Keep Food Safety in Mind This Memorial Day Weekend

Posted on May 28, 2012 by bilrob

Keep Food Safety in Mind This Memorial Day Weekend

SATURDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) — Picnics, parades and cookouts are as much a part of Memorial Day weekend as tributes to the United States’ war veterans.

But, before tucking into that leafy, green salad or strawberry shortcake, remember that fresh fruits and vegetables can become contaminated with harmful pathogens that cause food poisoning, such as E. Coli, salmonella, listeria and norovirus, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Food Safety is everybody’s responsibility. The contamination occurs during harvesting and can even affect fruits and vegetables grown locally or in a home garden, the group noted.

“One in six Americans gets sick every year from foodborne pathogens that you cannot see, smell or taste but are everywhere. Eating any contaminated product — even produce labeled as organic or locally grown — can lead to food poisoning or even death,” Sarah Krieger, registered dietitian and academy spokeswoman, said in an academy news release. “Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy eating plan, and should fill half of your plate, but just like any food product, extra food safety precautions should be taken to reduce the risk of food poisoning.”

To help ensure that Americans safely buy, store and prepare produce, the academy, in collaboration with ConAgra, offered the following tips:

Avoid produce with mold, bruises or cuts that can harbor bacteria.
Buy loose produce rather than pre-packaged.
Wash and dry all fruits and vegetables (even pre-packaged produce) with cool tap water before preparing or eating.
Use a knife to cut away any damaged areas on fruit or vegetables.

The experts added that when preparing fresh produce, it’s important to avoid cross-contamination with other raw foods.

“Cross-contamination can lead to food poisoning when juices from raw foods like meat, poultry or chicken come in contact with ready-to-eat foods like raw produce,” Krieger said. “Using two cutting boards and a color-code system can help: one color cutting board for raw meats; and the other for your fruits and vegetables.”

The group also pointed out that cooked fruits and vegetables should be discarded after three to four days to avoid food poisoning. They advised people to label produce with an “eat by” date to ensure they know when food is no longer safe to eat.

More food safety information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides more information on foodborne illness in the United States.

– Mary Elizabeth Dallas

SOURCE: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, news release, May 22, 2012

Bill & Sheila’s Food Safety – Bacterial Infections

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Listeria - River Ranch recalls salads, some sold at Giant Eagle

Posted on May 21, 2012 by bilrob

FOOD SAFETY ALERT

Listeria – River Ranch recalls salads, some sold at Giant Eagle

Yet again, we bring you another food safety alert for Listeria. This time it is in salads. We have only just issued a listeria alert for onions in Canada. What is going on? It seems that every day we receive alerts and product recalls for milk, cheese, salads, onions ect. The food safety rules are quite clear on how to handle and store food correctly. Why is it that so many businesses let their products to become contaminated with listeria, salmonella, e-coli and worse.

We are very conscious of the food safety regulations – especially in the UK, USA and Canada. We have a very high visitor base in these countries. We will continue to relay these alerts whenever we are notified of a recall of goods or suspected contamination. We cannot stress strongly enough, the need for care and attention when handling food. If you are unsure about how to handle food safely, then you should visit our section on Food Safety at Giant Eagle carries affected River Ranch product under its The Farmers Market brand, and also uses the lettuce for its deli sandwich rings.

To date, there have been no reported cases of illness.

Upon notification from the manufacturer, Giant Eagle immediately initiated the removal of affected product from store shelves, and is in the process of contacting customers who previously purchased the product with instructions on its disposal.

River Ranch Fresh Foods, LLC of Salinas, CA is initiating a voluntary recall of retail and foodservice bagged salads, because they have the potential of being contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes following routine random retail salad finished product tests conducted in the marketplace by the Food Drug Administration.

Listeria monocytogenes is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Retail salad products under this recall were distributed nationwide under various sizes and packaged under the brand names of River Ranch, Farm Stand, Hy-Vee, Marketside, Shurfresh, and The Farmer’s Market.

Foodservice salad products under this recall were distributed nationwide under various sizes and packaged under the brand names of River Ranch, Cross Valley, Fresh n Easy, Promark, and Sysco. The recalled retail and foodservice salad bags have either “Best By” code dates between 12MAY2012 – 22MAY2012 or Julian dates between 116 – 125.

The code date is typically located in the upper right hand corner of the bags. See attached list for the specific salad products, size, package type, UPC codes and states of distribution.

No other products, brands or code dates aside from those listed below are affected by this recall.

There have been NO reported illnesses associated with this recall.

We are working closely with the Food Drug Administration and California Department of Public Health.

Consumers who have purchased this product should not consume it and are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions can contact River Ranch at their 24-hour customer service center at 1-800-762-7708.

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E. coli on stores' chicken

Posted on April 17, 2012 by bilrob

E. coli found on stores’ chicken

A new study of grocery store chicken carried out by a pro-vegetarian group reports that almost half the chicken meat tested, including some from two supermarkets in Milwaukee, was contaminated with fecal matter.

The examination by the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has come under criticism because of the group’s agenda and the study’s sample size and conclusions.

The group tested chicken products sold by 15 grocery chains in 10 cities, including a Pick ‘n Save and a Piggly Wiggly in Milwaukee. Some samples showed levels of E. coli hundreds of times higher than those deemed acceptable by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, the group also counted as contaminated samples that showed E. coli levels well within the acceptable limits. Overall the study reported that 48% of the samples it tested were positive for fecal contamination.

Joseph Gonzales, a registered dietitian for Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said the group’s findings show that there are numerous opportunities for contamination in the preparation of chicken for sale, and current testing and inspections are insufficient to catch it.

