At last count, at least 50 Texas grocery items, including products at H-E-B, Walmart, Target and Whole Foods have been affected by recent recalls. These recalls were tied to a salmonella outbreak linked to fresh jalapeño peppers.
Earlier this summer, recalls were initiated by Taylor Farms for Central Mexico-sourced iceberg lettuce.
Even a casual newsreader might get the sense we’re awash in food recalls right now. This has left some consumers unsure of how to shop for groceries safely.
However, Dolores Woods, a registered dietitian and a nutritionist supervisor at UTHealth Houston, said we haven’t had more food recalls than we did last year. The difference is the scale.
“We have had very large-scale outbreaks, multi-state outbreaks, that have affected a lot of people,” Woods said. “This one ingredient, and I’m referring to lettuce, caused over 10,000 people to get sick. So, I think that’s the reason it feels like there have been more.”
When it comes to the jalapeño recall, Woods said part of why that one felt so widespread is because of the number of grocery store products containing the contaminated peppers.
“One of the things we don’t think about is that these companies are purchasing the jalapeños and then putting them in ready-to-eat foods,” she said. “Sometimes you hear about the recalls and you stop buying the jalapeños, that you don’t think about what foods actually contain the contaminated products.”
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Woods said it’s hard to know whether cutbacks at government agencies that are responsible for food inspection is behind the recent increase in outbreaks.
“Food contamination can happen at many points in the food system. It could happen from agriculture, especially contaminated irrigation water, soil, animals, and wildlife on the farm, even through processing and transportation,” she said. “It’s not necessarily (because of) staffing cuts. I think that it’s just important to make sure that regulators have enough resources to provide these inspections, testing and surveillance.”
Woods’ main message to shoppers is not to panic.
“I don’t like it when people are afraid to eat food, especially fresh produce, because that’s so important,” she said. “I would really recommend that they look at reputable sources. The FDA has the recalls, the alerts. You could sign up for an email and get daily emails.
I would just make sure that you’re keeping up with this through someplace that is reputable, just a good source where they’re going to give you correct information. FDA, USDA, the Texas DSHS websites are good for that.”
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