food contamination news stories on Newser

Feds Knew of Cargill Salmonella in 2010

Polly Davis Doig — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 07:39:41 CDT

Mammoth meat packer Cargill recalled a whopping 36 million pounds of ground turkey last week, but federal officials knew of salmonella contamination at a Cargill plant dating back to last year, reports the Wall Street Journal . It seems that a USDA inspection turned up three instances of salmonella Heidelberg at...

Deadly European E. Coli Outbreak Hits Americans

Rob Quinn — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 04:00:00 CDT

The strain of E. coli that has killed at least 17 people in Europe has been found in two people in the US, both of whom had recently traveled to Germany. Both are expected to survive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The source of the outbreak—...

Deadly MRSA Bacteria Found in Supermarket Meats

Mary Papenfuss — Fri, 13 May 2011 07:00:00 CDT

The potentially deadly, antibiotic-resistant MRSA bacteria has been found in supermarket meats. Cooking kills the bacteria, but consumers risk infection when they handle raw meat. MRSA has been found increasingly in hospitals and nursing homes, where it can cause serious illness and death. But it has also been spread among...

India Bans All Japan Food Imports

Rob Quinn — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 06:12:26 CDT

India has slapped a ban on all food imports from Japan out of fear of radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. The ban will last for three months or until "credible information is available that the radiation hazard has subsided to acceptable limits," the Indian government says. Many other countries...

Condom-in-Soup Lawsuit Settled

Rob Quinn — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:04:25 CDT

A California man who says he was horrified when the chewier-than-usual cheese in his French onion soup turned out to be a condom has settled his lawsuit with a restaurant chain. The agreement between Claim Jumper restaurants and the plaintiff, for an undisclosed amount, "is not to be construed as...

Gulf Seafood Tested, Results 'Immaculate'

Nick McMaster — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:42:11 CDT

In a rare spot of good news, an analysis of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico came black clean of oil or chemical dispersants—in one word, "immaculate." The Daily Beast commissioned a lab to test shrimp, lump crabmeat, and red grouper and found that all three, like the control...

That Ballpark Hot Dog Could Kill You

Evann Gastaldo — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:15:27 CDT

If you’d like to enjoy the next hot dog you eat at a baseball game, don’t read on. ESPN reviewed health department inspection reports for the North American MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA venues and found that 28% had been cited for a “critical” or “major” violation—one that could...

Beware Salsa, Guacamole: Food Safety Experts

M. Morris — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:08:04 CDT

As guacamole and salsa become more popular, they also account for a rising number of cases of food poisoning, new statistics show. The dips once represented 1.5% of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurants and delis, but between 1998 and 2008, that fraction climbed to nearly 4%. Part of the...

Ground Beef Rife With E. Coli Risk

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 08:19:14 CDT

A nausea-inducing feature in the New York Times tells you more than you wanted to know about what's actually in commercially produced hamburger, and why it's especially vulnerable, despite FDA regulation and several fatal outbreaks in recent years, to E. coli contamination. The Times follows the case of a 22-year-old...