Contaminated salad mix has been linked to a cyclosporiasis outbreak in Iowa and Nebraska: On July 30, 2013, the states of Iowa1 <image001.png> 2 and Nebraska3 announced that their analysis indicated that the outbreak in those states was linked to a salad mix. In follow-up to that announcement, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is providing an update on its investigation. The FDA traceback investigation has confirmed that the salad mix identified by Iowa and Nebraska as being linked to the outbreak of cyclosporiasis in those states was supplied to restaurants in those state ..read more

We wanted to share this article from Smithsonian Magazine's science blog, about the bacteria that lives on the fruits and vegatables you eat: For the first time, researchers have sampled and sequenced the DNA of the hundreds of varieties of bacteria that harmlessly live on the produce you buy at the grocery store. Their study, published today in PLOS ONE, revealed 17 to 161 families of bacteria on each of the fruits and vegetables they tested, with grapes, peaches and sprouts hosting the largest diversity of bacteria. The researchers—Jonathan Leff and Noah Fierer of the Univers ..read more

On April 24th, 2012, it was announced that the fourth U. S. cow tested positive for BSE. In truth, the first U. S. cow, which was imported from Canada, had “typical” BSE, which was identified in the United Kingdom and has been present in both Europe and Japan, and to a lesser extent in Canada. The two previous U. S. cattle were actually atypical, as was the one identified this week. Although scientifically less is known about the etiology or causation of atypical BSE, what is known is it is not acquired the same way as the typical BSE (from consuming infected feed containing the brain or other ..read more

Pink slime has become a pejorative word for some ground beef mixes that have included taking beef trimmings, often times that are very close to the bone, and treated with ammonia or citric acid to create a leaner and more cost-effective component of some ground beef.  There has never been a question, in terms of food safety, yet due to the media and consumer fire storm that has erupted due to the psychological “yuck” factor, many retailers, both at the food service and supermarket levels, have retreated from using it, which according to the American Meat Institute, will require an additio ..read more

The 2020 holiday season brings unique challenges never before seen. Faced with a pandemic, we are encouraged to limit gatherings to immediate family only. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published recommendations to help curb the spread of COVID-19.  Small household gatherings are contributing to the spread of COVID-19. The CDC recommends limiting gatherings to immediate household members only. This means the people that live in your household on a day-to-day basis, which may include roommates. When non-household members travel to see you and visit bus stations an ..read more