Just call it the Food and Nut Administration - the FDA’s home page now has peanuts on top, pistachios underneath, both of them suspected of spreading salmonella into the innards of Americans. Compared to the peanut product recall, which has dribbled out for months and continues to this day, the FDA appears to have taken a different tack with pistachios. The message: Don’t eat any of them until we tell you they’re safe. The nation’s second largest pistachio company has recalled 2 million pounds of pistachios - that’s a whole lot of shells for the compost bin.

Unlike the salmonella contamination linked to peanuts, which has sickened nearly 700 people, not a single illness has been conclusively linked to bad pistachios. But the California Deparment of Health reported that some products have tested positive for salmonella, prompting another huge recall.

Pistachio nuts have always been in my pantheon of holy foods. They used to be dyed red, supposedly to make them look more appetizing. I spent much of my youth with red-stained fingers as a result. I always wonder whether that red coloring has somehow damaged my insides.

Smarting from the peanut contamination, the FDA wants to use its pre-emptive warnings about pistachio products as a way to show they’re being proactive. They’re walking a fine line - they’ve told people not to eat pistachios, but not to throw them out either. How long will they have to sit in the cupboard? That nut hasn’t been cracked yet.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 9:21 pm and is filed under Buyer beware, Dangerous products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.