Salmonella, E. coli, and listeria are invisible invaders, making supermarkets a scary place. Behind a facade of bright packaging and colorful produce lurks the possibility of bacterial infections that can sicken, even kill. Americans are not notorious for their healthful eating habits — and it’s hard to convince folks to eat more salad if they’re worried the salad will poison them. Americans need to know they can trust food manufacturers to keep the food supply safe.

Dangers Lurking in “Healthy Meals”

The latest potential tragedy was in the Midwest. Earlier this year packaged salads were found responsible for a listeria outbreak in six states that killed one Michigan resident and sickened 11 others. The exposure was traced back to a packaging facility in Springfield, OH — to a plant that had already been shut-down once the prior year. Nonetheless, investigators still can’t pinpoint how listeria got into the facility. Not knowing makes it difficult to avoid reoccurrence.

Americans are at the mercy of largely voluntary manufacturer compliance with USDA and FDA regulations. And many manufacturers are at a loss when it comes to properly equipping their quality control department. End-product testing is the key to a safe food supply, which is why Priorclave includes free lifetime technical support with all of their tabletop autoclaves. Working together, we can assure that making “healthy choices” doesn’t put anyone in the hospital.

[photo credit: Junya Ogura, CC BY 2.0]