October 2006

organicDennis Avery and Alex Avery of the Indianapolis Star report that it’s a bad moment for believers in the mystical wonders of organic and natural foods. Deadly E. coli bacteria, lurking in spinach from one of the biggest organic farms in America, just killed one woman and hospitalized at least 29 other people with kidney failure. In all, the contaminated spinach sickened nearly 200, in at least 23 states and Canada.

Meanwhile, several California kids are on kidney dialysis with permanent organ damage from the same virulent strain of E. coli O157: H7 after consuming raw, unpasteurized milk or colostrum from the Organic Pastures Dairy of Fresno, Calif.

Tragically, the victims were all seeking greater food safety and the promised health benefits of vegetables and milk produced the "old-fashioned way."Continue Reading ‘Organic’ doesn’t mean safer or more nutritious

Bolthouse Farms Carrot JuiceOn Friday, September 29, 2006, Acting State Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Backer advised consumers not to drink Bolthouse Farms Carrot Juice in 450 milliliter and one liter plastic bottles with use by dates of Nov. 11, 2006, or earlier in response to four cases of botulism linked to the product.  Three members of one family in Georgia and a Florida resident became ill with botulism after consuming the product.  No recent illnesses associated with this product have been reported in California.

Consistent with a warning issued on Friday, September 29, 2006 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Backer also advised consumers to keep carrot juice, including pasteurized carrot juice, refrigerated.  To date, one link between the illness and the consumers appears to be that the juice they drank was not properly refrigerated once it was in the home.  Other possible links are under investigation.Continue Reading State Health Department Advises Consumers Not to Drink Bolthouse Farms Carrot Juice Due to Botulism Concerns

salad dressingsAmy Simonne, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Food Safety and Quality, reports that many condiments, sauces, and side items to accompany foods are available in the U.S. Despite this, the information regarding these items as far as food safety with regard to time and temperature has not been readily available. In a normal situation, most people place these items in the refrigerator for storage after opening. However, during an emergency situations such when natural disaster or power outage occurred, consumers had a hard time deciding if some of these items are safe to use or which item to keep and which item to discard.

Safe handling information for some common condiments is available from various sources. For example, according to the current USDA/FSIS emergency preparedness document, certain condiment items such as relish, taco sauce, mustard, catsup, olives, pickle, Worcestershire, soy, barbecue, and Hoisin sauces, and opened vinegar-based dressing, are considered safe even if they are opened, and at above 50ºF (10ºC) for over 8 hours. On the other hand, items such as opened fish sauces, oyster sauce, or creamy-based dressing found in that condition must be discarded (1). Still, handling information for many more condiment items are lacking.Continue Reading Are Commercially Manufactured Shelf-Stable, Dairy-based, Pourable Salad Dressings Potentially Hazardous Foods?

Good Agriculture PracticeIt is said that federal "Good Agricultural Practice" guidance ensures that fresh produce does not transmit pathogenic foodborne illness. Is this a reasonable inference?

The federal government’s Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) guidance offers advice with respect to the use of manure. The relevant text is reproduced below.

Basically, the guidance exhorts growers to be careful. Beyond that, it’s not very illuminating. Here is what GAP says about animal manure:Continue Reading Federal “Good Agriculture Practice” Guidance

salmonellaThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Americans probably have more to fear from foodborne illnesses than they do from terrorists.

Only consumers in a vegetative state could think that the E.coli outbreak of contaminated spinach that has killed at least one person and sickened about 170 others in 25 states cannot affect other crops and occur again in the near future.

Each year about 76 million Americans become ill by tainted food. Many with severe cases of foodborne disease are children, the elderly, and persons with compromised immune systems.

Most foodborne illness last for only a day or two. However, 325,000 people are made sick enough to be hospitalized and more than 5,000 deaths occur because of foodborne disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Continue Reading Ready to fight the threats in your fridge?

produceWill you ever feel comfortable eating fresh spinach again? All raw agricultural products carry a minimal risk of contamination, said a University of Illinois scientist whose research focuses on keeping foodborne pathogens, including the strain of E. coli found recently on spinach, out of the food supply.

