In a little more than 48 hours, many of us will be sitting down to a Thanksgiving meal that probably includes a turkey. Some of us will have to wait longer or just eat something else because the person responsible for said turkey didn’t take it out of the freezer until Thursday morning. [More]
food safety
‘Don’t Wash Your Turkey’ & 4 Other USDA Tips To Avoid Making Your Family Sick This Thanksgiving
By 11.21.16
If you’re preparing a holiday feast for this Thursday, maybe you’ve already began some preparatory work beyond starting to defrost the turkey. If you want to keep your guests more safe from foodborne illnesses, here are some useful tips from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on everything from cleaning the exterior of your turkey to keeping your dinner safe from wild animals. If you don’t want to keep your guests safe, they can’t help you. [More]
Sabra Recalls Hummus Over Listeria For Second Time In Two Years
By 11.21.16
What’s your favorite flavor of hummus — is it garlic? Maybe roasted red pepper? How about Listeria monocytogenes? The bacteria might not be a popular flavor, but for the second time in less than two years*, Sabra Dipping Co. is recalling some of its products over concerns they may be contaminated with the pathogen.” [More]
Pre-Cut, Bagged Salad May Actually Contribute To Growth Of Salmonella
By 11.18.16
Salads are among the most common sources of foodborne illness, and we’ve repeatedly seen how pre-cut, bagged salad products can harbor ugly pathogens like listeria or salmonella. A new scientific study finds that pre-cutting these leafy vegetables may actually be contributing to the growth of salmonella. [More]
Walmart Plans To Track Fresh Produce Like Bitcoin
By 11.18.16
Blockchain is a type of secure database that serves as an unchangeable ledger of information about an object. It was invented to track the movements of the cryptocurrency bitcoin, creating records that are anonymous but can’t be tampered with. Blockchain has applications outside of electronic currency, though, like tracking where your pork and vegetables have been. Wait, what? [More]
One Woman Dead In Hawaii Scallops Hepatitis A Outbreak
By 10.28.16
The likely 50-day incubation period is over, and there have been no new cases of hepatitis A linked to contaminated scallops served at sushi restaurants in Hawaii since Oct. 9. The state reports that two people who were infected with the linked strain of hepatitis have died, though only one patient’s death was due to the infection. [More]
Chipotle Hopes To Coax More Customers Back With Dessert, Better Online Ordering
By 10.25.16
It was a year ago next week that the national Chipotle food safety crisis began on Halloween, when the chain shut down restaurants in Washington state and in Oregon after reports of E. coli infection in some customers. Things haven’t been going well for the chain since then, with sales plummeting, then slowly recovering with free food promotions and a loyalty program. The chain’s sales still haven’t fully recovered, but Chipotle hopes to coax customers back with some dessert. [More]
Authorities In Detroit Investigating Hepatitis A Cases Linked To Whole Foods
By 10.20.16
Public health authorities in Detroit are raising the food safety alarm: anyone who bought prepared food at the Whole Foods store at 115 Mack Ave in midtown should seek medical attention, since they may have been exposed to Hepatitis A. While details are fuzzy, they know that the span from Oct. 6-10 is when any exposure would have happened. [More]
Chipotle Shows Off New Food Safety Measures In Effort To Win Back Customers
By 9.21.16
Still reeling from a string of food-borne illnesses in 2015, Chipotle is making a big public push to alert customers to its improved safety measures. [More]
Indiana Subway Closes For A Day After Customer Posts Video Of Worker Zapping Bugs
By 9.14.16
At Subway, you have a choice of topping for your sandwich — cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, peppers, you know the drill. But itty-bitty bug carcasses? No one is lining up for that extra protein. [More]
Chipotle Hopes Freebies For Kids & Students Will Convince Customers To Return
By 8.30.16
In its continuing effort to make everyone forget about all that food-borne illness stuff from last year, Chipotle is trotting out two new promotions in September aimed at the younger set. [More]
McDonald’s Customers Have Been Finding Some Pretty Gross Stuff In Their Food
By 8.26.16
First of all: if you’re getting ready to eat lunch, be warned that we are about to discuss some gross stuff happening to food. Got it? Great. Now that you’ve girded your stomachs, it’s our distinct displeasure to call attention to crawly things that McDonald’s customers have reported finding in their food. [More]
When It Comes To Food, “Generally Recognized As Safe” May Not Mean What It Sounds Like
By 8.24.16
Here in the U.S., we have food safety regulations — a lot of them. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for making sure foods (and a bunch of other stuff) adhere to some basic health and safety rules to reduce the likelihood these products will hit store shelves and make a million people sick. So far, so good… but there’s a major food safety system that the FDA uses that, it turns out, is neither standard nor safe — despite its name. [More]
FDA Confirms Multi-State Recall Of Scallops Linked To Hepatitis A Outbreak In Hawaii
By 8.22.16
Problem scallops linked to a Hepatitis A outbreak in Hawaii that’s prompted the shutdown of several sushi restaurants might not be limited just to that state, as federal officials have confirmed they’re recalling the products in two other states as well. [More]
Hawaii Health Officials: New Hepatitis A Cases Expected Despite Shutdown Of Sushi Restaurants
By 8.17.16
Even though officials with the Hawaii Department of Health shut down sushi restaurants in the state that served frozen scallops linked to a recent Hepatitis A outbreak, new cases could still pop up, authorities said. [More]
Hawaii Health Officials Order Several Sushi Joints Closed Amid Hepatitis A Outbreak
By 8.16.16
When you think of Hawaii, seafood may come to mind, considering the state is surrounded by water. But hungry folks looking for sushi have a few less options right now, after the state’s department of health ordered several restaurants closed amid an ongoing Hepatitis A outbreak. [More]
Polls Show Chipotle’s Customers Still Haven’t All Come Back
By 7.15.16
Burrito eatery Chipotle needs something very important to recover financially from its recent food safety crisis: it needs all of its customers to come back, and keep coming back. Since eradicating foodborne pathogens from its restaurants, Chipotle has tried offering everyone free burritos, buy-one-get-one promotions, and a loyalty program to bring customers in. It’s sort of working. [More]
Chipotle Shareholders Sue Company, Allege Recklessness And Insider Trading
By 6.20.16
Did the executives and the board of fast-casual Mexican chain Chipotle enrich themselves by inflating the company’s stock price, overpay themselves with shares of that over-valued stock, and let the chain’s potential food-safety problems slide? That’s what some shareholders claim in a lawsuit, saying that the company also misled its investors about food-safety practices that would eventually contribute to multiple outbreaks. [More]
