Update: This recall has expanded to include many types of vegetables, including store-branded products from Target, Walmart, Albertsons, and other chains. Check your salad mix before you sit down to your next crunchy bowl of shredded kohlrabi, cabbage, and beets: Bags of that blend from Trader Joe’s that were distributed nationwide have been recalled because they may contain Listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne illness that can have potentially deadly complications. [More]
foodborne illness
FDA Sprout Study Finds Bacterial Contamination, But You Can Still Eat Sprouts
By 8.22.17
How do you keep contaminated food from reaching consumers? The Food and Drug Administration recently set out on a project to test fresh foods that are often the subject of recalls, hoping to learn how common bacterial contamination is and how to prevent these foods from making people sick. This week, it released its report on sprouts, a fresh salad topping that makes people sick surprisingly often. [More]
At Least 230 Cases Of Norovirus Linked To Doughnut Shop
By 8.10.17
Hundreds of people in Ohio have been sick this week — and they can blame doughnuts: Officials have linked at least 230 reports of norovirus to one local doughnut shop. [More]
Here’s The Latest On Chipotle’s Foodborne Illness Nightmare
By 7.25.17
Between rodents falling from the ceilings to customers falling ill after eating at the fast casual chain, the last few weeks haven’t been exactly kind to Chipotle, and they don’t appear to be getting any better: Another customer has tested positive for norovirus after eating at one of the company’s Virginia locations. [More]
Raw Dairy Products Cause 840 Times More Illnesses Than Pasteurized
By 5.10.17
Unpasteurized cow’s milk — and the cheeses made from it — have a small but growing number of fans who prefer it to the pasteurized products that make up the overwhelming majority of what’s available. However, those “raw” milk products are responsible for nearly every case of dairy-related foodborne ailments in the U.S. [More]
Season’s Choice Frozen Sweet Peas Sold At Aldi Recalled For Possible Listeria Contamination
By 4.6.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Time to check your freezer, Aldi shoppers: The grocery chain is recalling frozen peas that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne bacteria that can survive freezing temperatures. [More]
Restaurant Where 260 Diners Got Ill On Thanksgiving Has Closed Its Doors
By 2.21.17
Last Thanksgiving, hundreds of people who ate at one western New York restaurant fell ill thanks to what local health officials later determined was gravy containing the bacteria Clostridium perfringens. Some of those sickened diners have now filed lawsuits, and now the eatery is shutting its doors for good. [More]
Restaurant Made Hundreds Of Customers Sick On Thanksgiving Day
By 12.14.16
Hundreds of Thanksgiving diners at a restaurant in western New York apparently got a little something special with their holiday meal that made them all sick when they should have been enjoying the extended weekend. [More]
Three Gourmet Ice Cream Brands Recalled For Possible Listeria
By 11.11.16
Being fancy and expensive is no guarantee against contamination, which is a lesson that all food processors should learn. This week’s recall is of gourmet ice cream from the brands Agave Dream, L.A. Creamery, and Nancy’s, all of which came from the same co-packing facility, and all of which may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. [More]
Possible Norovirus Among Staffers At Republican National Convention
By 7.19.16
Norovirus, also known as Norwalk virus, is a fast-spreading and very unpleasant gastrointestinal illness. It thrives in environments with lots of people in close quarters, like health care facilities, cruise ships, and conventions. That’s why it’s bad news that norovirus has been reported at a big gathering in Cleveland happening now: the Republican National Convention. [More]
New Chipotle Food Safety Procedures Include Shutting Down Restaurant If Anyone Barfs
By 2.9.16
Yesterday, Chipotle restaurants didn’t open until 3 PM so 50,000 or so restaurant employees could sit in hotel conference rooms or movie theaters to watch a live-streamed company-wide meeting about food safety. The future of the chain is at stake, and their task is to prove to the public that they’re not trying to make us all sick. [More]
7 Things We Learned About Food Safety Oversight From A Foodborne Illness Expert
By 2.2.16
Foodborne illness outbreaks have dominated the news in recent months: E. coli and norovirus at Chipotle, listeria in prepackaged Dole salad mixes, and salmonella in cucumbers. These outbreaks have sickened — and in some cases killed — consumers, and one food safety expert says that inadequate safety oversight is at least partly to blame. [More]
43 Chipotle Restaurants In Oregon And Washington State Close Due To E. Coli Outbreak
By 10.31.15
There’s a promotion at Chipotle tonight where people who wear costumes that include something extra, or a scary “unnecessary additive,” get burritos for $3. Yet restaurants in two states have closed today “out of an abundance of caution” because of something even scarier: an apparent outbreak of Shiga toxin E. coli in recent weeks at six restaurants in Oregon and Washington. [More]
The CDC Redesigned Its Database For Looking Up Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
By 10.20.15
The question of who is in charge of a given foodborne outbreak can become complicated in the United States: responsibility for testing and recalling different food types and for tracing infectious diseases is split between three federal government and numerous state and local government agencies. Yet there is one great tool that the infectious disease experts over at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have given us: The FOOD database. [More]
Maybe We Should All Just Stop Eating Sprouts
By 11.26.14
Sprouts are exactly what they sound like: the first sprouts from plants like beans or alfalfa, grown for a short time and then packaged for maximum deliciousness in a stir fry or on a salad. However, two pieces of sprout-related news from this week might make you pause before adding them to your salad. [More]
Foster Farms Recalls 39,747 Pounds Of Cooked Frozen Chicken Strips For Possible Listeria Contamination
By 9.26.14
You may remember the name Foster Farms from the year-long salmonella outbreak that authorities finally linked to the company this past July. During a recent inspection, routine tests turned up Listeria Monocytogenes bacteria in frozen chicken strips shipped to warehouses in California, Texas, Utah, and Washington state. [More]
Parker Farms And Store Brand Cheese Snacks, Salsa, And Peanut Butter Recalled For Possible Listeria
By 3.25.14
Whenever we forget how massively inter-connected our food supply is, a huge national recall of prepared foods comes along and reminds us. This time, the reminder comes from Minnesota-based manufacturer Parkers Farm Acquisition, LLC, which packages salsa, cold pack cheeses, peanut butter, and pepper spreads under its own name and also store brands. Some of their products were contaminated with the very nasty foodborne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes.
Salads And Wraps Recalled From Walgreens, Whole Foods, And Trader Joe’s
By 11.12.13
The bad news is that 181,620 pounds of chicken and ham salads sold in popular retail outlets like Walgreens, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s has been recalled due to possible contamination with E. coli bacteria. The good news, if such a thing is possible, is that this isn’t yet another iteration of the massive and scary Foster Farms salmonella recall from last month. [More]
