Washington State Cheerleading Event Spawns Outbreak of Apparent Food Illness
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) annual cheerleading and dance/drill competition in Everett, Washington, drew some 3,000 observers and 1,000 participants to Comcast Arena on February 4. The next day and day after, some people who attended began to experience symptoms of food illness.
Now the Washington State Department of Health and the Snohomish Health District are investigating what organsim made people sick, where it came from and how many fell ill. The early-stage food poisoning investigation was announced yesterday in a press release that said a food history questionnaire will be sent to participants.
The WIAA said Comcast Arena officials are cooperating with the investigation. People who got sick experienced nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, fever and diarrhea. People who attended the event from around the state are advised to contact a health care provider if they have symptoms.
“Our immediate concerns are for those who have been affected by this illness and our thoughts are with them,” said WIAA Executive Director Mike Colbrese.
Food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., is monitoring this investigation and providing free case consultations to families and individuals for possible representation. State officials have not said if anyone was hospitalized. To discuss your concerns with an experienced food illness lawyer at our firm, leave your contact information or call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free)
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Proponents say raw milk contains healthful microorganisms that pasteurized milk does not, and that drinking it can aid digestion, boost the immune system and ease the symptoms of allergies and asthma.
Brucellosis 
The violations by the Lafayette County meat processor were discovered when members of MDA’s Meat and Poultry Inspection Program uncovered records at the business, operated by Terry Kleoppel, during a January 4 inspection.
Wash Your Hands. Always wash your hands before handling food, while you’re preparing food, after handling raw meats, eggs, poultry, seafood, and produce, and after you finish cooking. Always wash your hands after using the bathroom, touching a pet, or changing a diaper. Wash your hands using warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds. Be sure to clean under your fingernails too. For more details, please see 
If you don’t have a food thermometer, you can check the color meat juices and refer to other 
“Most pregnant women don't think of themselves as being at greater risk for foodborne illness during pregnancy. But, because they are naturally immune-suppressed, they are more at risk for foodborne illnesses than other adults,” Lydia Medeiros, a food safety specialist with Ohio State University Extension and one of the project's principal investigators said in a statement.
Golden Glen Creamery of Bow, WA recalled butter produced on November 2, 2011 due to possible contamination with 
Front Row Produce of St. Louis MO recalled 10oz pint and 10lb bulk grape tomatoes supplied by Rio Queen Citrus, Mission TX, due to possible contamination with 
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Nationally recognized food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker has been elected to the Board of Directors of STOP Foodborne Illness, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of illness and death from foodborne pathogens.
Almost 1,000 gallons of whole milk produced by Farmers All Natural Creamery of Wellman, Iowa, is being recalled on concerns that is was not adequately pasteurized, according to a safety alert issued by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.
Hood Canal raw oysters have been linked to an outbreak of .jpg)
Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. But just like other foods they carry a risk of foodborne illness. Harmful bacteria that may be in the soil or water where produce grows may come in contact with the fruits and vegetables and contaminate them. Or, fresh produce may become contaminated after it is harvested, such as during preparation or storage. Eating contaminated produce (or fruit and vegetable juices made from contaminated produce) can lead to foodborne illness, which can cause serious - and sometimes fatal - infections..jpg)
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Now Del Monte Fresh Produce, N.A., Inc.. has filed a notice to sue the Oregon public health unit and Keene himself. The company said in a press release that its "Notice to Sue alerts the Oregon Health Authority's Public Health Division of its conduct and misleading allegations regarding Del Monte Fresh's imported cantaloupes as the source of a Salmonella outbreak earlier this year despite the lack of sufficient factual basis.''
Attorney Elliot Olsen
It has been found in a host of studies that there is a distinct link between corn processing method and .jpg)
An active investigation was launched after two babies died and at least 13 others were sickened after consuming SimplyThick brand of thickening agent added to formula and breast milk. Babies are at risk of illness or death from SimplyThick, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says. Symptoms to watch for include: Bloated stomach. Greenish-tinged vomiting. Bloody stools. The illness is known as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), where intestinal tissue becomes inflamed and dies.
