The Klamath Falls Herald & News is reporting that more than 80 patrons of Sergio’s Dos Mexican Restaurant in Klamath Falls became ill with symptoms of food poisoning, and two were hospitalized, after eating at the restaurant between January 22 and January 27. According to the Herald & News, the Klamath County Health Department is
January 2007
Federal investigators join search for Salmonella source
A Salmonella outbreak in Sierra Vista, Arizona, has sickened at least 47 people since September 1, 2006. Local and state health officials have been unable to identify the source of the ongoing outbreak, which sickened two more people at a daycare last week. Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have joined the…
School Cafeterias Rated by CSPI
The Center for Science in the Public Interest issued a press release titled, "What danger lies in the school cafeteria?" this week, announcing the publication of its study on school lunch safety. The study, MAKING THE GRADE: An analysis of food safety in school cafeterias, involved an inspection of reports from high…
Hepatitis A exposure lawsuit filed last week
Thousands of customers at a Houlihan’s restaurant in Kane County, Illinois, were potentially exposed to the hepatitis A virus when they drank iced beverages at the restaurant between January 8 and January 19, 2007. Marler Clark has been contacted by approximately 50 individuals who have asked to become part of a class action lawsuit against…
Voluntary guidelines to ensure safe food not enough, advocate says
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle from January 26th focused on a set of voluntary food safety procedures that the California Department of Food and Agriculture and farm industry groups are asking food handlers to adhere to. The voluntary guidelines, which are a marketing agreement (pdf file) designed by the Western Growers Association and…
Suspected Norovirus sickens Hernando County Commissioners
According to a story in the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times, more than 30 attendees at a Hernando County Commissioners meeting became ill with food poisoning, suspected Norovirus, after a meeting on January 19.
The stricken included at least 10 county department heads, two county commissioners, a Planning and Zoning commissioner, several county employees, a handful…
Food Myths
A recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune highlighted common myths about food safety, including myths about irradiation and E. coli:
Myth: It’s unsafe to eat meat or other foods that have been irradiated.
Reality: Federal health officials say irradiation kills E. coli, salmonella, campylobacter and other organisms that make consumers sick without posing health
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Some bacteria that cause food poisoning resistant to antibiotic treatment
Mike the Mad Biologist wrote a post titled, “Shigella, Children, and Antibiotic Resistance, in which he cites a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC study emphasized the fact that some strains of Shigella, a bacterium that is sometimes foodborne and can lead to serious illness and even death…
Salmonella food poisoning traced to Georgia Arby’s restaurant
Georgia health officials have announced that a Salmonella food poisoning outbreak that infected at least 72 people between Labor Day weekend and November 15th, then continued, has been traced to a meat slicer at an Arby’s restaurant. According to anarticle posted at the WALB TV Web site:
Their investigation concluded that at least 43
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Hundreds receive shot to prevent hepatitis A food poisoning
Over 600 people attended shot clinics put on by the Kane County, Illinois, Department of Health after an employee at a Houlihan’s Restaurant was diagnosed with a hepatitis A infection, according to a story at Chicago’s ABC7 Web site. According to the story, The Kane County Health Department is offering the immune globulin shots…