The New York Times had an article last week explaining how some processed foods that have tested positive with salmonella have so many ingredients, as was the case with ConAgra’s Banquet labeled pot pies with 25, that finding the specific contaminated ingredient became impossible. Therefore, ConAgra and others are having the consumer do the final test to eliminate any microbes with instructions such as this:
“Internal temperature needs to reach 165° F as measured by a food thermometer in several spots.”
Other companies don’t even know who’s supplying ingredients for their products and if these suppliers are screening the items for microbes and other potential dangers.
Nestlé, which acquired the Swanson and Hungry-Man brands two years ago, said they cannot ensure the safety of their items from frozen vegetables to pizzas. General Mills now advises consumers to avoid microwaves and cook only with conventional ovens.
New York Times staff followed the directions on several brands of frozen meals, including ConAgra’s Banquet pot pies, and failed to achieve the required 165-degree temperature. Some spots in the pies were only able to be heated up to 140 degrees even as parts of the crust were burnt.
Well I’m thinking that a lot of people eat frozen meals because they don’t have time to properly cook… which makes me think they also won’t have time (or take the effort, in some cases) to use a conventional oven. Hmm.
Oy, that’s scary! We’re not big on convenience foods, although we’ve been known to grab a Marie Callendar pot pie now and then during the pinch of winter basketball season. Definitely makes you think twice…or three times!
How ridiculous that we put up with food companies flatly stating they cannot ensure food safety! That’s just ridiculous. Just another proverbial straw added to the modern food industries back. Hopefully it breaks soon!
Good article! I read in Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipski that microwaves should be avoided if there are digestive issues. The idea is that microwaves have only been around, in common use for 20+ years. That isn’t long enough to know the long term effects of microwaving foods and ingesting them.
Personally, I rarely microwave foods due to the fact that it tastes differently. Conventional oven food always tastes better!
I keep coming back to the quote from M*A*S*H*: “Sam ‘n’ Ella, who’re they?” This reminds me of one reason why I prefer cooking from scratch whenever i can. Now that my school year is almost over, I can cook from scratch much more often.
EEEEW! It makes you stop and think, doesn’t it?