That won’t keep Scott Martin, a U of I food science and human nutrition professor, from eating bagged greens or other produce although he can see why it gives consumers pause. "I definitely wouldn’t eat spinach from the three California counties implicated in this latest outbreak of E. coli H0157:H7, but there have been no problems with spinach grown in other parts of the country," Martin said.

Martin said that food companies have recalled the particular products implicated in the outbreak, and that the contaminated spinach had a sell-by date of September 20, so none should remain on the shelves at this time. If his reassuring tone makes the scientist sound less than aggressive toward E. coli 0157:H7 and other foodborne pathogens, you’re mistaken. Martin and fellow U of I professor Hao Feng are dedicated to discovering ways to keep these microorganisms out of the food supply.

Martin’s research is focused on finding ways to eliminate the biofilms that attach to produce and cause illness. "Once the pathogenic organism gets on the product, no amount of washing will remove it. The microbes attach to the surface of produce in a sticky biofilm, and washing just isn’t very effective," he said.Continue Reading US: foodborne pathogens hard to remove from produce, research is ongoing

food regulationThe Washington Post reports that it took a book called "The Jungle," a grim assessment of work inside slaughterhouses, plus a campaign by labor unions, medical professionals and consumer groups, to pressure Congress to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act on the same day in 1906.

The food industry was opposed to legislative and regulatory oversight then, as it is in many instances today. That is despite periodic instances of bad publicity, such as that accompanying the recent discovery of fresh spinach contaminated with E. coli bacteria. The increased complexity of agriculture and distribution systems, the influx of foods from all over the world and threats to the meat supply such as mad cow disease haven’t shaken the resistance of most producers and sellers to major modification of the U.S.’s food-safety system.Continue Reading No stomach for tougher food oversight

expiration dateBusiness Week reports that nervous folks are peering more closely at dates stamped on the produce they buy from supermarkets. But how helpful are these dates really?

Many of them are actually quite confusing. "Is a food fresh until Feb. 1, 2008, if that’s the date stamped on it, and then do you throw it out on Feb. 2?" asks Jeanne Goldberg, professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University. "It’s a very inexact science since those dates include a wide margin of safety."

DATE DATA. The dates, for one, mean quite different things. For instance, "sell by" is more a guide for the store to know how long it can display a product for sale. The "best before" or "best if used by" date refers to a quality or flavor of the food. "Use by" works more like an expiration date, similar to that on medicines, and taking them after the date is not recommended.Continue Reading The truth about food expiration dates

CDCMarilynn Marchione, a medical writer for the Associated Press, reports that despite the recent E. coli spinach outbreak, food may be safer now than at any other time in the last decade, with illness occurring at record-low rates, new federal statistics show.

Consumers get part of the credit, for handling food more safely at home, but experts say the biggest improvement came from better industry controls and inspections.

However, the trend could reverse in coming years if fruit and vegetable growers do not address problems like those that led to the spinach scare.

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration lifted its warning on spinach except for specific brands packaged on certain dates. Consumers should continue to avoid spinach recalled by Natural Selection Foods LLC of San Juan Bautista and four companies that it supplied.

The recall covered 34 brands bearing "Best if Used By" dates of Aug. 17 through Oct. 1, so most of it is thought to be out of the food supply now.

The spinach sickened 187 people in 26 states, hospitalized 97 of them and killed one. Outbreaks typically are far larger than the number of lab-confirmed cases reported to federal officials.

Germs in food make 76 million Americans sick, send 323,000 to hospitals and kill 5,000 each year, the CDC estimates.Continue Reading Food illnesses decline, CDC reports

spinachIn the wake of one death and many cases of foodborne illness related to contaminated spinach, University of Georgia microbiologist Michael Doyle recommends avoiding commercially bagged greens and vegetables.

An internationally known expert on foodborne pathogens like E. coli 0157:H7, Doyle spent most of the week following the outbreak, fielding reporter calls from across the nation.

E. coli O157:H7 causes diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, but some people develop a form of kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. This condition usually occurs in young children, elderly people and others with low immune systems.

"Although this outbreak involves bagged spinach, previous E. coli and salmonella outbreaks have been traced to bagged lettuce, melons and tomatoes," said Doyle, director of the UGA Center for Food Safety in Griffin.Continue Reading E. coli outbreak shakes nation