows and exports strawberries?
Image via Rewards4 life/Flickr
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Comments 7
You sound all "oooh look at me! I'm so much smarter and more boring than you because I don't eat 'fun' food like strawberries if I can't get them freshly picked by virgins off holy vines in the proper season" :p
Stop buying from China, problem solved.
This is exactly why I will not buy foods from China...Not even my dogs food or treats! First toys from China were causing lead poisoning in our children then the dog treats were making our beloved pets ill and or killing them. And now the numerous counts of food problems. Granted there have been plenty of tainted foods and products from right here in the USA but no where near as much as china and other places...perhaps that is because we don't make much here anymore these days...hmmm looks to me that may be the root of the problem right there...We need to stop outsourcing EVERYTHING and start making it ourselves. If we cant make it then we don't need it!
I became acutely aware of problems with Chinese products when there was a recall on children's jewelery a while back. Then there was problems with baby formula they were feeding their own infants. They have disregard for anything but a profit. We may be unable to avoid buying their non food items, but I draw the line with what I will eat. I look at the labels of the food I buy and won't buy my food from them.
WTF We can't even grow our own strawberrys anymore?????
@the4mutts, I don't think she meant to give off a holier than thou attitude. At least I didn't get that from her at all. What I took from this was the facts and what she was doing to protect her family from this virus. Something I will definately be doing myself!!