Is nothing sacred?
We must ask ourselves this after hundreds of varieties of frozen waffles are now being recalled in the US and Canada by their manufacturer, CBS News reports— due to potentially being contaminated with listeria, marking yet another major scare in America's revolting food system.
The manufacturer, TreeHouse Foods, is responsible for store-brand waffles sold at chains including Food Lion, Publix, Target, and Walmart, as well as popular brand-name labels like Kodiak Cakes and Foodhold.
In a statement issued Friday, the company claimed that the potential contamination was "discovered through routine testing at the manufacturing facility."
At present, no confirmed cases of waffle-borne illness have come to light. Waffle eaters, however, are advised to check their freezers and either throw out goods affected by the recall or to return them to the place of purchase. You can see a full list of the recalled brands here.
Listeria, though relatively rare, can be a nasty foodborne illness, proving especially dangerous to the elderly, the very young, pregnant people, and those with weak immune systems.
The resilient bacteria can survive on surfaces for weeks, and has an incubation period up to three months — though typically not longer than a fortnight — during which symptoms may not be apparent. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that around 1,600 people are infected with listeria each year, and about 260 die from their infections.
Prior to the waffle recall, 2024 was already shaping up to be a pretty historic year, listeria-wise. This summer's listeria outbreak linked to a Boar's Head meat processing facility in Virginia is the worst since 2011, resulting in dozens of hospitalizations and at least ten deaths. Conditions at the factory were said to be abhorrent, based on food inspector reports, with meat residue and bugs in all the places where they shouldn't be.
Boar's Head was forced to recall over seven million pounds of meat, after the outbreak was first reported in July. And last week, a competitor, BrucePac, recalled more than 11 million pounds of its meat and poultry products for the same reason: the detection of listeria — though a widespread outbreak has not been confirmed.
So why is everything coming up listeria all of a sudden?
Some of the uptick in recalls can be attributed to "improvements in detection," Darin Detwiler, an associate professor at Northeastern University and a food policy expert, told Northeastern Global News last month. Shifting consumer preferences towards foods more prone to contamination, like ready-made meals and fresh produce, can also explain the number of outbreaks that actually get noticed.
But that doesn't tell the full story. The meat processing industry, in particular, has consistently fought for decreased regulatory oversight. Instead of government meddling, meat processors argue, they should be left to police themselves. And they eventually got their way: in 2019, the Trump administration allowed pork plants to effectively privatize the inspection process, assigning fewer federal inspectors to each facility.
Of course, regulations with meat processors don't directly bear on the latest waffle drama. But perhaps a climate of slackening safety protocols could have festered in the food industry at large, while regulators like the Food and Drug Administration are hampered — internally and externally — from properly doing their jobs, critics argue.
As a consumer, it can be hard not to feel helpless in the face of these outbreaks. To protect yourself, the least you can do is be vigilant about the recalls — and keep track of what you buy from the grocery store.
More on food: The Conditions Were Repulsive at the Boar's Head Factory Linked to Multiple Deaths
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