Omnivore - Food safety here and abroad

You kill our cats, we infest you with ants. The Chinese have apparently declared a global food fight:

BEIJING (AP) - China said Saturday it had rejected a shipment of pistachios from America because it contained ants, the latest indication the government may be retaliating as Chinese products are turned back from overseas because of safety concerns.

The state television report, which showed inspectors wearing face masks and sealing the shipping container that held the pistachios, indicated an increasing push to show that other countries also have food safety issues. On Friday, Chinese food safety watchdog announced that shipments of health supplements and raisins from America had been returned or destroyed because they did not meet quality control standards.

5.7 million pounds of hamburger meat have been recalled in the latest E. coli scare:

It’s getting harder and harder to know what’s safe to eat.

Despite the repeated attempts at reassurance of safety by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the nation’s food supply is at risk, whether from melamine contamination, salmonella or E.coli.

An additional 5.3 MILLION pounds of fresh and frozen ground beef products produced by United Food Group LLC of California has now been recalled in addition to the more than 40,000 pounds of ground beef just recalled by Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. which had been shipped to Wal-Mart stores in 12 states after samples tested at a Sherman, Texas plant showed signs of E. coli contamination.

Brits launch Food Safety Week with “Bugs Like It Hot” theme:

The sun may be in the sky and the rosé chilling nicely in the ice bucket, but a hidden danger lurks in the Tupperware and above the coals of the barbecue.

At the start of annual Food Safety Week - when Britain is usually basking in high temperatures - the Food Standards Agency is trying to stamp out the seasonal explosion in the number of cases of food poisoning by urging people to keep food for picnics and barbecues cool to avoid them becoming a breeding ground for dangerous bugs. Its new Bugs Like It Hot campaign spells out the dangers of food bug numbers multiplying at an extraordinary rate in the heat.