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Tag: Food Poisoning

  • Tainted California Chicken: Foster Farms Continues To Make People Sick?

    The antibiotic-resistant salmonella that has been linked to a chicken producer in California continues to make people sick over a year after the outbreak.

    Despite the outbreak and the illnesses, Foster Farms has not declared a recall of their chickens. According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control, there were 50 new reported illnesses within the past 2 months, which brings the total number of affected people to 574. Reports also said that of the 574, most live in California.

    There are three Foster Farms in California, and 77 percent of people affected come from the state.

    The outbreak began on May 27 last year, and 37 percent of those affected have been confined in hospitals. About 13 percent were said to have infections in their blood that amount to three times the infection brought by regular salmonella.

    Foster Farms said in their defense, “Foster Farms is committed to leadership in food safety and producing the safest chicken on the West Coast.”

    According to the Agriculture Department, they are meticulously monitoring the operations of Foster Farms. Their measurements conclude that salmonella from the company’s products have a lower rate now.

    After last year’s outbreak, the Agriculture Department threatened to shut down Foster Farms’ operations, but allowed them to continue their business, as they said that they made changes in their operations in order to lower the rate of salmonella.

    Last year’s salmonella outbreak

    Some of the operational changes they made include improved safety on their farms where the chickens are raised, and stricter screening of the birds. They have also improved their sanitation practices.

    The company released a statement that addresses the new reported cases. They said that the increase of salmonella may be caused by the warm weather.

    This is not the first time Foster Farms has dealt with a salmonella problem. In 2004, they were linked to the infection, and then again in 2012.

    Image via YouTube

  • Japan Tainted Food Products on Recall, Consumers Fall ill

    There has been a recent outbreak of food poisoning in Japan, with hundreds of people sickened by contaminated frozen food.

    Food Company Maruha Nichiro recalled frozen products of lasagna and pancakes due to repeated complaints of vomiting and diarrhea.

    After responding to frequent calls from consumers, the products were found tainted with a high level of Malathion, a pesticide used primarily in agriculture.

    According to information provided by the National Pesticide Information Center, the kidney and liver (overall the nervous system) can be affected by the smallest exposure:

    “You could be exposed to malathion if you get it on your skin or breathe it in, or if you use a product and eat, drink, or smoke afterwards without washing your hands…you could also be exposed to residues of malathion if you ate food that had been treated with this pesticide.”

    Aside from stomach issues, the NPIC also reported that the chemical could cause other symptoms such as: headaches, abdominal pain, a shortness of breath, a slowed heart and muscle tremors.

    It is unknown how the packages became contaminated, but a factory in northern Japan’s Gunma region produced the food products.(image)

    An ongoing investigation by detectives has been developing since last month after the company discovered that their products were contaminated with the pesticide. There is slight speculation that the products may have been intentionally infested.

    On Wednesday, Maruha publicly made an apology through a newspaper advertisement displaying photos of the pesticide-products. They also added a warning to not consume the products.

    “The products will have a strong smell and eating them may cause vomiting and stomach pain,” it said in the notice.

    Since December 29, Maruha Nichiro Holdings has recalled nearly 6.4 frozen packages but only 1 million have been retrieved thus far.

    There have been no reported deaths, but complaints about the food scandal may have just shot down consumer confidence in the food industry; especially when it’s related to imported products.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

    Image via Youtube, CCTV News

  • Japan’s Tainted Food – Over 350 People Sickened

    Frozen foods in Japan have sickened 350 people and counting due to food poisoning.

    The frozen food products are said to be tainted with a pesticide according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

    The company Maruhu Nichiro Holdings, after learning of the illnesses, began recalling 6.4 million frozen products in late December – after discovering that they were in fact, tainted by high levels of pesticides.

    Information from local governments claimed that at least 356 people were extremely sick suffering from vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms, said NHK. The tainted food included a large array of frozen products, such as pizza, croquettes and lasagna.

    The company said that it had received approximately 460,000 phone calls from consumers complaining of illness and other complaints from customers who reported an unusual odor, a company spokesman said.

    The company says it has retrieved about 1.1 million packages – out of 6.4 million recalled products. Last week, the company issued a formal apology and asking consumers not to eat any of the affected products.

    Unfortunately, unless consumers are informed of the exact product names, most will still have tainted foods sitting in their freezers and unknowingly consume the products. Luckily, Maruhua Nichiro Company said it did not ship any of these products overseas.

    Police are investigating how the pesticide malathion, reportedly up to 2.6 million times the allowable limit, got into the products in the first place. A factory in northern Japan’s Gunma prefecture produced the tainted products.

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stated that malathion is a pesticide used in farming and gardening and also to kill fleas. At high enough concentrations, it can cause death.

    The company needs to immediately broadcast a complete list of all suspect products to the public. With over 5 million tainted products still unaccounted for, it could eliminate further illness and possible deaths.