Two deaths in premature infants fed SimplyThick and 13 other cases came to light last week and the FDA has issued a SimplyThick safety alert to bring public attention to the threat. SimplyThick is a thickening agent for management of swallowing disorders in infants born before 37 weeks. It is typically mixed with breast milk or infant formula.
On Monday, sixty students at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Coachella, California, got sick. Riverside County health officials are investigating the outbreak and are looking at .jpg)
In response to the 2006 fresh, bagged spinach recall which followed a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157: H7 infections, 18 percent of consumers said they stopped buying other bagged, fresh produce because of the spinach recall. The spinach E. coli outbreak killed three people and sickened more than 200 others. Of 102 victims who were hospitalized, 31 developed a dreaded disease known as .gif)
The report, obtained by 
As often happens in such presentations, the conversation turned to raw milk. Under Canadian law, it is apparently illegal to sell or purvey raw milk in any fashion (unlike in the US where many states allow some commercial raw milk sales). One of the officers of the Department raised an interesting question about raw milk in the context of personal freedom vs. governmental regulation of a potentially dangerous commodity. He asked me whether it is appropriate to regulate a commodity like raw milk if a consumer, knowledgeable about its risks and dangers, nevertheless chooses to drink it. In other words, treat it like “informed consent” in the context of a medical procedure: there is utility with attendant risk. If the risks are fully explained and the consumer/patient judges there to be sufficient utility to justify the risk, why should the government intrude?
The 47-page Power Point demonstration focused on how lawyers prove food poisoning cases in the aftermath of outbreaks of 
Perfringens food poisoning normally lasts 24 hours, causing intense cramps and diarrhea that starts 6 to 24 hours after consumption of contaminated food. The Evanston Health Department collected samples of catered food and inspected Merle's Smokehouse. Results indicated Clostridium perfringens caused the outbreak.
Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, wrote in a "Perspective'' piece in the lastest issue of the Journal that says the best measure for up-to-date trends in foodborne illness is FoodNet, a CDC surveillance system that tracks infections reported to labs in 10 states..jpg)
The whistleblower provision is tucked into the Food Safety Modernization Act signed last month by President Obama. It gives job protection to individuals who speak up about what they think are violations of food safety laws. If they were to get fired for blowing the whistle, the government could order them reinstated with back pay, attorneys' fees and other damages and protection from further retaliation..jpg)
Said Taylor: "The recruitment of a chief medical officer and director of outbreaks here is part of an effort to really transform the way we think about and manage and learn from outbreaks in our effort to build a prevention-oriented food safety program.'' The food safety official told CIDRAP that FDA is putting together a permanent team to work on foodborne outbreaks of .jpg)
Paul Chang, who leads the traceability initiative at IBM, said the company is basically taking the tracking system it uses for the pharmaceutical industry and adopting it to the food business. HarvestMark, based in California, has developed a two-dimensional bar code sticker that can be placed on individual fruits and vegetables or packaging. Shoppers can scan the sticker with a smartphone or go to the HarvestMark website and enter the number from the sticker to learn the path the food has taken and other information the farmer chooses to share, such as the harvest date. You can click a button and tell the farmer what you think of the produce, if you like..jpg)
The latest effort is a collection of three dramatic videos grouped together on a website called ".gif)
The findings reinforce conventional wisdom among food safety experts, including food poisoning lawyers who represent victims of E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria and other types of bacteria. Generally speaking, states that report a lot of outbreaks are tops at linking clusters of foodborne illnesses to the source of contamination. By contrast, those states that hardly report any outbreaks don't seem to put much effort into it. CSPI said state public health investigations of foodborne illness are vital to quantifying the problem on a national scale and subsequently developing prevention strategies..jpg)
Pritzker is founder and president of PritzkerOlsen, P.A., a leading national practitioner of foodborne illness litigation. He currently represents multiple individuals and families in lawsuits and other legal actions stemming from infections of E. coli 0157:H7, non-O157:H7 E. coli strains, Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni. One recent 
Food safety upgrades under the new law signed by President Obama are spelled out in an open letter from Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
The Salmonella outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts and certain Jimmy John's restaurants in Illinois now has 112 reported cases in 18 states and the District of Columbia as follows:
After the death of Nellie Napier in 2009, her son, Randy Napier, made four trips to Washington to urge Congress to pass legislation to give the Food and Drug Administration more authority over the nation’s food supply and greater ability to trace contaminated food.
