The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that 73 cases of Salmonella Saintpaul have been reported across 18 states, believe to be linked to exposure to infected cucumbers. The cucumbers were supplied by Daniel Cardenas Izabal and Miracle Greenhouse of Culiacán, Mexico and distributed by Tricar Sales, Inc. of Rio Rico, Arizona.

27% of reported cases required hospitalization and no deaths have been reported. The youngest person sickened was under one year of age.
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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.
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UPDATE: The recall has been expanded from 196,222 pounds to over 10.5 million pounds. A full listing of the affected products is available at the USDA's website.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that 24 cases of E. coli O121 have been reported across 15 states, with at least one linked to the consumption of Farm Rich brand frozen meals and snacks. One third of the cases have required hospitalization and no deaths have occurred.

Illness related to this outbreak's strain have been reported in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. 78% of those sickened are under the age of 22.

Rich Products Corporation recalled approximately 196,222 pounds of Farm Rich Mini Quesadillas, Philly Cheese Steaks, Mini Pizza Slices and Mozzarella Bites produced from November 12-19, 2012 after being informed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of potential contamination of these products.
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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.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today that 60 days from now producers will for the first time be required to hold shipments of non-intact raw beef and all ready-to-eat products containing meat and poultry until they pass the agency's testing for adulterants that are known to cause food-borne illnesses such as E. coli, salmonella and listeria.

USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen said in a statement, "This new policy will reduce food-borne illnesses and the number of recalls by preventing contaminated products from reaching consumers."
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Aliya's Food Limited, a Canadian exporter of Indian food products, announced Monday that it has issued a recall of 4,865 pounds of frozen butter chicken and rice products on fears of listeria contamination.

Following suit, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced a public alert because affected products were imported to the United States and sold at the Trader Joe's chain of grocery stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington D.C.

The tainted products are: "12.5 oz boxes of "Trader Joe's Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice" with product code "2012-10-31" and lot code "30512."
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An analysis in the January 2013 issue of Consumer Reports magazine revealed 69% of pork chops and ground pork that the organization sampled from around the U.S. tested positive for Yersinia enterocolitica, a bacteria that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), can result in fever, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Consumer Reports also found 3-7% of the samples harbored salmonella, staphylococcus aureus or listeria monocytogenes, other common pathogens for foodborne illness. Twenty-three percent of the samples contained none of the tested bacteria.

Of the 198 samples, the organization found other alleged complications with the "other white meat." The sampling also claims that some of the bacteria were resistant to typical antibiotics that are used to treat foodborne illnesses, such as amoxicillin, penicillin, tetracycline and streptomycin. Of the 132 samples with Yersinia enterocolitica, 121 of those were resistant to one or more antibiotics.

"The frequent use of low-dose antibiotics in pork farming may be accelerating the growth of drug-resistant 'superbugs' that threaten human health," said Consumer Reports.
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U.S. regulators shut down a New Mexico nut-processing facility Monday after the plant was linked to an outbreak of salmonella earlier this year.

The Food and Drug Administration's decision to suspend the registration of the Sunland Inc. plant in Portales, New Mexico, comes after health officials traced the June outbreak to nut butter produced at the facility. In a statement announcing the move, the agency said it would reinstate the company's food facility registration "only when FDA determines that the company has implemented procedures to produce safe products."
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The United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Friday that Black Earth Meat Market Inc. is recalling approximately 99 pounds of beef tongue products because they may not have had the tonsils completely removed.
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Nestle is recalling more than 200,000 canisters of its chocolate drink mix Nesquik because of possible contamination of salmonella.

Nestle said the problem occurred on batches of the the mix produced in October. The bottom of the canister says it is best to use by October 2014. The size of the canisters affected are 40.7 ounces, 21.8 ounces, and 10.9 ounces. The two smaller containers have a promotion for the current Disney movie "Wreck-It Ralph" on the side of the container and the words "Be a Hero" across the bottom.

Nestle said the problem was caused by ingredient supplier, Omya Inc. that it has issued a recall of certain lots of its ingredient, calcium carbonate. Linda Pleiman, an Omya spokesperson, said that it had notified its other customers of the problem but was not aware of any other recalls at this time.
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