when there is a recall on a food product

jennalatournichols

What do you do? 

In light of the lettuce recall, I was wondering how/if I should do anything different during a food recall. Like if I go to a restaurant, should I avoid the lettuce based on the assumption that the restaurant has made sure that their lettuce was not infected? 

 Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated! 

CurbsideProphet

I try to avoid the product in the short term.

sillygoosegirl

I laugh at the people who don't know where their food comes from. Some farm in California had tainted spinach and no it is all over the food supply? No problem for me, my spinach came from Wisconsin. In my experience, if there is a food recall, restaurants wont sell anything containing that item for a while, so I don't try to order it.

SuperGreen

Like sillygoosegirl, I think every recall is a wakeup call to learn where your food comes from.  Am I worried my lettuce is contaminated?  No, it came from Madison at the Farmer's Market who grows hydroponically and uses no pesticides, fertilizer, or even dirt.  Am I worried the restaurant's lettuce is contaminated?  No, I'm eating at a restaurant that serves local produce.  These produce recalls come from produce being stored somewhere it shouldn't, like next to pig crap, which happens in industrial packing plants.  That doesn't happen in the cooler the lettuce at my local restaurant comes in.

I remember when I went on vacation to the Outer Banks, so everything I ate was grown on the island.  When I got back to the mainland, I couldn't eat tomatoes because there had been a recall.  It was SO WEIRD to stop for a sandwich on the way home and there are signs everywhere that they don't have tomatoes.  That was a huge red flag for me that our centralized food distribution system is broken.