By the Numbers

—Preliminary data recently released by the USDA reports the HACCP Inspection Models Project (HIMP) system has dramatically improved the safety of poultry products and overall consumer protection. A total of 30 plants participated in the study, of which seven young chicken plants submitted completed data. As a result, there was a 100% reduction in the occurrence of septicemia and toxemia under HIMP, and a 92% reduction in fecal contamination defects. Non-food safety conditions such as animal diseases reported a 45% decrease, and miscellaneous conditions such as bruises and sores saw a 43% decrease. Digestive content had a 13% decrease, while digestive tract tissues reported a 60% decrease. The FSIS is investigating a reported 23% increase in dressing defects (feathers and oil glands), and plans to implement plant changes to address this issue.

—According to a recent study conducted in London, teenage girls are at risk of lowering their IQ’s by eating low iron diets. The study, funded by the London Department of Health, was conducted by Mike Nelson of King’s College London. Nelson measured the iron levels of 164 girls, aged 11 to 18. A quarter of the girls tested had iron levels low enough to be considered anemic. The study further tested the IQ of these girls and found them to be ten points lower than girls with normal iron levels. When given additional iron, the girls showed an increase in IQ.

—According to a recent FDA survey of an estimated 150 food compliance officers, inspectors, and food agency management workers, nearly a quarter revealed they had been physically abused on the job, 50% stated they had been verbally threatened by food plant management or workers, and each one of them claimed to have been verbally attacked at some point in their careers. After the recent shooting of three food inspectors in Southern California, food industry inspectors are calling for the Office of the Inspector General to clarify the food inspectors’ role of authority in the HACCP production process.

—According to a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, most of the frozen, processed and fresh foods we eat contain an FDA-approved amount of insects. The insects are allowed in the foods we consume because they are not considered harmful to humans, as the pesticides used to destroy them are. Also, the FDA has found the insects to be more nutritious than most of the foods they are found in! Here are a few examples: apple butter is allowed to contain up to five insects per 100 grams or 4-½ oz, berries may have four larvae or 10 whole insects per 500 grams, canned mushrooms 20 maggots per 100 grams, chocolate 80 microscopic insect fragments per 100 grams, peanut butter 60 insect fragments per 100 grams, raisins 10 insects per 225 grams, and wheat flour about 75 insect fragments per 50 grams. Bon appetit!