Salmonella default in chocolate: If everyone is okay, how is it that the consumer is hurt?

The Ministry of Health was quick to back up Strauss, even though a week had passed between the news of the fear of the presence of salmonella in chocolate and the announcement to the public.

In doing so he revealed a problematic procedure of inspection, reporting and supervision, all of which are his responsibility.

Will the minister who rushed to take credit for taking off the masks also rush to take responsibility for the default?

Nir Kipnis

26/04/2022

Tuesday, 26 April 2022, 11:14 Updated: 11:58

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In the video: The director of food services at the Ministry of Health addresses the Strausson Salmonella affair in chocolate (Walla system!)

At the time of writing this column, a first case of suspected morbidity was detected due to the presence of salmonella bacteria in Strauss products.

If it turns out that the news is true, then the responsibility lies not only with the largest manufacturer in the industry, but also with the ministry that is supposed to maintain the health of us all, the Ministry of Health, while preoccupied with the crucial question of stopping coronation tests at Ben Gurion Airport. New variants from immigrating to Israel), neglects, in the same way, public health.

We will start with the original offender, the salmonella bacterium. , But also much more “tricky”: while animal food poisoning is obvious and immediate, harm as a result of exposure to salmonella in other food products can be discovered long after consuming the suspected infected product.

Time is certainly a critical component to understanding the current affair: the Strauss company (sitting as Strauss-Elite) has announced that it has acted in accordance with Ministry of Health procedures regarding informing the public about suspicious food products.

The Ministry of Health, as usual, hurried to back up the manufacturer until the very speed of response (very uncharacteristic, everyone who has ever asked for a response from the Ministry of Health knows) raised the suspicion that it focuses on the question - who are they actually protecting?

We will immediately return to the intriguing question, but after getting to know the salmonella a bit, let's get acquainted with the testing procedures, both of the manufacturers and of the Ministry of Health.

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Suspicion of first case of illness following chocolate consumption

In the video: First suspicion of contracting salmonella as a result of eating Strauss chocolate (Assuta spokeswoman)

Why not inform the public in advance?

Supervision of food production in Israel, as in most countries of the Western world, is tight: factories are sued and often even initiate stringent inspections that are supposed to detect a deviation from the permissible range of presence of various components in food.

The samples are sent to a laboratory, the findings are received, decoded - and it often takes a long time, many days, until the warning reaches the consumer public, if at all.

The immediate implication is that in too many, too many cases of contaminated food is suspected, the recall (declaration of product collection) takes place after customers have already consumed them, as in the current Strauss case, where products manufactured two months ago are collected from the shelves. For example, a "time-out" snack in the explosion had already eaten it - and in this case, maybe even "ate it".

In other words: too much time passes between the moment of production and the detection of faults and problems, not to mention the warning to the public and the collection from the shelves.

Usually what happens is that a letter is sent, according to the protocol, detailing to the retailers the name of the exhibit, the batch number, the production date and the expiration date - and calling on them to remove the product from the shelves.

In the case of products sold at a wide range of endpoints, such as chocolate bars that are not only in the supermarket but also in containers, convenience stores, IDF bases and even vending machines, it can be assumed that it takes even longer to reach, if at all, all points of sale.

And since this is the case, why even attach the warning to the public for recall? Why was it not possible to release the warning to the public with the moment of danger and have to wait for collection (which in the case of chocolate bars is very difficult to impossible)?

One of the favorite chocolate brands of Israelis.

Did we consume it while all the responsible parties knew that it was a suspicious product? (Photo: Reuven Castro)

There is a report, but no supervision

But even then, public health depends on the goodwill of the various marketers and sellers.

how does it happen?

Believe it or not, the Ministry of Health does not have an inspection unit whose job it is to make sure that the suspicious products have indeed been removed from the shelves.

Moreover: in the case of Strauss, the chocolate products (and the accompanying products containing chocolate as part of dairy and ice cream delicacies) the suspects began to gather from the shelves only long days after learning of the possible danger, weekdays, Passover Monday and a particularly long weekend, during which For sure - hundreds of thousands of Israelis have consumed the products suspected of containing salmonella.

This is the place to mention what has already been written: Unlike "normal" food poisoning or stomach upset, which we are used to blaming the fast food stand where we ate at lunch, salmonella damage found in some off-the-shelf products may only be discovered long after consumption.

That is - time has a meaning here that, at least theoretically, can be critical.

You would expect the Ministry of Health to point the finger of blame at the manufacturer, but in Strauss' case he was quick to side with him, confirming the company's announcement that the information was provided to the public according to all binding procedures and rules.

And because of this, the problem is in the procedures - that is, in those who write them and in those who are responsible for their implementation in the field, the Ministry of Health.

Minister of Health, Nitzan Horowitz.

He hurried to take credit for taking off the masks, a little less for the default that prevented the public from obtaining vital information about salmonella (Photo: Maariv, Avshalom Shashoni)

Horowitz, take responsibility!

The office that is supposed to protect us from disease and on whose advice all the corona restrictions that have narrowed our steps have been installed in the last two years (and for the avoidance of doubt, almost all have been found essential), neglects public health, just as in cases with a slightly less high media profile. Senior officials of the ministry, not to mention the minister in charge.

It must be said: there is no manufacturer who intentionally markets a defective product in the first place, since in the event of illness he will be the main victim, and therefore he has a clear interest in aggravating himself.

And yet, it is hard to get rid of the feeling that whoever is supposed to protect us from serious mishaps, not only has fallen asleep on guard, but has not even bothered to report for duty in the first place!

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz was quick to take credit for the (temporary?) Victory over the Corona, with the decision to take off the masks.

Will he show public courage and take responsibility for the week that has passed from the moment he learned of the possible presence of salmonella in the most popular food products in Israel and the moment the public learned - according to all the wonderful procedures formulated by his office - the danger?

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• Strauss

• Ministry of Health

• Salmonella

• chocolate