In the last decade or so, raising backyard chickens has become a popular hobby. Maybe it’s due to a receession-era homesteading impulse, or people prioritizing really local food. However, live chickens and ducks have been linked to almost 1,000 known cases of Salmonella, which have sent hundreds of people to the hospital and killed one person. About one-third of those cases were in children under age 5. [More]
foodborne illnesses
Gas Station Cheese Sauce Linked To Dangerous Botulism Outbreak
By 5.18.17
Food-borne illness outbreaks are often tied to fresh foods — unwashed raw vegetables, tainted undercooked meat, raw dairy products — but not the neon yellow nacho cheese sauce you’d get at a movie theater or convenience store. However, one batch of this processed cheese-like product has been linked to multiple, potentially lethal cases of botulism. [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]
CDC Links E. coli Illnesses To Recalled Flour From General Mills
By 6.1.16
Yesterday, General Mills announced a recall of 10 million pounds of flour because it was potentially linked to an outbreak of E. coli that affected 38 patients in 20 states. Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that they have linked Gold Medal and Signature Kitchens flour to illnesses in this outbreak. [More]
Alfalfa Sprouts Under Investigation For Salmonella And E. Coli Formally Recalled
By 2.29.16
Last week, we brought you the news that there were two unrelated investigations into bean sprout producers, but no recalls yet. Maybe, we thought, it’s time to put warning labels on sprouts served raw in sandwich shops and salad bars, telling people to eat at their own risk. Now the sprouts involved in both incidents have been formally recalled. [More]
CDC Reportedly Set To Close Book On Chipotle’s 9-State E. Coli Outbreak
By 2.1.16
While federal investigators have yet to pinpoint the cause of an E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 50 Chipotle customers in nine different states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to announced today that the outbreak has come to an end. [More]
Chipotle Customers File Lawsuit Claiming Company Tried To Cover Up California Norovirus Outbreak
By 1.20.16
It’s a new year, but that doesn’t mean Chipotle is going to be able to start fresh after the spate of outbreaks at its restaurants last year. Seven customers have filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court yesterday claiming that the chain tried to sweep a norovirus outbreak that sickened 234 people who’d eaten at a Simi Valley, CA location under the rug. [More]
Health Officials Investigating Chipotle For Different E.Coli Strain, Five Illnesses
By 12.21.15
While Chipotle CEO Steven Ells was busy riding the apology train, issuing regrets for a recent E.coli outbreak that sickened more than 50 people in nine states and a norovirus outbreak in Boston involving 140 students, the fast casual chain was being linked to five separate illnesses in three more states. [More]
Chipotle Facing First Lawsuit Linked To Boston Norovirus Outbreak That Sickened 140 People
By 12.18.15
It was bound to happen: the first lawsuit has been fired — er, filed against Chipotle in connection with the recent norovirus outbreak that sickened 140 people who ate at one of the chain’s Boston locations. [More]
Chipotle Takes Out A Full-Page Ad To Continue The Apology Parade
By 12.16.15
Chipotle co-CEO and founder Steve Ells has been riding a great big apology train around the news circuit lately, issuing a mea culpa on TV last week and mentioning again this week how “deeply sorry” he is that the chain has been linked to a nine-state E. coli outbreak that’s sickened more than 50 people and a major norovirus incident in Boston involving 140 students. He’s not done yet, either: the company took out a full-page ad in 61 newspapers around the country on Wednesday to continue apologizing to customers. [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]
October Food And Supplement Recall Roundup: Beware Of Surprise Cheese Curls
By 10.14.15
In this month’s Recall Roundup for food and supplements, dried fruit doesn’t declare its sulfites, tortilla chips may have some cheese curls mixed in, sausage patties may have bonus metal shards, and plenty of pet food and treats may contain foodborne illnesses that can make you and your furry friends sick. [More]
Salmonella Outbreak In Minnesota Linked To At Least 17 Chipotle Restaurants
By 9.11.15
A salmonella outbreak in Minnesota that’s sickened 45 people and sent five to the hospital has been linked to at least 17 Chipotle restaurants, say investigators with the state’s Department of Health. Officials believe that the contaminated ingredient has already been removed from all Chipotle restaurants in Minnesota. [More]
Study: Most NYC Street Vendors Not Changing Gloves When They Should
By 1.13.15
The first time I ate a hot dog from a New York City street cart I felt like I’d taken part in some mysterious initiation rite — would I get sick from eating “street meat” and either way, did I just prove I was cool enough not to care or worry about it? While I (and countless others) have come out just fine on the other side of a plate of rice and meat sold on the street, there’s always that underlying hesitation of, “Is this really sanitary?” [More]
