Food Safety Disasters 2011: The Deadliest And Strangest Outbreaks Of The Year

Reading tons of food news can make you hungry. But if the past year is a typical one, it can also make you scared to eat. It turns out people get sick from food-borne illness constantly, everywhere in the world. Millions of people! So it's no surprise that we didn't have to search far when we wanted to compile a list of the 11 worst food safety disasters of the year. But it also goes without saying that there are so many such stories that it's impossible to be totally comprehensive! If we missed a story you thought was a bigger disaster than some of the ones on our list, let us know in the comments. Also, a side-note: as tomorrow is the last day of 2011, this wraps up our end-of-year coverage. Onwards and upwards in 2012!

Here are our 11 biggest food safety disasters of 2011:

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Comments

[Moose Luck 99]

01:58 PM on 01/03/2012

http://www.cagle.com/2011/12/open-up-and-say-ahh/

the FBI wants what it calls “food activists” prosecuted as terrorists, perhaps because nothing could more terrifying than exposing where our so-called food comes from and how it is manufactured

[knitterpatter]

10:52 AM on 01/02/2012

Salmonella in ground turkey is not "strange." I will not allow this toxic bomb into my house. You have hundreds of turkeys ground up into that pound of meat, and with something like 30 percent of turkeys, maybe more, harboring that bug, I consider it the norm. Grinding it up transfers the bug to every surface area and creates a barn dance environment for it to grow and prosper. In this instance, the officials must have detected more than the "acceptable" amount.

[stape45]

10:35 PM on 01/01/2012

This can't be the reason why Republicans want fewer regulations can it?

[HowlingVoyager]

12:33 PM on 01/03/2012

I was about to ask the same question. The majority of outbreaks cited here were in the U.S. And certain politicians are arguing that we need less health regulations a best, and none at worst?

Scary, scary stuff.

[Neilsen]

12:32 PM on 01/14/2012

They want fewer regulations because compliance is usually a costly budget item for just about every industry. Their focus is about increasing the bottom line. They can never get enough money, obviously; so to hell with safety, enviornmental issues, health standards, labor laws, employee retirement and apparently the planet as a whole. Dont just blog. Go vote!

[nanaofmysky]

12:50 PM on 01/01/2012

Makes me even happier that I do not eat meat.LOL

[liephman88]

08:13 AM on 01/01/2012

You would be amazed at what the FDA calls acceptable when it comes to contaminants in your food. If you have ever eaten anything made with grains, Breads, Rice, Grits, Pasta.... well you get the picture, you have eaten tons of bug in your life time and never knew it. LOL!

[horsestoy]

01:28 AM on 01/01/2012

I cannot even comment, I will never be able to eat again!

[SickOfBarf]

08:12 PM on 12/31/2011

With all the "secrets" about the world coming to an end in 2012, and so many people buying buckets of dehydrated/freeze dried foods, many of which came from China ...

One must reflect in all seriousness, the wisdom of "free trade" and what it has done to America.

I has been discovered dried corn, rice, soybeans and milk from China have been tainted with -- aflatoxins.

That means an upsurge in rates of liver cancer.

Happy New Year one and all, and many more disease free New Years to you all.

Just have that food storage checked for aflatoxins. (Nope, cooking won't kill aflatoxins).

[DrStueven]

06:33 PM on 12/31/2011

The article is a valid reminder of some important food scares but some of the facts are wrong.

According to a final report by the CDC, quoting the the European Food Safety Authority, a single lot of fenugreek seeds, from an exporter in Egypt (not German sprouts), was the most likely source of the E Coli epidemic, the deadliest in EU history killing at least 50 people and sickening over 3000.

The final known death toll from the cantaloupe listeria outbreak was 30, making it the largest number of deaths from listeria since 1985. However it was not the deadliest in a century. That award goes to Jalisco Cheese in 1985.

I applaud the author on raising awareness of food poisoning.
[e-mail]

[braigno2]

06:03 PM on 12/31/2011

.
Stop feeding animals antibiotics and corn for profit , stop feedlots, stop buying unregulated bulk crappy product from China and add it to our food , and 1st and foremost don't trust the FDA!

[irocker350]

05:42 PM on 12/31/2011

I know what a raisin is but WTF is a "CRAISIN"?

[braigno2]

05:52 PM on 12/31/2011

Marketing term concocted from Ocean Spray brand , that describe a dried cranberry,

[tccat4]

06:09 PM on 12/31/2011

It's a wrinkled up cranberry...lol

[David DeMarco]

05:06 PM on 12/31/2011

I worked in Food Processing, Bottling , large scale commercial baking and sugar refining for close to 25 years. Now I'm not saying that any of the companies I worked for didn't do their level best to be certain the product going out the door was safe in all respects but I can't say the same thing for all the employees who were producing these products.
Although sanitation was the formost priority in the plants I worked in with the U.S.D.A. plants having the most attention paid to it keeping the equipment clean doesn't insure there won't be a problem. The fact that there are many rules and regulations in place ment to keep maintain food saftey they don't do a damn bit of good if they aren't followed and I couldn't count how many times I've seen people too lazy to even wash their hands before leaving the rest room.
As far as foreign matter in the food more than once I saw the wrong packaging used when managment knew it would fail because it wasn't rated for the conditions it was used under. In one instance 1,000,000 lb of raviolli got packed in bags not rated sub zero and faild. If the U.S.D.A. site inspector hadn't stumbled upon the returned cases and had all of it denatured it was going to be repacked and shipped..
If people saw or smelled of one of these plants many would grow their own food.

[riggallamarillo]

01:04 PM on 01/01/2012

I can sure relate to your story. Took me almost 3 years to eat ice cream again and almost 5 to eat cottage cheese again, then we can get into the meat packing industry almost made me a vegetarian.

[evecaren]

04:49 PM on 12/31/2011

The how to prepare food safety video is basically saying the importance of hand washing
and how important it is to, for example, wash your cutting board with detergent after cutting
up raw chicken and to carefully clean and wash the knife you used to cut the chicken.
My dad used to have this expression. Cleanliness is next to godliness. It's a little bit
hokey, but it's a good reminder to keep kitchen counter sufaces, cutting boards etc. clean
especially when preparing food.

[Jondrea Smith]

02:29 PM on 01/03/2012

Cleanliness may or not be next to Godliness, but being unclean is a pretty sure way to find yourself next to God..:-)

[evecaren]

03:26 PM on 01/03/2012

Nicely said, Jondrea.