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Health Law

Food Poison Blog

Surveillance and analysis on food poison news and outbreaks.
By Marler Clark

Post Frequency: 17.6/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 12:57:03

Food Poisoning is an International Problem

Posted on June 15, 2009
The World Health Organization estimates that Food and waterborne diarrhoeal diseases are leading causes of illness and death in less developed countries, killing approximately 2.2 million people annually, 1.9 million of whom are children. Here are just a few reports around the world of foodborne illness outbreaks reported in the last twenty-four hours...

Michigan Company Announces Recall of Cheese Due to Listeria Contamination

Posted on June 15, 2009
The FDA announced on June 13 that Torres Hillsdale Country Cheese of Reading, Michigan has recalled all lots of various types of soft Mexican-style cheeses due to potential Listeria contamination. According to the FDA: Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause Listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease...

Valley Meats recalled hamburger due to E. coli O157:H7 contamination AFTER illnesses were found in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois - Why are we not all "Testing and Holding?"

Posted on June 14, 2009
Valley Meats LLC, a Coal Valley, Illinois grinding plant recalled approximately 95,898 pounds of ground beef that might have been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced in late May...

Bar Date Extended to October 31, 2009 for Filing of Salmonella Personal Injury Claims Against Peanut Corporation of America

Posted on June 14, 2009

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CDC Releases Report on Cryptosporidium Outbreak at Splash Park

Posted on June 12, 2009
This week's MMWR includes a report by the CDC on an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis at a "splash park" in Idaho in 2007. Cryptosporidiosis is the illness caused by the bacteria cryptosporidium. According to the CDC: Symptoms of cryptosporidiosis generally begin 2 to 10 days (average 7 days) after becoming infected with the parasite...

Food Poison Blog Takes on New Name

Posted on June 10, 2009
As readers of this blog know, a number of new authors have recently joined our contributor list. With all the new posts, Food Poison Blog began to look less like a blog, and more like a journal of news and notes on Food Poisoning. With that in mind, we have changed the title to Food Poison Journal...

Health Subcommittee Sends Food Safety Reform Bill To Full Committee: Vote Next Week

Posted on June 10, 2009
After years of just listening those injured and the survivors of those killed by outbreaks of food-borne illnesses in the United States, the House Health Subcommittee finally took some action today. On the back of deal that halves the amount of a new registration fee for food producing facilities, the Subcommittee was able to send its food safety reform bill to the full House Energy & Commerce Committee on a unanimous bipartisan voice vote...

Baltimore Police Seize Turtles Linked to Salmonella Risk

Posted on June 10, 2009
They may seem harmless and look cute, but juvenile turtles carry the risk of Salmonella transmission. Recently, police in Baltimore seized dozens of tiny turtles from vendors who were selling the animals illegally. The sale of turtles with shells under 4 inches in length has been illegal since 1975...

Meat and Poultry Product Recalled

Posted on June 09, 2009
FSIS has announced a Class I recall of 79,312 pounds of various fully cooked, ready-to-eat meat and poultry products because the products may contain under-processed ham components after contacting surfaces of equipment. Consuming undercooked pork products, or foods that have come into contact with those products, has been associated with a variety of serious illnesses, such as Cysticercosis, Trichinosis, and Salmonella...

Changes on the horizon for food recall procedures?

Posted on June 09, 2009
The June issue of Food Protection Report contains an article titled, 'Seeking Ways around Information Roadblocks,' which provides an analysis of different issues that impact the flow of information regarding recalled food products. The current recall system prohibits the distribution of vital recall information from federal to state public health agencies, preventing state health officers from receiving word regarding the distribution of recalled products such as hamburger that may be contaminated with E...

Russia Bans Tyson Pork Over E. coli Concerns

Posted on June 08, 2009
The Des Moines Register is reporting that Russia has banned the import of pork from two plants. According to the report, "Russian meat plant oversight group Rossel-khoznadzor said Thursday that E. coli bacteria was found in some meat from the plants...

Film addresses food safety issues

Posted on June 08, 2009
"Food, Inc." debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in September of 2008, and has since received rave reviews. The film is about to be released at theaters nationwide, and is featured this week on PBS's "NOW, with David Brancaccio"...

Another Voice Calling for Strengthening and Funding of FDA

Posted on June 08, 2009
Count the editorial board of the San Jose Mercury News as another vote in support of reform for the FDA. This editorial outlines the fight against the bill being put up by the food industry and their Republican supporters. As I discussed here last week, food industry lobbyists and Republicans are now balking at several desperately needed portions of the bill...

Listeria Recalls: Dark Chocolate Spread and Smoked Salmon

Posted on June 07, 2009
Chocolate Le Pain Quotidien is recalling a limited number of 14.15-ounce jars of Le Pain Quotidien's Noir Belgian Dark Chocolate Spread because it might contain milk not declared on the packaging. Those who have an allergy to milk run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they eat the product...

USDA's Top Food Safety Post Remains Vacant; Is Vilsack Working Off A Candidate List Approved By Meat Industry? Bloggers Want To Know!

Posted on June 06, 2009
Somebody has finally noticed. In this case, the somebody is Tom Laskawy, a food and environment specialist, and what he has noticed is that President Obama has NOT yet nominated anybody as U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Food Safety to run the Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS), the key federal agency for the integrity of meat, poultry and eggs produced by U...

