CDC Takes Charge of Fig and Olive Salmonella Outbreak Investiagtion

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Food Poisoning Bulletin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has taken the lead in the investigation of a multi-state Salmonella outbreak linked to Fig & Olive restaurants. The agency is working in collaboration with health officials in various states.

The Washington DC Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) are among the agencies collaborating on the investigation. DFS has collected and tested food and environmental samples taken from Fig & Olive in DC’s CityCenter. So far, 45 food samples and 15 environmental samples have been negative for Salmonella. Results on 10 other tests are still pending.

DOH has interviewed 135 people who became ill after eating at the restaurant. Those who became ill are from DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois and Alabama. Fourteen cases of salmonellosis have been confirmed. Interviews are ongoing.

Some of those who became ill ate at the restaurant over Labor Day weekend. After illnesses were reported, the restaurant closed for six days and was cleared to reopen September 16 after it had been sanitized, employees debriefed, food discarded and problematic menu items retired. Case patients reported eating truffle fries or mushroom croquettes, those items have been removed from the menu. Since the reopening, DOH has made two visits, September 16 and September 18, to monitor employee training and food handling procedures.

 

 

Read More Here

 

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Food Poisoning Bulletin

Fig & Olive DC Salmonella Outbreak Includes Cases From MD, PA, VA, IL & AL

The Salmonella outbreak at the Fig & Olive in Washington DC’s City Center sickened more than 60 people in five states and the District of Columbia. Case patients were from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois and Alabama, health officials told Food Poisoning Bulletin today.

The outbreak, which began over Labor Day weekend, may have sickened as many as 150 people. Several people were so sick they required hospitalization.

The DC location was closed for six days for cleaning and staff training. When it reopened, two items were no longer on then menu, truffle fries and mushroom croquettes.

Fig & Olive operates several restaurants in NewYork, two in California, one in Chicago and one in Washington DC. Health officials in New York City, Chicago and Newport Beach, California told Food Poisoning Bulletin that no illnesses have been reported in association with Fig & Olive restaurants in those locations. But Salmonella illnesses were also reported in association with the California restaurant on Melrose Place in West Hollywood.

There are nine confirmed cases and three suspected. Of the confirmed cases,  six are patrons and three are employees. Truffle oil is a suspected food source in the California outbreak as well. Fig & Olive makes its own truffle oil.

 

Read More Here

 

 

Food Safety Report – Saturday September 8th, 2012

Food Safety

Poisons  In Our Food :  Recalls- Allergen Alert- Food Borne Illness

“Check With Phyllis” for Complete Mango Recall List

by News Desk

Food Safety News

Phyllis Entis is the author of “Food Safety: Old Habits, New Perspectives” and “Food Microbiology–The Laboratory”.

She has been a food safety microbiologist for 35 years, and has worked both in government and industry. She believes that everyone–government regulators, farmers and ranchers, food processors, food service workers, educators and consumers–has a responsibility to ensure that the food we eat is as safe as we can make it.

She is also kind of a Santa Claus for mango consumers.   She publishes eFoodAlert, where among other things she tracks the mango recall in a form that is most useful to consumers.

Mango consumers have every reason for concern because at least 105 people in 16 states and another 21 in Canada have been infected with Salmonella Braenderup in an outbreak that is associated with the fruit.

The government of Mexico claims nothing has been proven yet, but  Mexican-grown Daniella brand mangoes being imported to the U.S. by Burlingame, CA-based Splendid Products have been under a recall order for the past six days.

This has led to a confusing number of downstream recalls by distributors and fruit peddlers, with a long list of products containing mangoes that have also been recalled during the past few days.  One million mangoes have been recalled.

Most of these recalls have been reported by Food Safety News, but consumers wanting their mangoes all organized and in one place might well want to check with Phyllis on this list.

Organic Foods Not Safer  or More Nutritious than Conventionally Grown Foods

 By Linda Larsen

Food Poisoning  Bulletin

A new study conducted at Stanford Center for Health Policy and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine questions whether organically-grown foods are safer or more nutritious than conventionally produced foods. This systemic review, which extracts data from English-language studies, says no. Seventeen studies in human beings and 223 studies of nutrient and contaminant levels in foods were examined. There were no long-term studies of health outcomes among people eating organic versus conventionally raised foods.

Three of the human studies researched clinical outcomes; those found no difference between populations who ate organic foods and those who ate conventional foods for allergic reactions or Campylobacter infections. Two of the human studies found significantly lower pesticide levels in the urine in children, but found no “clinically meaningful” differences among adults.

Estimates of any differences in nutrient and contaminant levels were “highly heterogeneous” except conventionally grown foods had significantly higher phosphorus levels. The risk of pesticide residue contamination was lower among organic produce, as is to be expected, but there was little difference in the risk of exceeding maximum limits. In other words, even produce that had pesticide residue had levels that were below safety limits set by the EPA.

The risk of E. coli contamination was unrelated to the farming method. But the risk for ingesting antibiotic-resistant bacteria was higher in conventionally raised chicken and pork than in organically raised meats.

The requirements for organic certification can vary, but there are some common standards. For instance, foods with the organic certified label must be grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, processed without irradiation, not grown from genetically modified organisms. Farm animals used for food must be raised without antibiotics or growth hormones and given pesticide-free animal feed.

What does this mean for the consumer? If you want to buy organically raised produce and meat, you will consume fewer pesticides and lower your risk of ingesting antibiotic-resistant bacteria. But the nutritional profiles of both groups are the same. And organically grown and produced foods are not safer in terms of bacterial contamination. No matter where you buy your food or if you have conventionally raised or organically produced food, it must be handled correctly and cooked to a safe final internal temperature.

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The  Original Report  on the  study  can be  found   here

http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1355685

A Washington State report criticized the techniques used in this study, and it’s findings.

Mother Jones briefly touches on them

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/09/five-ways-stanford-study-underestimates-organic-food

And the Washington State University critique

http://organicfarms.wsu.edu/blog/devil-in-the-details/

http://www.tfrec.wsu.edu/pdfs/P2566.pdf

defensive chemicals produced naturally by plants…

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/05/27/understanding.plants.overactive.immune.system.will.help.mu.researchers.build.better.crops

http://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/v33.n31/story16.html

http://claylab.commons.yale.edu/research/

E. coli Outbreak In New York Expands

  By Carla Gillespie

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The source of an unusual E. coli outbreak that has sickened 10 people in the Finger Lakes region of New York since early August has yet to be identified, Joan Ellison, Livingston County’s director of public health told Food Poisoning Bulletin today.

Nine Livingston County residents and one person from Onondaga County have developed E. coli infections over the last month. Three of them had cases so severe that they were hospitalized, but have since been released. Lab tests that use a genetic “fingerprinting” method called pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)  have confirmed that eight of the cases patients were sickened by the same strain of  E.coli 0157:H7. Test results for two case patients from Livingston County are pending.

While public health authorities have been able to identify the outbreak strain, they have not yet been able to identify a specific source of the outbreak. “There is a thread that connects them, but not a rope that ties them all together,” Ellison said. “It’s really hard to say where it’s coming from.”

The outbreak began in early August with a cluster of seven cases in Livingston County. Then, last week, new cases popped up, including one in a second county. “It’s kind of odd that we’re adding them sporadically,” Ellison said.

Symptoms of an E. coli infection include vomiting, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps which  usually develop three to four days after exposure and last up to a week.  Those most at risk are young children, seniors, people who take antacids on a regular basis and anyone whose immune system is compromised. The victims of this outbreak range in age from 10 to 75.

Cured Meat Is In. But Is it Safe?

by Andy Frame

Food Safety News

Prosciutto, lardo, bresaola, capicola, guanciale and soppressata. The opposite of fast food, and literally slow to make, these meats are examples of charcuterie, or what are most commonly known as cured meats.

As the local, do-it-yourself food culture grows across the country, more chefs are getting into the meat curing business to cater to patrons who demand more sustainable and old-world preparation methods. The practice is still at the trendy stage for most Americans, but it is steeped in tradition around the world. People have been preserving meats with salt for thousands of years in order to make it safe in an unstable, non-refrigerated and uninspected environment.

Meanwhile, modern American food regulations – both federal guidelines and state and county health codes – can have very little application to these traditional methods.  Many states have regulations that strictly require meat to be cooked and stored at specific temperatures, while some states allow for restaurants to apply for a variance to serve products – like cured meats – that fall outside the  jurisdiction of standard rules.

Christopher Lee has been in the restaurant business for 30 years and making salumi for more than 20 years in Berkeley, Calif., first as a chef at Chez Panisse, then at his own restaurant Eccolo. Recently, Lee served as a restaurant consultant, most notably creating the safety plan for Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria in Manhattan.

Lee says his work as a consultant made him consider the food safety aspect of curing meat more than he had in the past.

“Now that I have seen people making it in their back room in their restaurant, I have become a lot more wary,” Lee said in an interview with Food Safety News. “[Chefs] need to find out local regulations. And that’s new to a lot of people. I think people are often scared to ask official agencies what they need to do because they think it will be elaborate and cost them a lot of money and a lot of headache. Where, in fact, it makes a lot more sense to do it from the beginning.”

A big hurdle for many restaurants is finding the proper space for their curing operations, an area where the proper temperature can be maintained and meats can be kept somewhat separate from other foods in the kitchen.

No matter a restaurant’s size, however, a chef has the same responsibility as a large-scale meat curing facility, says Dana Hanson, a meat extension specialist in the Food Science Department at North Carolina State University.

“The challenge is the same regardless of size,” Hanson told Food Safety News in an interview. “You still have to understand what issues there are and know what you have to do. Like any meat product that is intended to be consumed ready to eat, you are looking to control all pathogens.”

The main food safety considerations to take into account when curing meat are pH levels, water activity level and cross contamination, says Lee.

In its 2005 Meat and Poultry Hazards Control Guide, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) suggests that “meat pH should decline to 5.3 within an acceptable time temperature combination (temperature in degrees, time in hours).”

Water activity should remain low at all times during curing, and meat should be kept separate from other foods while curing so that it doesn’t come into contact with other raw product that may carry pathogens.

Without the proper training and equipment, a chef may not realize he or she is putting out an unsafe product.

“If you’re not going to spend $2,000 to buy the water activity meter, pay $100 to send [the meat] to a lab, find out what it is,” Lee said. “Do that a few times so you at least know what it looks and feels like at the right water activity level, and then go from there.”

The Risk

The process of salt curing works against bacteria due to the lack of water left in the meat after the salt is absorbed into it.

This process isn’t failsafe, though, as many pathogens are salt tolerant, and cured meats may not reach salt levels high enough to prevent bacteria growth.

According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, dried hams are particularly at risk for Trichinella, Staphylococcus and mold. Staphylococcus is salt tolerant, so proper food handling is vital to prevent these bacteria from growing.

Between 2002 and 2007, 66 cases of trichinellosis were reported to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All cases were linked to consumption of meat, and uncooked meat was the source of 5 of the 30 cases for which information was available.

Listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne bacterium that can cause severe illness in pregnant women and those with weak immune systems, has been found in fermented raw meat sausages. Listeria can grow in refrigerated foods, can be resistant to drying and is salt tolerant.

A 2006 study found Listeria in 22.7 percent of 1,020 salami samples tested for the bacterium.

In June of last year, 5,700 pounds of imported dry-cured ham were recalled because Listeria was found in a sample of the product.

Cured meats are also susceptible to Clostridium botulinum contamination. Botulism, the disease caused by infection with C. botulinum toxins, was originally named “sausage poisoning,” or “Wurstvergiftung,” when discovered in Germany, because the bacteria grow in oxygen-deprived environments such as sausage casings. Now the use of nitrates in the curing process is used to combat bacteria such as C. botulinum.

E. coli poses another potential threat to dry meat safety. Last year, Lebanon bologna, a cured, smoked, fermented semi-dry sausage, was linked to 14 cases of E. coli O157:H7 across the eastern part of the United States.

In 1999, an E. coli outbreak in British Columbia, Canada that sickened at least 143 people was linked to dry, fermented salami.

Avoiding Potentially Contaminated Charcuterie

Lee says there are some signs diners can look for to tell whether cured meats were prepared in a safe manner.

“There are certain things that I am not going to eat,” he says. “If something looks good and smells good and is made in a reasonable environment, I’m going to eat it. But if I have someone bring me something that is soft and moist and sticky on the outside and they’ve been drying it for seven months, and it’s the temperature of liverwurst, I’m not going to eat that, because I know what can go on in it.”

Large-scale meat facilities that produce cured meat are inspected and regulated by the USDA, and have a full-time inspector on-site, while restaurants are regulated by county health departments and inspected once a year.

Some may argue that the regulations don’t make sense for meat curers, but Hanson said this is the only way for the system to operate with restaurants given current inspection capacity.

“With thousands of restaurants across the country, the regulation has to be all-encompassing to a point, and it has to be easy to enforce,” Hanson said.

Without more frequent inspection of restaurants, the rules likely have to stay the way they are.

“Is there a risk involved with [cured meats]?  Yes,” Hanson said.  “Whether you can document what is going on with these products, by having careful oversight more than just one time a year, I don’t think it is a risk worth taking. There is too much variation in a lot of these operations to be able to give restaurants carte blanche to say ‘start making salami.”

In other words, the long process of making charcuterie is something that requires more regular surveillance, which is impossible under the current regulatory system.  If a restaurant owner applies for a variance in his or her county to be able to cure meats in-house, health departments cannot make an adequately informed decision without overseeing each particular chef’s techniques and facilities.

Lee, the expert in the kitchen, agrees, but adds that inspectors have more to learn as well.

“We’re in a problem area in some respects,” Lee said.  “We have reasonable comprehensible regulations that are pretty clear, but the people who are enforcing them don’t always know what they are looking at when they come in my facility and say, ‘What is prosciutto?'”

E. coli Outbreak at Saginaw Correctional Facility in Michigan

  By Linda Larsen

Food Poisoning Bulletin

John C. Cordell, Public Information Specialist with the Michigan Department of Corrections told Food Poisoning Bulletin that there is an outbreak of STEC, or Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, at the Saginaw Correctional Facility. The facility is quarantined with no prisoner transfers, no group programming or prisoner visitation.

So far, 89 prisoners and seven staff have been confirmed ill with the E. coli bacteria. Four prisoners have been hospitalized, but there are no cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome. The hospitalizations have been for dehydration.

