When the story broke I wanted to report it... but then I thought it was too early and I wanted to sit back and see how the story developed... oh, "what story" you ask?  I'm talking about the massive food recall by Maple Leaf Foods in Canada due to out outbreak of listeria that has already killed 12 people.  The list of recalled products is extensive, and if you live in Canada you should check your fridge to make sure you discard any potentially harmful products.  If you've eaten a potentially tainted product and are experiencing bowel problems, nausea, fever, vomiting or other symptoms of listeriosis, seek immediate medical attention.

Here is the official statement from Maple Leaf Foods:

For the benefit of those who do not live in the "Great White North", Maple Leaf is a massive food company that produces mainly meat products: hot dogs, bacon, sliced ham, ready-bake roasts and that sort of thing.  Not only do they provide food products to consumers at grocery stores but they also supply food service companies and restaurants with products as well - including Mr. Sub and McDonald's.  Maple Leaf's most recent marketing slogan is "We Take Care" and this is a company that is known for producing very high quality products.  So the big question is: what went wrong?

Every few months news breaks of a massive food recall: frozen burger patties one day, pet food and deli meat the next.  In this case a wide range of products were affected all from one outbreak.  So what is the deal?  As stuffed shirt Robert Gibson of Octagon Capital stated in a recent interview regarding the Maple Leaf recall, "I think the brand is safe.  The $64,000 question is: Are you going to eat deli meats?"

The answer to the question is a simple one: of course we will.  Twelve years ago some 35 million pounds of hot dogs and luncheon meats were recalled in the United States after 20 people died and another 100 became ill across 22 states due to listeriosis- the same thing that's happening in this recent Maple Leaf recall.  The recalls happen, some people get sick or die, but we return to our old consumption habits soon enough.  It happens time and time again.  But even if we don't stop buying hot dogs as a society all at once, we certainly don't need to consumer to volume of processed foods that we currently do.  Perhaps the Maple Leaf outbreak can be a wake-up call.

Products like hot dogs and processed sandwich meats are a breeding ground for listeria due to sheer amount of processing required to produce these things.  A pink slice of balogna (or baloney, if you like), is made by softening and essentially liquifying a lot of fairly unappetizing pig parts, with occasional beef or chicken thrown in for good measure.  This process of mushing-up all this stuff is a messy business and great care has to be taken to ensure no contaminated animal parts get into the mix and all of the equipment involved has to be cleaned and maintained constantly.  Even one misstep could lead to listeria contamination in the processing chain.

The reason that in the case of the Maple Leaf outbreak the listeria contamination was so widespread was due to two factors, both related to how we produce food in the modern world.

1. The 'meat' is not 'meat' at all!
When you step up to your local deli counter and order some thin-sliced turkey you might think you're getting... well, turkey.  But you're not.  What you're ordering is a turkey concoction that's been mixed with a variety of chemicals to improve color, prevent it form going rancid, to enhance the flavor... you get the idea.  Sausages, sandwich meats, even frozen chicken nuggets are meat products.  And that means a whole lot of processes have to be executed at a factory somewhere to turn a truckload of pig parts into a tasty pizza topping.  Manufacturing these products is truly a science.  The more processes our food goes through, the more perfect each process has to be.  Being in the baloney business means you can't afford to make mistakes.

2. Centralized production means centralized problems
We live in a world of big business and mass production.  Maple Leaf Foods produces food products on a massive scale from a handful of facilities.  A wide range of products come out of each factory.  So if one factory gets contaminated it has the potential to impact a wide range of products that are distributed over a wide area.

Any company that produces processed meat products is susceptible to listeria outbreaks, even top-tier companies like Maple Leaf Foods.  But before you make a sandwich out of Yves Veggie deli slices thinking that you'll switch to be vegetarian to avoid these problems, you might want to take a moment to recall the recent disease outbreak in bagged salads.

We live in a convenience-driven prepared food society and it can be difficult to tell what's natural from what's not.  Plus we're all lazy and have forgotten how to cook raw ingredients, so that doesn't help our situation.  Here are three simple tips for your next trip to the grocery store that should help keep you far away from processed foods:

1. Skip the deli counter and go to the butcher instead. - If you roast a fresh turkey breast and slice it yourself you would have eliminated a dozen processing steps and likely two dozen chemicals from your turkey sandwich.

2. Pass the bagged salad and just buy a head of lettuce. - Wash and chop your own salad like they used to do in the caveman days.  It's not that hard.  Really.

3. Avoid half-prepared dinners. - By "half-prepared" I mean any food product at your grocery store that is overpackaged, pictures a completed meal on the front, and merely requires you to heat it up.  Pre-marinated kebabs, instant rice & veggies, packaged meat loaf, pre-stuffed turkey breasts with gravy are all examples of food you could prepare easily yourself while avoiding any number of additives and preservatives in the process.

Or to summarize in even simpler form: stick to the outside of the grocery store and skip the deli counter and anything that comes in a bag. 

Be safe.  Be smart.  Know what you're eating.  The Maple Leaf recall is something we should learn from.  If even a company with a repuation for quality can have such a widespread outbreak of disease, perhaps it is better to avoid processed meats and food products altogether.

» Maple Leaf Foods (Official Site)