Supermarket recalls.

There will be the odd case of malicious damage but generally, I don’t think food is being tampered with.

I enjoy watching Inside the Factory and other similar “how it’s made” programmes. Factories are required to have high levels of quality control but almost everything is mechanised so it only takes one slight thing to go wrong for a whole batch of food to be contaminated - or need to be recalled for other reasons.

It seems that most recalls fall into one of four categories:

• pieces of glass, plastic, metal or rubber getting into the food during processing
• undeclared ingredients on labelling that may cause allergic reactions in some consumers
• bacteria e.g. E.coli, salmonella, listeria
• animal infestation

Here’s a list of recalls from the Food Standards Agency:

www.food.gov.uk/search?filter_type%5BFood+alert%5D=Food+alert&filter_type%5BAllergy+alert%5D=Allergy+alert&page=1

Thank you but I do know what and how many products have been recalled over the past few years and it is unacceptable to be honest as the mistakes of the manufacturers could actually kill someone.

I am allergic to Garlic, it makes my physically sick. I order some normal sausages direct from the manufacturer as I am terrified of supermarket ones having specks of garlic in them but when I received the sausages from the manufacturers, they all smelled of Garlic. After reporting it, I was told by the manufacturer that the person in control of the normal sausage making machine had, by mistake, made the normal sausages in the one that uses garlic so they were covered in garlic oil. Mistakes like this should not happen.

I suppose years ago the garlic type things would not be recalled AlwaysSmiling - they would just be corrected in the next batch. We were much less aware of potential dietary problems- and of being sued!

If humans are involved in any process, mistakes will happen. We are all fallible.

I understand what you are saying. For example, nut allergies are common. Manufacturers often have disclaimers that a product said to be nut free may have been made using machinery that has also been used to make products containing nuts (or words to that effect).

Did you report the manufacturer to the Food Standards Agency?

You answered your own question in your opening post. The answer is not to buy processed food (although, technically, all food is the result of a process). Even if you purchased unadulterated meat from a traditional butcher would he or she be able to guarantee that it hadn't come into contact with food stuffs that you are allergic to? It would only take for someone to use the same knives, weighing scales, containers, gloves etc to pass traces of contaminants from one product to another.

Even a year ago I would have agreed with you about rarely using a jar or packet and making meals from scratch, unfortunately due to permanent ill health I now have to rely on jars, packets and pre prepared foods as I no longer have the energy or stamina to be able to 'cook' any other way.
I think rather than something sinister going on I think the recalls are due to more stringent tests and a greater knowledge of what can go wrong.

Most of the recalls I have seen are due to labeling not stating that the food contains milk.

Considering how much food is puchased recalls are very low, you only know about them now because of social media ads, before the internet you wouldn’t have known.

Bought some ice-cream from Lidl and was half way through the carton when I spotted a piece of a purple plastic glove - the top of a finger. I hope no-one lost their actual finger in the process but I never bought ice-cream from there again.

Most of the recalls are due to products being contaminated with thing that are safe for most people but not for people with certain allergies. i.e. milk or dairy product in something thats supposed to be dairy free or gluten products in something thats supposed to be gluten free. On occasion its meat or dairy products in vegan food. Its not always dangerous to everyone but manufacturers have to cover their backs, due to the litigation fever all over the world at the moment.

On another note in the 50s and 60s my Mum often used tins as they were easier and no one knew the issues with processed food. I preferred tinned peas and fruit to fresh as a child even though we often had the fresh stuff available. Same as the old fashioned margarine which I preferred to real butter. We live and learn and we can only protect ourselves the best we can if we want to when we know the dangers and the risks.

most are recalls due to undeclared allergens. Not required when I was younger. My concern is the number of people that have a real allergy to certain foods . It is like Autism - on the rise. So how was autism categorised 50 plus years ago?

The history of autism as a formal diagnosis began in 1911. Swiss psychiatrist Paul Eugen Bleuler coined the term, using it to describe what he claimed to be the childhood version of schizophrenia.

In 1943, Leo Kanner began diagnosing autism cases. I imagine before then, autistic people were seen as 'eccentric' if rich but I dread to think of what probably happened to the poorer children and people!

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