Most cases occurred from August 27 to August 30, 2012. The outbreak may be over, since no cases were identified on September 3 or 4, 2012. The facility may be able to return to normal operations at the end of this week, since the incubation period for this type of bacteria is 3 to 10 days. The facility is also monitoring prisoners who transferred out of the prison to other correctional facilities in the days before the outbreak.

Public health officials are looking at all avenues of transmission, focusing on food and food preparation. The Saginaw County Health Department, the Michigan Department of Community Health, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture are assisting with the investigation.

Get Shiga toxin E. coli help here.

STEC bacteria produce Shiga toxins, which go into the bloodstream and destroy red blood cells, causing anemia. The toxins can target the kidneys, which causes hemolytic uremic syndrome that can destroy that organ. The central nervous system can also be affected by Shiga toxins.

Pet Hedgehogs Implicated in Salmonella Outbreak

by Gretchen Goetz

Food Safety News

At least 14 people have been sickened in a multistate Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak linked to contact with hedgehogs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first illnesses connected to this outbreak occurred in December of last year, but cases continued to crop up as recently as last month, according to CDC’s initial report, released Thursday. The latest recorded illness began on August 13, 2012. Any illnesses that began after that date may not yet have been counted due to the time delay between when a person falls ill and when that illness is reported (usually 2-3 weeks).

Illnesses occurred in 6 states, including Alabama (1), Indiana (1), Michigan (3), Minnesota (2), Ohio (2) and Washington (5).

A total of 3 victims have been hospitalized. None have died from their infections.

Ill persons have ranged in age from less than 1 year old to 62 years old, reports CDC. Half of the victims were 10 years old or younger.

Interviews with 10 infected individuals revealed that all had had contact with hedgehogs or hedgehog environments in the week preceding illness.

Patients reported purchasing hedgehogs from different breeders in different states.

Two environmental samples taken from places in people’s homes where hedgehogs lived or had been bathed tested positive for the outbreak strain of the bacteria.

Some of those interviewed reported contact with African Pygmy hedgehogs, but CDC has not definitively linked this breed to the outbreak.

“Investigations are ongoing to determine the type and source of hedgehogs that might be linked with illness.”

The strain of Salmonella Typhimurium linked to this outbreak is uncommon, says CDC.

“The outbreak strain has been rarely seen in the past,” notes the agency in its report.

Avoiding Infection

Salmonella are shed in animal feces, so droppings from infected hedgehogs can transfer the bacteria to their environment or to people handling them.

CDC urges those who have had contact with hedgehogs to wash hands immediately after touching these animals or anything in the environment where they live and roam.

Marlin and Swordfish Caught in Texas Waters May Pose Health Threat

by News Desk

Food Safety News

Blue marlin caught along the coast of Texas should no longer be consumed because mercury levels detected in these fish pose a danger to human health, warns the Texas Department of State Health Services.

TDSHS also cautioned future mothers and children not to eat swordfish from these waters.

Women past childbearing age and adult men are being advised to limit their intake to no more than two meals a month.  Women of childbearing age and children under 12 should not consume any swordfish caught in Texas coastal waters.

The advisory was issued after testing revealed that blue marlin and swordfish from the northwestern Gulf of Mexico contained mercury at concentrations that exceed DSHS health guidelines, which allow no more than 0.7 mg/kg.

The average levels found in blue marlin were 12.9 mg/kg, more than 18 times the DSHS guidelines. Levels detected in swordfish — 1.18 mg/k — were more than 1.6 times the recommended levels.

Regular or long-term consumption of blue marlin and swordfish from these waters may result in adverse health effects.



Mercury is a naturally occurring element that can also be a byproduct of human activity. If consumed regularly, it can cause harmful effects to the central nervous system, particularly in children including infants exposed before birth.

Symptoms of prolonged exposure include tingling of the skin, loss of coordination, visual and hearing impairment and slurred speech. 

While most recreational fishermen catch and release blue marlin and swordfish in the Gulf of Mexico, some fish is kept for personal consumption. Because of the large minimum catch size, any legally caught blue marlin will have high levels of mercury.

With increased recreational swordfish catches, anglers are eating more and larger swordfish that can have elevated mercury levels.

Previously, the state put out an advisory about eating king mackerel.

In that earlier advisory, Texas said king mackerel longer than 43 inches should not be consumed, and women of childbearing age and children under 12 should avoid eating any king mackerel longer than 37 inches.

King mackerel less than 37 inches in length are safe to eat on an unrestricted basis.

For figuring safety levels, 8 ounces of fish constitutes a meal.

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Recalls

Shake’Ems Seasoning Cups Recalled for Undeclared Milk

 By Linda Larsen

Food Poisoning Bulletin

Cutting Edge Concessions is recalling 0.5 ounce Shake’Ems seasoning cups distributed in movie theaters because they contain undeclared milk and the food dye red 40. Anyone with an allergy to those ingredients could have a serious or life-threatening reaction if they consume the product.

The cups were distributed in Arkansas, California, Colorado, and Tennessee. The product is in a 0.5 ounce plastic cup in flavors White Cheddar, Nacho Cheddar, Ranch, Cinnamon Sugar, and Parmesan Garlic. No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with the consumption of these products.

The problem was caused by a temporary breakdown in the company’s labeling process. Production is suspended until the FDA and the company are sure the problem has been corrected. You can return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund. For questions, call 952-237-1551 Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm ET.

Organic Pastures Raw Milk Recalled Ater Campylobacter Turns Up In Tests

 By Carla Gillespie

Food Poisoning Bulletin

A raw milk recall for products produced by Organic Pastures Dairy of Fresno County and a quarantine order has been announced after Campylobacter was detected  during routine testing,  California State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones. has announced. No illnesses have been reported in conjunction with this recall.

The recalled products include Grade A raw cream, Grade A raw milk and Grade A raw skim milk, all with a labeled code date of SEP 13. Retailers must immediately pull these products from store shelves and consumers are strongly urged to dispose of any product they might have purchased.

Inspectors from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) found the bacteria in a sample of raw cream during routine testing conducted as part of routine inspection and sample collection at the facility.  In May, raw milk from Organic Pastures was recalled after it was linked to a Campylobacter outbreak that sickened 10 people. At that time, Campylobacter was also detected in a sample of raw cream. Of the 10 people sickened, six were under the age of 18.

Symptoms of a Campylobacter infection, called campylobacteriosis ,include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever which usually develop two to five  days after exposure and last about a week. The infection can be serious or even life-threatening for some people. Those most at risk include children, seniors and people who have compromised immune systems. In some cases, campylobacteriosis can  trigger the development of a rare disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome, which causes weakness and paralysis that occurs several weeks after the initial illness.

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Articles of Interest

Consumer Group Wants USDA To Reject “Agent Orange” Soy

 By Carla Gillespie

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The Center For Food Safety (CFFS) wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reject Dow Chemical’s request that a genetically modified soybean  that is resistant to a major component in Agent Orange be approved for use. The group is circulating a petition to show the agency that consumers resist the move.

Agent Orange is the chemical defoliant used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Health concerns about exposure  to it are still being explored but include increased risk of some types of cancer and birth defects in offspring of those exposed. Dow’s genetically engineered soybean is resistant to 2,4-D ,  a component of Agent Orange.

CFFS is concerned that approval of the soybean will lead to a greenlighting of approval for similarly engineered crops, harm wildlife and expose millions of Americans to a toxic chemical. According ot the petition, “Dow plans to sell this GE 2-4,D soy “stacked” with resistance to glyphosate—the active ingredient in Roundup—and glufosinate herbicides, yet neither Dow nor USDA has analyzed the potential synergistic or cumulative impacts that these planned combinations pose. Glufosinate has both reproductive and neurological toxicity to mammals, and on this basis is slated to be banned in the EU by 2017. ”

CFFS is a non-profit organization that challenges food production technologies and  practices it considers harmful and promotes sustainable alternatives. It is based in Washington, D.C..

COOL Act Moves to U.S. District Court in Denver

by Dan Flynn

Food Safety News

An act that would require meat, chicken and fish to be sold with a label indicating their country of origin has made its way to district court after being struck down by the World Trade Organization.

The U.S. Country of Origin Labeling Act, also known as the “COOL Act,” which was found by WTO to be in violation of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, should continue to be enforced in the United States, say COOL Act advocates.

Proponents of the Act have teamed up to ask the U.S. District Court in Denver to overrule the WTO decision that struck down the COOL Act. Plaintiffs in the action against the U.S. government and WTO are USA Foundation, Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund-United Stockgrowers Association (R-CALF) and a meat and vegetable distributor that goes by the name Melonhead.

Previously, the USA Foundation promoted the protection of domestic car and truck content and American craft designers.

The COOL Act requires meat, chicken and fish to be labeled so that consumers can tell the country of origin for those products. First adopted in 2002, COOL was never popular with U.S. neighbors and WTO appeals were eventually filed by Mexico and Canada.

A WTO panel consisting of representatives from Portugal, Pakistan and Switzerland found that COOL violates Tariffs and Trade because it imposes discriminatory burdens or barriers to Mexico and Canada.

Billings, MT-based R-CALF, however, does not see it that way. The cattlemen say they don’t see it as “a barrier to trade of any kind.” Instead, they say it fulfills a overwhelming consumer demand for information.

“Consumers could choose not to buy raspberries from Guatemala because of a bacterial problem there, or could refuse to buy Canadian beef because of a Mad Cow disease problem there,”
 R-CALF says.

They also say the Uruguay trade and tariff agreement, signed into law by President Clinton in 1994, states that U.S. law prevails in any trade conflict between the U.S. and other countries.

They point to Section 102(a)(1) of the Uruguay Round, which states, “No provision of any of the Uruguay Round Agreement, nor the application of any such provision to any person or circumstance, that is inconsistent with any law of the United States shall have effect.”

R-CALF says the WTO ruling was an attempt to intimidate the U.S., and harms American cattlemen because it means consumers may confuse foreign meat for domestic products.

Specifically named defendants in the lawsuit include U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

Vilsack and Kirk are accused of failing to protect and preserve U.S. sovereignty and exceeding their authority because, the plaintiffs say, they had “no legal right to amend or contravene this law by regulations or negotiations.”

The plaintiffs want a federal judge to order the trade representatives to cease and desist from negotiating with Canada and Mexico an amended and “watered-down” COOL, and they want the Secretary of Agriculture ordered to do his “legal duty.”

R-CALF is the second largest organization of U.S. cattlemen after the Denver-based National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. NCBA views COOL as a marketing issue — not a food safety issue — to be worked out with the USA’s top two trading partners who together account for 59 percent of beef exports.

Mike Schultz, who chairs R-CALF’s COOL Committee, says the organization filed the lawsuit in order to “protect and preserve the right of all Americans to know the origins of their food.”

“For nearly eight years, the multinational meatpackers, the governments of Canada and Mexico, and even the U.S. Department of Agriculture fought to prevent U.S. citizens from knowing the origins of their food by vigorously opposing the implementation of the 2002 COOL law.

“But we cattle producers joined with consumers in that long battle and we finally prevailed.  COOL went into effect in March of 2009.  But, the governments of Canada and Mexico persisted and filed a complaint at the WTO, essentially asserting that U.S. citizens do not need to know where their food, particularly their meat from livestock, was born, raised and slaughtered.

“As U.S. citizens, we never gave up our right to continue governing ourselves under our U.S. Constitution, and we certainly didn’t grant the WTO authority to undermine our domestic laws.  This lawsuit is necessary to force this Administration to stand up and defend our U.S. sovereignty by disavowing any authority the WTO claims over our nation’s ability to pass beneficial laws for U.S. citizens.”

Chicago Public Health Inspector Who Took Bribes Heads To Prison

 By Carla Gillespie

Food Poisoning Bulletin

A retired Chicago public health inspector who took almost $100,000 in bribes was sentenced to two and half years in federal prison last week. Maryanne Koll who taught food service sanitation classes and administered state certifications is alleged to have accepted at least $96,930 in bribes in exchange for fraudulently arranging to provide 531 people with certifications as food sanitation managers.

Koll, 69, who operated Kollmar Food Safety Institute from her home in Burr Ridge, Ill., was convicted of one count of bribery conspiracy in federal court in September 2011. U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber sentenced her to 30 months in prison and ordered her to begin serving the sentence on Dec. 31, 2012.

llinois state law requires that all food service establishments have someone on site who s certified as a food service sanitation manager. The coursework for this certification includes 15 hours of training on various topics including  foodborne illnesses, time/temperature relationships, personal hygiene, pest control and prevention of food contamination.

From 1995 to 2007, Koll was authorized by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to teach the state-approved coursework and to administer the certification exams. During that time, she certified individuals who had not taken the coursework or passed the exams in exchange in exchange for cash bribes.

Food safety education and training is one of the most important ways to reduce foodborne illness. Every year, one sixth of all Americans are sickened by foodborne pathogens incurring $365 million in direct medical costs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

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Food Safety Report – Monday September 3rd, 2012

Food Safety

Cantaloupe Salmonella Outbreak Hits Illinois Hard

Food Poisoning Bulletin

 By Carla Gillespie

Illinois has been hard hit by the cantaloupe Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 204 people in 22 states, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Illinois residents account for about 12 percent of all reported cases nationwide. So far, 24 people from 11 counties in that state have confirmed cases of Salmonella poisoning. And at least eight of them had cases so severe that they needed to be hospitalized.

The tainted cantaloupes were grown on Chamberlain Farms Produce, Inc. of Owensville, Indiana and were distributed throughout the country. Retailers who reported removing cantaloupes from their shelves include Walmart, Krogers, Schnucks, Meijer and Marsh.

“Illinois consumers should check for and ask about the origin of recently purchased cantaloupe, and discard any cantaloupe grown in southwestern Indiana,” said Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. “Anyone who becomes ill after eating cantaloupes grown in southwestern Indiana should seek medical attention immediately.”

Symptoms of a Salmonella infection include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps developing 12 to 72 hours after exposure and lasting up to seven days. For some people, the diarrhea may be so severe that hospitalization is required. Those most at risk include older adults, infants, and those with impaired immune systems. Infections that travel from the GI tract to the bloodstream can be fatal id they are not treated quickly with antibiotics. In this outbreak 78 people have been hospitalized, and two people from Kentucky have died.

Get Salmonella help here.

