• cogitase@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    5 days ago

    They did identify the specific facility in Mexico from which the outbreak originated. People just aren’t going to buy the other, perfectly safe shredded lettuce though, so why not give it away?

    • TheTechnician27
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      5 days ago

      Me buying a bunch of safe, clearanced-out leafy greens because people are blanket scared to buy them.

    • Wren@lemmy.todayOPM
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      5 days ago

      Damn, it came from Mexico? I wonder they’re going to send ICE after produce.

    • ThePantser@sh.itjust.works
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      5 days ago

      I dont understand how they can say its Mexico when the outbreak was the worse in MI. Like how does it make sense that the tainted food went all the way from Mexico to MI first then spread from there. Wouldn’t they be dropping deliveries all along the way? Or at least at the same time with other trucks? Looking at the outbreak map it looks more like the tainted foods originated in MI or Canada and spread from there. Or at least they were tainted there, hate to be a conspiracy nut but could this all just be caused as a distraction the the war being lost in Iran?

      • vortic
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        5 days ago

        There isn’t much commercial lettuce farming in the Midwest and Canada.

        This company is based in Salinas, CA and has farms and plants in Mexico. They were able to identify that the outbreak came from Taco Bell locations. They also were able to determine that the common factor was lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in five states. There may be additional locations in other states that received the contaminated lettuce. There may also be stores other than Taco Bell but they haven’t identified any yet. When they looked at records, they found that the contaminated lettuce all originated from a single processing facility located in Mexico. Taylor Farms has recalled all iceberg lettuce that originated in central Mexico.

        Lots of produce is produced and processed in facilities far from where it is consumed. When shipping, they don’t make stops along the way to drop off small amounts. They load large amounts of produce into trucks and trains, then send it to a distribution center. This lettuce was found to have been shipped from Mexico to five states including MI.

        • ToastedRavioli@midwest.social
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          5 days ago

          Im pretty sure that like 90+% of all lettuce produced in the US is grown in Yuma, AZ

          Edit: I just looked it up and yes that is correct. In fact, between Yuma and the Salinas Valley in California they grow over 90% of all leafy greens that are consumed in the US. So its definitely safe to eat just about anything that isnt Taylor Farms iceberg that was grown in Mexico specifically. Or at least as safe as eating lettuce ever is

      • db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 days ago

        The producer (Taylor Fresh Foods) said they linked it to the iceberg lettuce from Mexico.

        We may never find out the full truth, but I would assume if they say this happened on Michigan there is a reasonable chance they will get inspected by the FDA or something like that. Since everyone in the current US administration knows that Mexicans are dirty and not as superior as the white folks in Michigan, saying the outbreak started there is probably the quickest way to close this case

        • reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net
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          5 days ago

          Agreed I think it will come out they traced it to several facilities already and only mentioned the one in mexico b/c it’s there. We’ll see in the next few months as state officials investigate like you said

        • searabbit@piefed.social
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          5 days ago

          Yeah they’re definitely pointing fingers when it’s actually our (the US) responsibility to make sure food imports are safe. But they don’t want us to make the connection between budget cuts to the FDA and CDC and this outbreak. It is interesting that taco bell has been the fall guy as another Mexican-adjacent franchise when this is a huge produce supplier across fast food, grocery stores, and restaurant middle men suppliers.

          And on Michigan, they suffer from detection bias. They have much better systems for tracking outbreaks than neighboring states, so on paper it looks like they have 20x the confirmed cases of Ohio (similar population), but in reality they’ll likely have less total cases since they caught it early and sent out a public health alert which means it’s already on doctors’ radars when people come in with diarrhea. Funny how we love to shit on China for hiding or under-reporting data that makes officials look bad, but we are just as bad or worse about it.

    • BeMoreCareful
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      4 days ago

      They traced one specific source. Bagged lettuce may give you the shits on a good day.

      Maybe this is not salad summer for the sick or the elderly.

    • MacN'Cheezus@lemmy.today
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      4 days ago

      I would feel sorry for the boomers if they hadn’t been such awful people that they deserve to die of explosive diarrhea

  • piconaut@lemmy.ca
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    5 days ago

    I wonder if they get a tax write off for a “donation” that they wouldn’t get for throwing it away?

    • 4am@lemmy.zip
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      5 days ago

      Who cares about “write-offs”?

      They pay for dumpsters by weight. Donating is free; some other schmuck has to check it and pay to dispose of it.

    • lemmyman
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      5 days ago

      As a tax junkie: no.

      The “write off” is whatever amount they paid for it.

      Sell product = have revenue that (hopefully) exceeds that amount and produces a profit

      Trash product: no revenue, still have the expense

      Donate product: no revenu, still have the expense.

      That’s it, it’s really that simple, and it really is identical to trash it or donate it, as far as taxes are concerned.

      • piconaut@lemmy.ca
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        4 days ago

        Thanks for the info. I believe individuals are allowed a deduction for charitable donations so I was thinking that business may have something similar.

      • lemmyman
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        5 days ago

        Or if it really is less expensive to get rid of it this way, then it will increase their profit which has the opposite effect from a “write off”

        • crypt0cler1c@infosec.pub
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          5 days ago

          Are you being serious mate? Giving away the lettuce instead of selling it for profit will increase their profits m8???

          • lemmyman
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            5 days ago

            No. If giving it away is cheaper than disposing of it, then the profit when giving it away will be higher than when disposing of it.

            Of course if they sell it (which is a third case) they will have higher profits.