Feast Your Eyes: Food's Gallery of Shame

A short tour through the slideshow reveals recurring themes. Erring on the side of hubris, we have the aptly named Toxic Waste® Nuclear Sludge® Cherry Chew Bar (elevated levels of lead) and Lobster Poo (undeclared peanuts).

In the wishful thinking department, Reduce Weight Fruta Planta (several cardiac events and one death) and Duro Extend Capsules for Men (may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels) represent the many recalled supplements.

The Hallmark Fisheries crabmeat recall (potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes) exemplifies the way a single tainted product can show up in so many different packages.

The usual recall suspects—eggs, alfalfa sprouts, spinach, and deli meats—are, of course, well represented.

Pet food also makes a strong showing. In this case, those LifeSource® Bits had just a tiny bit too much Vitamin D—a nice reminder that vital vitamins and minerals are also toxic if consumed in excess.

In the context of a FDA mugshot, there is a twisted irony to the betrayed promises of the packaging: "Best Quality!" (with extra undeclared sulfites).

"F'real All Natural Fruit" (excepting the peanuts we forgot to mention).

Other products inspire culinary curiosity, despite their tainted status. What do you make with Dried Indian Mackerel anyway?

Ultimately, there is something about the amateur photo quality and domestic contexts of these FDA photos that reinforces the extreme ordinariness of these household poisons—indeed, it is the fact that our eyes can't discern their danger that