Case counts by state are as follows: Alabama (13), Arkansas (5), California (2), Florida (1), Georgia (4), Illinois (24), Indiana (22), Iowa (8), Kentucky (63), Massachusetts (2), Michigan (6), Minnesota (5), Mississippi (5), Missouri (13), New Jersey (2), North Carolina (5), Ohio (5), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (3), Tennessee (8), Texas (2), and Wisconsin (4).

Swine Flu Kills 61-Year-Old Ohio Woman

Not transmissible to people through eating properly cooked pork

Food Safety News

by News Desk

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Friday announced the nation’s first known H3N2v-associated (swine flu) death.

Testing involving a 61-year-old Madison County woman at the Ohio Department of Health Laboratory confirmed that the individual had been infected with the H3N2v influenza virus.

The patient had multiple other underlying medical conditions, but the influenza virus may have contributed to the death.

The deceased woman is known to have had direct contact with swine at the Ross County fair before becoming ill.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main risk factor for infection is direct exposure to swine. CDC points out that the virus does not spread easily from person-to-person, but limited human-to-human infection has occurred.

Swine influenza has not been shown to be transmissible to people through eating properly handled and prepared pork (pig meat) or other products derived from pigs, according to CDC.

 “H3N2v, like many other viruses, has the greatest potential to impact those with weakened immune systems,” said Dr. Ted Wymyslo, Director of ODH. “We have been seeing a mild illness in most individuals infected with the H3N2v virus, so there’s no need for alarm. However, it is important for those at-risk individuals to take extra precautions like avoiding swine exhibits to protect themselves.”

Ohio is currently reporting 102 cases of H3N2v statewide. Those with confirmed cases of H3N2v are between the ages of 6 months and 61 years old. Most ill individuals have recovered on their own or were treated and released after a short stay in the hospital.

At this time, surveillance indicates that the individuals most likely became ill with the flu virus after exposure to swine. At-risk individuals (children younger than 5 years old, people 65 years and older, pregnant women, and people with certain chronic conditions such as asthma and other lung diseases, diabetes, heart disease, weakened immune system, and neurologic or neurodevelopmental disorders) should avoid exposure to pigs and swine barns during this fair season.

Those attending fairs should remember:

– Wash your hands frequently with soap and running water before and after exposure to animals;

– Never eat, drink or put things in your mouth in animal areas, and don’t take food or drink into animal areas;

– Leave baby strollers parked outside of areas with pigs;

– Young children, pregnant women, people 65 and older and people with weakened immune systems should be extra careful around animals;

– If you have animals – including swine – watch them for signs of illness and call a veterinarian if you suspect they might be sick;

– Avoid close contact with animals that look or act ill, when possible;

– Avoid contact with swine if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms.

If you are sick:

– If you are at high risk and you get flu symptoms, call a health care provider. Tell them about your risk factor, other medical conditions and your flu symptoms. If you have recently been exposed to swine, tell them about that too.

– If you are not at high risk and you get flu symptoms after exposure to pigs, seek medical care as you normally would.

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Recalls

World Foods Recalls Winn-Dixie Products Made with Recalled Daniella Mangoes

Food Poisoning Bulletin

  By Linda Larsen

World Foods is recalling products it distributes to retail supermarkets that contain Daniella mangoes recalled by Splendid Products. The mangoes may be contaminated with Salmonella Braenderup that are linked to a nationwide outbreak. The products were distributed to stores in central and south Florida.

The recalled products include: Garden Highway Tropical Salsa in 11 ounce packages, with UPC code 8.26766-42210.4 and code dates 8/31/2012 and 9/1/2012. Generic/Winn Dixie Stores brand Fresh Island Medley in 1 pound pack, with UPC number 0.21140-01696.6 and code dates 8/30/2012 and 8/31/2012. Also recalled are Generic/Winn-Dixie Stores brand Fresh Fruit Burst Bowl in 1 pound pack, with UPC number 0.21140-01701.7 and code dates 8/30/2012 and 8/31/2012. And finally, Generic/Winn-Dixie Stores brand Fresh Fruit Burst Bowl in 1.5 pound pack is recalled, with UPC number 0.21140-01707.9 and code dates 8/30/2012 and 8/31/2012.

All affected products have a plant code P-009 on the label next to the UPC bar code. No other World Foods LLC products or code dates are affected by this recall. If you have purchased these products, discard them. For questions, call the company at 1-407-851-4504 Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm ET.

Hannaford Recalls Mango Products for Possible Salmonella

Food Poisoning Bulletin

 By Linda Larsen

Hannaford Bros. Co. is recalling several products made with recalled Daniella mangoes. The fruit may be contaminated with Salmonella Braenderup and may be linked to a nationwide outbreak that has sickened 105 people in 16 states.

Hannaford Mango Spears in 16 ounce packages with Sell by date of August 28, 2012 are recalled. In addition, Hannaford Fruit Burst in 10 ounce, 20 ounce, and 4-pound packages, with Sell by date of August 28, 2012 is recalled. And finally, Hannaford Tropical Medley in 16 ounce packages, with Sell by date of August 28, 2012 is recalled.

The store has also removed Daniella brand mangoes with PLU #4051 from its stores as part of a larger recall by Splendid Products. Do not eat these products if you have purchased them. Return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Or dispose of the product in a sealed container and bring the receipt or sticker back to the store for a refund.

EphBurn Dietary Supplement Recalled for Ephedrine Alkaloids

Food Poisoning Bulletin

 By Kathy Will

Brand new Energy re-sale distributor is recalling all lot codes of EphBurn 25. The FDA has notified them that one lot of EphBurn 25 was sampled and found to contain ephedrine alkaloids, making it an unapproved drug.

Ephedrine is a stimulant, appetite suppressant, concentration aid, and decongestant. Adverse effects of this drug include elevated blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, nerve damage, muscle injury, psychosis, and memory loss. More serious side effects include heart attack, stroke, seizure, and death. But there have been no reports of adverse events associated with the consumption of this product.

The recall affects all lot codes and use-by dates of EphBurn 25. The product is a 90-count bottle with red capsules. It displays the product name “ephBURN 25″ in white letters on a red label. There is no UPC code. EphBurn 25 was discontinued on or about May 2012.

If you have purchased this product, immediately discontinue use. Contact your healthcare provider if you have experienced any problems. Report adverse side effects at Medwatch. For questions, call 1-888-234-2595 from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm PT.

Klement Bratwurst Patties Recalled for Foreign Materials

Food Poisoning Bulletin

 By Linda Larsen

Klement Sausage Company of Wisconsin is recalling about 2,920 pounds of frozen bratwurst patties because they may contain pieces of ap lstic pen. The product is 10-pound cases containing 4-ounce patties of Klement Sausage Co. Bratwurst Patty.

The products were produced on July 6, 2012. The packages have the establishment number “EST. 2426B” in the USDA mark of inspection. Each case label has the batch number “21097″. The products were distributed for foodservice use in Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

The problem was discovered when food preparation personnel discovered the foreign matter while cooking the product. There have been no reports of injury or illness associated with the consumption of this product. If you have questions, call Jeff Klement, the company’s vice president of special products, at 414-744-2330 extenion 244.

Stop & Shop Recalls Splendid Products LLC Daniella Mangoes

Food Poisoning Bulletin

 By Linda Larsen

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC is recalling Daniella mangoes it received from Splendid Products for possible Salmonella Braenderup contamination. The mangoes were purchased between July 12, 2012 and August 24, 2012. The mangoes have PLU #4959.

Stop & Shop says it is aware of illnesses reported in Canada and associated with this recall. If you have purchased this product, discard it and bring the receipt to Stop & Shop for a full refund. You can call Stop & Shop Customer Service at 800-767-7772 Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm for more information. Stop & Shop stores are located in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York, and New Jersey.

These mangoes may be linked to a nationwide outbreak of Salmonella Braenderup that has sickened 105 people in 16 states. The FDA and CDC are still investigating this outbreak and they may announce other products linked to the outbreak.

BI-LO Recalls Daniella Brand Mangoes for Salmonella Braenderup

  By Linda Larsen

BI-LO is recalling whole Daniella brand mangoes for possible Salmonella Braenderup contamination. The mangoes, imported from Mexico, were sold in stores between July 12, 2012 and August 27, 2012. The fruit was sold as individual fruit and can be identified by the Daniella brand sticker and UPC number 0-00000-04051.

The recall is for fruit sold in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The company has received no reports of illness associated with this product, but the mangoes are linked to a nationwide outbreak that has sickened 105 people in 16 states. Do not eat the mangoes; discard them, or return to BI-LO for a refund. You must have proof of purchase to receive a refund.

For questions, call BI-LO customer relations department at 1-800-862-9293. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm and Saturday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm ET. If you have purchased mangoes that do not have a sticker, consult the store to find out where they came from.

Ready Pac Recalls Package Fruit With Daniella Brand Mangoes

Food Safety News

by News Desk

Irwindale, CA-based Ready Pac Foods Inc. Saturday recalled about 30 package fruit products containing mangoes, distributed through Aug. 30, 2012, for potential Salmonella Braenderup contamination.

The package fruit products contain Daniella Brand mangoes previously recalled by Splendid Products, the supplier.

The Ready Pac  recall is part of an ongoing food safety investigation in the United States and Canada.

There have been several confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of Daniella brand mangoes contained in the Ready Pac fruit products.

The Ready Pac Foods fruit products were distributed in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Washington D.C., Florida,

Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Canada.

Consumers who may have purchased the products should check the Ready Pac website for a complete list of products, use-by dates, and UPC codes.

Ready Pac is asking retailers to check their inventories and store shelves to confirm that none of the products are present or available for purchase by consumers or in warehouse inventories.

Customer service representatives are contacting all the retail stores impacted and are in the process of confirming that the recalled products are not in the stream of commerce.

Consumers with questions may contact Ready Pac  at 1-800-800-7822 M-F 8am-pm PDT.

More Mexican Mangoes Recalled By A Northeast Distributor

Food Safety News

by News Desk

More Mexican grown mangoes have been recalled, this time by New Jersey’s F&S Produce Co. Inc., which distributes in the Northeast U.S.

The company recalled products containing fresh cut mangoes for possible Salmonella Braenderup contamination. Several brand names, some familiar, are involved. F&S said the recalled products have an expiration date of Aug. 28.

The F&S recall is part of an ongoing food safety investigation by both the United States and Canada.

There have been more than 100 confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of Daniella brand mangoes from Mexico.  None of the illnesses have yet been connected to F&S products.

Five lots of Daniella brand mangoes have been recalled in the U.S. and Canada while officials in the two counties try to pin point the problem.  No deaths have yet been connected to the outbreak.

F&S said its products with mangoes that fall under the various recalls were distributed to grocery and convenience stores in the Northeast and were processed between  Aug. 9 and 19.  F&S switched to using mangoes from Brazil for packages with use or sell-by dates on or after Aug. 29.

The company has asked retailers to remove the recalled products from store shelves. The F&S recalled products by label, all with an expiration date of Aug. 28, unless otherwise noted include:

-Delish!: Mango Spears 5 ounce Cantaloupe; Mango, Pineapple Spears 5 ounce; Fruit Burst 10 ounce; Tropical Medley 10 ounce; Mango and Berry Mix 10 ounce; Mango Spears 1 lb.

-Garden Highway: Mango Medley 1 lb.; Tropical Mango Spinach Salad 7 ounce.

-Garden Pure: Mango Chunks 5 lb.; Mango 9 ounce ; Fruit Medley 3 lb.; Seasonal Fruit Bowl 4 lb.

-Signature Café: Fruit Basket Medley 30 ounce.

-Trader Joe’s: Tropical Fruit Medley 1 lb.

-Signature Café: Fruit Basket Medley 30 ounce.

-Generic Label, sold at Wal-Mart (expiration date Aug. 25): Mango Spears 1 lb.

In Canada, Glatt’s Ground Beef and Veal Recalled for E. coli 0157:H7

 By Linda Larsen

The CFIA and Continental Strictly Kosher Meat, Poultry and Delicatessen Products are recalling ground beef and ground veal products because they may be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7. The following Glatt’s brand products are being recalled: lean ground veal, lean ground beef, medium ground beef, and medium ground beef club pack.

You can see where these products were sold at the CFIA web site. You can also see label photos at that web site. If you have purchased these products, discard them. Please check your home freezers to see if you have the products. And if you’re not sure if you purchased these products or not, check with your retailer.

There have not been any confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these products. For more information, call Continental at 514-522-1196, or the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342.

Soybean Sprouts and Tofu Recalled For Listeria

Food Safety News

by News Desk

Newark, NJ-based Manna Organics, Inc. on Sunday recalled various soybean sprouts and tofu products listed because they have the potential to be contaminated with potentially deadly Listeria monocytogenes.

No illnesses have yet been associated with the recall.

Manna Organics became concerned about possible contamination after random testing by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets discovered Listeria in a 16 oz. package of of SOONYEOWON SOYBEAN SPROUTS.

Not known is whether New York’s testing was done under USDA’s 11-year old  Microbiological Data Program (MDP), which the Obama Administration is ending at the end of this growing season at the behest of the produce industry, or whether it was done on the state’s own nickel.

The company has suspended production while it investigates the problem with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Consumers who have purchased any of the items listed are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-862-267-3400. Hours of operation are 9 AM to 5 PM EST, Monday through Friday.

The recalled products were distributed to various restaurants, retailers, and distributors in NY, NJ, PA, MA, VA, MD, CT, GA, IL, and TX on or after July 17, 2012.

The Jinga Firm and Soft, SooNyeoWon Firm and Soft Tofu are packaged in a square 16-ounce white plastic container with the label sealed on top with UPC Codes: 0 28346 09112 4, 0 28346 09111 7, 0 28346 07812 5 and 0 28346 07814 9. Expiration date of September 9, 2012 or later is printed in black on top of the label.

The 5 pieces and 10 pieces tofu are packaged in a white plastic bucket. The 5 pieces and 10 pieces are lidded and labeled in Korean “Healthy Tofu” with UPC Codes 0 28346 09125 4 and 0 28346 09129 2. Affected products have an expiration date of July 25, 2012 or later.

The Soy Milk is packaged in a 1.3 gallon white plastic pail.

The Large Tofu Bucket(30 pieces), Soon tofu, and Small Tofu are packaged in a large, white plastic pail enclosed in a plastic bag labeled TOFU with the company name, address, and nutritional information listed directly below. Affected products have an expiration date of July 25, 2012 or later.

SooNyeoWon Silken Tofu is packaged in a small 14-ounce square plastic container with the label sealed on top. It has a UPC Code of 0 28346 09113 1. There is an expiration date printed in black on top of the label. Affected products have an expiration date of September 9, 2012 or later.

