How food manufacturers turn mouldy, mislabelled or outright contaminated foods into edible -- and profitable -- goods

The packaging methods and sanitary standards used by food companies are being questioned as more information comes to light of ways that companies cut corners to keep costs low.

The discovery of mould in apple sauce packages that was then distributed to school children prompted a warning from the Food and Drug Administration earlier this month.

But the widespread nature of 'reconditioning', a process used by food companies to help salvage food that has gone bad, makes the investigation applicable to all food producers.

What they're really eating: Critics question the guidelines of acceptable standards offered to food producers by the Food and Drug Administration

TRICKS OF THE TRADE

mixing mislabelled blueberry ice cream with chocolate ice cream to cover the bad taste

use Clorox to bleach expired pork to make it look fresh

insect parts removed from food and the food is given to children

or, live insects are exposed to drastic radiation and then left in the food

remove the mould visible to the naked eye and just heat the remaining food so much that and bad parts are killed

replace old expiry dates with new ones

Snokist Growers, the Washington-based company that received the stern talk from FDA officials after their apple sauce packages rife with green, brown, white and grey mould this August, was the latest example of a common practice.

In order to save money, many companies remove damaged or mouldy parts of their products before blasting the goods with strong heat in order to disinfect the food.



After they use temperature changes to disinfect, the companies then repackage the food and send it off to their clients as if nothing is wrong.

The heat-blasting technique is common.

As is the one where processors take faulty or mislabelled blueberry ice cream and mix it with chocolate so that the taste is hidden.



Problem sauce: The mould found in Snokist products, produced in Washington state, caused nine school children in North Carolina to fall ill

Just the trick: Companies will mix expired or mislabelled blueberry ice cream into barrels of chocolate ice cream so the the bad taste is hidden

'It's how people do their business,' said Katherine Shelke, spokesman for the Institute of Food Technologists.

'I was appalled that there were actually human beings that were OK with this,' she told MSNBC.

The Snokist apple sauce scare, which left nine schoolchildren in North Carolina ill, was not the first time this year that food preparation practices came under fire.



Broiled chicken liver produced in New York left 179 students from six different states sick with Salmonella poisoning just three weeks ago.

That instance came just days after more strands of E.Coli were banned from beef, after the disease was already dealt a public relations blow with massive recalls of contaminated lettuce throughout the year.



Not only do producers sell and distribute food that contains mould or insects, the FDA advises the companies that their practices are fine, presenting 'levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazards for humans'.



Oversight: The FDA is the agency that is responsible for overseeing the quality and sanitary conditions of food production companies throughout the U.S.

The FDA allows up to 60 insect fragments per 100 grams of chocolate before the food is thrown out. Same goes for corn, which the agency deems suitable for consumption if it contains only one larvae that is larger than 3 millimetres.

Pineapple doesn't get thrown out until it overtakes a 20 per cent mould count.

The continued recalls of food staples, like lettuce, have not stopped the producers from continuing their methods.

'Any food can be reconditioned,' Jay Cole, who used to work for the agency before starting The FDA Group which serves as a liaison for food producers, told MSNBC.