Here, he’s back again. Our old friend-Salmonella. He’s that guy who suddenly calls you in the middle of the night and says “Hey, uh, got three hundred dollars I can borrow? You know I’m good for it.” This is, of course, untrue. Because all he’s good for is time, energy, and money- that leech of a friend who you just can’t seem to escape. Or perhaps, that ring is your parasitic ex-significant other who just wants to pull you into some sort of pre-historic fight. Maybe it’s more equivalent to that teacher or coach or parent who would just not lay off, always teaching you some supposed lesson. “Are you listening to me? One day you’ll be sorry?” Okay, I will stop. I know some of you disdain over personification, and, you are right. This is something not best fit for that soapbox, but really one of barbaric results- the ruthless and limitless wrath of a contagious disease such as the now-common Salmonella, omnipresent and food-borne. No laughing matter, about 600 people die each year after being affected (1). Crazy as it seems, there is quite a bit of information out there that demonstrates and stipulates how humans have not only prevented the spread of harmful diseases but also facilitated the existence of others- one being our aforementioned friend.

Salmonella has a quite unattractive arrival into our lives, a bacteria that lives in the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals. The bacteria are usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces (2). There is qualitative and quantitative scientific research that supports the claim that humans have been bad stewards of the land, leaving patches of highly-acidic environments begging for parasites or the like to call home. Not trying to Frankenstein-namecall, but why not err on the side of caution and change some of our bad habits? There- I said it, some human activities, such as how we produce and consume, have created unhealthy things in nature- some of monstrous proportions. It’s alive! It’s alive! Now the trick here is not to feel guilty about doing something that all living and breathing things do- consume, but obviously make changes in how we consume, for example, within our existing food system(s) considering the amount of support that there is a much healthier way of growing, processing, transporting, and ultimately eating our food.

The matter at hand of course happens to be what keeps popping up in our food, so let us tackle one bug at a time. With an over-manufactured, over-mechanized, and over-consolidated food system, we have experienced what industry folks call externalities- external costs not calculated into the final bill, all some black hole beyond your basic sub, tax and tip. As food industry entities try to cover a lot on one bill, they eventually skirt around some charges or there is just not enough evidence that they owe one iota more after you swallow. However, my friend, you and your wallet might be victim of this external cost if you happened to be one of the 1,000 plus suffering from the latest outbreak of Salmonella, because who ultimately has to foot this medical expense and loss of vacation time? You. But, the food industry has seemed to economically benefit from its consolidations, monopolies, and economies of scale, just like any other industry focused on mass production. Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency. However, this has not always resulted in good product, particularly in regards to things that aren’t plastic trucks or patent leather sandals. This is a living thing- your food- that needs closer attention and better regulation because it is subject to diseases, bacteria, and parasites. And it’s not just SalmonellaStPaul or whatever its current moniker, a supposed rare type that quite frankly hasn’t been so rare and, yes, there are other makes and models. But why has this bad product not garnered enough negative publicity or public outcry to correct itself? Where is your buying power in this equation? Why have we all not torn off the office garb and headed for the hills with a shovel and granny’s seeds? A rhetorical question to some, yet there are growing Slow Food and localvore movements that are particularly set on offsetting the negative effects associated with the Food Industrial Complex. We will examine how there are a few reasons for such salmonella, e-coli, and ever-adapting parasites and why, possibly, there seems to be little end in sight. Unless, we collectively lobby politicians who know all the food industry big shots and their cooperative regulating organizations (FDA, DOA, etc.) to demand more, well, regulation, then you might as well join a commune. These two modes of action are resulting, of course, if you, someone you know, or someone you know knows someone who gets sick from their hamburger, since something affecting us directly is usually a good case for giving a damn. But, can we even wait that long?

The Bottom Line
We must ask ourselves why companies that are affiliated with the tomato market are so eager to be declared on the Food and Drug Administration’s ‘cleared list’ just a few months into this whole scurry from our Salmonella foe. This would certainly seem a hasty denunciation of a potentially harmful product, yet we shrug our shoulders and pardon it all for sake of someone’s piggy bank. Yes, your yearning for that juicy red thing is not exactly the reason the tomato people are eager for clearance. Florida produces almost half of the country’s fresh tomato supply with an industry worth between 600 to 700 million dollars (3). Boy, do we like our tomatoes!! However, when Micky D’s and Wendy’s starting 86′ing their tomatoes, these numbers drop and so does the possibility of future consumer confidence. Then, the industry reps step in after a while to tell us that they are unfairly, economically suffering for something they might not have caused. Then, we are all just suppose to be cool with eating the tomato while it has not been ruled out as a Salmonella terrorist. This is where you scream, “Greedy Schmucks!” Okay- sorry, but I am simply not at leisure to empathize with profit-seekers making careless mistakes regarding epidemics or pandemics. Also, you would think that this mistake results in both sides of the pond suffering as sick tomatoes are continually ushered down the assembly line. Wouldn’t one think that sickening the customer is bad for business? Where is the infamous idea of customer satisfaction? Well, its all quite clever, see. We don’t know if its your tomato, tamarind, tootsie roll, or taco sauce that made you sick, because the sort of cost-efficient production that has the same facility process your nuts, milk, soy, and kitchen sink is a bit haphazard if some disease gets a chance to mingle in such close quarters. Hence, this sort of food production as been cited for how much easier contamination and cross-contamination occurs. So, in essence, it’s the whole ‘He did it!’, ‘She did it’ spiel. And you know why I did not do it, I do not want my business to hamper, because you medical guys can’t even prove that the problem roots in the tomato. I mean, we wouldn’t just let a crime suspect run around sharing with all his friends the secrets to copy-cat his demise, without a full investigation or perhaps his removal from society, would we? So, why are we doing this with our tomatoes, when we still haven’t even got a conclusive investigation. It’s still suspect and guess what? It’s sitting in your fridge right now, all because it looked innocent enough to that biased jury of the FDA and we ain’t talking pocket change to keep it on lockdown.

