Chinese Food No Longer to Contain Lye

In news from China, new regulations were announced to add to list of ingredients NOT to be added to foods includes lye and boric acid.

As this unfolds, we will see many other chemicals or ingredients that will be banned from use in food products. There are several coloring agents and pigments that have been banned. We should remember that in our lifetimes, many chemicals that we used regularly in the United States have been banned from use in food related products. Chemicals that were used to kill insects or eliminate weeds around crops. Chemicals that ended up in our food products or our animals feed and then were contained in the meat from these animals or in their organs, such as the liver.

An article over the weekend brought attention to the decline in food science students in college. The need for chemists and food scientists and microbiologists has never been greater. We need to understand how to rapidly test for contaminants, bacteria, viruses. How will we stop the growth of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria? How will develop new foods and new products and new packaging that helps our "green" footprint?

Check out this avenue for career growth in the future.

Listed below are three food recalls over the past couple of days. Two are bacterial in nature and one is an unlisted allergen. Check out the codes and pass on to your friends.



Kashi Company Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Milk in Kashi GOLEAN® Powder Chocolate Energy Shake Mix (December 13) Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:35:00 -0600
The product is packaged in a 14.8 oz canister with a bar code of 18627 71000. Canisters with a Better if Used by Date stamped on the bottom of the canister between the dates of JAN 17 2009 and NOV 15 2009 are included in this alert.

Urgent: Food Product Recall Re: Imitation Cream Cheese and Low Protein Peanot Butter(December 11) Sun, 14 Dec 2008 15:47:00 -0600
Cambrooke Foods is announcing a voluntary recall of all batches of the following products: Cheddar Wizard Low Protein Imitation Cream Cheese (SKU 10310; 8 oz. jar); Herb & Garlic Low Protein Imitation Cream Cheese (SKU 10308; 8 oz. jar); and Plain Low Protein Imitation Cream Cheese (SKU 10306; 8 oz. jar). Cambrooke Foods is undertaking this voluntary recall as a precaution because some of these products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes

FDA Warns Consumers and Retailers of Botulism Risk from Ungutted, Salt-Cured Alewives (Gaspereaux) Fish (December 12) Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:39:00 -0600
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning retailers and food service operators not to offer for sale ungutted, salt-cured alewives (also called gaspereaux fish) from Michel and Charles LeBlanc Fisheries Ltd., CAP-PELE, New Brunswick, Canada, because the fish may contain the Clostridium botulinum (C. botulinum) toxin. Consumers should not consume the product.

As always be safe,
Rudy