The nation's food recalls: Pain, death and anger

A rash of food recalls, from peanuts to eggs, led to several deaths and new calls for a comprehensive food-safety bill, but it has become stalled in Congress. The recalls have also led many food growers and processors to hire private inspectors to protect themselves from lawsuits, but experts say the inspections are rife with flaws and often do not make products safer.

October 21, 2010

Four-year-old Zoe Warren of Bethesda was hospitalized in 2007 after contracting salmonella poisoning. She had eaten a chicken pot pie.

Susan Biddle-For The Washington Post

October 21, 2010

Today, Zoe has recovered from her illness. Swinging her are her parents, Melissa and Ryan.

Susan Biddle-For The Washington Post

August 28, 2009

Richard Rivera kisses his wife, Linda, after wiping her face at Kindred Hospital in Las Vegas. Linda Rivera, 57, was hospitalized in May 2009 after eating several spoonfuls of raw Nestle cookie dough. It was contaminated by E. coli, and she developed hemolytic uremic syndrome. She has suffered multiple organ failure and lost her ability to speak.

Marlene Karas

September 23, 2006

Corinne Swartz, left, of Hagerstown, Md., lost her mother, June Dunning, to an E. coli related illness. Dunning, 86, became ill several days after eating steamed spinach and died about two weeks later. Bagged spinach grown in California was found to be contaminated with E. coli, which killed several people and sickened hundreds across the nation. Pictured with Swartz is her husband, Warren.

Erick Gibson-Hagerstown Herald-Mail via Associated Press

October 13, 2006

Most of the nation's leafy greens are grown in California. Although bagged salads are washed in processing plants, some bacteria can remain.

Marcio Jose Sanchez-Associated Press

September 23, 2006

Workers tend to a field of lettuce in front of Natural Selection Foods' plant in San Juan Bautista, Calif. The deadly E. coli outbreak in spinach products was linked to the company, which sells organic produce.

David Paul Morris-Getty Images

July 25, 2008

A women sells produce in Mexico City, from which a salmonella-tainted jalapeno made its way to Texas in 2008. Although some Mexican producers grow fruits and vegetables under strict sanitary conditions for export to the United States, growers and packing plants using unsanitary conditions can also easily send produce North because neither the United States nor the Mexican governments impose any safety requirements on farms and processing plants.

Gregory Bull-Associated Press

July 25, 2008

In 2008, a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper handled in Texas was found to contain a strain of salmonella. From that, more than 1,200 cases of food poisoning, some fatal, were confirmed, and the illnesses prompted recalls of fresh jalapenos, fresh pico de gallo and prepared items containing raw jalapenos.

Gregory Bull-Associated Press

February 11, 2009

Stewart Parnell, president of Peanut Corp. of America, leaves a House panel hearing on a salmonella outbreak blamed on his company. Federal investigators have accused it of knowingly selling peanut products, including peanut butter, tainted with salmonella bacteria. Hundreds fell ill, and at least nine died.

Kevin Clark-The Washington Post

January 29, 2009

Employees and inspectors said there were contaminated and filthy conditions at Peanut Corp. of America's processing facilities in Georgia, Texas and Virginia.

Ric Feld-Associated Press

September 22, 2010

Orland Bethel, the head of Hillandale Farms of Iowa, appeared before Congress during a hearing on egg recalls at his and another Iowa farm, but he would not testify. More than half a billion eggs were recalled because of salmonella-related illnesses, and the FDA traced the outbreak to Hillandale and Wright County Egg. Several health and safety violations were later found at the farms.

Melina Mara-The Washington Post

September 22, 2010

Austin "Jack" DeCoster, the owner of Wright County Egg, told members of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that he was "horrified" to learn that his products might have been the cause of the salmonella-related illnesses. His farm had long lacked sophisticated technology to combat the contamination, but he said that his company's methods had evolved and that it was using modern techniques before the salmonella outbreak. During the hearing, photos of conditions on the farm were shown: dead and live mice, mounds of manure and dead chickens in a heap.

Melina Mara-The Washington Post

September 22, 2010

Carol Labato, left, testified at the House panel's hearing in September. She was hospitalized after eating a "rattlesnake cake," similar to a crab cake, that contained eggs from Wright County Egg. She still suffers from fatigue, indigestion and weight -loss issues. Sarah Lewis, right, also testified, telling members that she contracted salmonella from a custard dessert made with eggs from Wright County Egg . Her illness was "agony," she said. Both women filed suits against the company.

Melina Mara-The Washington Post

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The nation's food recalls: Pain, death and anger

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