As a mom that often blogs about the latest going on in the news in regards to child safety, I was especially saddened by the story on Root today of Hamil R. Harris, a reporter for The Washington Post. His son Issiah is one of the victims of the recent peanut butter salmonella scare. He came very close to to losing his toddler to this horror and ironically because he is so used to being the one covering the news he never imagined that something like this would touch his family.
Tummy aches, fever and diarrhea plagued his son but Harris was skeptical that it could be linked to the salmonella poisoning. The family could not deny something was seriously wrong though after little Isaiah began to fill his little diapers with bloody stools. They saved the diapers so that tests could be run. The culprit they believe was tainted peanut butter crackers.
Little Isaiah is now recovering but mom Taunya is furious that this has happened.
“I feel like the persons who were responsible for this were only worried about the bottom line, and that was the dollar,” Taunya told Hamil. “This company that thinks they are getting away with murder needs to account for every child and every innocent person that was hurt.”
As a parent myself I am saddened by how far the quality of our food has fallen. This latest scare only reaffirms my commitment to avoid processed foods from unethical companies. When the salmonella scare hit the headlines I did not have to scour my cupboards for tainted foods because I knew I did not have any of those items in my house. I also did not have to worry about High Fructose Corn Syrup with mercury. These foods never qualified as safe or healthy foods for my family. Hopefully this tragedy will help other parents to take more control of the food they feed their kids and not rely so much on corporations or government to keep them safe.
Photo by EuroMagic
[This post was written by Tiffany Washko.]
Our pets are effected by the salmonella outbreak too. I read a story where he suspects that his dog died because he gave it peanut butter crackers that were later recalled. Peanut butter is the #1 flavor in dog treats it’s one of the few human foods I allow my dog to eat.
This whole situation is incredibly sad and scary. We also didn’t have to worry about it this time, but two years ago we were not so lucky with another big recall due to Salmonella. Luckily everyone in my family was okay, but we did have a scary trip to the ER involved at one point.
You should contact the folks at STOP – they could use the support for better legislation.