By empowering the FDA with more enforcement, inspection and traceback strength in the event of foodborne illness outbreaks, Congress fundamentally has changed the way we protect public health. The bill is meant to prevent contamination before it occurs, steering away from the existing pattern of responding after an outbreak. The bill also improves the government's ability to detect and respond to foodborne illness when outbreaks of 
Sally Jackson Cheese of Oroville, Washington, recalled all cheese products, including cow, goat, and sheep, because they may be contaminated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 bacteria. .jpg)
“Companies like Costco are very good because they have retail records with customer numbers that enable them to contact customers directly,” says 
Our law firm filed a wrongful death lawsuit yesterday on behalf of the family of Nellie Napier, who died after eating peanut butter contaminated with 
Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food
As part of USDA's ".gif)
“Recalls and outbreaks are the most public consequence of our ‘horse and buggy’ food safety system,” Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) said in a press release.
The August inspection report of Quality Egg LLC (doing business as Wright County Egg) provides a clue to how over 500 million eggs could have to be recalled due to possible contamination with Salmonella Enteritidis. Manure was 8 feet high in one area, and a door was "blocked with excessive amounts of manure." Feel like eating an omelet?
You remember PCA. The company sold peanut products to food producers that used the peanut paste to make thousands of snack products. The company was shut down and .jpg)
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1,470 reported illnesses were likely to be associated with this outbreak between May 1 to August 25. More are expected as investigation and testing continues in more than 20 states.
Our law firm is investigating a tyhpoid fever outbreak in the United States linked to mamey pulp (
Wright County Egg, Galt, Iowa, is voluntarily recalling 228,000,000 shell eggs because they have the potential to be contaminated with 
Update to information below: This Salmonella Hartford outbreak has been associated with Taco Bell restaurants, according to health officials..gif)
Be aware that infections of 
Osterholm was interviewed outside Pritzker Olsen's downtown Minneapolis offices by WCCO news anchor Frank Vascellero in a report about the ESPN investigation of stadium vendors at all 107 major league baseball, basketball, hockey and football arenas in the United States and Canada.
The 
Dr. David Holcombe, medical director for Region 6 of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals' Office of Public Health, told TheTownTalk.com that an epidemiological study implicated chicken salad as the agent.
A multistate 
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Now, because there is no U.S. limit for copper and other harmful residues in beef, the USDA had no grounds for blocking the beef's producer from reselling the rejected meat in the United States.
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When FDA discovered the situation at Basic Food Flavors Inc., a recall was issued of Basic Food Flavors HVP flavor enhancer that has touched off a sweeping domino pattern of food recalls by users of the ingredient. No
On average, food poisoning costs $1,850 per case nationwide, or $152 billion annually.
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The event was part of a regional youth and government conference held by YMCA. According to a report on the apparent .jpg)
Thirty-two percent say they are "very confident" about the safety of the food they buy, while 52 percent are "somewhat confident." The remaining 16 percent say they are not too confident or not at all confident in the safety of their food..gif)
The regional newspaper The Province reports this week on NASA technology that is being adapted to monitor refrigerator temperatures in key venues, including villages that will house athletes. Two years ago at the Beijing Olympic Games, several members of the U.S. Olympic team were sickened by food-borne illness in China just days before they were due to compete..jpg)
According to a copy of a warning letter obtained by national food safety law firm .gif)
Homeland Security's Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC) for Import Safety is operating under the direction of Customs and Border Protection. It was created on the recommendation of President Obama’s Food Safety Working Group, which had promised new ventures of cooperation between federal agencies.
