The good people of Illinois have either (1) experienced more than their fair share of foodpoisoning outbreaks in the last two years, or (2) hired great epidemiologists at their health departments who collaborate well with the State HD to detect lots of outbreaks. Whatever the reason, the Kane County Health Department and Illinois Department of Public
Consumers warned to avoid eating oysters from area 1642 in Apalachicola Bay, Florida Due to toxigenic Vibrio cholerae serogroup O75
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers, restaurant operators, commercial shippers and processors of shellfish not to eat, serve, purchase, sell or ship oysters from Area 1642 in Apalachicola Bay, Fla. because the oysters may be contaminated with toxigenic Vibrio cholerae serogroup O75.
Nine persons have been reported with illness. For eight, the
Safeway the latest to be snagged in grape tomato salmonella recall
Grape tomatoes potentially contaminated by Salmonella have been recalled from a variety of retail locations, and in a variety of retail products. The latest company snagged, or snagged again, in the recall is Safeway, which is expanding its earlier recall to include “Eating Right Veggie Party Platter.” On May 2, the company had recalled cafe salads
Poisoned Book Review By Michele Simon
Michele Simon, a public health lawyer who maintaines the website, Appetite for Profit, has just published her review of Jeff Benedict’s latest book, Poisoned, which details the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak and its aftermath.
From Michele’s review:
For most of us working in food policy, it’s hard to remember
Food Safety Regulation – Lessons from China?
Food safety regulation in the U.S. can draw criticism over issues of cost, bureaucracy, and effectiveness. But what are the alternatives? An interesting article from Sharon LaFaniere in yesterday’s New York Times may have shed some light on that question while taking stock of food safety in China.
LaFraniere reports:
a stomach-turning string of food-safety scandals this spring, from
Food Safety and the Future of Food
I attended the Future of Food Conference in Washington D.C. this last week and was amazed by the speakers that author, Eric Schlosser, and the Washington Post put together. From Lucas Benitez, Co-Founder, Coalition of Immokalee Workers to Michael R. Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Wendell Berry, Author
Non-O157 STECs: to regulate or not to regulate?
FSIS (the USDA’s food safety and inspection service) has had a standardized test for Non-O157 STECs now for some time, but has not taken the step of designating these bad bugs as “adulterants” in the meat supply. So the reason why is not related to having the ability to meaningfully monitor for non-O157 STECs.
E. coli O111 A threat Abroad and Here in U.S.
New reports link a fourth death to an outbreak of E. coli O111 in Japan. E. coli O111 is one of a number of pathogenic strains of the E. coli bacteria. The most notorious of such strains is E. coli O157:H7. E. coli O111 and other shiga-toxin producing strains of E. coli, however, are more than
Ground Beef and E. coli: what kind of summer will it be?
E. coli O157:H7 illnesses, particularly those associated with ground beef products, typically peak in the summer months. In a January 2011 article, Food Safety News published an article, about a study, that asked why. The answer given, in a nutshell, was the increased shedding of bacteria in cow feces one, among possibly many, factors, during the summer months. Read Why Are There
Texas E. coli Cases announced
Five cases of E. coli have been confirmed in Bell County, Texas. The Bell County health district said no additional cases have been reported and said that it “continues to carefully monitor for further cases.”
Most varieties of E. coli are harmless or may cause brief diarrhea, the health district said, and sometimes produce no symptoms