More Talk About Buildings and Food

Okay, no talk about buildings, just food. You’ll never guess who’s putting the kibosh on any investigation of the whole poop geyser phenom. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course you already know!

The Trump administration is shuttering two of the three US Department of Agriculture research projects studying cyclospora after the foodborne parasite has sickened tens of thousands of Americans during the summer, Politico reported on Sunday. 
~~~
Scientists researching foodborne parasites, including cyclospora, are retiring or leaving the USDA’s ARS rather than relocating (from Maryland to Iow) or being reassigned to other projects, the report said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has  recorded more than 17,000 confirmed cyclosporiasis cases across 48 states plus Washington DC, from 1 May to 24 August, making it one of the largest foodborne illness outbreaks in recent US history.

At least 11,844 additional cases may require further investigation and analysis, the CDC said. (source) 

Naturally, the thin-skinned, odoriferous, dimbulbed, clownfuck pedophile prez is shutting down important research that could keep U.S. citizens healthy and alive! They'd make him look bad by pointing to his and his wholly incompetent, rapacious, band of billionaire bandit pals who are robbing us all into our graves. Can't have the 80-year-old heavily made-up, bewigged, begirdled, shoe lift wearing malignant narcissist looking bad now, can we? What's that you say? We're about 79 years, 11 months and 30 days too late? Eh, fair point.

Anyway. here’s a partial list of what’s NOT safe to eat right now:

Salmonella
• Fresh jalapeño
• White and brown shells eggs from Country Morning, Cal-Maine Sunups, Brookshire’s, Simple Truth, and Kroger
• Guacamole sold at Whole Foods 
• Lidl Spice Mix
• Walmart Pistachio Nut Butter 
• Lacnola Lactation Granola
• Food to Live Greens Powder
• MOGO-brand Pure Moringa Oleifera capsules
 •Rosabella-brand moringa powder capsules

E. coli
• GreenWise Organic Whole Frozen Blueberries and GreenWise Organic Frozen Mixed Berries 
• Raw Farm: Raw Cheddar Cheese

Both Salmonella and e. coli
• Everything Sprouts, sold under the Calco and Everything Sprouts brands 

Listeria
• Walmart Tomato Bisque
The following soft cheeses:
• Requeson Salvadoreño (Ricotta Style Salvadorean Cheese), Requeson Mexicano (Mexican Cottage Cheese), all Clover Hill Dairy, LLC products

Cyclospora AKA Poop geysering
• Taylor Farms Iceberg lettuce 

Infant botulism
• Nara Organics Whole Milk Organic Powdered Infant Formula

Other Issues:
• Amy's Lentil Soup
     Defective pull tab on the can puts the soup at risk of spoiling earlier than listed.  
• Peter Rabbit Organics Fruit Pouches
     Banana & Strawberry fruit puree pouches recalled for a were recalled for a packaging defect that could leave a strand of plastic inside the product.
• Outshine Fruit Bars 
     Found to contain glass.
• Lundberg Family Farms Jasmine White Rice, 2 lb bags. 
     Recalled due to “possible contamination with foreign material.” Sold at Wegmans, Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods.

And, of course, if you’re a meat eater, it’s probably best to avoid burgers for the time being. What’s being sold to you as cow meat is, perhaps, NOT. We don’t know where all those slaughtered wild horses actually went to AND the Argentinian beef buy is pretty damn hinky.

China's customs agency did stop a 22-ton shipment in March after detecting chloramphenicol, an antibiotic banned in food animals for its link to a rare blood disorder. (source) 

At this point the only thing safe is water out of your tap. Oh wait, maybe not.

Every year, tens of millions of Americans get their water from public systems that violate federal safety standards, and most never find out. The federal government tracks these violations through the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System, which logs every time a utility breaks a rule for contaminant limits, treatment, or monitoring.

If you live in one of the states with the worst tap water, what comes out of your faucet may carry lead, PFAS, or other contaminants at levels the EPA considers unsafe. (source) 

These 10 states are the top offenders.

• Texas
• Pennsylvania
• Florida
• California
• Ohio
• New Jersey
• Illinois
• Arizona
• Georgia
• North Carolina

Well, there’s always air, right? We can still breathe, can’t we? Sure, as long as you’re in one of the safe states like Vermont or New Hampshire but Pennsylvania and California might be problematic.

//sigh// I think I’m going back to bed soon with a good book, some snacks and Cake.