An editorial in today’s New York Times illustrates the need for a single government agency responsible for food safety:
It should not take a health crisis to force a reorganizing of America’s food safety apparatus, and there are good reasons to reorganize in a deliberate manner, without a sense of emergency. This is not just
Barbara Anderson of the Fresno Bee reports that consumers worried about contaminated spinach and lettuce from California’s Salinas Valley may have a threat closer to home: bacteria breeding in their kitchen sink.
We live in a germ-filled world. Millions of microbes live in kitchens, setting up house on kitchen counters, cutting boards, stove tops and
Two food safety technologies for detecting and killing pathogens can cut costs for produce, fruit and vegetable processors, say researchers, according to foodqualitynews.com.
The first method uses a laser to detect and identify many types of bacteria, and is about three times faster and one-tenth as expensive as current technology, they claim. A second
The Washington Post reports on tracking outbreaks.
"Last month’s deadly E. coli outbreak in fresh bagged spinach is beginning to fade from public memory. Spinach is back on supermarket shelves and in salad bars, even as a team of about two dozen California state and federal investigators continue to work around the clock searching for
KRGV.com reports that parents say they were never informed about a food poisoning incident at their children’s school. It reportedly happened at the OSM Charter School in Weslaco, where meals are catered. According to the school superintendent, as many as 11 kids got sick on September 15th. According to the girl’s mother, her daughter missed
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As investigators actively seek to identify sources and vehicles responsible for the introduction of E. coli O157:H7 onto California spinach that made its way into the food supply this fall, the Journal of Food Science this month provides up-to-date research on the various ways bacteria can survive on fresh produce.
The study, Interactions Affecting the
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The Indy Star reports that the recent spinach E. coli outbreak struck a chord with Purdue University professors whose research may help avert future food-borne illnesses.
Two emerging technologies are designed to find and kill food-borne pathogens more quickly and less expensively than existing processes. Researchers hope the technologies ultimately will keep food safer and
The San Diego Union-Tribune today published an article on why the food pyramid isn’t as great as we were all taught:
"Forget the “Food Pyramid,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s guidelines for a healthy diet. Today, a terrifying roster of impurities – E. coli! salmonella! listeria monocytogenes! – is decimating everything from our salads to
Looks like it is time for a new system. From the Associated Press:
"A warning system meant to alert food companies in the event of a food poisoning outbreak failed one-third of the time in a recent government test. The Food and Drug Administration was able to reach an emergency contact for a food
Hmmm, if a vole can make it from the Natural Selection plant in California to a salad in the mid-west – any question how E. coli could?