“They only test one out of every 22,000 chickens,” Gonzales said, referring to tests carried out by the companies themselves under USDA supervision. “It’s just so hard to regulate because there are so many birds going through.”

He said about 9 billion chickens are slaughtered each year in America.

But critics questioned the validity of the study and charged that Gonzales’ group is not impartial.

“They’re as biased as anybody,” said Andrew L. Milkowski, an adjunct professor in the department of animal sciences at University of Wisconsin-Madison. After reading the report, Milkowski said the group was making a leap of logic in claiming that the presence of E. coli meant fecal material was present on the birds.

He said E. coli is present in the water supply and in small amounts in the environment. Moreover, he said the companies and USDA ensure that chickens must pass through “extensive” safety hurdles “before they can send any product out the door. There is also auditing of company records to make sure what they say they are doing to ensure safety they are, in fact, doing.”

Dirk Fillpot, a spokesman for the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, would not agree to be interviewed about the report, but issued a highly critical statement.

“What the study reports is the presence of generic E. coli, not fecal matter,” Fillpot wrote. “The generic E. coli present on the birds would not cause foodborne illness. This study does not focus on what counts: foodborne pathogens.”

Gonzales said his group tested six chicken products from each place visited. The supermarkets tested were in Milwaukee; Charleston, S.C.; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Houston; Miami; Phoenix; San Diego; and Washington, D.C.

Roundy’s Inc., the operator of Pick ‘n Save supermarkets, released a statement in response to the study, saying that food safety and customer well-being are the company’s top priorities. Its statement noted: “A number of experts are questioning the group’s survey methodology and the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture said the study’s findings were not supported by any science or facts.”

CHICKEN SAFETY

Chicken should be stored in a refrigerator that is 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or in a freezer that is 0 degrees Fahrenheit or colder. Refrigerated chicken should be eaten in one to two days, and cooked to at least 160 degrees in its thickest part to kill E. coli and other pathogens.

Bill & Sheila’s Food Safety – Bacterial Infections

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U.S. expands E. coli ban in beef; consumers cheer

Posted on September 15, 2011 by bilrob

U.S. expands E. coli ban in beef; consumers cheer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The government will test for six more strains of E. coli bacteria in raw beef, officials announced on Tuesday, a step sought by consumer groups but opposed by the cost-conscious meat industry.

Inspectors in March will begin testing beef trim for the “Big Six” bacteria strains that have caused thousands of sicknesses each year, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters.

Consumer groups have called for the six strains to be named adulterants alongside the single strain now banned, E. coli 0157:H7. That strain was barred from foods in the 1990s after an outbreak at a fast-food hamburger chain.

The Agriculture Department believes non-0157 strains are responsible for more than 112,000 illnesses per year, with more than 36,000 attributable to beef, Vilsack said.

“One of the reasons we’re doing this is because these pathogens can survive ordinary cooking,” he told reporters. “The reason why there’s a focus on food safety is because it saves lives, it saves medical expenses and it keeps people productive.”

The American Meat Institute and other industry groups said the measures impose additional costs on beef producers, which could lead to higher beef prices for consumers.

Tyson Foods spokesman Gary Mickelson said the world’s largest meat producer already has multiple measures in place that prevent various forms of E. coli.

“Tyson has a comprehensive testing program in place for O157:H7,” Mickelson said. “We’ll be working with our trade associations to review and comment on the USDA’s proposed directive, which we currently believe will be much more costly to implement than the government is projecting.”

PUSHING FOR A BAN

Consumer and food-safety groups have long argued E. coli 026, 0111, 045, 0121, 0103 and 0145 should be treated the same as the more notorious 0157:H7.

Representative Rosa DeLauro, an early proponent of food safety reforms enacted this year, wrote to Obama administration officials this summer calling for the strains to be barred.

Tanya Roberts, chairman of the board at the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention, said the USDA will have the power to remove “contaminated products out of the food chain, out of restaurants and grocery stores, and off our plates at minimal cost…this is not only good for public health but it is also good for business.”

Vilsack said some food companies were already testing for E. coli strains for that reason.

Costco Wholesale requires that some suppliers test for several forms of the bacteria, he said.

(Editing by Russell Blinch; Editing by David Gregorio)

E Coli. - Germany regrets…

Posted on July 15, 2011 by bilrob

E Coli. – Germany regrets…

Germany has finally held up its hands and admitted this week that the outbreak of E-coli infection that caused the deaths of 30 people and made nearly 3,000 people seriously ill was sourced in Germany, despite its early accusations that Spain was the origin of the contamination.

In the course of investigations carried out by Germany’s National Disease Control Centre to trace the source of the infection it emerged that locally grown bean sprouts were responsible, traced through forensic examination of the contents of the family dustbins of some of the victims. “It is the sprouts,” said Reinhard Burger, head of the control centre, “…warnings against eating cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuces will be lifted but kept in place for bean sprouts.”

Further tests will be carried out to determine the root of the infection and whether it is traceable to animal or vegetable contamination.

Germany’s rash accusations during the early stages of the outbreak caused consumer panic resulting in devastating losses to the agricultural industry across Europe.

Meanwhile, Spanish Minister of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs Rosa Aguilar said that, “…ALL Spanish farmers will receive financial compensation soon.”

Additionally, Spain is pressing for Germany to urgently restore Spain’s reputation in the agricultural industry by supporting its market role and also by allowing Spanish farmers a preferential place at all agricultural fairs to be held in Germany.

Bill & Sheila’s Food Safety – Bacterial Infections

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Keep Food Safety in Mind This Memorial Day Weekend