Finally… help to lose weight

Finally … help to lose weight

Thank you, CFIA (Canadian Food and Inspection Agency) and FDA (Federal Department of Agriculture US) for inspecting our food and also for the updates on what can kill us. These recalls are purely voluntary and are put out to help us navigate what is safe to eat and what is not.

This explosion of recalls on everything, especially the food we eat, is giving me pause and could be slowly decimating all of us. WTH (what the hell) is going on I wonder? Are these agencies just getting better at their jobs or is our food production in serious jeopardy?  It used to be a minor annoyance when something was recalled. but omg, this is now something we all need to pay attention to.

This particularly affects me because I like to eat. Oh, I know we all eat, but some of us, a lot of us actually, really love our food. Now if you are a smug non-eater, and you know who you are, as do the rest of us, because we couldn’t even fit into your skinny socks… I have depressing news for you too!  Hundreds of brands of high-end coffee are also being recalled. We all drink coffee on some level, those that don’t have alcohol/wine, and that works too.

If that didn’t depress you, I know you like chocolate, even your slim and trim models. Dark chocolate right? Anyways, would it surprise you to know that over Four million pounds of chocolate have been recalled due to salmonella poisoning (that is as of June 21st, 2024)? For those of you who are feeling smug because you only eat cookies and granola bars, well please know that those were the most recalled items in 2023 accounting for more than one in five recalls!

The other common groups of food recalls were fruit, mainly cantaloupes, beef, soup, salads, and greens, as well as poultry. cheese, vegetables, supplements (yep), and pet food. This is according to a report on April 25, 2024. Well, that is enough to send me to the fridge for an ice cream fix! Sammy salmonella doesn’t like ice cream, right? BUT … WTH (what the hell) apparently listeria lurks in SIXTY recalled ice cream products as of June 26th, 2024.  Hershey’s, Friendly’s Chipwich, and Jeni’s are just a few of the fifteen brands.

I have been jokingly sharing my lettuce story this past year. I have decided that I will give away the lettuce I buy when I get groceries immediately after leaving the grocery store. It will save me the humiliation and defeat I feel when I dispose of it from my fridge in its brown, soggy, and smelly state. AND YES, I bought groceries yesterday and it included a package of salad mix (it was on sale 3.99)… seems I am a sucker for punishment. ‘mea culpa’

So what’s left? Ahhhhh, I bought some Cheezies yesterday, it was my treat, and decided to look up the Snacking Chips recalls. Whew, I dodged a bullet there. The only recalls were on Frito Lay Sun Chips, Multigrain Harvest Cheddar Snacks, and Original Munchies Snack Mix recalled May 15th, 2024. Sammie Samonella got to them as well.  Look out Cheezies here I come :  )

This eating is not for the faint of heart, but my entrepreneurial brain is already working overtime. There could be possibilities for savvy shoppers to make some extra money by shopping for those of us who don’t have the time to worry about dying from the food we bought to eat/feed our loved ones. It would require keeping up to date on those recalls and that is no mean feat. I ran across a ground turkey recall (which I buy when I’m on a health kick, and still have some in my freezer) I didn’t know about.

Is there a solution to all this?  Well, the obvious is growing our own food but that’s not going to happen. I have a small patio and I’m growing some amazing tomatoes but I can’t grow coffee beans, damn! The alternative is the local Farmers Markets and I plan on making them a part of my new eating healthy, lifestyle. I wonder if they have precut salad packages… shit, I will overcome this addiction eventually.

Our shelves in the grocery stores were pretty bare during COVID times but ‘me thinks’ this is just a precursor to what may be lurking in our future. All of this is just scary and leaves a bad taste in my mouth… BUT don’t use the recalled Heritage Stores, Hydrogen Peroxide Mouthwash in Wintermint and Eucalyptus mint flavours. Over 100,000 bottles were sold and could poison little kids. (not child-proofed up to Dec. 2023)

Wrapping this up, it has never been a better time to think about losing some weight. OR maybe we should be storing it up for when all our food is poisoned and we need our fat to keep us alive?  As my Ukrainian baba would say, oyyyyy….

and this too shall pass  :  )

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June 30th 2024