Monday morning, as I was eating some snack crackers, three people asked me if they contained peanut butter. They didn’t; they were the cheese-on-cheese variety. But I am a fan of peanut butter crackers. I eat them regularly, and I’m not about to stop because the media have started shouting, “Peanut butter may kill you! News at 11.”
According to the CDC, approximately 40,000 cases of salmonella are reported in the U.S. every year. And because many milder cases are not diagnosed or reported, the actual number may be 30 or more times higher. That’s as many as 1.2 million cases, or about 100,000 per month.
As of January 19, the CDC reported peanut butter salmonella had likely poisoned 475 people and contributed to six deaths.
So the media is whipping the public into a panicked frenzy because peanut butter may be linked to somewhere between .04 and 1 percent of salmonella cases.
This is how the media now works. Take a small issue, sensationalize it and then run it into the ground. “Is your child’s teddy bear a murder weapon? Tune in tonight. Do you know the deadly secret your hamster is hiding? News at 11.”
I’m sick of hearing the hyped versions of what are actually minor stories. But even more than that, I’m tired of people who take this information as gospel, forgetting to investigate a little further or think for themselves.
What’s your position, on peanut butter and/or the media’s scare tactics?
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Steven,
While I enjoyed your post and appreciate your point of view, I’m also acutely aware of the danger companies face if they FAIL to alert consumers about potentially harmful products. Six deaths sounds small when you’re examining a large population, but likely looms very large when it’s your child, or grandma, or the guy at the next desk who grabbed the peanut butter variety rather than cheese on cheese for his mid-morning cracker snack.
I say tune in at 11 and eat whatever you wish with eyes wide open…seasoned with a grain of salt.
In the words of Public Enemy, don’t believe the hype! Product recalls are certainly a concern but we should keep it in perspective.
I try to take media messages with a grain of salt otherwise the central Indiana weather and traffic teams would have us all staying home because there is one flake of snow on the ground.
I find it ironic that there are more statistical facts in this blip concerning peanut butter and salmonella, than all of the commentary regarding the automotive industry bailout excerpt (including the article).
While I might risk my own health by eating peanut butter, I would never take that risk with my child. Children are more suseptible to things like this (I don’t have facts to back this up, just my motherly instint), and often times they can’t communicate where and why they feel bad. Remember the little girl from Indiana who has to have a kidney transplat because she was sickened by contiminated spinach? I realize the media blows things out of proportion, but I appreciate being informed so I can make my own decisions that work for me and my family.
Kristin kids are more susceptible, as are the elderly. But I would venture to guess that peanut butter crackers that were recalled last week had no higher risk of containing salmonella than crackers from a year ago. The bacteria is so pervasive I believe we could find it anywhere if we look hard enough. Everything has a level of danger and we all choose, either consciously or unconsciously, to accept a certain degree of risk with our food/home/cars etc. The difference here is news organizations have decided to latch onto this one source and scare the living bejezus out of people.
I recently bought a pair of boots from a shoe store. They had a recall for a child’s shoe that has a potential choking hazard. They were cute little white sandals with little flowers by the toes. Those flowers could fall off the child’s shoe, the child could then put one of those flowers in their mouth and choke, thus the reason for a choking hazard warning. If this is the case, then EVERYTHING around us then becomes a potential choking hazard! If someone shoved a handful of paper clips in their mouth, they could choke! Where’s the warning notice for that? I know this is far different from salmonella warning, but it just goes to show that at the drop of a hat panic can break out!
If the Mayans were correct, and humanity is destined to end in December 2011, then I feel pretty comfortable with eating peanut butter now…and lots of it. My stance is, I’d rather depart the Earth today, doing something I enjoy, than live in fear of what might happen tomorrow, or the day around the corner.
Another news flash - the recall has been extended to pet food. Aren’t those pets the same ones who EAT THEIR OWN POO? But I guess that’s a whole different bacteria…
I’m just glad that they’ve found something new to talk about, because at this point, I’m tired of hearing that our newly inaugurated president is - another news flash - BLACK. When are we going to get to a place where we can let poor President Obama start building his legacy based on accomplishment rather than listening to the media talk exclusively about his race?
So, Sam ‘n Ella get into the peanut butter, sicken 475 people, kill six, and everyone goes bonkers.
Meanwhile, Mr. Butts kills 400,000 smokers per year, kills 50,000 nonsmokers per year (from secondhand smoke), and triggers smoking-related illnesses in 8.6 million Americans. All the while, many elected officials and the alcohol, tobacco, restaurant, bar and business lobby defend to the death (literally) this sad status quo.
Go figure.
Good news Curt, the Mayan’s Doomsday is actually December 21, 2012 so you have a whole extra year. Enjoy my friend.
My advice is watch the news at 10 or 9 depending on daylight savings time. That way you will be safer an hour sooner.
As a news producer, my response would be “don’t massacre the messenger.”If recalls are issued by companies or government entities, it’s the responsibility of news departments from national to local to get the information out to the public. If you don’t like the way teases and promotions are written, check in with stations’ promotions departments, manned by folks who are in far too many instances not journalists.
It’s one thing to get the information out to the public, it’s a whole different ball game when you scare the masses into doing anything and listening to anything you tell them. Media as a whole are always looking to up their ratings. If the sole purpose of the media is to get the information out, then there wouldn’t be all these sneaky and flashy ways to get people to tune. Just give me the news straight, to the point, and don’t try and beat me down with it over and over again.
Here’s some recommended reading that addresses the media’s frenzy with making news out of nothing at all. Go to Borders, or Amazon and buy, then read, “The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America.” It’s a Daniel J. Boorstin tome worth every word. It’ll put you and this peanut butter thing into a right frame of mind. In the meantime, I’m having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Enjoy.
Drew Curtis of Fark.com has a chapter in his book about the “OMG everything around you is a deadly deadly danger” style of reporting. While it is the company’s responsibility to warn the public of possible contamination, it is not the media’s job to manipulate our emotions for ratings.
Give people straight-up information about a danger, and they’ll take it in (or not) and go on with their day. Work it up into a full-blown news event, and they’ll stay glued to the TV set waiting for the latest update. Once the big three broadcasters realized there was money to be made on news broadcasts, it was the beginning of the end for responsible reporting.