We didn't eat it, and I'm glad (Jack Bog's Blog)

Last weekend, we asked readers whether they'd eat a Trader Joe's granola bar that was of the type subject to a recall, even though it wasn't labeled as being from the specific batch that was being recalled. The clear majority of those who responded said no, and we took their advice and threw the suspect snack away.

Today we read that the bar we declined has now itself been recalled, along with the others:

Trader Joe's Company of Monrovia, Calif., is voluntarily expanding the recall of the Trader Joe's Chocolate Chip Chewy Coated Granola Bars (SKU 82818) to include all code dates, manufactured by Bloomfield Bakery, a subsidiary of Ralcorp Holdings, Inc., because it has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Customers with questions may contact customer relations Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST at 1-626-599-3817.

The one we pitched was the last of a box. As far as we can tell, nobody got sick from the ones we did eat.

Comments (7)

Today's lesson? Always follow advice from strangers on the internet.

Posted by jollypdx | February 20, 2010 4:38 PM

Good, glad you didn't.

The whole thing reminds us yet again what a Rube Goldberg, half-assed, controlled-by-those-who-are-supposedly-to-be-regulated, pseudo food safety system we have in this country.

We've still got cheese pizzas regulated by FDA which is all but totally worthless, while if it's pepperoni it's regulated by USDA which is worse than worthless -- it's like the old Bill Cosby routine about tonsils -- "In you're case, they've gone over to the other side." The USDA could just as well read "Unctuously Serving Domestic Agribusinesses" so anti-consumer and pro-corporate are they.

Just like we need a single consumer financial products safety division that regulates -- with real teeth -- all consumer finance offerings, we need a single federal agency that regulates the safety of anything you ingest.

Instead we've got huge federal agencies who do nothing but attempt to keep you from ingesting something you'll enjoy, while doing NOTHING but covering industry's ass while it does its level best to spread prion illnesses ("mad cow") by letting agribiz outfits turn herbivores into consumers of feces and even other animals' flesh. The federal government doesn't even have the power to order recalls of tainted food -- the same federal government that has turned the constitution into a piece of toilet paper over the drug war and which regularly kills innocent people with its no knock raids and steals their property with its insane drug forfeiture laws.

Posted by George Anonymuncule Seldes | February 20, 2010 4:46 PM

Oh...you would know if you had salmonella poisoning. Your stomach would be yelling, "Two exits!! Everybody out!!!"

Posted by dm | February 20, 2010 5:49 PM

Sure hope you followed my advice and sent it to either Sam or Randy.

Posted by Pat | February 20, 2010 8:09 PM

Your stomach would be yelling, "Two exits!! Everybody out!!!"

Eww!

(I'm glad no one got sick. As I recall, I voted "hail no!" on the original question.)

Posted by none | February 20, 2010 10:23 PM

George: You're missing the Big Picture. The ever vigilant Mother Protector Government is watching out daily for our interests, doing things like making food producers put vital information - like how many servings there are in a bag of potato chips, and how many chips in one serving (three).

I always thought that people who bought a bag of potato chips - or a bag of cookies - or a tub of ice cream - weren't really interested in how many calories they were going to eat.

Posted by ZZMike | February 20, 2010 10:52 PM

zzmike, I think you should try selling that libertarian stuff in China where the people get a steady diet of melamine and lead. I don't object to the federal government policing food safety when food travels interstate and internationally.

My only objection is that in our for-sale government, the only ones who actually wind up getting regulated are the smalls -- the bigs own the government and write the regulations to legalize whatever it is they do.

At the risk of recommending another book rather than just spouting off, Joel Salatin's book "Everything I Want to Do is Illegal" is terrific. He's the owner of Polyface Farms, the one that has all the foodies and Michael Pollin all aflutter, and he really is a smart guy.

Posted by George Anonymuncule Seldes | February 21, 2010 7:28 AM

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Saturday, February 20, 2010

We didn't eat it, and I'm glad

Comments (7)

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