Food Safety Fight Returns to Partisanship - Senator Barton Returns to Supporting Special Interests

Posted on June 05, 2009
On the heels of massive foodborne illness outbreaks linked to spinach, peppers, and peanut butter (twice), there appeared to be bi-partisan support for an overhaul of food safety regulation in the U.S. According to an article in the New York Times, "In March, Representative Joe L...

Proper canning steps ensure food safety, prevent botulism

Posted on June 04, 2009
I moved to Seattle in 2002 and have never experienced a heat wave in late May and early June like the one we are enjoying now. There are few places I'd rather be than Seattle in the summertime, and to our benefit this year, everyone in the Seattle area who planted their garden around Mother's Day is enjoying watching their tomatoes bloom, mint grow full, and and snow peas sprout...

Two Kindergarten Students Hospitalized From Salmonella

Posted on June 04, 2009
We at Food Poison Blog have been highlighting recently that food poisoning can be, and often is, much more than "just a little diarrhea." This is especially true for the very young, the very old, and those with compromised immune systems...

Captain Crunch Cereal Class Action Dismissed (And Not for Being Salmonella-free)

Posted on June 04, 2009
In a Order issued on May 21, 2009, a federal district court judge dismissed a class action lawsuit that, among other things, alleged that consumers had been defrauded by the makers of Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries because the "berries" were in fact brightly-colored cereal balls, and not actually fruit...

Hamburger E. coli season is underway

Posted on June 03, 2009
Valley Meats LLC recently recalled nearly 96,000 pounds of ground beef due to potential contamination by E. coli O157:H7. Now, SP Provisions of Portland, Oregon has recalled almost 40,000 pounds of ground beef due to positive sampling of its ground beef during production...

Baby Steps: USDA Implements Increase in E. coli O157:H7 Testing.

Posted on June 03, 2009
As I noted in an earlier post on a different blog about the USDA's decision to, in a matter of speaking, take its head out of the sand and recognize that E. coli O157:H7 is a problem that starts (and someday will hopefully end) with the slaughter and dressing process, the agency is finally appearing to take a more reality-based (which is to say, less industry-biased) approach to ensuring food safety...

Two Kingergarten Students Hospitalized From Salmonella

Posted on June 03, 2009
We at Food Poison Blog have been highlighting recently that food poisoning can be, and often is, much more than "just a little diarrhea." This is especially true for the very young, the very old, and those with compromised immune systems...

Committee Holding Public Hearing On "The Food Safety Enhancement Act Of 2009"

Posted on June 03, 2009
The House Energy and Commerce Committee today is conducting a public hearing on the 'discussion draft' of sweeping new food safety legislation. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colorado, praised he 'discussion draft' for including key elements of a bill she previously introduced; namely 'traceability ' and mandatory recall authority...

Food Poisoning Triples Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Posted on June 02, 2009
We sometimes hear food poisoning dismissed (usually by those who are being blamed with causing it, not those suffering from it) as "just a little diarrhea." Here is yet more evidence that such a characterization has no basis in reality...

Use a thermometer to ensure proper temperatures are reached to prevent foodborne illness

Posted on June 02, 2009
I was pleasantly surprised when a friend of mine used a digital, tip-sensitive food thermometer to measure the temperature of the chicken he was preparing for our Memorial Day BBQ. He even cooked the chicken to an internal temperature of 180°F, which exceeds the recommended 165 degree cooking temperature for chicken...

Carrot Producer Sues Sheep Farmer Over E. coli Concerns

Posted on June 01, 2009
Grimmway Enterprises, Inc., a carrot producer in Bakersfield, California is suing a neighboring sheep farmer afer the sheep entered Grimmway's property. The sheep grazed on Grimmway crops, but more importantly, they did what sheep do - they defecated...

An E.coli O157:H7 Vaccine for Cattle - What's the Hold Up?

Posted on May 29, 2009
According to an article in Candian Cattlemen, a Candadian firm, Bioniche Life Sciences, has developed a vaccine that reduces colonization of cows by E. coli O157 bacteria and reduces the amount of the bacteria shed in cattle manure. One would think that reductions of this nature would in turn lead to less human expsoure to the potentially fatal pathogen...

Food poisoning causes plane to make emergency landing

Posted on May 29, 2009
WESH.com reported that a Delta Airlines flight headed to Atlanta from Ecuador made an emergency stop in Orlando today after three passengers' food poisoning symptoms became severe and they required medical attention. According to WESH, two of the three passengers were transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center for treatment for food poisoning, while the third passenger declined treatment...

Minnesota Star Tribune Editorial Highlights Need For Increased Foodborne Illness Surveilance

Posted on May 29, 2009
Echoing the praise in my blog post yesterday, a Minnesota Star Tribune editorial is praising Minnesota health officials and calling for more foodborne illness surveilance. The editorial relates the story of one of the nine tragic and pointless deaths confirmed as resulting from the PCA Salmonella outbreak...

Bill Aims To Return FDA To "The Gold Standard" In Protecting Public Health

Posted on May 28, 2009
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is out with a discussion draft of 'the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.' Given who's signed on to this one, it's probably the one to watch. Sponsors include Chair Emeritus John D. Dingell, Chairs Henry A...

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