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Police in China have spent three months seizing bogus meat, some of it fake beef or mutton made out of fox, mink and rat. They snatched up around 20,000 tons of illegal products, according to state news agency Xinhua. In 382 cases, officials arrested 904 suspects for passing off counterfeit meat, meat injected with water or diseased flesh to consumers, the news agency said. Despite food safety measures, the threat of foodborne illness remains in meat and produce - and some types of illness are on the rise, recent reports say. About 48 million people contract some form of food poisoning each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Salmonella remained the top cause of foodborne illness last year, according to the CDC's 2012 report card on food poisoning, issued Thursday. However, the overall instance of Salmonella was unchanged from the 2006-08 data, the agency said. The report card is based on reports from 10 U.S. regions, representing about 15% of the country. When you shop for turkey burgers for dinner tonight, you may be buying more than meat. A recently released FDA report found that of all the raw ground turkey tested, 81% was contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. With cheap, chic fare, like arugula pizza, squash empanadas and fish tacos, the country's 15,000-plus food trucks are rolling into virtually every big city and many small towns across the United States. The burning question: Is it safe to grab a bite to eat from a truck that cooks for hundreds in a space that's a fraction of the size of your kitchen? For the most part, yes. With all the hand sanitizer America bought last year ($190 million worth, to be exact), you'd think that our germaphobia might have made us safer cooks. But as a Health.com poll of some 400 readers and 100 professional chefs reveals, our counter intelligence is still somewhat... medieval. Here's how to make sure the only thing you spread - and get! - is good cheer. Read more about America's wildest food habits (like how 73% of respondents lick the spoon while cooking) on CNN Health. 5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe. Out of the 1,215 samples tested by ocean conservation group Oceana, 401 were determined to be mislabeled. Amid the seafood sleuthing, Wayne Samiere says consumer knowledge is power. Samiere is the founder and CEO of Honolulu Fish Company and a trained marine biologist; he has also worked for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "Information about various types of seafood is not as familiar to consumers as the basic facts about beef, chicken and pork," Samiere said. "Reputable seafood vendors make an effort to educate their customers about products they are selling. However, there are vendors who want to label their seafood products with a name that consumers know and find appealing." With a few easy tricks, Samiere says you can feel empowered to avoid the old “bait and switch” problem next time you visit your local seafood counter or restaurant. Five Ways to Knowledgeably Buy Seafood: Wayne Samiere Nestle is suspending deliveries of all its products that include beef from a German supplier because "traces of horse DNA" were found in the meat, the Swiss-based food giant said on its website Monday. Nestle also is recalling two chilled pasta products, Buitoni Beef Ravioli and Beef Tortellini, from store shelves in Italy and Spain, the news release said. A lasagna product sold to French catering businesses will also be recalled. Editor's note: Andy Behar is the chief executive of As You Sow, a nonprofit organization that promotes corporate accountability. Some foods sold in supermarkets across America contain tiny, engineered particles called nanomaterials. Our organization decided to test doughnuts after learning that the titanium dioxide used as a coloring in the powdered sugar coating likely contained nano-sized particles. The tests, conducted by an independent laboratory, found that both Dunkin' Donuts Powdered Cake Donuts and Hostess Donettes did indeed contain titanium dioxide nanoparticles. In response, a spokeswoman for Dunkin Donuts said the company was looking into the matter. French prosecutors are investigating how horse meat was sold as beef, the country's consumer affairs minister said Thursday. The announcement comes as UK inspectors said that horse carcasses contaminated with an equine painkiller harmful to humans may have entered the food chain in France. A number of meat plants that handled the horse meat as it made its way through the food chain are facing questions about what they knew and whether fraud was involved. |
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