The Soybean Sprouts 16-ounce products come in a clear plastic sealed bag colored in red or green with the labels SOONYEOWON SOYBEAN SPROUTS or SOONYEOWON HEALTHY SOYBEAN SPROUTS with UPC Codes 0 28346 07121 8 and 0 28346 07140 9. The Soybean Sprouts 10lbs. and 5 lbs. bags come in a clear hand tied plastic poly bag labeled SPROUTS with the company info directly beneath it.

See the attached table for more information.

Recall of Sea Salt Product For Not Listing Milk As Allergen

Food SafetyNews

by News Desk

The San Francisco-based Somersault Snack Co., LLC has recalled some of its Somersaults Pacific Sea Salt (6 oz.) for a packaging mistake.

“Limited quantities of Somersaults Santa Fe Salsa flavored product were inadvertently commingled with Somersaults Pacific Sea Salt flavored product in packages labeled as Somersaults Pacific Sea Salt,” the snack firm said.

“The inadvertent commingling of these two products introduced another allergen (milk) to the Somersaults Pacific Sea Salt (6oz). packages, and that allergen (milk) is not listed on the packaging as either an ingredient or an allergen.

The sell-by date and UPC number on the product is: MAR1113 G6 / UPC Product Code: 8-98403-00201-7.   The Sell By Date is located on the back of the package, in the middle, above the sunflower graphics,
and the UPC Product Code is located below the UPC bar code.

People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk run the risk of an allergic reaction if they consume the affected product. The product was distributed to retail stores nationwide. No allergic reactions have been reported.

Somersault Snack Co. has taken the precautionary measure of notifying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is voluntarily recalling approximately 418 cases of the product shown.

Somersault Snack Co. will work with retail customers to ensure that the recalled products are removed from store shelves.

In the event that consumers believe they have purchased products affected by this voluntary recall, they should return the product to the store where it was purchased for a full refund. Consumers or customers with questions may call 415-275-1247 for more information.

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Articles of Interest

Consumer Groups Sue Obama Administration Over Stalled FSMA Regulations

Food Poisoning Bulletin

 By Linda Larsen

Two consumer groups have sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the delay in implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Four critical regulations have been delayed at OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for more than eight months, making the Act “unlawfully delayed for more than a year and a half,” according to the complaint.

FSMA was signed into law in January 2011, but the FDA has failed to put seven food safety regulations into effect. The lawsuit was filed in Federal Court on Thursday, August 30, 2012 by the Center for Environmental Health and the Center for Food Safety. Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety, said in a statement, “if the Obama administration has lost the political will to make FSMA a reality, we’re here to help them find it. It’s a disgrace that a crucial, lifesaving law sits idle while the bureaucracies of FDA and OMB grind along without a hint of results.”

FSMA was established to update the food safety laws in the United States. The FDA was given the power to require preventive controls in the food supply, to inspect food producers, and ensure imported foods meet U.S. safety standards. Meanwhile, two major outbreaks linked to imported foods have occurred this year. The Salmonella Bareilly outbreak in tuna imported from India, and the Salmonella Braenderup outbreak in Mexican mangoes, have sickened hundreds of Americans.

This is not the first time groups have pressured the White House to release the delayed rules. In April 2012, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) called on the White House to implement the regulations. And in March 2012, the Consumer Federation of America urged the Obama administration to release the proposals.

The lawsuit seeks a court order to impose a deadline to require the FDA to enact FSMA regulations and prevents the OMB from delaying the FDA’s compliance. Charles Margulis, Food Program Director at Center for Environmental Health said, “this unreasonable and dangerous political food-dragging on FSMA has to stop now. While illness outbreaks continue and Americans question the health and safety of their food supply, FDA issues excuses instead of new regulations.”

Food Safety Was Never at Risk at Central Valley Meat

by News Desk

Food safety was never at risk at Central Valley Meat, which was shut down for a week for inhumane treatment of animals.

But USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has concluded that no downer cows entered the food supply, meaning incidents of inhumane treatment did not result in any food safety violations.

The Hanford, CA slaughterhouse was subjected to an undercover video sting by an animal rights group that produced disturbing footage of inhumane treatment of animals at the plant.

It brought potentially devastating losses to Central Valley Meat, with customers including USDA, Costco, McDonald’s and In-N-Out Burger.

But the concern about downer cattle entering the food supply is apparently unfounded.

“The USDA team conducting the Central Valley Meat investigation has concluded there is no evidence to support the allegation that a downer cow was slaughtered and entered the food supply, and that no food safety violation occurred as a result,” FSIS Administrator Al Almanza told Meatingplace, the industry news service.

Central Valley Meat said it is ready to resume full operations. It reopened with more video surveillance cameras installed, more training for those employees stunning animals and tighter rules for handling animals that become non-ambulatory while in transit from farm to plant.

FSIS took what it said was “aggressive action” to investigate the incident involving “evidence of inhumane treatment of cattle.” The agency received a copy of the undercover video from the animal right groups that took it.

With no downer cows entering the food supply, USDA did not demand the recall of any meat.  By comparison, the 2008 animal cruelty investigation at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. in Chino, CA brought the one of the largest recalls in history — 143 million pounds of beef — because downer cows has entered the food supply.

Valley Meat Packing Co. did, at least temporarily, lose the business of Costco, In-N-Out Burgers, McDonald’s and USDA. In reopening the company said it was going to improve monitoring and deploy more third-party audits of its operations.

Grand Jury Indicts Meat Company Owners in Nebraska

Food Safety News

by News Desk

A federal grand jury in Nebraska has indicted Paul Rosberg, 61, and Kelly Rosberg, 44,  on six counts stemming from the sale of misbranded and/or non-inspected meat and meat products to  Omaha Public Schools.  Both men are from Wausa, NE.

If convicted, each man could be sentenced to 3 to 5 years in federal prison, and fined from $10,000 to $250,000 on each of the six counts along with requirements that any release be supervised and fees paid.

Count one charges the pair with conspiracy with the intent to defraud.   The second count charges Kelly  Rosberg with selling 2,600 pounds of ground beef that was labeled as inspected by the USDA when it was not.

Count three charges both men with selling on or about Sept. 19, 2011 ground beef that was not inspected by USDA.  In other words, the indictment is for both the mislabeling ground beef as inspected when it was not and for actually selling beef outside the required USDA inspection.

The fourth count against both men is for representing the 2,600 pounds of beet was USDA inspected,   Counts  five and six are against Paul Rosberg for making a false statements on or about Nov. 3, 2011 to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Deborah Gilg, U.S. District Attorney for Nebraska, announced the indictments.

The pair were caught by a joint investigation of USDA’s Office of Program Evaluation, Enforcement and Review (OPEER) and the Inspector General (IG).

Information development by investigators led to the issuance of a search warrant  for Nebraska’s Finest Meats, which led to the confiscation of records, labels, equipment and other evidence in the case.

Nebraska’s Finest Meats has suspended operations.

Omaha Public Schools, with about 50,000 K-12 students, are Nebraska’s largest.

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Food Safety Report – Sunday August 26th, 2012

Food Safety

Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Cantaloupes Extends to West Virginia

by News Desk

WV man hospitalized; 3 more ill in MO

Four more cases of Salmonella, including the first case in West Virginia, have been reported as part of a growing outbreak linked to cantaloupes from a farm in southwestern Indiana.

Missouri has increased its victim count from the 9 it originally reported to 12, reported the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, while West Virginia counted its first case — a 47-year-old man who was hospitalized for 6 days at the end of July.

These new developments bring the total number of cases up from 141 in 20 states, as reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its initial update, to 145 in 21 states.

Neither CDC nor the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have updated their outbreak reports to reflect these new numbers.

The Missouri Department of Health says it is conducting interviews with victims. So far, at least 3 reported eating cantaloupes before becoming ill.

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department in West Virginia is investigating the illness in that state, which occurred in Kanawha County. The Department warns that other people may still be at risk for infection.

“We want to make sure to put the word out to individuals because there’s still the chance they could still be in trouble,” said Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of K-CHD Monday, according to NY Daily News.

And that advice extends nationwide. Anyone who purchased cantaloupe grown in southwestern Indiana should discard them and not consume them. Many large retailers have taken cantaloupes grown in this reason off of store shelves.

Health officials are refraining from naming the farm whose cantaloupes have been implicated in this outbreak until they can confirm that the farm is the source.

See Food Safety News‘ coverage of advice from experts on cantaloupe safety for information on how to avoid foodborne illness from cantaloupes in light of both this outbreak and a recent recall of melons from North Carolina due to potential Listeria contamination.

Symptoms of Salmonella infection include fever, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, headache and body aches.

If you think you may have contracted a Salmonella infection, contact your healthcare provider.

USDA Bought 21 Million Pounds of Beef Last Year from Slaughterhouse Now Closed for Animal Abuse

by Helena Bottemiller

Purchases from Central Valley Meat Co. were worth nearly $50 million in 2011

The U.S. Department of Agriculture purchased 21.2 million pounds of beef last year from Central Valley Meat, the plant shut down this week for inhumane treatment of cows. The beef went to federal nutrition programs like the National School Lunch Program, according to department records.

Though undercover video shows egregious mistreatment of spent dairy cows at the company’s slaughterhouse, some of which appear lame or injured, USDA said Wednesday there is so far no evidence that so-called “downer” animals — those who can no longer walk — were slaughtered for human consumption. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s investigation is ongoing.

As recently as 2009, Central Valley Meat was one of the top three suppliers of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program, but USDA has so far not responded to questions about current contracts with the company.

Records posted on USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service website show that between October 2010 and September 2011, the USDA purchased 21.2 million pounds of various beef products, including ground beef and boneless beef, from Central Valley Meat. Five separate purchases, ranging from 40,000 pounds to 6.9 million pounds, were made for a total of $49.7 million.

According to the overview of purchases, the USDA purchased around 135 million pounds of beef products during the fiscal year. Purchases from Central Valley Meat accounted for roughly 16 percent of beef purchases by volume during that time.

A graphic excerpt of the video, which animal rights group Compassion Over Killing says was shot by an undercover worker at Central Valley Meat, shows cows before slaughter covered in dirt and feces, some writhing on the ground and bleeding on themselves after being bolted several times but not rendered senseless. Several cows are shown projectile vomiting, presumably from stress, while being hit repeatedly with the bolt gun.

One cow is shown being suffocated by a worker who stands on the animal’s snout. Some cows seem to survive the bolt gun and get sent down the assembly line still thrashing as they are strung upside down before being bled out. Another clip shows cows being sprayed with hot water and electrically prodded to move them.

Shortly after learning about the video, popular fast food chain In-N-out Burger announced they had severed ties with the company, which had previously been supplying between 20 and 30 percent of the chain’s beef.

Renowned animal welfare expert Temple Grandin issued a statement Wednesday condemning certain practices featured in the video, but also questioned why some of the sick cows were not euthanized instead of being shipped to a slaughter facility.

“Some of the major issues in the video originate due to the poor condition of the animals arriving at the plant, many of which should have been euthanized on the farm,” said Grandin. “I urge the dairy industry to market their cows before they become weak and extremely debilitated.”

Central Valley Meat Co responded Monday by saying that it was cooperating fully with the USDA investigation.

“At Central Valley Meat Co., ensuring that the livestock we process are treated humanely is critically important,” said Brian Coelho, president of the company, in a statement. “Our company seeks not just to meet federal humane handling regulations, but to exceed them.”

Coelho said he was “extremely disturbed” to be told by USDA of the allegations, but the company has not yet commented on the contents of the video.

Update:

“Beef purchases from this company have been suspended during the investigation,” said a USDA spokesman in a statement late Wednesday. “The Department works to ensure that product purchased for the Federal feeding programs meets stringent food safety standards and that processors comply with humane handling regulations. While some of the footage provided from this facility shows unacceptable treatment of cattle, it does not show anything that would compromise food safety. However, we are aggressively continuing our investigation.”

Suppliers to federal nutrition programs are required to have animal welfare plans in place and they are subject to on-site audits.  According to USDA policy, audit scheduling is performance-based with a minimum of two audits a year.

According to Compassion Over Killing, their investigator who shot the undercover video worked at the plant in June and July 2012. The last audit of Central Valley Meats was completed on July 24, 2012.

Indiana’s Chamberlain Farms Named As Source of Bad Cantaloupe

Salmonella case-count up to 178, with 61 hospitalizations and 2 deaths attributed to contaminated melons

by Dan Flynn

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Wednesday night announced a recall of cantaloupe grown by Chamberlain Farms located at Owensville, IN.

Previously, FDA declined to name the cantaloupe farm involved in an ongoing outbreak of foodborne illnesses spreading across the country.

Cantaloupe from Chamberlain Farms “may be one source” of contamination in the multi-state outbreak of salmonellosis, FDA said in the announcement.

Chamberlain Farms agreed to remove their cantaloupe from the market place after meeting the health officials from FDA, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State of Indiana.

Salmonella Typhimurium is the cause of the outbreak that previously being attributed to an un-named cantaloupe farm in southwestern Indiana.

So far, 178 in 21 states have been sickened in the outbreak, which has result in two deaths.

FDA said records at Chamberlain Farms indicate the cantaloupe was originally shipped to Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Food Safety News has asked FDA for a wholesale-retail distribution list for cantaloupes from Chamberlain Farms.

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) routinely provides such lists for Class I recalls like this one where there is an immediate threat to public health.   “We don’t have the distribution list yet,” said Shelly Burgess, FDA’s spokeswoman.

Chamberlain’s melons were sold in local retail outsells in four counties in southwest Indiana and one county in southeast Illinois before being shipped to wholesalers in Durant, IA, Peru, IL, Owensboro, KY, and St Louis.

However, Chamberlain Farms reportedly stopped shipping cantaloupe on Aug. 17, the day Kentucky’s state laboratory connected the outbreak strain to two cantaloupes from an Indiana grower that were being sold at retail.

The agency’s late night announcement came after a day when it was taking ever more criticism for not going public with what it knew about the source of the outbreak.

Salmonella Linked to Turkey Jerky Sickens 4 in Minnesota

by News Desk

Four cases of Salmonella infection have been linked to turkey jerky produced by a Minnesota company.

The Minnesota Department of Health is warning consumers not to eat whole-muscle turkey jerky manufactured by Hoffman Town & Country Meat Market because investigators have linked the product to a cluster of 4 illnesses from the same strain of Salmonella.