Dr. Vincent Conte, the health department's top epidemiologist, told the 
in 2005, FDA required certain food facilities to maintain records identifying the sources, recipients, and transporters of food products. The purpose of these records is to allow FDA to trace an article of food through each stage of the food supply chain—from a retail shelf back to a farm and vice versa— if FDA has a reasonable belief that a food product is adulterated and presents a serious health threat..gif)
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Omaha meatpacker J.F. O'Neill Packing Co. is recalling 33,000 pounds of beef tongues packed between July 1 and October 8..jpg)
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Managers of a Mexican style restaurant in Lenexa, Kansas, are blaming a sudden outbreak of 
Top executives from U.S. produce companies gathered in Austin, Texas, today to hear national food safety lawyer 
The ground beef products were produced on various dates ranging from June 5, 2009 through June 23, 2009 and bear the establishment number "EST. 31913" printed on the case code labels. The ground beef products were distributed to retail distribution centers in Arizona, California, Colorado and Utah. Because these products were repackaged into consumer-size packages and sold under different retail brand names, consumers should check with their local retailer to determine whether they may have purchased any of the products subject to recall.
Beef Recall Alert: JSB Swift Beef Company, a Colorado firm, has recalled about 380,000 pounds of beef products due to possible contamination with 
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By FRED PRITZKER.gif)
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On Sunday, a seven-year-old girl died from an 
This little girl’s death was preventable, and the companies that are responsible should pay. .gif)
All four campers with primary confirmed cases reported contact (e.g., petting, carrying, and feeding) with the petting zoo animals. Direct contact with the animals also was reported by a camper with probable infection; whether the second camper with probable infection had animal contact was unknown. Investigation revealed no common food, beverage, or recreational water exposures that might account for the STEC O157 infections..gif)
The situation at Westco has highlighted a legal weakness at FDA when it comes to policing food safety. Even though PCA's Salmonella-laced peanuts were known to have caused more than 700 illnesses in 46 states and nine deaths, the agency didn't have legal authority to demand a recall of products known to contain the deadly pathogens.
This outbreak continues to widen, and the FDA and CDC are recommending that consumers not eat raw alfalfa sprouts, including sprout blends containing alfalfa sprouts, which have been linked to widespread Salmonella serotype Saintpaul contamination. Other types of sprouts have not been implicated at this time..gif)
"Typically we don't implicate a facility until we have confirmation of lab results,'' Andre Pierce, director of environmental health and safety division of the county's environmental services division, told the weekly. "The investigation is ongoing and we don't have any results yet.''
The CDC recently issued its report entitled “Preliminary FoodNet Data on the Incidence of Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food --- 10 States, 2008.” (MMWR April 10, 2009 / 58(13);333-337)
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In response, the Connecticut General Assembly is considering .gif)
A simple mixture of table salt and tap water whose ions have been scrambled with an electric current—dubbed electrolyzed water by researchers and miracle liquid by hotel housekeepers—is safe enough to drink and strong enough to kill E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella and other foodborne pathogens, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times:
"Agriculture is be far our most important industry, and good water quality undergirds much of our quality of life and our economic health,'' Ambs said.
A Minneapolis seafood firm that failed to adhere to .gif)
According to numerous press reports, at least 20 people who live on the Front Range in Colorado have been infected with the same strain of E. coli. Sixteen of the illnesses are in children who attended the animal exhibit, including a child who is 17 months old. The two-week show drew more than 643,000 attendees before it ended January 25 and health officials expect the number of E. coli O157:H7 infections in the current outbreak to grow.
The group of researchers, led by Dr. Duc Vugia, chief of the Infectious Diseases Branch of the 
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ith melamine showing up recently in some food products imported to the United States, FSIS said it would be “prudent” to do a small amount of sampling of products collected at retail stores.The random testing will begin in about two weeks and last 12 weeks.
