...add one 12 oz. can of botulism...

Factual Questions
1

I was doing some shopping on Sunday and came across a can of blueberries that appeared to have had 32 lbs. of air blown into it. To say simply that this can was bulging would be an understatement. I gave the can to the manager, but he didn’t seem to share my sense of alarm. The next day I happened to stop in the same store for something else, and just out of curiosity I went back to the canned fruit section. Believe it or not, that bozo had put the can right back on the shelf.

I brought it back to the manager’s office (a raised platform with one-way glass that prevents you from seeing sleeping employees), but nobody answered when I pressed the little buzzer. I finally left it with the guy taking care of the produce department & explained my concern in great detail. He told me that the can didn’t appear to have been opened (!), although it did look a bit strange.

Well, I wasn’t about to go into the whole Clostridium botulinum being an anaerobic organism & how this might lead to the painful agonizing death of potential customers who might be too stupid to know better than to buy a bulging can of blueberries. I just told him that the can was obviously a waiting time bomb & it should be returned to the vendor or otherwise destroyed.

Now I’m wondering- what if, in spite of my efforts to get this can declared a biohazard twice, it has twice been returned to the store’s shelves. I’m going to pass by the store again today on the way home from work for no other reason than to see if that can is still there.

But what do I do if I see it back on the shelf? Should I buy the can & turn it over to some authority (poison cotrol center? Health department?) Should I just leave the can on the shelf & call the authority for them to come & see?

I probably should have purchased it myself; because if it’s not there today, I’m going to be wondering if they really destroyed the can or if they just put it back on the shelf and somebody ended up buying it.

Ugh.

2

Call the company that makes the product and let them know. They usually are quit interested in something like this, and will have an 800 number.

3

If the market is part of a franchise, go back to the store. Even if the can is no longer there, you can still write down the names of the two individuals who ignored your concerns. Report these names to the store’s headquarters.

If the store is an independent, you can still purchase a can from the same shelf (or just write down the lot code). It will more than likely be from the same batch. This way you may bring it to the producer’s attention. Trust me, they would much rather know about these sort of problems.

I am disgusted that both of your attempts were rebuffed by these clods. They need to be reported by name to their corporate headquarters.

4

The health department should be interested, provided it’s adequately funded and not “bought-off”. Then again, perhaps you could BUY the offending can and make the manager a nice pie with it. His dying words: “Yes SIR, we kept our profit margins UP !”

5

I once did a cordon-bleu cooking course through a tertiary institution here (called a TAFE - Technical and Further Education) with a friend who was also a biological scientist. As a cost cutting measure the TAFE was using the cheapest possible ingredients - many of which were off, and I mean OFF. Cans with both ends blown out, chocolate with weevils, etc. The staff learned to loathe my friend and I, (not just because of our personalities!) but 'cos we didn’t hesitate to (very politely and quietly in the first instance) raise the potential health problems with them, and when that didn’t work, with our fellow students. Took about 4 classes till we were all getting acceptable ingredients. Think the staff were quite heartened when we transferred to a different food strand the next year.

With regard to your situation, I’ve worked as a food microbiologist for both a manufacturer and for a government regulatory agency, so I have a fair idea what would be most effective here. You are, of course, totally welcome to ignore me!

By and large I agree with the previous suggestions, but with some mods as to detali:

  1. Go back to the store and take two new, unused, plastic bags with you - zip-lock would be good, but plain freezer bags will do. (Completely unused plastic bags are close to sterile, and if there are bugs present in the can which have caused the problem, they are likely to be present in overwhelming numbers). If the can is still there, purchase it and keep the receipt as potential proof of the date and location of the purchase.

Bear in mind there are non-microbial causes for cans to blow, though they usually don’t produce grossly distended cans, and that an acid food like blueberries is a less likely subject for a botulinum infection than a neutral-to-alkaline food like meat. [ital]Clostridium botulinum[/ital] (from memory, and I am willing to be corrected) is unlikely, depending on the strain, to blow a can or produce other significant organoleptic changes.

If you can get the can, I assume you don’t want it to explode over you and your car or kitchen, so when you get out of the store write down the numbers and letters that appear on one end of the can. Put the can inside one bag and tie it off/ziplock it, then repeat with the second bag in the opposite direction. (The two bags are to minimise the chance of leakage, and writing the numbers etc is less messy than trying to scrape a clear spot later. It will just create a scene if you do this inside the store.) Try not to put your hand inside either bag. Put the can in the fridge, not the freezer, when you get home. It is unwise to freeze the can as that may kill any bugs present, and they may be needed to track down the source of the contamination if it is a real problem.

  1. Get the names of the (this is GQ and I can’t use those words)-wits who didn’t follow your advice. Put your complaint in writing to the store/franchise, and if it is part of a chain, with the HR department. The store has a responsibility for staff training in matters of food protection.

  2. Most importantly, contact the manufacturer and tell them of the problem and the numbers/letters from the can-end. Tell them you have the can and ask if their QC department would like to arrange to collect it. If they have proper records, they should know whether they have a problem, or if this is a one-off, perhaps caused by faulty handling. If they aren’t sure whether they want the can or not, say you’ll keep it for (whatever time suits you) then dispose of it.

4)You guys have got the world’s greatest regulatory agency, the FDA. Let them know the manufacturer, food type, batch and purchase point, including the attitude of the staff towards the problem. They give info on how to do this at:
http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/problem.html#Foods

Hope this is helpful and not too dogmatic.

6

This little piggy went back to the market, and didn’t see the can in question. I did see the produce manager, and asked him about the can. He said he had kept it back in the store room. Since I was afraid that it might somehow find its way back to the shelves, I told him I wanted to buy it. He looked a little puzzled, probably because of what I had told him yesterday about how nobody should be allowed to comsume these berries, but I did some quick bs-ing and said that it would be a great show & tell item for my microbiology class.

And I said it with a straight face, too.

I think I’ll contact the manufacturer. Thanx for your suggestions.

7

I might like to change my shopping habits.