Public Health: Food Safety Key for Farmers Market Shoppers
**Please note: This is an ongoing outbreak investigation.**
DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Public Health is investigating more than 10 illnesses that may be related to a freshly prepared fruit and vegetable product sold at a farmers’ market in east-central Iowa.
While farmers’ markets are an excellent source of fresh fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods, it’s important to remember that any freshly prepared fruit and vegetable product that is not properly refrigerated can be a potential health risk because they can allow bacteria to grow.
Because of warm temperatures, Iowans should be especially aware of food safety at farmers markets:
• Be aware that any freshly prepared fruit or vegetable product, such as hummus, salsa, cut fruit salad, and guacamole can be a potential health risk if not handled correctly.
• All these products must be kept refrigerated, both before and after the sale.
When shopping at a farmers’ market, remember:
• Only buy products from vendors who keep freshly prepared fruit and vegetable products cold, either in refrigerator units or on ice.
• Once purchased, keep freshly prepared fruit and vegetable products cold. If you plan to spend a lot of time at the market, bring a cooler or ice pack for storage.
• When you arrive home, place these products immediately in the refrigerator and eat within days.
• Any freshly prepared fruit or vegetable product that is not properly refrigerated should not be eaten, and should be discarded.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 15, 2010 - Buffalo, NY – Feline’s Pride is expanding its July 1, 2010 voluntary recall of Feline’s Pride Raw food with ground bone for cats and kittens, Natural Chicken Formula, Net Wt. 2.5 lbs. (1.13 kg., 40 oz.) produced on 6/10/10to include the product produced on 6/21/10, because it may be contaminated with Salmonella. People handling raw pet food can become infected with Salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the raw pet food or any surfaces exposed to the product...
...The product is packaged in uncoded plastic containers and sold frozen to private consumers nationwide. Once thawed, the pet food has a shelf life of about 1 week. The firm manufactures the pet food by an as-ordered basis. This expansion of the recall affects those orders placed and shipped from June 21 through June 26, 2010 (produced on 6/21/10).
The firm and FDA are investigating this matter to determine the source of this problem, and will take any additional steps necessary to protect the public health.
To date, both the firm and the FDA have received no reports of Salmonella infection relating to this product.
People who are experiencing the symptoms of Salmonella infection after having handled the pet food product should seek medical attention, and report their use of the product and illness to the nearest FDA office.
People should thoroughly wash their hands after handling the pet food – especially those made from raw animal protein such as meat or fish -- to help prevent infection. People may risk bacterial infection not only by handling pet foods, but by contact with pets or surfaces exposed to these foods, so it is important that they thoroughly wash their hands with hot water and soap.
Since certain vulnerable populations, such as children, the elderly, and individuals with compromised immune systems, are particularly at risk from exposure they should avoid handling this product.
Consumers with questions should contact the company at (716) 580-3096, Monday -Friday from 10 am - 4 pm EDT.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 15, 2010 - D & M Smoked Fish, Inc. located in Queens, New York, is recalling Haifa brand vacuum packaged Schmaltz Herring with the lot number 168, because the product was found to be uneviscerated.
The lot being recalled is a product of Norway, individually vacuum-packed in clear plastic pouches with lot # 168 & Sell by date of 7/20/10 indicated on the label and distributed through food retailers in the NY area.
The Schmaltz Herring was sampled by a New York State Agriculture and Markets Food Inspector during a routine inspection. Analysis of the product by New York State Food Laboratory personnel confirmed that Schmaltz Herring was improperly eviscerated prior to processing.
The sale of uneviscerated fish is prohibited under New York State Agriculture and Markets regulations because of Clostridium Botulinum spores are more likely to be concentrated in the viscera than any other portion of the fish. Uneviscerated fish has been linked to outbreaks of botulism poisoning.
Botulism is a serious and potentially fatal form of food poisoning, causes the following symptoms: general weakness, dizziness, double-vision and trouble with speaking or swallowing.
No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem.
Consumers are warned not to use the product even if it does not look or smell spoiled and should return it to place of purchase. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 718-523-8899.
Hundreds of Texas Food Manufacturers Were Unlicensed
By Sherry Jacobson
Hundreds of businesses across Texas have been manufacturing and selling food without a state license and, in some cases, have escaped health inspections intended to ensure the safety of those products.
The businesses were flushed out in a statewide crackdown on unlicensed food manufacturers, begun last year by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
"Many of the companies we have discovered are small operations that were simply unaware they needed a state license," said Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman for the health department.
"For the most part, they have been more than willing to get into compliance with us."
The state has identified 355 companies that appear to be producing and selling a wide variety of eatable products – from barbecue sauce in Fort Worth to pepper jelly in Dallas to ice cream in Houston – all without obtaining a manufacturing license from the state.
The majority of these newfound food manufacturers have passed their state inspections without serious problems, Williams said. And so far, the state has levied no fines for unsanitary conditions.
"Some of them did have safety issues," she said. "Most were corrected on the spot or we're working with them to get them into compliance."
The state went searching for unlicensed food manufacturers in the embarrassing aftermath of last year's discovery of an unlicensed peanut-processing plant in West Texas.
The Plainview plant, owned by a subsidiary of Peanut Corporation of America, had operated for four years without any state-required safety inspections.
The controversial "five-second rule" — the one that allows us to eat dropped food if it's quickly scooped off the floor — is a bunch of baloney, according to Clemson University food scientist Paul Dawson, who stirred up the long-debated issue in this month's National Geographic.
Though previous research has shown we may have up to a minute to rescue certain types of spilled food before it becomes contaminated, Dawson and his students made a strong case for the "zero-second rule." They found that salmonella and other bacteria can live up to four weeks on dry surfaces and be immediately transferred to food...
he zero-tolerance standard, however, conflicts with the findings of two Connecticut College student researchers who sprinkled apple slices and Skittles candies in the college dining hall and snack bar for five, 10, 30 and 60-second intervals. The apple slices picked up bacteria after one minute; nearly five minutes elapsed before the Skittles attracted any.
Still, most researchers agree that the critical thing is not time, but location. It's OK to brush off the bagel that fell from the stroller onto the sidewalk and give it to your screaming child, for example, because the pavement is cleaner than the kitchen floor in terms of the types of germs that cause illnesses, said Dr. Harley Rotbart, a professor of microbiology and pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
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