Food products now come to the U.S. from over 250,000 foreign establishments in 200 countries. Indeed, 15% of the U.S. food supply is imported, including 50% of fresh fruits, 20% of vegetables, and 80% of seafood. With the consumption of imported foods growing, I have seen an increase in recalls and foodborne illness outbreaks linked to them. But, that is not the entire issue. In May 2012, two meat processing plants in the U.S., Lancaster Frozen Foods and G&W Foods Inc., recalled nearly 7,000 pounds of ground beef after South Carolina state inspectors found that meat they received from an Australian packing plant was contaminated with potentially deadly E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. Fortunately, it appears that the meat did not cause human illness. At about the same time, a Salmonella outbreak was linked to tempeh [a soy product] made by Smiling Hara Tempeh, a North Carolina company that used starter yeast imported from Indonesia. Smiling Hara purchased the starter yeast from Indonesianfoodmart. com, a Maryland company that imported the product and distributed it nationwide and internationally through direct mail order. Seventy-six confirmed, six probable, and six suspected Salmonella cases among residents of five states were traced to the consumption of Smiling Hara's tempeh. That same month, Caribe Produce, LTD Co. recalled 286 cases of papayas for fear they were contaminated with Salmonella. Routine testing by the company revealed the presence of Salmonella in the papayas, according to the recall notice. Human illnesses were not reported in connection with this recall. All of these recalls took place during a multi-state Salmonella outbreak that had been traced to a yellowfin tuna product known as "Nakao-chi Scrape." At least 440 people from 28 states and the District of Columbia fell ill with Salmonella Bareilly or Salmonella Nchanga infections between January and July, 2012; most of the illnesses were recorded in March and April. Despite months of investigation, "Nakaochi Scrape" was not identified as die source of the Salmonella outbreak until mid-April. That discovery was followed by a recall by Moon Marine USA Corporation of Cupertino, California, which recalled 58,828 pounds of frozen raw yellowfin tuna product imported from India after it was identified as the outbreak source.
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