The Colorado Health Department is now investigating 3 additional cases that have surfaced in Boulder and 3 cases elsewhere in Boulder County.
Health officials in southeast Iowa and neighboring Illinois have confirmed four cases of 
These recalled hamburger was produced on Sept. 5, 8, 12, 19 and 22 and delivered to distribution centers. It was intended for restaurants and institutions in Vermont and Plattsburgh, New York; it was not intended to be available for direct retail purchase. 
Not surprisingly, Michigan agriculture officials have determined that iceberg lettuce associated with an E. coli outbreak that has sickened people in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Canada came from California, which produces the majority of the commercial lettuce in the United States.
Health officials have not determined the source of the outbreak, but initial investigations indicate that on-campus dining is not related to the illness. BCPH staff is working closely with CU and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to identify the source of the outbreak and any additional cases among students and the public.
According to the 
The recalled sprouts are Sprouters Northwest brand and include all lot numbers with a best by date of 9/17/08 or earlier of: 5oz alfalfa sprout cups UPC - 033383701417, 4oz alfalfa clamshells UPC-815098001088, 1lb bags of alfalfa sprouts UPC - 079566123508, 2lb trays of alfalfa sprouts UPC – 079566123492, 5oz salad cups UPC - 033383702674, 4oz salad clamshells UPC - 815098002061, 5oz alfalfa onion sprout cups UPC - 033383701905, and 4oz onion sprout clamshells UPC – 815098002054.
Nebraska Beef produced the recalled products on June 17, June 24 and July 8, 2008. The shipping containers and product labels bear the establishment number “EST. 19336” inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as the brand “Coleman Natural.” However, these products were sent to establishments and retail stores nationwide for further processing and will likely not bear the establishment number “EST. 19336” on products available for direct consumer purchase.
In response to this outbreak, Dorothy Lane Market has asked consumers to bring back unused ground beef products purchased at all of the store's locations (3 locations) with "sell by" dates between June 9th and July 29th. This Dorothy Lane Market hamburger recall involves over 25,000 packages of raw hamburger that used ground beef components provided by Nebraska Beef, Ltd. This outbreak has prompted 
Three more people have tested positive for 
"Whether the source of the E. coli is the grocery store or its suppliers," said 
Clean: First things first – make sure you start with clean surfaces and clean hands. Be sure that you and your guests wash your hands before preparing or handling food. Hands should be washed with soap and warm water for 20 seconds before and after handling food. Equally important are the surfaces that come in contact with raw and cooked foods – make sure they are clean before you start and are washed frequently.
Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often brown quickly and may appear done on the outside, but still may not have reached a safe minimum internal temperature to kill any harmful bacteria. Steaks, roasts and chops should be cooked to 145 °F. Hamburgers should reach 160 °F. All poultry should reach a minimum of 165 °F. Fish should be cooked to 145 °F. Fully cooked meats like hot dogs should be grilled to 165 °F or until steaming hot.
The study found that 
Alamosa County health officials have reported one death related to the Salmonella outbreak linked to the Alamosa water supply. According to health officials, the genetic pattern of the person's Salmonella matched the pattern found in the city's water supply before it was disinfected. 
Dr. Damon T. Arnold, state public health director, is warning consumers not to eat the recalled puffed rice and puffed wheat cereal due to possible Salmonella contamination. Malt-O-Meal recalled the cereal after the company’s internal routine food safety testing found Salmonella. A link between the cereal and Salmonella cases has not yet been confirmed.
The FDA issued an import alert on Saturday for 
Michael Lynch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said, according to 
In the wake of the Hallmark/Westland recall, the beef industry has been asserting that the incident was unique and not representative of the industry as a whole. However, the data suggests otherwise. Other officials also have reported that the USDA did not take proper precautions to prevent the purchase of meat contaminated with pathogens such as 
In the course of the investigation, CalFERT learned that Wegis Ranch’s irrigation system was connected to both dairies and that Wegis Ranch sometimes irrigated with a blend of the dairies’ discharged wastewater and other water sources. Upon learning this, CalFert expanded its environmental investigation “to encompass a thorough assessment of the vicinity’s water distribution system and conveyances as a whole” (page 21). 