The first patient became ill August 2 and the last illness onset was August 7, according to MDH.

One of the victims was hospitalized but all have since recovered.

All 4 victims reported eating turkey jerky during the week before becoming ill.

Of those sickened, 1 lives in the Twin Cities metro area and 3 live in Greater Minnesota.

Hoffman Town & Country has issued a voluntary recall of all whole muscle turkey jerky sold on or before August 21, 2012. The product was sold wrapped in white butcher paper.

Consumers who purchased the recalled product and have not yet consumed it are urged not to eat it and to return it for a full refund.

Those with questions about the recall can call the company at 218-847-72-7.

Symptoms of Salmonella infection appear anywhere from several hours to 3 days after infection and include fever, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, head ache and body aches.

If you think you may have contracted a Salmonella infection, contact your healthcare provider.

Pork Rind Plant Temporarily Shuts Down After Finding Salmonella

by News Desk |

A Dallas pork rind factory has halted operations to do a deep clean after finding Salmonella in their plant, according to a local news source.

NBC Dallas Fort Worth reported Friday that Rudolph Foods found four positives for Salmonella on the floor in their “pro-cook” area.

While the company said they did not find any positive in their finished product or on food contact surfaces, they continuously check for bacteria and if they find a positive they initiate a thoroughly cleaning.

They said they expect to resume full production in a week.

“This is a USDA inspected facility, and the onsite inspector has been informed throughout this process, and are supportive of the plant actions,” the company told NBC 5. “We’re confident there are no risks to any finished product.  We can be certain, because not only is there a validated kill step in the fryer process, but all of our seasoning goes through our Sensitive Ingredient Program.”

NBC DFW reported that Dallas plant has been up and running since 2003 and can produce 15 million pounds of pork rinds per year.

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Recalls

Bagged Salad Recalled for Potential Listeria Contamination

by News Desk

Dole Fresh Vegetables is recalling 1,039 cases of bagged salad due to the potential that it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The California-based company issued the voluntary recall Wednesday after a sample of its Dole Italian Blend taken by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture tested positive for Listeria.

The sample was collected as a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Microbiological Data Program (MDP), a small federal program that provides funding to 11 state agencies for produce surveillance.

While MDP was responsible for collecting the sample, it did not conduct the Listeria test.

“We at North Carolina did not do the testing on their product,” Daniel Ragan, Director of the Food & Drug Protection Division of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, told Food Safety News. However, “The sample was collected through the USDA’s Microbiological Data Program,” he confirmed.

MDP was slated to be shut down in July of this year after being zeroed out in the Obama Administration’s 2013 budget proposal, but USDA decided to extend the program until the end of the year after media attention prompted a public demand to keep it going.

Product subject to this recall — the fourth recall prompted by MDP testing this month — is marked with UPC code 7143000819, located on the back of the package below the bar code, and bears a use-by date of August 20. The salads were sold in 10 oz. bags coded 0049N2202008.

They were distributed in 8 U.S. states, including Alabama, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.

No illnesses have been linked to consumption of this product to date.

Although the product is now 3 days past its use-by date, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is asking retailers to check their inventories and store shelves to confirm that none of the recalled product is in the warehouse or available to customers.

Dole Fresh Vegetables has contacted retailers to which the salads were distributed and is in the process of ensuring that the recalled product is taken off the market.

Protein Drinks Recalled for Botulism Risk

by News Desk

A Pennsylvania-based company is recalling several of its protein drinks because they may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, a bacteria that can cause a life-threatening illness in humans when ingested.

Protica, Inc. of Whitehall, PA issued a voluntary recall of its Body Choice “Protein Shots,” Nutritional Resources “Protein Wave,” ProBalance “Protein to Go French Vanilla Latte” and “Protein to Go Milk Shake” Thursday after an on-site investigation revealed that they were being processed in a way that is not guaranteed to prevent the growth of Clostridium botulinum.

Toxins produced by this bacteria attack the nervous system and can cause paralysis and even death.

Products subject to the recall include:

– Protein to Go Milk Chocolate Shake, sold in a 2.5 oz. bottle, marked with the following:

 Manufacture Date Lot Number

 

    2/9/12               PP0402 4109 A

    2/9/12               PP0402 4109 B

    2/9/12               PP0402 4109 C

    2/9/12               PP0402 4109 D

    2/9/12               PP0402 4109 E

    2/9/12               PP0402 4109 F

    2/9/12               PP0402 4109 G

    2/13/12               PP0442 4113

    2/16/12               PP0442 4115

    3/29/12               PP0892 4121

    4/12/12               PP1032 4131 A

    4/12/12               PP1032 4131 B

    4/25/12               PP1162 4134 B

    4/25/12               PP1162 4134 C

    4/25/12               PP1162 4134 A

    5/3/12               PP1242 4139

    5/8/12               PP1242 4140

    6/7/12               PP1592 4145 B

    6/7/12               PP1592 4145 A

– Protein to Go French Vanilla Latte, sold in a 2.5 oz. bottle, marked with the following:

 Manufacture Date Lot Number

    9/8/2011      PP2511 4066 A

    9/8/2011      PP2511 4066 B

    10/11/2011      PP2841 4079

    10/18/2011      PP2911 4086

    12/6/2011      PP3401 4103

    2/13/2012      PP0442 4112

    4/2/2012      PP0932 4122

    4/4/2012      PP0952 4125

    4/11/2012      PP1022 4129

    4/24/2012      PP1152 4133 A

    4/24/2012      PP1152 4133 B

    4/24/2012      PP1152 4133 C

    5/1/2012      PP1222 4138 A

    5/1/2012      PP1222 4138 B

    5/1/2012      PP1222 4138 C

    5/8/2012      PP1292 4141

    6/8/2012      PP1592 4146 A

    6/8/2012      PP1592 4146 B

– Nutritional Resources Protein Wave gelatin, served in a 6 oz. cup and marked with a manufacture date of May 03 2012 and lot number PP 1242 6123

– Body Choice Protein Shots, served in a 3 oz. vial and marked with a manufacture date of Dec 20, 2011 and lot number PP 3541 2924

Consumers who purchased any of the above products can return them to the place of purchase or to Protica for a full refund. Anyone with questions should call the company at 1-800-PROTICA (1-800-776-8422).

Symptoms of botulism (the illness caused by C. botulinum toxins) include general weakness, dizziness, double-vision, trouble speaking or swallowing, difficulty breathing, muscle weakness, abdominal distention and constipation.

If you think you may have botulism, contact your healthcare provider.

Salmonella Illnesses Prompt Mango Recall in Canada

by News Desk

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and North American Produce Sales are recalling Mexican mangoes sold in western Canada due to likely contamination of Salmonella Braenderup, CTV News reports.

Several illnesses have already been associated with the mangoes.

The affected mangoes are sold individually with a sticker reading PLU# 4959. They were sold in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon between July 12 and August 14.

Call the Canadian Food Inspection Agency at 1-800-442-2342 for more information.

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Articles of Interest

Michigan Mom & Daughters Sue Wal-Mart for Bad Cantaloupes

by News Desk

A Michigan family has sued Wal-Mart for selling contaminated cantaloupe that’s involved in the multistate Salmonella outbreak.

The complaint was filed in Michigan’s Calhoun County Circuit Court on behalf of Battle Creek resident Angela Compton and her two children, who both were infected with Salmonella Typhimurium after eating cantaloupe they purchased form Wal-Mart in mid-July.

Compton purchased three cantaloupes at the Wal-Mart store located at 6020 B. Drive North in Battle Creek on July 12, 2012, later cutting the melons into slices and serving them to her family.   Within days of eating the cantaloupe slices, one of her children, “MC,” became ill with symptoms of Salmonella infection, including diarrhea and painful abdominal cramping.

She was treated several times by her pediatrician and was later seen at the emergency room for dehydration and was admitted to Bronson Kalamazoo hospital.  “MC “was hospitalized for four days and continued to suffer symptoms of Salmonella infection for at least a week after she was discharged.

Her sister, “CC”, fell ill with a Salmonella infection several days into MC’s illness.  She was also treated at her pediatrician’s office, but required further treatment at the ER on three occasions.  Both children tested positive for Salmonella Typhimurium.

Michigan health officials told Angela Compton that her daughters’ illnesses were part of the multi-state cantaloupe outbreak linked to melons grown in southwest Indiana.

The complaint was filed on behalf of the Compton family by Marler Clark, the nationally known food safety law firm based in Seattle, and by prominent Michigan attorney Michael Heilmann.

“I’m in the middle of litigation from last year’s Listeria outbreak traced to cantaloupes grown in Colorado.” said attorney Bill Marler,   “I would have expected farmers, distributors and retailers to have better food safety procedures in place this year to prevent another cantaloupe-related outbreak from happening.”

Marler represents 42 families from last year’s deadly Listeria outbreak traced to cantaloupes from Colorado’s Jensen Farms.  His firm has been litigating foodborne illness cases since the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak.

It has represented victims of nearly every major foodborne illness outbreak in the last 20 years, and has brought cases against such companies as Cargill, ConAgra, Dole, Nestle, and Taco Bell.

The Michigan lawsuit may be the first brought in the Salmonella outbreak that has now reached 21 states with 145 sickened and two dead.

CA Lawmakers Ask USDA to Reopen Slaughterhouse Shut Down for Inhumane Treatment

by Helena Bottemiller

As the slaughterhouse accused of egregious humane handling violations remains unable to process meat after the U.S. Department of Agriculture withdrew inspectors from the plant over the weekend, three Central California Republican congressman are urging Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to “immediately” allow the company to operate again.

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy and Reps. Devin Nunes and Jeff Denham said in a letter Thursday that keeping the plant shut down serves “no legitimate interest” and harms the plant workers at a time when the community has double digit unemployment.

Though an undercover video shows mistreatment of spent dairy cows, including some that appear lame or injured, USDA said Wednesday there is no evidence that so-called “downer” animals were slaughtered for human consumption. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s investigation is ongoing.

“The investigation can and should continue, but does not necessitate a prolonged and economically disastrous full stoppage of operations,” wrote the congressmen in their letter. “Furthermore, your agency should more aggressively clarify the fact that our food supply is not – and never was – in jeopardy as a result of this alleged violation.”

On his blog, Rep. Nunes blasted Compassion Over Killing, the advocacy group that went undercover, as “extremists who are actively working to undermine production agriculture in the United States.” Nunes said local residents now confront “economic terrorism” from animal rights groups.

A graphic excerpt of the undercover video, which animal rights group Compassion Over Killing says was taken by an undercover investigator in June and July, shows cows before slaughter covered in dirt and feces, some writhing on the ground and bleeding on themselves after being bolted, but not rendered senseless, several times. Several cows are shown projectile vomiting, presumably from stress, while being hit repeatedly with the bolt gun.

Renowned animal welfare expert Temple Grandin issued a statement condemning certain practices featured in the video, but also questioned why some of the sick cows were not euthanized instead of being shipped to a slaughter facility.

“Some of the major issues in the video originate due to the poor condition of the animals arriving at the plant, many of which should have been euthanized on the farm,” said Grandin. “I urge the dairy industry to market their cows before they become weak and extremely debilitated.”

In a cattle industry newsletter this week, animal care expert, Dr. Dave Daley, an associate dean for the College of Agriculture at California State University, argued that any and all mistreatment of animals “cannot be tolerated.”

“We do not condone any mishandling of livestock on the farm or ranch or in the packing facility,” said Daley. “In fact, we firmly believe that those knowingly and willfully committing any abuse to animals should not be in the business – period. The actions depicted in these videos are disgraceful and not representative of the cattle community.”

Slaughterhouse under investigation a major school lunch supplier

As recently as 2009, Central Valley Meat was one of the top three suppliers of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program, but USDA has so far not responded to questions about current contracts with the company.

Records posted on USDA’s website show that between October 2010 and September 2011, the USDA purchased 21.2 million pounds of various beef products, including ground beef and boneless beef, from Central Valley Meat. Five separate purchases, ranging from 40,000 pounds to 6.9 million pounds, were made for a total of $49.7 million.

According to the overview of purchases, the USDA purchased around 135 million pounds of beef products during the fiscal year. Purchases from Central Valley Meat accounted for roughly 16 percent of beef purchases by volume during that time.

Shortly after learning about the video, popular fast food chain In-N-out Burger announced they had severed ties with the company, which had previously been supplying between 20 and 30 percent of the chain’s beef.

USDA, Costco, McDonalds, and Jack in the Box have also dropped Central Valley Meat as a supplier.

Central Valley Meat said it was cooperating fully with the USDA investigation.

“At Central Valley Meat Co., ensuring that the livestock we process are treated humanely is critically important,” said Brian Coelho, president of the company, in a statement. “Our company seeks not just to meet federal humane handling regulations, but to exceed them.”

Coelho said he was “extremely disturbed” to be told by USDA of the allegations, but the company has not yet commented on the contents of the video.

High Drug Residues Found at California Meat and Dairy Operations

Violators receive FDA warning letters

by Julia Thomas

Dairy and meat farms in California were among the most recent establishments to receive federal warning letters after unacceptable levels of drug residues were found in cattle that they sold for slaughter.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration visited each establishment to inspect operations there and looked at records to track animals that were slaughtered.

If an animal from a dairy farm was slaughtered for human consumption, FDA checked with the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to see whether tissue samples from a specific dairy cow were tested for drug residues.

When FSIS testing reveals residue levels higher than set limits, the operation receives a warning letter.

The most recent violators include:

Meat: Cunha Calf Ranch, CA

Inspection Dates: May 2, May 24, June 5 and June 10, 2012

Violation: Sold cows for slaughter as human food with 7 residue violations of neomycin (highest was 18.43 parts per million). The FDA’s tolerance of neomycin is 7.2 parts per million.

Dairy: Double Diamond Dairy, CA

Inspection Dates: May 4, May 5 2012

Violation: Sold cows for slaughter as human food with two residue violations of neomycin (7.21, 7.47 parts per million).

Meat: GTA Calf Ranch, CA

Inspection Date: June 8, 2012

Violation: Sold cows for slaughter as human food with two drug residue violations of neomycin (14.91 parts per million) and oxytetracycline (5.89 parts per million). The FDA’s tolerance of neomycin is 7.2 parts per million and oxytetracycline is 2 parts per million.

