I just rechecked the food recall list and found a good one.

Conagra Brands is recalling a lot, and I mean a lot, of canned meat and poultry products. Around 2.6 million pounds of the stuff. Apparently, the cans may have a defect that leads to contamination, but shows not outward signs of it.

Workers in the warehouse discovered cans that were leaking, some of which were spoiled, and immediately called the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). But despite seeing the leaking, nobody could see anything particularly wrong with the cans.

But that’s only part of the interesting thing surrounding this. The other crazy part is how many different products were affected by this. As in, “Armour Vienna Sausages have the same stuff in them as the Great Value ones from Walmart?!”

Yes and no.

Mostly yes.

Basically, what happens is that for efficiency’s sake, many different products are made and packaged in the same place with virtually the same ingredients. How else do you get the list that comes out of this recall:

  • Armour Star
  • Kroger
  • Goya
  • Prairie Belt
  • Hargis House
  • Grace
  • Great Value

Armour Star, Great Value, and Kroger are all firmly under or are owned by Conagra, the latter two being store brands that are licensed out to Conagra for manufacturing.

All the others are companies unaffiliated with Conagra. They are either wholly independent companies, like Goya, or affiliated with companies that are not Conagra, as in Hargis House’s parent company, Moran Foods.

And there it is, a secret revealed. A light shining on how our modern food industry works, and in just one recall. What little difference there is between products, and what a stunning array of brands owned and controlled by one company.

For instance, I might be wrong in saying that Moran Foods and Goya have no affiliation with Conagra, but who knows what deal was made between companies for manufacturing purposes. It’s pretty obvious that they have SOMETHING in common, seeing as how they all partook in the same heap of meat.

But I’m not knocking it. I think our modern food system is a glorious thing to be revered, not to shit on. Those setups that lead to five companies owning everything also gives us the largest choice of foods humanity has ever been given, and in a crazy convenient way! I mean, just look at how many brands of Vienna Sausages you can buy, and that list doesn’t even include Libby, Excelsior, Carmela, or Iberia brand Vienna Sausages!

So, back to the important part. The sausages in question were recently distributed, and so this is a pertinent issue. Don’t consume any of the affected products, just return them or throw them away.

As you saw, it’s a big list, so here’s the link

And next time you hear of a big recall, go to Foodsafety.gov, click the link, and check out how many brands are affected.

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