We have recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of a victim of the Taco John’s E. coli outbreak that was the subject of the CalFERT investigation. According to Elliot Olsen, lead attorney on the case, “These illnesses represent yet another breakdown in a system which seems incapable of protecting the public from contaminated food. We believe there are other victims out there who have not yet come forward.”
The 
Cases of Salmonella (salmonellosis) in Hawaii have prompted a 
The 
(Update to the entry below: FSIS has announced the recall of more than 140 million pounds of raw and frozen beef. 
The 
The International Association for Food Protection has released a series of 
A woman from Jesup, Iowa is taking CMT Inc. to court after becoming ill after eating at a Taco John’s restaurant. Her illness is connected to an 
The 
Shiloh Farms of New Holland, Pennsylvania is recalling their Organic Unhulled Sesame Seeds due to possible 
A relatively rare strain of 
The 
Although the 
The study was directly aimed at ready-to-eat meats such as hotdogs in order to kill Listeria on the surface of the meats. The process utilized an infrared emitter, a hotdog roller, an infrared sensor, and a temperature controller. The sensor monitored the surface temperature of the hotdogs while the emitter was the heating source.
Kroger deli bean salad, specifically Deli Chef Tri-Bean Salad, has been recalled due to possible contamination with Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that can cause 
The recent Listeria outbreak linked to Whittier Farms pasteurized milk is a reminder that no food is completely safe from foodborne pathogens. The outbreak has killed four people, 3 elderly men and an unborn baby. (Learn about 
As the federal government struggles to ensure the safety of our food, some local governments are increasing their food-safety efforts and making a significant difference. For example, food inspectors in Columbus, Ohio are cracking down on food safety among local restaurant owners, according to the 
Listeria can incubate for up to 70 days, which will be March 6 or later in this outbreak. Whittier Farms has been ordered to shut down milk production and cannot resume until the plant is cleared by state officials. Whittier Farms provided milk for 31 wholesale accounts, which have since switched to different providers due to the outbreak.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has released a 
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has launched an upgraded protocol for testing E. coli 0157:H7 in raw beef, according to 
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) has issued a warning regarding milk products from Whittier Farms in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts due to possible 
A few weeks ago, public health officials in Arizona, California, and other western states reported dozens of multi-drug resistant Salmonella infections that had the same "genetic fingerprint" detected through the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention's PulseNet system. However, their epidemiological investigation had not led them to a specific food source, according to an earlier report in the 
PFGE patterns (DNA “fingerprints”) of Salmonella and other bacterial foodborne pathogens are submitted electronically to the PulseNet database, which is maintained by the CDC. The PulseNet database of PFGE patterns is available on-demand to state health departments and other participants, allowing for rapid comparison of the patterns. In this case, the PFGE patterns (DNA “fingerprints”) of the Salmonella bacteria that have sickened people in Arizona, California, Idaho and Nevada are the same. 
Larry Edmonson, an epidemiologist at the Olmsted County Public Health in Rochester, Minnesota, said studies have shown that tomatoes linked to a recent Salmonella outbreak in the area were contaminated before they reached a local Quiznos Subs restaurant, the 
Ten of this year's recalls, largely small ones with no associated illnesses, resulted from routine USDA testing, recall records show. The USDA tests thousands of products annually for bacteria, including E. coli O157:H7, before the meat leaves plants.