    Image via Maruhu Nichiro Holdings

  • Cannibal Sandwiches Are Slammed by Health Officials

    Cannibal Sandwiches Are Slammed by Health Officials

    After a Wisconsin holiday tradition of eating “cannibal sandwiches” was linked to an E. coli outbreak last year, health officials are begging people to refrain from eating the sandwiches. Before you get too grossed out, the cannibal sandwiches are made using raw ground beef. That still has a pretty high gross factor, but at least we’re not talking about the real meaning of the word, right?

    According to Travel Channel, the cannibal sandwich is a “holiday tradition brought over by early German immigrants.” The sandwich is made out by placing the raw seasoned ground beef and an onion slice between two crackers or two slices of rye bread. Some people call this dish steak tartare or tiger meat.

    While we all have our traditions, the Wisconsin tradition of eating cannibal sandwiches has caused quite a few illnesses over the years, which is why health officials want people to stay away from them this holiday season. In 2012, it was reported that more than a dozen people got sick from an E. coli outbreak related to eating the raw ground beef. There have also been reports of illnesses related to eating the sandwiches in Wisconsin in 1972, 1978, and 1994.

    “We want everyone to have a wonderful holiday season and don’t want anyone to be sick,” said Abbey Canon, an official with the Wisconsin Department of Health. According to the USDA, ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 °F.

    Despite Canon’s concerns and report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about how unsafe eating cannibal sandwiches can be, some of the people who got sick said that they’ll eat the sandwiches again this year. The Wisconsin state health department handed out questionnaires to 15 of the people that got sick and six of the people said they’ll continue eating cannibal sandwiches. “Hopefully we can change a few of those minds,” Canon said.

    Check out the ingredients for the cannibal sandwich below. Would you consider trying this? Add your comments below.

    [Image via Twitter]

  • Ukranian Wedding Feasts: Happiest Day Of A Girl’s Life Or The Sickest?

    The best day of a woman’s life is often her wedding day – the day she’s dreamed of since she was a little girl. In Ukraine, this thought is multiplied exponentially, as custom demands for an elaborate, three-day-minimum affair with loads of homemade food. The food, however, is precisely the problem: having to make so much food, families are forced to prepare in advance. Food then often sets out for too long or is not cooked thoroughly, which are the two root causes of food poisoning; and salmonella-derived illnesses are exactly what often happen during these massive traditions.

    Recently, in the Ukrainian village Nemyryntsi, 20-year-old Yulia Yukhimets was rushed to the hospital along with about sixty of her wedding guests because of food-borne illness, the day of her wedding. All of the infected guests had eaten at the pre-ceremonial meal.

    A dinner for approximately 150 guests was held at Yulia’s mothers’ home the day before Yulia married 29-year-old Oleksander Yukhimets, a cell phone salesman. Valentyna Hrabchak, along with several family members and friends, prepared her daughter’s entire menu, including the slaughtered family pig. She says that everything was cooked fully and stored properly in a refrigerator or cool cellar.

    The menu, made up of hoards of meat, included chicken wings, fried steak, smoked fish, pate, various meat patties and sausages. (Valentyna does not blame any of the meats, but the eggs that were used when cooking most of the traditional dishes.)

    The day after the dinner, Yulia’s wedding ceremony was held in her hometown; by that afternoon, she and many of her guests were violently ill with vomiting, diarrhea and severe stomach pains.

    Along with the three-day celebration minimum, and menu made up entirely of homemade food, Ukrainian wedding tradition dictates that hosts prepare at least 35 dishes, not including the dessert list. Who could possibly prepare 35 dishes for 200 people themselves? The answer to this question is no one – at least not safely.

    Amazingly, however, most Ukrainians that were asked (including several of the ill wedding guests themselves) still deny that there is anything wrong with these traditions; they blame, instead, their own bad luck. “These traditions were made not by us, but by our ancestors, so we try to maintain them,” Svitlana Yukhimets said of friend Yulia’s fateful feast.

    Olena Scherban, an ethnographer acquainted with Ukrainian traditions and beliefs, gave insight into the importance placed on wedding celebrations. Scherban says that Ukrainian’s believe in the idea that there are three pivotal moments in a person’s life: birth, death and their wedding. This helps make it understandable how sick people will still defend the tradition at any cost, even their own health.

    Mykola Zozulya, a doctor at the hospital where Yulia and her guests – including fourteen children – were taken to emergency care, said, “It’s our Ukrainian mentality: We want for the table to collapse under the weight of the food.” He says that he does not agree with the traditional wedding practices, as they are, obviously, unhealthy.

    One of the 60 attendees rushed into the hospital on a stretcher was only 2-years-old; Yulia herself was taken by ambulance.

    Seemingly, these types of cases are all too common in Ukraine, where traditions are followed to the letter. It is not documented, specifically, how many cases of wedding food poisoning occur yearly, but it is certainly not uncommon for it to happen. The Summer months, when food is much more likely to spoil, are the most common times for weddings.

    All of the wedding guests were able to come home from the hospital in Ruzhyn after about a week of treatment.