Inspectors found the listeria contaminated products during microbiological sampling in Florida, and there have been no illnesses reported. Over a dozen different products are affected by the recall and you can view a list by clicking here (PDF).

Listeria is a bacteria that causes the possibly-fatal infection "listeriosis." The USDA has classified this recall as "Class I" meaning that there is a “reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death."

NEW YORK FIRM RECALLS MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS
FOR POSSIBLE LISTERIA CONTAMINATION (PDF) [USDA]

Professor Loving's study found "25 different microorganisms" in all, and at the end of the video she says it's "not necessarily cause for alarm" but that "you might want to be aware that the lemon slices have the potential to make you sick."

Snopes has posted a page on the topic, saying that while the bacteria is real, the threat hasn't been conclusively determined:

However, this study in itself doesn't demonstrate that restaurant patrons are at high risk for contracting some serious illnesses due to food workers' not observing sufficiently rigorous sanitary standards. For one thing, the study did not determine the origins of the microbial contaminants. The study also did not determine the likelihood of customers' contracting infectious diseases from restaurant-served lemon wedges, nor did it cite any examples of such an occurrence. What the study uncovered, basically, is a potential problem that requires more study.

"Lemon With Your Drink? Restaurant Lemons Are Loaded With Germs" [HealthInspections.com via Wise Bread]

RELATED
"Lemon Aid" [Snopes]
"Scientific Study: Double Dipping Is As Gross As You Think It Is"
(Video capture: HealthInspections.com)
(Hypothetical image of Dr. Loving: Invader Zim)

"This is a huge issue and it goes directly to consumer choice. Consumers are fed up with the government being in their kitchens and they want to be able to make their independent choices about food they want to eat."

What does California, that kitchen-occupier of a state, have to say for itself?

"We found that coliform count is indicative of a healthy and clean and wholesome production process for raw milk," said Steve Lyle, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Raw milk producers soured on new rules [AP]
(Photo: foxypar4)

The glowing shrimp have yet to sicken anyone, according to the FDA, and are just as safe as colored ketchup. One Thriftway manager said: "We don't hear a lot of complaints about glowing seafood, but then people rarely look at their shrimp and crab in the dark."

However, [the manager] admits that he might "take a peek" at the seafood now and then in a darkened freezer "just in case."

A caller who identified herself only as Barbara told the Seattle P-I on Monday that she had given some cooked shrimp she bought at the QFC in Wallingford to her three "very large" cats Sunday night as a "birthday treat."

An hour later, she said, she was frightened at what she found. She saw a greenish-blue glow coming from the cat bowl on the darkened porch. When she turned on the light, she found the six shrimp untouched. Her porky cats, which she said "would eat your leg off if you stood in one place long enough," didn't touch them.

She pulled open the refrigerator door. The light bulb had burned out weeks ago, she said, but the plastic bag holding the remaining shrimp glowed brightly in the chilled darkness.

Neither Peters nor Barbara, who also ate some of the shrimp, said they were made ill, just a bit queasy at the idea of consuming the glowing seafood.

Glow-in-the-dark shrimp — it's all a little fishy [Seattle PI via Slashfood]
(Photo: Edith Widder/Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution)

The symptoms of vibriosis are: "watery diarrhea, often with abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, and chills. Usually these symptoms occur within 24 hours of ingestion and last no more than three days."

If you think you have vibriosis and have eaten Hood Canal oysters, tell your health department and see a doctor. The illness is rarely serious in people who do not have weakened immune systems.

So far, only 6 people have become ill from the oysters in California and Washington, but they were distributed to the following locations: California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, New York, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia (Canada), Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.

If you've recently purchased oysters, you should find out where they were grown. The FDA says cooking the oysters will kill the bacteria, but what fun is that?

Consumers Warned to Avoid Eating Raw Oysters from Southern Tip of Hood Canal in Washington State [FDA]

(Photo:bathany1122)

Evian now joins KFC, Proctor and Gamble and Walmart on the list of foreign companies that have recently had products banned from China for health concerns. —MEGHANN MARCO

China seizes 118 tons of Evian water [International Herald Tribune]
(Photo: Beige Alert)