Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein Recall

If you follow us on twitter, you'll know that we predicted a massive recall due to contamination just a few short days ago. Not only because contaminations are happening more and more often, but because founders, family, and friends of JustSaying have been hit with an awful stomach flu that has yet to be officially pinned on H1N1 or the restaurant a few of us recently dined in. The Washington Post reports:

"The company at the heart of a growing recall of processed foods knew that its plant was contaminated with salmonella but continued to make a flavoring and sell it to foodmakers around the country, according to inspectors at the Food and Drug Administration. Managers at Basic Food Flavors of Las Vegas learned on Jan. 21 that samples taken a week earlier from their Nevada facility tested positive for salmonella, a potentially deadly bacterium, but they kept shipping their product to foodmakers, according to FDA inspection records. The company makes hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP, a flavor enhancer used in a wide variety of processed foods, from potato chips to sweet and sour tofu. The additive, which comes as a powder or a paste, is mixed into foods to give them a meaty or savory flavor -- similar to the use of monosodium glutamate. Basic Food Flavors tested surfaces near food-processing equipment throughout its plant twice in January and once in February, and each time the samples showed salmonella contamination, according to FDA records. The company continued to ship products and to make more HVP without cleaning the plant or the equipment in a way that would have minimized contamination, the records said."

Take a moment to review the latest recalls and list of affected products found here, and read more here and here.

And please remember, we aren't doctors here folks. Just a couple of people trying to promote health and well-being for ourselves and our environment. Sure, I may have snacked on some potato chips while on a long car ride last week, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to sip on Alka Seltzer and skip tomorrow's doctor visit.