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]
outbreaks
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]
Deadly Bacterial Infection Linked To Machine Used During Heart Surgeries
By 10.13.16
Non-tuberculosis mycobacteria are among the germs that just are just sort of everywhere and don’t do much harm to people. The exception, though, is when they gain access to a person’s chest cavity or an artificial heart valve, and can be deadly. The bacteria get there by hitching a ride from a piece of surgical equipment, and patients generally aren’t warned that this is a risk during operations involving the heater-cooler machine. [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]
General Mills Recalls Flour Possibly Linked To E. coli Illnesses
By 5.31.16
While you might associate infection with E. coli bacteria with meat and sometimes fresh vegetables, the bacteria can turn up in some unexpected places. Like flour. Yes, investigators checking out a multi-state E. coli outbreak have potentially linked it to flour from General Mills sold under its own labels and store brands. [More]
Chipotle To Give Employees Paid Sick Leave So They Don’t Make Customers Ill
By 1.19.16
Today Chipotle released more information on what exactly it’ll be discussing with employees when the chain shuts down all locations for a few hours on Feb. 8 to discuss the E. Coli and Norovirus outbreaks that hit the chain in 2015. Along with previously announced new food safety protocols, Chipotle says it will offer paid sick leave so that employees who are ill don’t have an incentive to show up to work, thus avoiding the risk of making customers sick as well. [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 CEO Promises New Safety Standards Won’t Mean Higher Prices
By 12.16.15
After Chipotle CEO Steve Ells pledged that new safety standards would be going into effect at the chain’s restaurants across the U.S., promising it would soon be “the safest place to eat,” some customers might have wondered whether the cost of that initiative would hit them right where it hurts most, the wallet. But Ells says customers don’t need to worry about the price of their (hopefully) E. coli-free burritos and tacos going up. [More]
Chipotle CEO Apologizes For Making People Sick: “We Are Going To Be The Safest Place To Eat”
By 12.10.15
After Chipotle customers all over the country have fallen ill from eating at the chain’s restaurants, founder and co-CEO Steve Ells says he’s sorry the restaurant has caused so many to become sick, and promised to implement new food safety guidelines to help prevent such outbreaks from happening in the future. [More]
Salmonella Outbreak Potentially Linked To Andrew & Williamson Cucumbers
By 9.8.15
Eating more fresh vegetables is supposed to be good for your health, but that turned out to be bad advice for the hundreds of people who have become sick from eating contaminated cucumbers distributed to numerous grocery stores and restaurants in the U.S. and Canada. So far, 53 victims have been hospitalized, and one person has died. [More]
Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Recalled Tuna Sickens 62 People In 11 States
By 7.24.15
At least 62 people in 11 states have become infected in the year’s latest Salmonella outbreak, this one concerning recently recalled frozen raw tuna widely used by restaurants and grocery stores serving sushi. [More]
CDC Investigators Link Current Blue Bell Listeria Outbreak To Illness From 2010
By 4.22.15
For the past two months, Blue Bell Creameries has grappled with an outbreak of listeria that has been linked to three deaths and at least 10 illness in four states. While the source of the contamination has yet to be determined, federal investigators now believe the issue has been ongoing for at least five years. [More]
Blue Bell Expands Recall After More Samples Test Positive For Listeria Contamination
By 3.24.15
Blue Bell Creameries expanded a recent recall of products after tests found additional products may be linked to an outbreak of listeriosis that resulted in at least three deaths. [More]
Report: Apples, Not Caramel Deemed Responsible For December Listeriosis Outbreak
By 3.20.15
A December outbreak of listeriosis linked to several kinds of prepackaged caramel apples may be over, but regulators say they now know it was the apple, not the caramel that led to the death of seven people and the sickening of 35 others. [More]
Mysterious Salmonella Outbreak Had Innocent Victims: Tomatoes
By 9.29.14
We like to share news of product, food, and vehicle recalls, because keeping our readers free from fire, illness, and injury is very important to us. However, every recall and warning of potentially contaminated food has hidden victims. Sometimes those victims are vegetables left to rot in the fields, and the farmers who were supposed to sell them. [More]
Measles Outbreak Is Largest In 15 Years
By 10.24.11
Those who disregard pediatricians’ recommendations and space out their kids’ vaccination schedules may want to consider inoculating their youngsters from measles. The disease is infecting its highest numbers since 1996, spreading to 214 children throughout the country. [More]
CDC And Celebrity Cruises Can't Figure Out Why Passengers Keep Getting Sick
By 3.16.10
Remember the diarrhea nightmare vessel that sickened 450 passengers a few weeks back? Once it got back home, Celebrity Cruises delayed the next trip by a day so that it could perform a “full cleaning.” It didn’t help much, though: CNN says that about 10% of passengers on the next sailing got sick, and about 19% of passengers on the current sailing are now sick. [More]
CDC Used Shopper Loyalty Cards To Solve Mysterious Salmonella Outbreak
By 3.14.10
The shopper loyalty cards that your grocery store provides can have a higher purpose than giving you discounts, profiling your shopping habits, and racking up points for rewards programs. Loyalty card data can also help track down the source of foodborne pathogens, retaining records of specific brands and items that customers probably won’t remember. Trying to find the source of a mysterious salmonella outbreak, the CDC mined grocery loyalty card data to narrow the source down to specific brands of Italian cured meat. [More]