According to the USDA, ConAgra’s Missouri plant that produced 
According to the 
In the news today is Senator Charles Schumer’s call for improved federal oversight of meat safety. From the Associated Press:
To date, people in Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin have confirmed cases of E. coli that are associated with the recalled Cargill hamburger patties. The E. coli O157:H7 strain involved in this outbreak is particularly dangerous and an unusually high number of people have developed 
The CDC is reporting 30 cases of E. coli O157:H7 linked to Topps hamburgers:
Fresh Brands Distributing Inc. announced a Piggly Wiggly ground beef recall after E. coli infections in two people were associated with beef bought in Piggly Wiggly stores in Monroe and Sister Bay, Wisconsin. The Piggly Wiggly ground beef affected by the E. coli recall includes “
In the interview, Professor Fung provides insight into what he thinks is the primary source of E. coli contamination on lettuce farms:
Prompted by a number of E. coli outbreaks involving spinach and lettuce, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide nearly $5.5 million to support collaborative research to identify risk factors and preventive measures for E. coli O157:H7 contamination in fresh produce.
** OUTBREAK UPDATE: Our firm is investigation the Shigella outbreak associated with the Souplantation restaurant in Pasadena. 
One child hospitalized in Texas with botulism poisoning is still in critical condition a month after becoming ill. According to the CDC, the child ate Castleberry’s Austex Hot Dog Chili Sauce Original for lunch on June 28. Both the child and a sibling became severely ill and were hospitalized. The child’s sibling was released from the hospital on July 26. 
There are 2 confirmed cases of 
A woman in San Diego was diagnosed with botulism after eating 
126 people who ate at the Pars Cove Persian Cuisine booth at the Taste of Chicago have become ill. Salmonella poisoning is the likely cause. Salmonella outbreaks involving restaurants can be caused by contaminated food or a sick food handler. In this case, health officials believe hummus served at the Pars Cove booth is the source of the Salmonella outbreak. Other food served at the Pars Cove Persian Cuisine booth at Taste Chicago included “cucumber salad over hummus, grilled lamb and beef, pomegranate barbecued chicken and baklava,” according to the Associated Press.
Below is information on the Salmonella Wandsworth outbreak linked to Veggie Booty snack food. There are now 58 confirmed cases in 18 states.
An article in today’s issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report addresses the recent nationwide outbreak of Salmonella Tennessee linked to Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butters. The article explains the detection and investigation of the outbreak, which involved local, state, and federal health officials.
The FDA has issued some 
All that is involved in the process is hanging a rope in feedlot pens the night before the cattle are slaughtered. Margaret McFall, a food safety division scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Food, was quoted in the article as saying:
Chicken feed was made from byproducts of the melamine-contaminated pet food that has sickened and killed hundreds of cats and dogs in the United States. This chicken feed was fed to chickens on 30 poultry farms in Indiana. Some of the chickens that were fed the contaminated feed ended up in the human food chain. The FDA/USDA believes other poultry farms also fed the contaminated feed to chickens. This may turn out to be food poisoning on a massive scale.
A byproduct of the recalled pet food that has killed hundreds of cats and dogs in the United States was used to produce swine feed. The swine feed tested positive for melamine and other dangerous chemicals also found in the pet food. Melamine was also found in the urine of swine in California. The contaminated swine feed was sold to swine producers in at least 8 states, including California, Kansas, North Carolina, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah. The FDA and USDA have announced that the swine fed the feed contaminated with melamine will not be allowed to enter the human food supply. Below is a joint news release issued by the FDA and USDA: 
Attorney Fred Pritzker is monitoring a possible E. coli outbreak linked to Hoss's Steak and Sea Restaurants. An investigation carried out by FSIS and the Pennsylvania Department of Health has linked several illnesses to steak products produced at the plant for Hoss's Family Steak and Sea Restaurants, a Pennsylvania-based restaurant chain with restaurants in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Steaks, ground beef patties, and other cuts of meat used at Hoss's Steak and Sea Restaurants were recalled due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7. 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an alert to consumers over possible severe health risks from eating olives that may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. C. botulinum can cause 
** OUTBREAK UPDATE: Attorney Fred Pritzker is investigating a Shigella outbreak associated with the Souplantation restaurant in Pasadena. Victims of this outbreak ate at the Pasadena Souplantation 