Hide And Seek
Nonetheless, discovering the original point of food contamination is considerably difficult, hence the industry’s current challenge of even knowing what part of your enchilada is at fault- the jalapenos? Serrano peppers? The cilantro? Wait, I thought we were talking about tomatoes. Here. Think of the life of farm produce from its source to your belly, whether it be the actual mixing of the tomatoes from various farms in the back of a truck in Chile or the stops the tomatoes make along the way couch-surfing with the industry’s pit-stops, AKA processing facilities, distributing companies, planes, trains, trucks, grocery stores aisles, restaurant kitchens or your plate. Or, did you happen to count the number of foods on that dish you ate last weekend when you decided to splurge on that mondo-platter of goodness? Just as the milk in your glass did not come from one cow and could possibly come from well over 100 cows, so are your tomatoes possibly distant cousins rendezvousing in your salsa. As a statement put out by the CDC reiterates, “When food items are mixed together and consumed in the same dish, all the items may be statistically linked to illness. In that case, determining by statistical means which item caused the illness can be difficult or impossible. Tracing suspect produce items back to processors and growers is an integral part of the effort to identify a single source and a possible means of contamination ” (4). Difficult? Impossible? Whoa! This screams a high level of vulnerability in a system of increasing food-borne illness occurrences, but one that seems to not make most bat an eye before they bite. So, what can you do? The FDA and other consumer advocacy groups will suggest certain precautions that the consumer should take to avoid eating something nasty off of food revered safe by America. Wash this, heat should be this high, keep a food journal, pray to a god, blah, blah, blah. Hey, I just don’t know that with all the things you fit into your daily agenda that you or the guy at the bodega is going to do all this. Hhhmmm? But, you have to do this, because no one knows where Salmonella popped up in the food system and no one wants to stop market flows. Open wide.

Who’s In Charge?
Not only that, you could only envy the frequent flyer miles that your tomato possesses, shipped from distant lands retained for their cost-efficient location and lenient environmental regulations- making the governance of your tomatoes a bit, well, un-American. Hey, believe me, I am not one of those patriotic types who think that people in other countries take baths in mud, but why do we put confidence in our country’s food regulatory system, when it is not just our country overseeing our food production? Therefore, a combination of mass production facilities, numerous channels of transport, and various regulatory agencies all accounts for the mishaps of tracing exactly where these food-borne illnesses come from. A lot of guys have a hand in your food- disgusting, uh? Therefore, without knowing who to point the finger at, no one is to blame. Yet, folks get sick; there is a slight bit of paranoia eating suspected foods that dissipates with time; there is the demands of the industry folks to lift bans and forget about it; and there is its reoccurrence that has proven inevitable with our government’s response to the whole thing. “The FDA is a regulatory agency,” FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek once wrote, “As such, its responsibility is to assure the safety and wholesomeness of the foods Americans eat” (5). Thanks, you have done a great job. Oh yes, I know what you are thinking. We can not expect perfection and my sarcasm is quite judgmental. Well, we expect no less from our medical services for preventing the spread of such illnesses; the food industry is nonetheless influential on our health, and in fact, foots the bill each time we get sick with some pesky little thing that contaminates our food. Wait, no it doesn’t. You do. The FDA is certainly not writing out checks to the 1,000 plus folks sick, perhaps unable to go to school or work ,nor is there any reparations to the 200 plus hospitalized. That comes down to you guys, and on top of your taxes that go to the Food and Drug Administration, Dept. of Agriculture, etc.- you still are the ones who pay the doctor’s bill unless you are fortunate enough to have good health insurance without a giant premium loop hole.

Obviously, we have a major problem here with the tomato, all far beyond whether or not the word’s plural form has an ‘e’ at the end of it. Yet, this does not end with one food nor one type of bacteria. And, without someone on the consumer side, we may be finding that it does end with one big ‘ole whole in our pocket, or worse.

1- Reinberg, Steven. “Salmonella Sickness Toll Climbs to 1,148.” U.S. News. 15 July 2008. HealthDay. 21 July 2008. <http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/
2008/07/15/salmonella-sickness-toll-climbs-to-1148.html?PageNr=2>.
2- “Tomatoes Pulled Off Shelves, Menus Amid Salmonella Scare.” FoxNews.com. 19 June 2008. 22 July 2008. <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364448,00.html>.
3- Reed, Travis. “Growers Want FDA to Clear Fla.’s Whole Tomato Drop.” GoogleNews. 16 July 2008. 22 July 2008. <http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gTdemzWcpeDQ9QFeEy
MaHk5U20GQD91V7NA82>.
4- Reinberg, Steven. “Salmonella Sickness Toll Climbs to 1,148.” U.S. News. 15 July 2008. HealthDay. 21 July 2008. <http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/
07/15/salmonella-sickness-toll-climbs-to-1148.html?PageNr=2>.
5- Reed, Travis. “Growers Want FDA to Clear Fla.’s Whole Tomato Drop.” GoogleNews. 16 July 2008. 22 July 2008. <http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gTdemzWcpeDQ9QFeEy
MaHk5U20GQD91V7NA82>.