June 2006

E. C. Pasour, Jr. of The Foundation for Economic Education reports that last year’s news reports of tainted beef focused public attention on the safety of the meat supply. In August 1997, Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman forced Hudson Foods to recall 25 million pounds of hamburger meat produced at the firm’s state-of-the-art plant in Nebraska. The nation’s largest beef recall occurred after several Colorado consumers became sick from hamburgers linked to E. coli contamination.
Examples of illness rooted in unsafe meat are not isolated incidents. Bad or undercooked meat causes an estimated 4,000 deaths and 5 million illnesses annually, according to the federal government’s Centers for Disease Control.[1] Moreover, a single incident of contaminated meat has the potential to affect large numbers of people. In 1993, five hundred people became ill and four children died in the Pacific northwest as a result of eating tainted hamburgers.Continue Reading We can do better than government inspection of meat

Julie Greene of the Herald Mail reports that there’s a long list of dos and don’ts for pregnant women. Consumer Reports recently recommending a new don’t – tuna of any kind.
Fish is an important source of protein that is low in saturated fat and high in nutrients such as omega 3 fatty acids. But some fish should be avoided by pregnant women due to their high mercury content, and other fish, with lower mercury levels, should be eaten in limited quantities.Continue Reading Pregnancy and food no-nos

Carl Campanile of the New York Post reports that city health officials are investigating an outbreak of food poisoning caused by contaminated shellfish.
Three people were stricken with Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacterial infection after eating shellfish in Manhattan.
Illnesses include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting, fever and chills.
“Two of the case patients were associated with food-borne outbreaks at two separate events in Manhattan. They reported consuming multiple types of shellfish,” Vasudha Reddy of the Health Department’s Bureau of Communicable Diseases said in a letter to doctors.Continue Reading Shellfish-sickness outbreak

gross food claimsThe Chicago Tribune reports that when a woman claimed to have found a human finger in a bowl of Wendy’s chili, Denny Lynch was the point man for the giant fast-food chain.
“This was grotesque, gruesome,” Lynch said. An expert at damage control for decades, Lynch went to work. With the help of the local restaurant’s staff and a carefully chronicled record of deliveries from suppliers along the food chain, he was able to prov e that the woman was a liar.Continue Reading Food detectives are on the case

Steve Burger of 14 WFIE reports that there are about 950 retail food establishments in Vanderburgh County, with more being added almost weekly.
All that’s standing between you and the potential food borne illnesses possible at any of those restaurants, convenience stores and supermarket delis are three inspectors and one supervisor in the Food Section of the Vanderburgh County Health Department’s Environmental Division.
The workload for each of those inspectors is approximately one third higher than federal recommendations.
Some viruses that can cause food borne illness are so contagious that as few as ten particles can spread the disease.Continue Reading Eating Out This Weekend? You Need to Read This

Tom Ferrick Jr., Inquirer Columnist
Into each life some mouse droppings must fall, but must they fall into your soup? I think not.
That’s why we have sanitation codes and public inspection of restaurants and other places that prepare food, such as your neighborhood Wawa and deli.
It’s not just because rodent droppings and roach legs are icky. It is to prevent the outbreak of food-borne diseases that – if you’ll excuse the expression – plagued previous generations: listeria, E. coli, salmonella, etc. People can die from that stuff.
But in Philadelphia, we are lackadaisical when it comes to inspections.Continue Reading Tom Ferrick Jr. | Code of the city: It’s easy to break

To the Committee: This letter is written in support of the proposed ordinance before this committee to ban the sale of carbon monoxide treated case ready meat within the City of Chicago. The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.) support this ordinance and urge that it be passed. The Consumer Federation of American is a non-profit association of 300 consumer groups representing more than 50 million Americans. And Safe Tables Our Priority is a national, non-profit volunteer health organization dedicated to preventing suffering, illness and death due to food-borne illness.
Continue Reading CFA & STOP letter of support

She Knows reports that year after year, we hear and read the same advice: Handle food carefully in the summer because foodborne illness — also known as “food poisoning” — is more prevalent in warmer weather. Do foodborne illnesses increase during the summer months? If so, why?
Watch out for bacteria!
Yes, foodborne illnesses do increase during the summer, and the answer appears to be twofold. First, there are the natural causes. Bacteria are present throughout the environment in soil, air, water and in the bodies of people and animals. These microorganisms grow faster in the warm summer months. Most foodborne bacteria grow fastest at temperatures from 90 to 110 degrees Farenheit. Bacteria also need moisture to flourish, and summer weather is often hot and humid.Continue Reading Foodborne illness peaks in summer – Why?

The Portland Business Journal reports that foodborne illnesses present a serious public health problem and a significant potential liability for the restaurant and hospitality industry. Even though there is debate over the accuracy of foodborne illness statistics from the government, nonprofit organizations and food industry trade groups, there is no debate that foodborne illness outbreaks are a serious problem that can threaten both the public’s and the industry’s health.
Continue Reading When customers become ill, it’s time for legal protections