Seriously?!

So, I am still getting my little FDA recall emails daily. If I posted on all of them... well, let's just say I really wouldn't have much of an audience. But, from time to time, there is a recall that is simply striking, for one reason or another.

Take, for instance, this one! I mean, seriously?! PEPPER is being recalled?? The stuff you ask the guy at the restaurant to grind a little of onto your salad?! The stuff that makes you sneeze?! The stuff that seems so innocuous that one of the OR techs puts it on her baby's thumbs to make him stop sucking them?! (It doesn't work, by the way--the toddler apparently loooves pepper.)

And, wouldn't you know it? Salmonella is again to blame. What are they doing at the pepper factory, exactly--grinding pepper with the same grinder they use for chicken parts? I mean, really?? It just seems a little insane, no? Many of you don't know, but I recently decided to dive in and become vegan. It is an interesting exercise--one that makes you really think about what you are eating. I am doing this for my own reasons, and certainly I am not a fervent PETA activist (although I have developed a fondness for this cult that surprises even me)... but, shouldn't pepper be safe? I mean, it is one of the things that vegans, even raw foodists, can use because it is of plant origin and it DOES NOT NEED TO BE COOKED!

If you haven't noticed, I am thoroughly perplexed. If any of you have any input on this insanity, please, share the light. In the meantime, I guess I will stick to non-peppery spices: anise, curry, and the such.