Dairy: Johann Dairy Farm, CA

Inspection Dates: March 30, April 5, May 2, May 7, May 29, June 4, June 30 and July 3, 2012

Violation: Sold cows for slaughter as human food with nine drug residue violations of gentamicin (detected), neomycin (56.14 parts per million), penicillin (.08 parts per million), and sulfamethazine (4.418 parts per million). The FDA’s tolerance of gentamicin is 0 parts per million, 7.2 parts per million for neomycin, .05 parts per million for penicillin and 0 for sulfamethazine.

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Food Safety Report – Monday May 21st, 2012

Food Safety

More Problems For The Lunch Lady

  By Carla Gillespie

Two months ago a provider of school lunch meals in Canada, called The Lunch Lady, was identified as the source of a Salmonella outbreak that sickened 50 children.

Now the Ottawa outfit, which serves meals to 5,000 children in the Ottawa area, has been cited by Ottawa Public Health (OPH) officials for a food safety violation during a  May 14 inspection. The facility did not keep foods cooled to a proper temperature of 40 degrees F or less. The problem had been corrected by the time a re-inspection was conducted the following day.

Read Full Article Here

State Lifts Quarantine on Organic Pastures’ Raw Milk, Raw Milk Products

by Cookson Beecher

The statewide quarantine on Organic Pastures’ raw milk and raw-milk products, which was imposed on May 10, has been lifted, with the dairy’s owner, Mark McAfee, joyfully describing that as “breaking news” in a May 17 video on the dairy’s Facebook page.

Raw milk is milk that hasn’t been pasteurized to kill harmful fecal bacteria that may be in the milk.

“We’re excited and happy to announce that . . .  our products are now available for sale once again in California,” McAfee says in the video. “We’re working hard to get the trucks and products back to the stores.”

The state imposed the quarantine after at least 10 of the people sickened by Campylobacter in 5 counties in California between January through the end of April reported drinking Organic Pastures’ raw milk prior to becoming ill. None of the patents, whose ages ranged from 9 months to 38, (six of them under 18), were hospitalized, and there were no deaths.

Read Full Article Here

Hepatitis A Infects Worker at NC Donut Establishment

by News Desk |

An employee at a North Carolina donut store has contracted a hepatitis A infection, prompting health officials to recommend vaccination for those who may have purchased food handled by the worker.

The infected individual works at the Dixie Donuts of Wilkesboro, located at 2830 West NC Highway 268. Consumers who visited the establishment on May 8 or 9 between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. or on May 10 or 12 between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. are at risk of exposure and are encouraged to get a hepatitis A vaccination from their healthcare provider.

Those potentially exposed to the virus could begin experiencing symptoms as early as May 22 and as late as June 23, according to the Wilkes County Health Department.

Read Full Article Here

For Safety, Pasteurize Raw Milk At Home

May 19, 2012 By Carla Gillespie

Home pasteurization is a food safety measure used by some raw milk drinkers and advocated by some raw milk providers, because even if it’s produced on clean, organic farms, raw milk can contain pathogens.

So far this year, there have been five foodborne illness outbreaks linked to raw milk and five raw milk recalls:

• Frisia Dairy in Washington state recalled raw milk on January 17, 2012
• Family Cow Farm raw milk was recalled in January 2012 in Pennsylvania
• In California, Claravale raw milk products were recalled on March 23, 2012
• On April 4, 2012, raw milk and raw cheese were recalled from the Sauder farm in Pennsylvania
• Organic Pastures raw milk products were recalled on May 10, 2012

Read Full Article Here

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Recalls

Foster Farms Recalls Turkey Burgers for Undeclared Allergen and Misbranding

  By Linda Larsen

Foster Farms of California is recalling about 15,040 pounds of turkey burgers because of misbranding and an undeclared allergen. A seasoning mix with hydrolyzed soy protein was included in the product and not declared on the label. Soy is one of the major food allergens.

Read Full Article Here

Bagged Salad Recalled for Listeria Contamination

by News Desk

The California Department of Public Health warned California residents not to eat certain bagged salads manufactured by River Ranch Fresh Foods, LLC due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes on Friday.

According to a news release from CDPH, Salinas, California-based River Ranch Fresh Foods initiated a voluntary recall of bagged salads after routine sampling detected Listeria monocytogenes in two packages of shredded iceberg lettuce purchased from retail locations in California and Colorado. The recalled salad products were distributed nationwide to retail and foodservice outlets under various sizes and packaged under the brand names of River Ranch, Farm Stand, Hy-Vee, Marketside, Shurfresh, The Farmer’s Market, Cross Valley, Fresh n Easy, Promark, and Sysco.

Read Full Article  Here

Ground Beef Recalled Due to E. Coli Risk

by News Desk

Lancaster Frozen Foods and G&W Incorporated are recalling about 6,908 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli, according to the South Carolina meat and poultry inspection department.

Lab testing by the meat and poultry inspection department confirmed a positive result for E.coli in a ground product at Lancaster Frozen Foods. That lot was held by the company, but additional ungroud product from the same lot had been used in other production lots resulting in the recall.

No illnesses have been reported.

Read Full Article Here

Articles of Interest

US Department of Labor’s OSHA Establishes Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee

  By Linda Larsen

This week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the establishment of a Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee. This body will make recommendations to the Secretary of Labor on ways to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of OSHA’s administration of whistleblower protections.

Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health said in the news release, “Workers who expose securities and financial fraud, adulterated foods, air and water pollution, or workplace safety hazards have a legal right to speak out without fear of retaliation, and the laws that protect these whistleblowers also protect the health, safety, and well-being of a

Read Full Article Here

FDA Explains Ban on Korean Shellfish

by Mary Rothschild |

Korean shellfish imports have been blocked by the U.S. since May 1 because Korean waters may have been polluted with human fecal waste, the U.S. Food and Drug Admnistration (FDA) said on Friday. Oysters, clams, mussels and scallops harvested in Korea have the potential to be contaminated with norovirus, the agency said.

The Washington State Department of Health had reported the ban more than a week ago, but FDA had not publicly announced the reason for the action.

In a constituent update, FDA said all Korean certified shippers of molluscan shellfish were removed from the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List (ICSSL), following an evaluation that determined “the Korean Shellfish Sanitation Program (KSSP) no longer meets the sanitation controls spelled out under the National Shellfish Sanitation Program.”

Read Full Article Here

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California food police gone wild: LA County health enforcers conduct door-to-door raw milk confiscation operations

By Mike Adams,  
(NaturalNews) In a bombshell revelation of the depth of the food police state that now exists in LA County, California, NaturalNews has learned that the LA County health department has unleashed door-to-door raw milk confiscation teams to threaten and intimidate raw dairy customers into surrendering raw milk products they legally purchased and own. According to Mark McAfee (see quotes below), both LA County and San Diego county have attempted to acquire customer names and addresses from Organic…

Read Full Article Here

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Food Safety Report – Thursday May 17th, 2012

Food Safety

Genetic engineering: The world’s greatest scam?

Uploaded by GreenpeaceVideo

(French version — http://www.greenpeace.org/ogm)
Genetic engineering is a threat to food security, especially in a changing climate. The introduction of genetically manipulated organisms by choice or by accident grossly undermines sustainable agriculture and in so doing, severely limits the choice of food we can eat.

Once GE plants are released into the environment, they are out of control. If anything goes wrong – they are impossible to recall.

GE contamination threatens biodiversity respected as the global heritage of humankind, and one of our world’s fundamental keys to survival.

Health Officials Warn of Vibrio Bacteria in Some Massachusetts Oysters

  By Linda Larsenmassachusetts

Massachusetts health officials are warning that oysters harvested from Cape Cod Bay may be contaminated with Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a bacteria that causes about 4,500 cases of foodborne illness every year.

That area has tidal flats with shallow water that can become very warm during the day. In just the right conditions of warm temperatures and the water’s salt content, the bacteria grows very quickly  in the shellfish. Then when those oysters are eaten raw or undercooked, the bacteria can make people sick.

The illness is characterized by watery diarrhea, cramping, nausea, fever, chills, and vomiting. Most people recover within a few days, but some people, especially those in high risk groups, can become seriously ill. Last year, five people became very ill with V. parahaemolyticus poisoning.

Read Full Article Here

FDA: Safety Violations at India Plant Linked to Tuna Salmonella Outbreak

by Gretchen Goetz

As the case count continues to rise in the nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to raw tuna, an inspection by U.S. health officials has revealed unsanitary conditions at the India facility that produced the implicated tuna product.

On April 19, about a week after authorities announced that a ground yellowfin tuna product  imported by Moon Marine USA Corporation was the likely source of the Salmonella bacteria that had sickened 116 people, health inspectors began a 6 day review of the plant where the tuna – called Nakaochi Scrape –  was processed. The resulting report – issued by FDA’s Department of Health and Human Services –  details a series of 10 sanitation slip-ups.

Of the offences, four were violations of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) guidelines, which all foreign producers must comply with in order to export seafood to the United States.  A HACCP plan identifies all points in the processing where contamination could occur and outlines steps to prevent pathogens from entering food.

In this case, inspectors noted that Moon Fishery – from which Moon Marine Co. sources its tuna – was missing the following steps from its plan:

Read Full Article Here

USDA Switching to New Plant Data Inspection System

by Dan Flynn

Long in the making, the start-up date for USDA’s new Public Health Information System (PHIS) is now just two weeks away on May 29.  It will replace the Performance Based Inspection System at all regulated USDA establishments and for all meat and poultry imports and exports.

Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, USDA under secretary for food safety, has hailed the coming of PHIS as a method of “arming our inspectors with a powerful tool, on the ground, to carry out USDA’s food safety mission more effectively.”

Hagen says the new single database designed to gather, collate and use all data collected by the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS’s) entire inspection regime is not just a change out in the IT system, but an entirely new inspection infrastructure.

That new infrastructure includes more discretion for FSIS inspectors as they go about their daily work. The old Performance Based Inspection System apparently spit out a list of “scheduled” tasks for inspectors to accomplish each day.

Read Full Article Here

FSN Video: Smiling Hara Tempeh Salmonella Outbreak

by James Andrews

Smiling Hara Tempeh Salmonella Outbreak – Food Safety News Consumer Alert

  by FoodSafetyNewsVideo

http://www.foodsafetynews.com

63 people in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and New York have fallen ill from a rare strain of Salmonella linked to spore culture used to make unpasteurized tempeh by North Carolina food producer Smiling Hara.

The outbreak strain, Salmonella Paratyphi B, causes less severe but more contagious infections than common types of Salmonella, and it can lead to Typhoid fever in some of those it infects.

According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, Smiling Hara purchased the contaminated spore culture from Tempeh Online, a Maryland-based Company that has since taken down its web page and deleted all but one of its Twitter posts.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is working with state health officials to determine whether or not Tempeh Online’s contaminated culture might have been used by any other producers.

Smiling Hara has recalled all of its tempeh made between January 11 and April 11 with best-by dates of July 11 through October 25. The company promotes the probiotic traits of unpasteurized tempeh but says it has considered pasteurizing its product to avoid future outbreaks.

Always cook unpasteurized tempeh before eating it. If you have recently eaten tempeh and experienced fever, nausea, vomiting or abdominal cramps, please contact your health care provider.

GMO Labeling on California Ballot This Fall

  By Kathy Will

The Right-to-Know campaign has obtained more than enough signatures on its GMO labeling petition to appear on the California ballot this fall. The petition will require GMO labeling on foods in California.

The measure would require food manufacturers to identify genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that are in any food sold in California. This may lead to nation-wide labeling so manufacturers don’t have to print two labels on the same product.

When California added the caramel coloring 4-MI to its list of carcinogens under Proposition 65 in 2009, the manufacturer of that product agreed to change it to meet California’s standards.

Food Poisoning Bulletin asked Stacy Malkan, Media Director for the California Right-to-Know 2012 ballot initiative, about this issue. She said, “consumers have a right to know what’s in the food we buy and eat and feed our children, just as we have the right to know how many calories are in our food, or whether food comes from other countries like Mexico or China.

Read Full Article Here

Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)

  By Fred Pritzker

The E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak linked to raw milk produced by Foundation Farm in Oregon has sickened at least 19 people. Fifteen of those victims are children; four of those children have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome.

According to the FDA’s Bad Bug Book, it can take just 10 cells of E. coli bacteria to make someone sick. Dr. Heidi Kassenborg of the Minnesota Department of Health told us that bacteria aren’t evenly distributed in milk fluids, so milk samples withdrawn for testing may not contain any bacteria, when there actually is bacteria in the product.

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a severe complication of an infection of Shiga-toxin producing E. coli, usually E. coli O157. The toxins damage red blood cells, which creates small clots that clog the filtering system in the kidneys, causing HUS. The kidneys always suffer some injury in this condition.

HUS is characterized by hemolytic anemia (too few red blood cells), thrombocytopenia (too few blood platelets), and kidney failure. Complications of HUS include the following:

Read Full Article Here

HUS from an E. coli infection: 10 Things You Need to Know

  By Kathy Will

An unnamed restaurant in Spartanburg, South Carolina is the suspected source of an outbreak of shiga toxin-producing E. coli. At least eleven people are ill. Of that group, two people have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Adam Myrick, Public Information Officer of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, told Food Poisoning Bulletin that he was not aware of any hospitalizations in the outbreak. He also said that the department does not discuss individual cases. All he would say about the restaurant is that it is a Mexican restaurant in the Spartanburg area, although there have been calls for the restaurant to be identified.

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a severe complication of a Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (generally E. coli O157) infection. It is characterized by hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and kidney failure, and most HUS victims suffer a host of other medical problems. E. coli-HUS is the most common cause of acute renal failure among young children (5 years and less) in the United States.

These are 10 things you should know if your child has an E. coli infection or has been diagnosed with HUS:

Read Full Article Here

‘Supermoms against Superbugs’ Take Their Message to Washington

by Helena Bottemiller

Thirty enthusiastic moms from across the United States gathered in Washington Tuesday to lobby for greater limits on antibiotics used in food animal production.

Organized by the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming and the American Academy of Pediatrics, the “Supermoms against Superbugs” event included more than 50 meetings with House and Senate staff, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the White House Domestic Policy Council.

Each mother had a different story, a different reason for becoming an advocate. Some were chefs worried about quality and health, others pediatricians concerned about untreatable infections, but for many of the moms their activism began when a child or family member was  sickened or killed by antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

For Melissa Lee, it began when her nine-month-old baby Ruby contracted antibiotic-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg from meatballs made with ground turkey. It was the first time Ruby had tried turkey. “The first and the last,” said Lee.

