food poisoning news stories on Newser

KFC Ordered to Pay $8.3M to Poisoned Girl

Matt Cantor — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:28:25 CDT

A judge has ordered KFC to pay an Australian family $8.3 million after their daughter was poisoned and suffered brain damage after eating at the fast-food chain. Her lawyer says Monika Samaan contracted salmonella in 2005 after eating a Twister chicken wrap and fell into a six-month coma; she...

55K Pounds of Turkey Burgers Recalled

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 09:56:15 CDT

Bad news: That package of Jennie-O turkey burgers you bought because you were trying to be healthy just might be contaminated with salmonella. Worse news: The strain of salmonella in question is "resistant to many commonly prescribed antibiotics," the pleasantly-named Food Poison Journal reports. Jennie-O Turkey Store is recalling nearly...

On Food Safety, We Need That Old 'Poison Squad' Spirit

John Johnson — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:10:00 CST

Ho-hum: Alfalfa sprouts sickened nearly 150 people earlier this month. Sadly, we've come to expect these kinds of outbreaks, writes Deborah Blum in Slate . What we need is a modern-day Harvey Washington Wiley, she suggests. He's the USDA scientist who created high-profile "poison squads" in the early 1900s, in which...

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...

Tiger Woods' Mother-In-Law Out of Hospital

Nick McMaster — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:47:01 CST

Tiger Woods' mother-in-law seems to be recovered from the episode that saw her rushed to the hospital last night. Barbro Holmberg has been released and is resting at one of Tiger's houses. She went out to dinner last night with daughter Elin Nordegren and Elin's twin sister, then woke in...

E. Coli Outbreak in Northeast Ground Beef Kills 2

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:42:33 CST

A person each from Maine and New York has died in what authorities believe may be an outbreak of E. coli in ground beef that is suspected of sickening dozens of consumers. The suspect beef was produced by New York company Fairbank Farms, which has recalled more than half a...

Leonard Cohen Collapses in Spain

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:26:48 CDT

Leonard Cohen collapsed onstage in Spain last night and was rushed to a hospital with stomach pain, the CBC reports. The 75-year-old singer, who fainted while singing "Bird on the Wire," suffered from stomach cramps and vomiting before losing consciousness. Cohen was released this morning and said he wants to...

Calif. Plant Recalls Ground Beef on Salmonella Fears

Nick McMaster — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:54:26 CDT

A California meatpacking plant has issued a recall for 800,000 pounds of ground beef it fears may be tainted with salmonella, the Los Angeles Times reports. The ground beef from Beef Packers, Inc. is sold under various retail names in California, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. The recall came after...

Minnesota May Have Saved Your Innards

Katherine Thompson — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:16:00 CDT

When it comes to salmonella and other food-borne illnesses, federal agencies are rightly putting money into preventing future outbreaks, but few agencies are focused on detecting them. That task falls mostly to state and local officials, which means the ability to connect several sick citizens and call it a salmonella...