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
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.
FDA: Safety Violations at India Plant Linked to Tuna Salmonella Outbreak
USDA Switching to New Plant Data Inspection System
FSN Video: Smiling Hara Tempeh Salmonella Outbreak
Smiling Hara Tempeh Salmonella Outbreak – Food Safety News Consumer Alert
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
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.
Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)
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:
HUS from an E. coli infection: 10 Things You Need to Know
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:
‘Supermoms against Superbugs’ Take Their Message to Washington
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.
CDC’s Mahon Sees Progress in Curbing Listeria After Deadly Outbreak
New Brunswick E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Jungle Jim’s Eatery
Read Full Article Here
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Recalls
Cargill Recalls Some Animal Feed Products
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
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.
Related Links
Daily Russian News
Farming Today – Suppliers and Technology
Raw Milk Rally In Minneapolis
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.
FDA Warning Letter to Moon Fishery
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.
Students Serve Antibiotic-Free Chicken Lunch on Capitol Hill
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.
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