Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Following an outbreak in October 2007 of salmonella poisoning linked to Banquet brand chicken pot pies, ConAgra, the manufacturer of the pies, immediately began talking food safety. But instead of assuming responsibility for manufacturing a contaminated product that sickened as many as 15,000 people, ConAgra suggested that killing any salmonella bacteria in its products before eating them was ultimately the consumers’ responsibility.

The massive salmonella outbreak prompted ConAgra to remind its customers about the importance of following cooking instructions, especially when using a microwave.

In 2007, A ConAgra spokeswoman told the Associated Press that pot pies needed to be cooked longer in less powerful microwaves, and that steam rising out of the pot pie is a good sign that it is sufficiently cooked. According to the AP report, the same spokeswoman also said that “cooking will kill any pathogens routinely found in uncooked products that contain poultry.”

The company then set about revising the cooking instructions on its pot pies “to clarify how long the pies should remain in the microwave,” the AP report said.

Now, months later, the New York Times conducted a test to determine the reliability (and thus the safety) of cooking instructions on processed food.

Reporter Michael Moss and NY Times Investigative Editor Christine Kay cooked a Banquet chicken pot pie for 5 minutes in a 1200-watt microwave oven. The instructions on the box directed them to cook the pie for 4-6 minutes in an 1100-watt microwave. After cooking, they allowed the pie to sit for 3 minutes, as directed, and then tested the temperature in several locations using a cooking thermometer. In all places, the thermometer read between 140 – 158 degrees.

They then cooked another pot pie for in the same microwave 6 and a half minutes, during which time smoke emanated from the oven. After allowing the pie to sit for 3 minutes, they tested the temperature in several spots around the pie and found that despite cooking it for 30 seconds longer in a stronger oven than the box instructed, they had a pie that was overcooked on one side (about 172 degrees) and undercooked on the other side (about 140 degrees).

The test proved that pot pies contaminated with salmonella might not be safely cooked even when consumers follow the cooking instructions, which raises the question about the safety of other processed foods.

“Instead of cooking the pot pies to a high enough temperature to kill any potential pathogens, which they said made the vegetables mushy, they passed the buck to the consumer,” said reporter Moss.

Moss called the 800-number printed on the box, but was told that microwaves “can’t be trusted to produce their claimed wattage and that one shouldn’t eat a pie that hasn’t reached 165 degrees.”

“It’s a safety issue,” the hotline operator told Moss.

To view a video of the NY Times experiment, click here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 7:56 am and is filed under News, product liability, recalled products, safety, toxic injury. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.