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Are Food Recalls a Cause for Concern?

It's not unusual to come across headlines about food recalls in our daily lives. Over a three-month period starting in September, 26 recalls were issued for food products in California. In November alone, there were 11 recalls, including for raw milk from Fresno tainted with H5N1 bird flu. Recalls occur when food is found to be contaminated with various factors such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, foreign objects like glass or metal, or if packaging fails to note a major allergen.Experts explain that the overall number of recalled food products has grown across the country due to the more complex food chain where different companies are involved in growing, manufacturing, packing, and distributing food. This leads to more potential places for contamination to occur.

Should We Be Worried About Food Recalls?

Karen spoke with experts who said that a large number of recalls in a short time span is not unprecedented and actually shows advancements in the systems designed to identify and stop the spread of contaminated food among U.S. consumers. Sara Bratager, a senior food safety specialist for the Institute of Food Technologies, told Karen that it's a comfort and a scare as we don't want to see recalls happening. But at the same time, if there were no recalls in a community, that would be a cause for concern.Another positive sign is that while recalls may be becoming more frequent, the number of outbreaks is shrinking, meaning fewer people are getting sick or dying due to contaminated foods.

How Does California Stack Up Nationally in Terms of Food Recalls?

Product management software company Trace One studied data from the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on American food recalls over the last four years. They found that the number of recalls grew by more than 20%, from 454 in 2020 to 547 in 2023. Nearly 4 out of every 10 recalls were issued in California. Roughly 16% of all recalls originated from producers in the Golden State, which is more than double the share of the next-closest state. The logical reason for this is that California is the largest food producer in the nation.

Best Ways to Protect Yourself from Foodborne Illness

Karen outlined some key tips to protect yourself from foodborne illness. Wash your hands with soap and water before handling food. Sanitize surfaces and utensils that will come into contact with the food. Rinse produce well with water before preparing it. Use a food thermometer when cooking meats. Minimize cross-contamination by keeping raw meat and poultry away from other foods. Try not to leave food out at room temperature for more than two hours.You can read Karen's full explainer on food recalls here.

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This Morning's Must Reads

Republican freshman Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez spoke with colleagues in Sacramento on Dec. 2, 2024. My colleagues Anabel Sosa and Hailey Branson-Potts sought to answer how he managed to flip a deep-blue California Assembly district. He focused his campaign on the Achilles' heel of California Democrats: the state's high cost of living.

Going Out and Staying In

For your downtime, there are options like Michael Mina's Orla in Santa Monica which serves Egyptian and Mediterranean flavors and offers a tableside dessert cart for a baklava-and-Greek-yogurt sundae.

A Question for You

What are your favorite holiday traditions? Do you make your own tamales? Go on a special hike? Visit a certain street to see decorations? Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might be included in the newsletter this week.

Today's Great Photo

Today's great photo is from Dana Brock of Sebastopol: Bodega Head in Sonoma County. Dana writes: "Bodega Head is at the edge of sea and land, agriculture and aquaculture, the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, the majorly seismic San Andreas fault zone, the limit of westward expansion of the continental U.S. and the awesomely beautiful / dynamic / exciting / promising / sometimes-disappointing-but-never-boring / resilient / wouldn't-trade-it-for-any-other-place-in-the-world great state of California."Have a great day from the Essential California team. Ryan Fonseca, reporter. Amy Hubbard, deputy editor, Fast Break. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.