Ruby was hospitalized for a week and then required an IV of antibiotics for another week at home. She was part of a nationwide outbreak that sparked the largest Class I meat recall in history. Contaminated ground turkey from a single Cargill plant in Arkansas was linked to the illnesses.

Read Full Article Here

CDC’s Mahon Sees Progress in Curbing Listeria After Deadly Outbreak

by Dan Flynn

Multiple tools to find and track Listeria are proving successful, even though the rare pathogen was responsible last year for the most deadly outbreak of foodborne illness in decades.

Dr. Barbara Mahon from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday opened the 40th Annual Rocky Mountain Food Safety Conference in Golden, CO by putting last year’s deadly Listeria outbreak into some context, describing new efforts to control the strange bacteria.

Mahon said Listeria is a highly virulent pathogen that annually causes 1,600 illnesses and 260 deaths. Last year’s Listeria outbreak traced back to Colorado-grown cantaloupe caused 146 illnesses and at least 32 deaths.

Listeria’s threat is best illustrated by the fact that it accounts for less than one percent of all foodborne illnesses, but causes almost 20 percent of all food illness deaths. Killing Listeria, however, is not easy. The bacteria continue to thrive when refrigerated.

Finding Listeria on whole cantaloupes was new. The dangerous foodborne bacterium is usually associated with hot dogs, deli meats and soft, Mexican-style cheeses.

Mahon said the 95 percent hospitalization rate from listeriosis, and its fatality rate of at least 16 percent, makes it a very dangerous illness for the populations it impacts the most. Those include pregnant women, newborn infants and the elderly or anyone with a compromised immune system.

CDC’s “wake up call” for Listeria came in 1985 with an outbreak in Los Angles County, CA caused by Mexican cheese that involved mostly pregnant Hispanic women, Mahon said.   Before the epidemic was stemmed, there were 28 deaths and 20 stillbirths.

Mahon said four surveillance tools set up in the years that followed – FoodNet, PulseNet, Listeria Initiative, and the Food Disease Outbreak Surveillance System or FDOSS – have combined to improve the Listeria outlook.

Read Full Article Here

New Brunswick E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Jungle Jim’s Eatery

by News Desk

Public health officials investigating an E. coli outbreak in the Canadian province of New Brunswick named Jungle Jim’s Eatery as the likely common link on Tuesday, according to CBC News.

The province’s health department confirmed 13 people infected with E. coli O157:H7, while another 11 suspected cases are likely linked to the same outbreak.

Read Full Article Here
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Recalls

Cargill Recalls Some Animal Feed Products

  By Linda Larsen

Cargill Animal Nutrition announced a voluntary recall of some regional poultry and calf feed, and some whole and cracked corn products because of high levels of aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a mold that grows on grain that was stressed while it was growing. Exposure to high levels of aflatoxin can cause liver failure.

Read Full Article Here
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Articles of Interest

Preliminary FDA Inspection Report Cites Flaws at Diamond Pet Foods Plant

by Mary Rothschild

Diamond Pet Foods, the company behind a massive recall of dry dog food due to Salmonella contamination that has sickened at least 16 people, was not taking “all reasonable precautions” to ensure the safety of its product, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspection report.

The Form 483 report, posted by the FDA late Tuesday afternoon, was the result of a week-long inspection that began April 12 after an outbreak of human Salmonella Infantis infection was traced to contaminated pet food manufactured at the Diamond Pet Foods plant in Gaston, S.C.

The report states that Diamond was using cardboard and duct tape on some of its equipment and that there were damaged paddles on the conveyor. The inspectors also noted that some surfaces at the facility were encrusted with food residues.

FDA inspectors specifically listed these four observations:

Read Full Article Here

Russia Questions Dutch Vegetable Safety

by Staff Writers
Moscow (RIA Novosti)

illustration only

Russia’s food safety chief Gennady Onishchenko raised doubts on Monday over the safety of vegetables imported from the Netherlands, which he said had been experimenting with mutations of the avian flu virus.

“The Netherlands is engaged in an activity banned by international conventions. It alters properties, in particular, the properties of bird flu viruses, increasing their virulence compared with natural strains,” he said.

“Being aware of this process, we believe we must understand why this is being done and how much this threatens Russia’s national security, Onishchenko said.

Onishchenko has repeatedly claimed the European Union has failed to identify the causes of a highly pathogenic E.coli intestinal virus that claimed several lives in Europe last summer and prompted Russia to restrict vegetable imports from the EU.

Source: RIA Novosti

Related Links
Daily Russian News
Farming Today – Suppliers and Technology

Raw Milk Rally In Minneapolis

May 14, 2012 By Carla Gillespie

About 80 people gathered outside the Hennepin County courthouse in Minneapolis on May 14 to show their support for Alvin Schlangen, a farmer from Freeport, Minnesota who faces trial on six counts of food safety violations, some of which stem from delivering raw milk to members of a food club.

Laws governing the sale of raw, or unpasteurized, milk vary from state to state. In Minnesota, farmers can sell raw milk to customers, but “only if the transaction takes place on the farm and only if the sales occur occasionally,” said Mike Schommer, Communications Director for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). Minnesota does not require farmers who sell raw milk directly to customers to have a permit and therefore does test raw milk sold in these situations for pathogens.

The charges against Schlangen, who is an organic egg farmer and does not produce raw milk on his farm, include one count of selling raw milk, another for distributing food without a food handler’s license and one count for failing to maintain temperature requirements. His trial, which was scheduled for 9 a.m. today was pushed back until tomorrow.

Read Full Article Here

FDA Warning Letter to Moon Fishery

May 14, 2012 By Linda Larsen

On April 19, 2012 through April 24, 2012 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected Moon Fishery in India, the facility that produced the recalled Nakaochi Scrape raw tuna linked to the large Salmonella Bareilly and Salmonella Nchanga outbreak in the U.S. The same company issued a recall of raw Grade AA and AAA tuna strips, intended for sushi, last week.

As a result of that inspection, the FDA issued a warning letter to the company detailing the violations of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan that every food facility is required to develop and follow. Parts of the letter were redacted.

In the letter, the agency states that the facility’s HACCP plan doesn’t include the critical control points (CCP) necessary for the hazards identified for the products they produce.

Read Full Article Here

Students Serve Antibiotic-Free Chicken Lunch on Capitol Hill

by Helena Bottemiller

Healthy food advocates took to Capitol Hill last week to show lawmakers and their staff that school food can be cooked from scratch, healthy and antibiotic-free — without spending a lot of money.

Six high school students from the Chicago Vocational Career Academy (CVCA), who competed in the Healthy Schools Campaign’s Cooking up Change, whipped up oven-“fried” chicken, raised without antibiotics, greens, cabbage, and sweet potato salad, a meal that cost around $1 per serving and meets school lunch nutritional guidelines.

Their food was served to those attending a policy briefing on the House side and was added to the Congressional cafeteria menu last Thursday.

Read Full Article Here

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Food Safety Report – Sunday April 29th, 2012

Food Safety

 

Deliberate attempt to mislead the public about safety concerns.

 

In a recent CNN segment, announcing the discovery of a case of
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or ‘Mad Cow Disease’ at a
dairy farm in California, there was made a deliberate attempt to
mislead the public about safety concerns.

Quoting the USDA, CNN repeated claims that the cow was “never
presented for slaughter for human consumption” and “milk does not
transmit BSE.”

Two things…

It was a DAIRY cow, so the claim that it was not presented for
‘slaughter’ is a deliberate attempt to confuse the issue in the
public mind.

Additionally, both Mad Cow Disease and it’s human counterpart
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease are ‘prion’ diseases.  Scientific
studies have demonstrated that prions can actually transfer from
animal to animal via MILK consumption.

Prion Diseases  

About Prion Diseases
CDC.gov

Prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a family of rare progressive neurodegenerative disorders that affect both humans and animals. They are distinguished by long incubation periods, characteristic spongiform changes associated with neuronal loss, and a failure to induce inflammatory response.

The causative agents of TSEs are believed to be prions. The term “prions” refers to abnormal, pathogenic agents that are transmissible and are able to induce abnormal folding of specific normal cellular proteins called prion proteins that are found most abundantly in the brain. The functions of these normal prion proteins are still not completely understood. The abnormal folding of the prion proteins leads to brain damage and the characteristic signs and symptoms of the disease. Prion diseases are usually rapidly progressive and always fatal.

Listed below are the prion diseases identified to date. Click the linked diseases to go to their respective topic sites. CDC does not currently offer information here on every prion disease listed.

Human Prion Diseases

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD)
Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Syndrome
Fatal Familial Insomnia
Kuru

Animal Prion Diseases

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)
Scrapie
Transmissible mink encephalopathy
Feline spongiform encephalopathy
Ungulate spongiform encephalopathy

Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention webpage on this subject.
For more Food: videos, click here

 

North Carolina Salmonella Outbreak Under Investigation

29 with possible Paratyphi B infection

by News Desk

Twenty-nine possible cases of Salmonella Paratyphi B infection have been identified in Buncombe County, North Carolina, but the source of the outbreak remains undetermined.

According to the Buncombe County Department of Health, all the cases seem to be linked to residence or travel to Buncombe County, in western North Carolina, since February 28.

Communicable disease experts from the North Carolina Division of Public Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assisting food specialists from the state Department of Agriculture with the investigation.

A hotline was established Friday to offer people a way to get accurate information about the outbreak. The number – 828-250-5300 – includes an automated message and a phone number for people with symptoms to talk with a Communicable Disease Nurse.

Public health specialists are continuing to conduct interviews with people who currently have or have had the infection, reviewing laboratory reports and inspecting food sources that may be linked to the outbreak.

Salmonella Paratyphi B, found in the intestines of humans, can be spread from person to person or by eating food or water contaminated with the feces of a person ill with Salmonella Paratyphi B infection or a person who carries this infection in their body.

The Buncombe County news release notes that any food can become contaminated at any point in the food chain, including at home or in restaurants. Contamination can occur when a person infected with Salmonella Paratyphi B handles food and does not wash their hands well after using the bathroom.

 

Read Full Article Here
 

 

33 Sickened After Attending Health Center Luncheon In Pueblo

April 28, 2012 By Carla Gillespie

At least 33 people became ill after attending the Pueblo Community Health Center’s annual luncheon on Tuesday, according to health officials in Pueblo, Colo.

“We don’t know what it is yet,” said Sarah Joseph, a spokeswoman for the Pueblo City-County Health Department. Health officials are trying determine whether the source was environmental or foodborne, she said.

Those who became ill reported gastrointestinal symptoms including diarrhea and abdominal cramping that lasted for 24 hours. So far,  77 of the 80 attendees have been interviewed and samples from those who became ill have been sent to the state lab in Denver, said Joseph. “We’re hoping to know more next week.”

Read Full Article Here

 

 

Hepatitis A in Des Moines, Iowa

April 28, 2012 By Linda Larsen Leave a Comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin recently received an email from a person who was diagnosed with hepatitis A in Des Moines, Iowa. That disease is spread by contaminated food and person-to-person contact, so it’s very possible that more people are sick.

Hepatitis A is irritation and swelling of the liver, caused by the hepatitis A virus. The virus comes from the feces and blood of an infected person, and it is shed from the body two to four weeks before the symptoms manifest, and during the first week of the illness.

Report your hepatitis A case.

Human beings are the only natural host of the virus. It replicates in the liver, moves through the blood and is present in feces. Most adults display symptoms of the disease, while children are usually asymptomatic.

The virus is contagious and is spread in several ways: through food contaminated with feces, if a person who has the virus doesn’t wash their hands after using the bathroom then touches food or another object, or if you touch stools or blood of an infected person.

 

Read Full Article Here

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Recalls

Diamond Pet Foods Expands Dry Dog Food Recall

by News Desk

Diamond Pet Foods has expanded a recall, announced April 6 for certain batches of its Diamond Natural Lamb Meal & Rice dry dog food, to include one production run and four production codes of Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul Adult Light formula dry dog food.

One bag of the product has tested positive for Salmonella, and the company says the recall of the four production codes is a precautionary measure.

No dog illnesses have been reported.

The latest recall is for:

Read Full Article Here

Soybean Sprouts Recalled Due to Listeria

by News Desk

Soybean Sprouts from Henry’s Farm Inc. of Woodford, VA are being recalled because of possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination, according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The following products are being recalled:…..

Read Full Article Here

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Articles of Interest

 

 

Scientist Defends Research on Heavy Metals in Oysters

by Dan Flynn

In the two years since the BP oil spill, most scientific research on its effects falls into one of two categories — seafood safety or environmental damage.

Now there are signs science is moving beyond those preliminary assessments to career-defining work that the some researchers don’t want to see misused by others.

That can be difficult in a region known for strong opinions and still divided over whether the Gulf’s message for the rest of the country should be the recovery of its seafood and tourism industries or the possible ecological disaster that may be in its early innings.

Dr. Peter Roopnarine, curator of the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), is one scientist who decided playing offense is the best way to navigate those choppy Gulf waters.

To mark the second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, Roopnarine announced his team had detected evidence that pollutants from BP oil have entered the ecosystem’s food chain.

Mother Jones, the activist magazine and website, made its story on Roopnarine’s research its BP oil spill anniversary-day story.

Read Full Article Here

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Food Safety Report – Sunday April 22nd, 2012

Food Safety

 

19 Ill with E. Coli in Oregon Raw Milk Outbreak

Four children hospitalized with kidney failure

by Cookson Beecher | Apr 21, 2012

Nineteen people in Oregon are ill with E. coli in an outbreak traced to raw milk from Foundation Farm near Wilsonville — up one from the 18 cases reported Thursday —  according to a April 20 news release from the Public Health Division of the state’s Health Authority.

Of the 19 people, 11 have culture-confirmed E. coli O157 infections. Fifteen of the 19 cases are children 19 or younger.  Four of the children have been hospitalized with kidney failure. On April 19, a Portland hospital confirmed that one of the hospitalized children — a 13-year-old girl — was in critical condition.

Read Full Article Here

Sushi Salmonella Outbreak Total Rises to 160 Confirmed Cases

by Mary Rothschild | Apr 21, 2012

Nineteen more cases of Salmonella Bareilly infection have been confirmed in the multistate outbreak linked to sushi tuna. At least 160 people in 20 states and the District of Columbia have been sickened, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Friday.

