May 2006

Don Thompson of the Associated Press reports that food distributors would have to provide the state with a list of stores and restaurants that received deliveries of recalled meat or poultry, under a bill sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday.
Local public health officials want the information so they can publicize potential outbreaks of E. coli or other contaminants. They have been thwarted by an agreement by the state Department of Health Services to keep secret any information about recalls that comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.Continue Reading Legislation seeks public notice of meat recall

A team of researchers working at the University of Bristol has found a potential new treatment for listeriosis, a deadly form of food poisoning. Their work is reported in Nature Medicine.
The group, led by Professor Jose Vazquez-Boland, has shown that one particular antibiotic — fosfomycin — can treat Listeria in the body, despite it being ineffective in laboratory conditions.
Because it was not effective in the laboratory, this drug has never been considered for the treatment of listeriosis, in spite of it reaching the infection sites more effectively than other antibiotics.Continue Reading New treatment for food poisoning

The Ingham County Health Department has traced at least 200 illnesses to a Lansing Township restaurant. Customers who ate at Bravo Italian Kitchen in Eastwood Towne Center in early May have become ill with an apparent foodborne illness.
Individuals who become ill with a foodborne illness often experience severe abdominal cramping, vomiting, and diarrhea, which…

Barb Smith for ABC 4 reports that “The kids were playing and they came running down and they started saying poop, poop in the Playland.” Tania Wymore was alarmed by the very obvious form of E-Coli that her toddler found at a birthday party.
Other Utah moms say they have seen similar problems in the play areas at restaurants. Pamela Davis says it’s the things she cant see that she worries about most.
“From experience children do go to the bathroom in there. They do throw up in there, and they do all of that sort of stuff and its just not possible to know if its clean,” says Davis.Continue Reading Germs in play land: Are microscopic dangers lurking in restaurant kid zones?

The Herald reports that the Florida Department of Health urges high-risk Floridians to avoid consuming raw oysters, which often harbor the naturally occurring bacteria Vibrio vulnificus.
“It’s important to understand that most cases of Vibrio vulnificus can be avoided by taking the proper precautions,” health secretary M. Rony Fran ‘ois said in a recent news release. “There are several cooking techniques individuals in high-risk groups can use to enjoy oysters while remaining safe.”Continue Reading Florida issues oyster alert

The Belleville Intelligencer reports that local health unit offers a food-handling course and while it is tailor made for those in the food business, anyone who dons an apron or chef’s hat should consider the program.
Most people are aware that a barbecue fueled by propane or natural gas can have its dangerous side. But the peril can come from other sources, such as those raw hamburger patties sitting patiently beside the barbecue, queuing up for the grill.
Cooks should be careful, because if the meat is left outside too long, nasty little bacteria like salmonella can also be whetting their appetite for a burger, too.Continue Reading Handle with care, for your own good

NewsNet5 (Cleveland) reports that bacteria and food-borne illnesses can appear anywhere and one of the most vulnerable places is your own kitchen.
Experts say most times, germs invisible to the naked eye can make you sick.
5 On Your Side consumer specialist Angie Lau got city and county health inspectors together to put a family’s kitchen to the test.
Robin Ritz is a busy mom with two little girls — Amilia is 3. She is very careful when it comes to handling raw meat.
“I try when I’m cooking, I try to use my foot and close with my knee. I try not to use my hands as much. Kids are always coming over and grab this to throw something away, and you know, kids are always putting their hands in their mouth,” Ritz saidContinue Reading Protect your kitchen from bacteria

Zsuzsi Gartner of The Globe and Mail reports on the book Chew on This: Everything you don’t want to know about fast food, by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson
Until just a few years ago, this was the monthly fix: Big Mac, Filet o’ Fish, small fries, carton of milk. It was a guilty pleasure I never felt all that guilty about. Then along came Eric Schlosser in 2001, with one of the most important books of the past decade. Fast Food Nation, for the two Globe readers who may not have heard of it, is the 21st century’s The Jungle, the 1906 Upton Sinclair novel that led Teddy Roosevelt to investigate the brutal and unsanitary conditions in Chicago’s meat-packing plants. Fast Food Nation detailed the power that the greed-a-licious players in the fast-food industry have over the way food (mainly potatoes, beef and chicken) is grown, packaged, marketed and sold to North American (and worldwide) consumers.Continue Reading Want fries with this?

The Associated Press reports that a flight from Baltimore-Washington International Airport was delayed and the plane disinfected Friday night after several passengers became ill on board, airport officials said. Four passengers were taken to local hospitals, apparently suffering from food poisoning, authorities said.
AirTran flight 497 to Orlando, Fla., was delayed before 8 p.m. when 10 passengers complained of feeling ill and four vomited before the plane left the gate, said Tracy Newman, a spokeswoman for BWI.
All passengers left the plane and the craft was disinfected, Newman said. It was expected to depart for Orlando before midnight Friday.Continue Reading Food poisoning prevents BWI flight

Brad Cooper of the Kansas City Star reports that Kansas is making it easier to find out if the kitchen at your favorite restaurant is dirty. The state health department on Thursday announced that it is putting restaurant health inspection reports on the Internet. No more writing to Topeka and waiting a week to get a report back.
Now learning about the conditions found at a restaurant means going to www.ksfoodsafety.org, where you should be able to look up any of the thousands of food service establishments that the state inspects every year.Continue Reading Kansas puts restaurant violations on Web