Refuse to recall contaminated food?

[draggonlaady]

So sorry, you lose. FDA will take it away from you. Federal authorities say they've seized all the cheese from a creamery in Montesano after Estrella Family Creamery refused to recall items contaminated with listeria.

Comments

[la-roja.livejournal.com]

I am extremely saddened to read this. The Estrella Creamery is hands down my favorite creamery, period. The cheese that Kelli and her family make is extraodinary--deep, rich, and complex, it has a sense of place and most importantly in cheese, it has soul.

I only read the one article you posted so I don't feel like I really understand the situation but it sounds like they made some bad decisions. I really hope that the situation can be resolved and that they can continue to produce what is in my opinion some of the very best cheese being made today. If it turns out that it is a case of the government being over-reactive I am going to be very angry.

[draggonlaady.livejournal.com]

More info here, if you want: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/10/how-estrella-family-creamery-raid-came-down/

I am sorry you're sad about this, and it sucks for them that it will damage their business, but listeria KILLS PEOPLE. That's a little more important than the feelings of the business owner, in my opinion. I have little sympathy for them when the same contamination was found in multiple samples, over quite a time span, and they failed to get their facilities cleaned well enough to eliminate the problem. They received multiple warnings on multiple violations. They refused to recall cheeses that had tested positive for bacterial contamination. In short, they fucked up.

Maybe I really am just a bleeding-heart liberal who's fine with a nanny-state like Bruce says, but dammit, I cannot find fault in the government telling people they can't sell potentially fatal foodstuffs.

http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/listeriosis/
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/pregnancy_gateway/infections-listeria.html