However, this outbreak is probably much larger, and many more illnesses likely occurred than those confirmed through lab analysis of stool specimens. For every case of salmonellosis reported, the CDC estimates 38.6 go unreported. That would translate to about 6,176 people ill from eating tainted tuna.

The implicated frozen raw yellowfin tuna product – known as “tuna scrape” because it is back meat scraped from tuna bones – was imported from India and has been recalled by the California-based distributor, Moon Marine USA.  The Nakaochi Scrape resembles ground tuna and is used to make sashimi, ceviche and sushi, particularly “spicy tuna” sushi.

Read Full Article Here

15 Ill with E. Coli in Missouri, Multiple Sources Possible

7 sickened drank raw milk

by James Andrews | Apr 21, 2012

Illnesses in the ongoing E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in central Missouri rose to 15 on Friday, while information on the individual infections suggests they may come from multiple sources.

Of the 15 cases, seven individuals have reported that they consumed raw milk products from a single dairy in Howard County. As a result, the dairy has been under investigation and has halted sales of its raw milk products.

The E. coli infections in six of those seven raw milk drinkers have shown to match by their identifiable genetic pattern known as a pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The infection of the seventh raw milk drinker — the newest addition to the total number ill — has a different PFGE pattern, though one that is very similar to the other six, according to epidemiologist Sarah Rainey at Missouri’s Columbia-Boone County Health Department.

Read Full Article Here

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Recalls

 

In Canada, Fesikh Mullet Recalled for Possible Botulism

April 20, 2012 By Linda Larsen Leave a Comment

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is recalling fesikh, a salted and cured fish product because it may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. This dangerous bacteria can cause botulism, which can be life-threatening.

Fesikh is left out to rot, or putrefy, and is then salted and pickled for several months. It’s served during the celebration of spring in Egypt called Sham el-Nessim. Some people die every year of botulism poisoning after eating this product.

The whole fish was sold in clear vacuum-packaged bags of different counts and weights. There was no code or date information. The fish was sold from Lotus Catering and Fine Food at 1960 Lawrence Avenue East in Toronto, Ontario, on or before April 17, 2012.

 

Read Full Article Here

 

 

Listeria Test Leads to Pizza Calzone Recall

by News Desk | Apr 21, 2012

Albie’s Foods of Gaylord, MI is recalling approximately 311 pounds of pizza calzone due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced late Friday.

The problem was discovered during routine FSIS testing.

FSIS and the company say they have received no reports of illnesses associated with the calzone.

The fully cooked, ready-to-eat, calzone products were produced on April 10, 2012, and shipped to institutions in Indiana and Michigan.

Read Full Article  Here

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Allergen Alert

 

Allergen Alert: Bratwurst with Egg

by Julia Thomas | Apr 21, 2012

Old Style Sausage of Denver, CO is recalling approximately 3,000 pounds of bratwurst distributed to restaurants in Colorado because the sausage contains egg, an allergen not declared on the package label.

The problem was discovered during a routine food safety assessment and may have occurred as a result of a change in ingredient formulation, according to the recall alert.

FSIS and the company said they have not received reports of adverse reactions.

Read Full Article Here

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Food Safety Report – Monday April 16th, 2012

Food Safety

More Cases in Raw Milk-Suspected E. coli Outbreak

by News Desk | Apr 14, 2012

An outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 linked to raw milk has sickened 13 Missouri residents and led to the hospitalization of two children.
The Missouri Department of Health confirmed Saturday that the number of outbreak victims has expanded from the 5 victims previously reported, with cases now in Boone, Camden, Clark, Cooper, Howard, Jackson and Randolph counties. One of the two children hospitalized with HUS – a severe complication of an E. coli infection that leads to kidney failure – remains in the hospital, according to St. Louis Today.

Read Full Article Here

Tuna Sushi Salmonella Outbreak: Tracking The Source

April 14, 2012 By Carla Gillespie 1 Comment

The months-long search for the origin of the multi-state Salmonella outbreak ended yesterday with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) announcement that frozen, raw, yellowfin tuna product from Moon Marine USA Corporation of Cupertino, Calif. is the source of the outbreak.

State and federal investigators have been working since January to identify the source of the Salmonella Bareilly outbreak that has sickened at least 116 people in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Food Poisoning Bulletin (FPB) asked Michael Batz, Head of Food Safety Programs at the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute, if he was surprised at how long the investigation into the source of the outbreak took.

Read Full Article Here

Millions Against Monsanto: The Food Fight of Our Lives

Finally, public opinion around the biotech industry’s contamination of our food supply and destruction of our environment has reached the tipping point. We’re fighting back.

 

Photo Credit: Shutterstock/Zvonimir Atletic

“If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.” — Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto, quoted in the Kansas City Star, March 7, 1994

“Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA’s job.” — Phil Angell, Monsanto’s director of corporate communications, quoted in the New York Times, October 25, 1998

For nearly two decades, Monsanto and corporate agribusiness have exercised near-dictatorial control over American agriculture, aided and abetted by indentured politicians and regulatory agencies, supermarket chains, giant food processors, and the so-called “natural” products industry.

Finally, public opinion around the biotech industry’s contamination of our food supply and destruction of our environment has reached the tipping point. We’re fighting back.

Read Full Article Here

Just One of Monsanto’s Crimes, or Why We Can’t Trust the EPA

By Alexis Baden-Mayer

2,4-D and the dioxin pollution it creates are too dangerous to allow, period, but in the hands of bad actors like Monsanto and Dow Chemical the dangers increase exponentially. What’s the Environmental Protection Agency doing? Helping cover-up the chemical companies’ crimes!
In February, Monsanto agreed to pay up to $93 million in a class-action lawsuit brought by the residents of Nitro, West Virginia, for dioxin exposure from accidents and pollution at an herbicide plant that operated in their town from 1929 to 2004.

That may seem like justice, but it is actually the result of Monsanto’s extraordinary efforts to hide the truth, evade criminal prosecution and avoid legal responsibility.

A brief criminal fraud investigation conducted (and quickly aborted) by the EPA revealed that Monsanto used a disaster at their Nitro, WV, plant to manufacture “evidence” that dioxin exposure produced a skin condition called chloracne, but was not responsible for neurological health effects or cancers such as Non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

These conclusions were repeatedly utilized by EPA and the Veterans Administration to deny help to citizens exposed to dioxin, if these persons did not exhibit chloracne.

The EPA knew the truth about Monsanto’s dioxin crimes, but it decided to hide it. Why? It would have affected us all. EPA’s brief criminal investigation of Monsanto included evidence that Monsanto knowingly contaminated Lysol with dioxin, even as the product was being marketed for cleaning babies’ toys.

Here are the details of this jaw-dropping and heart-breaking case of corporate criminality and EPA collusion.

According to Natural News:

Read Full Article Here

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Recalls

Lettuce Recalled for Potential Salmonella Contamination

by News Desk | Apr 15, 2012

Dole Fresh Vegetables is voluntarily recalling 756 cases of its DOLE Seven Lettuces salad because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

The salad was recalled Saturday after testing by New York State health officials revealed Salmonella bacteria in a sample of the product, according to Market Watch.

Read Full Article Here

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Articles of Interest

On Raw Milk and Why We’re Seeing So Many Outbreaks

by Bill Marler | Apr 15, 2012

On Friday, the Oregon Public Health Division, Department of Agriculture and several local Oregon health departments announced that they were investigating an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli) infections that at the time had left three Portland-area children hospitalized, two with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a complication of E. coli infection that can lead to kidney failure.  All of these children drank raw milk from the same small farm:  Foundation Farm in Clackamas County.  The farm has voluntarily ceased its milk distribution to customers in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties.  As many as 11 may be sickened.

According to news reports over the last week, Missouri state health officials have confirmed E. coli cases in Boone, Cooper, Howard, Camden and Jackson counties.  Health officials say a 2-year-old girl and a 17-month-old child developed HUS, and while not all 13 E. coli cases have been clearly attributed to raw milk consumption, investigators say raw dairy products are a “possible” factor in some of the cases.

I’ve been asked lots of questions about raw milk consumption, E. coli outbreaks, and other topics in the nearly 20 years I’ve been litigating E. coli cases.  Here are some of my favorite questions and answers about raw milk:
I think, too, that there’s an inherent distrust of government, so when the government or big agriculture tells people not to feed their kids raw milk–a natural food–it’s easy for people to ignore that advice.  Especially when they can afford it.

Read Full Article Here

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Food Safety Report – Sunday April 15th, 2012

Food Safety

Oregon Raw Milk E.coli Outbreak Sickens Four Children, Two Have HUS

April 13, 2012 By Carla Gillespie Leave a Comment

A raw milk  E.coli outbreak has sickened four children in Oregon. Three of them are hospitalized and two have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which causes kidney failure, according to a press release from health officials in Oregon obtained by Food Poisoning Bulletin.

The children, who are all under the age of 15, drank raw milk from Foundation Farm in Clackamas County before they became sick as did other customers of the dairy who have not had diagnostic testing to confirm E. coli 0157:H7 infections.

Read Full Article Here

 

 

Baked goods sold in USA contain potassium bromate, a carcinogen banned in Europe but allowed in the US due to chemical loophole

By Mike Adams, April 12 2012
(NaturalNews) Much of the flour sold in the United States has been treated with potassium bromate, which causes the flour to bulk up, strengthens the dough, and makes bread rise more rapidly. This decreases the time needed for baking (thereby reducing costs) and also allows the use of low quality flour that might otherwise be unsuitable for baking. There’s only one problem with this: Potassium bromate causes cancer. Potassium bromate is so widely accepted as a carcinogen that it has been banned…

 Read Full Article Here

Yellowfin Tuna Product Implicated in Salmonella Outbreak

Authorities name possible source of multistate outbreak linked to sushi

by Gretchen Goetz

Yellowfin tuna product is the likely source of the Salmonella Bareilly outbreak that has sickened 116 across 21 states and has been linked to sushi, health officials announced Friday evening.

Cupertino, CA based Moon Marine USA Corporation is voluntarily recalling 58,828 pounds of its “Nakaochi Scrape” – tuna backmeat scraped off the bones of the fish and sold in a frozen, ground state – after investigators pinpointed the product as a common food source among outbreak victims.

The implicated food is not sold directly to consumers, but is usually served by retailers in sushi, sashimi, ceviche or similar dishes containing raw fish.

Of the 53 outbreak victims interviewed, 43 (81 percent) reported eating sushi in the week preceding their illnesses. Of the 43 who recalled eating sushi, 39 (91 percent) ate sushi that contained tuna, and 36 (84 percent) specifically recalled eating a product that contained “spicy tuna.”

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Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Strikes Three in Alaska

by News Desk

Three suspected cases of paralytic shellfish poisoning were reported in Alaska this week, according to the state’s Department of Health and Social Services.

All three individuals ate shellfish harvested in the Juneau area over Easter weekend.

The first case, reported on April 10, was a man who went to the hospital in Juneau complaining of numbness and tingling that began in his lips and tongue and had progressed to his hands. The man had eaten razor clams harvested from Admiralty Island, and had symptoms develop within a few hours.

The next two cases, reported April 12, were from two people who ate butter clams harvested from either Lincoln Island or Ralston Island over Easter weekend. The couple reported tingling and numbness of the lips, tongue and face that developed a few hours after eating the clams.

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Recalls

Full Circle Concierge Snack Nut Blend Recalled for Undeclared Allergens

April 13, 2012 By Linda Larsen

John B. Sanfilippo and Son, Inc. is voluntarily recalling Full Circle Concierge Snack Nut Blend because it contains undeclared soy and milk. Anyone allergic to those ingredients who consumes this product could have a serious or life-threatening reaction.

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Imported Fish Recalled

by News Desk

H.C. Foods Co. of Commerce, CA is recalling frozen dried mackerel and dried round scad after U.S. Food and Drug Administration personnel found that the fish imported from the Philippines was not properly eviscerated prior to processing.

The dried fish may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum spores, which can cause botulism, a serious and potentially fatal foodborne illness.

No illnesses have been reported.

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Allergen Alert

Allergen Alert: Medittera SA Greek Foods

by Julia Thomas

Mediterra S.A. of Chios, Greece is recalling various foods sold via the Internet and in one New York retail store because they contain allergens not listed on the labels.

These products have been sold in the United States via Internet sales through www.mastihashopny.com and from one retail store located at 145 Orchard St., New York, New York.

The recall was initiated after it was discovered that the allergen-containing products were distributed in packaging that did not reveal the presence of the allergens. Specifically, the company did not declare that albumin is egg albumin, yogurt is milk yogurt, bread contains wheat, and almonds and pine nuts are nuts.

MEDITERRA S.A. printed and sent corrected labels for these products earlier this month and says all products now properly declare all ingredients, including any allergens.

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Allergen Alert: Harry and David Recall Barbeque Almonds

by News Desk

Harry and David of Medford, OR is recalling approximately 205 2 oz. bags of its Premium Kansas City Style Barbeque almonds because the bags may contain peanuts.

Peanuts are not declared as ingredients, but the label includes the statement “May contain trace amounts of allergens not listed in the ingredients.”

This problem was discovered on April 10, 2012 when peanuts were found in bulk product shipped to Harry and David by a third party supplier.  However, no peanuts have been reported in bags of Harry & David Premium Kansas City Barbeque Almonds to date.

There have been no reports of adverse reactions.

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Articles of Interest

 

Label tenderized beef? Recall renews worries

American Meat Institute

Meat producers use blade tenderizers to treat tough cuts of meat, breaking muscle fibers and connective tissues.

By JoNel Aleccia

On the eve of summer grilling season, the recall of more than a ton of beef potentially contaminated with dangerous E. coli bacteria — including mechanically tenderized sirloin steaks — is renewing calls for better labeling.

Connecticut Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro said that the Wednesday recall involving some 2,057 pounds of ground and texturized beef from Town & Country Foods Inc. of Greene, Maine, underscores why consumers should be told when meat has been mechanically pierced with needles or blades.

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Employees Reported Working While Ill at Cebolla’s in Indiana

April 13, 2012 By Linda Larsen

The investigation continues into the norovirus outbreak in Indiana that sickened 107 people who at at Cebolla’s Mexican Grill in Fort Wayne. John Silcox, Director of Communications at the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health told Food Poisoning Bulletin that seven food handlers reported working while ill during the outbreak time frame.

Norovirus is extremely contagious. It’s spread through direct contact, contaminated food and water, and by touching contaminated surfaces. The virus causes gastroenteritis, which inflames your stomach or intestines or both.

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