E. Coli in the frozen pizza aisle

Frak! My favorite fall-back food item just got fucked.

MINNEAPOLIS - General Mills on Thursday recalled about 5 million frozen pizzas sold nationwide under the Totino's and Jeno's labels because of possible E. coli contamination.

The problem may have come from pepperoni on pizzas produced at a General Mills plant in Ohio, the suburban Minneapolis-based company said. It said the pepperoni itself came from a separate supplier, not produced at the plant itself, but it declined to release the name of the pepperoni distributor.

The voluntary recall covers pizzas containing pepperoni that have been produced since July, when the first of 21 E. coli illnesses under investigation by state and federal authorities emerged.

credit: AP

What the fuck is going on with our food? [x-post'd at Omens and Oracles]

Eye Infections tied to contact lens cleaning solution

from the NYT...

Acanthamoeba keratitis is caused by a parasite, can be difficult to detect and is hard to treat. This outbreak has involved at least 138 patients.

Last year, an outbreak of fusarium keratitis was caused by a fungus; there were 164 confirmed cases. It was linked to ReNu With MoistureLoc made by Bausch & Lomb, but how the product caused the problem is unknown.

Epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have linked the acanthamoeba keratitis outbreak to AMO Complete Moisture Plus Multi-Purpose Solution. Advanced Medical Optics of Santa Ana, Calif., manufactures the solution, which is used to clean and store soft contact lenses.

Poisoned Toothpaste in Panama -> from China

From the NYTimes:

Diethylene glycol, a poisonous ingredient in some antifreeze, has been found in 6,000 tubes of toothpaste in Panama, and customs officials there said yesterday that the product appeared to have originated in China.

This is the second time this has happened.

Diethylene glycol is the same poison that the Panamanian government inadvertently mixed into cold medicine last year, killing at least 100 people. Records show that in that episode the poison, falsely labeled as glycerin, a harmless syrup, also originated in China.

More on the Pet Food recall

"Also Friday, the company that produced the food expanded its recall to include all 95 brands of the "cuts and gravy" style food, regardless of when they were produced."

95 brands --- all really from the same place. That the Iams food is made by the same company that make that cat food for Food Lion's generic label.

The power of marketing. The illusion of choice.

And I wonder if the company plays a bit of a re-packaging trick. The recall notice on the site also notes:

"If you are in possession of a variety or multi-pack, please be sure to check the individual can or pouch rather than relying solely on the date coding on the side of the carton."

Why would the carton have a different date coding?

Expanded Menu Foods recall list here for Cats

For Dogs

Purina said as

"a precautionary measure, it is voluntarily withdrawing its 5.3 ounce Mighty Dog® brand pouch products that were produced by Menu Foods, Inc. from December 3, 2006 through March 14, 2007."

The product isn't on the Menu Foods recall list, but since Purina uses them for that product, it's taking that extra step as a precaution. Good for them. That's good business, as in responsible.

Hill's® Pet Nutrition is doing the same thing with it's Science Diet for cats.

P&G Pet Care did so for Iams and Eukanuba and noted of reports of illness in cats. No dogs so far.

More from Iams and anFAQ .