Entries tagged with 'food safety'
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Phew. The American Peanut Council issued a big fat list of safe peanut products, including Peter Pan, Skippy, Jif, and all Reese's and Ben & Jerry's products. The salmonella outbreak that originated at a Georgia peanut factory has already been responsible for seven deaths and 500-plus sicknesses. [via Doobybrain]...
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Says the Guardian: "...food manufacturers and grocery stores have to comply with a new federal law that requires "Country of Origin Labeling," or COOL, on beef, pork, chicken and lamb. The new labels will tell consumers whether their food came from animals raised in the U.S. or another country. The law also covers perishable items, such as fruits and vegetables and a variety of nuts." Multiple countries may be listed, and a huge loophole that exempts processed foods still exists....
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From Gitwithit on Flickr Low in fat, high in protein, and filled with omega-3 fatty acids (which protects against heart disease and stimulates brain activity), canned tuna is a wonder food on paper. Until it starts making your hair fall out. As Mother Jones reports, Deborah Landvik-Fellner ate canned albacore tuna daily for 12 years until her hair started falling out and her speech started slurring. When she got her blood tested, frightening results came back: it had 48 parts per billion of mercury, nearly ten times the Environmental Protection Agency's notion of "safe." Shouldn't tuna be labeled if it's so dangerous? The Tuna Foundation sure hopes not. They know mercury scares will cause sales to plummet. In 2005,...
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While there's a saying that advises against eating shellfish in months without the letter "r," targeting May through August, the New York Times says commercial shellfish aren't any more likely to be toxic in the summer than during the rest of the year....
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With salmonella outbreaks slowing down, the FDA reported yesterday that tomatoes are in the clear, but fresh jalapeño and serrano peppers still need attention. The tomato industry estimates more than $100 million in losses, but according to the FDA, every type of tomato in stores and fields today is safe (and happy). The outbreak peaked between May 20 and June 10 when about 33 people became ill a day, but dropped to an average of 19 people a day between June 11 and June 20. How can two different types of produce get contaminated with the same rare strain of Salmonella Saintpaul? According to FDA food safety chief Dr. David Acheson, a large farm was perhaps growing tomatoes in one...
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First the CDC and the FDA told us that tomatoes were the likely culprit of the salmonella outbreak that has affected nearly a thousand people since it was first reported on April 10. Now, after tomato growers and distributors have lost hundreds of million of dollars destroying and throwing out supposedly tainted product, there are reports that the CDC thinks jalapeños might be the culprit. Then again, the government is saying it could be one of a half dozen ingredients used to make salsa. It seems to me that the only thing we can definitively conclude from this episode is that our food safety system is irretrievably broken. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Health officials said the evidence linking...
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"For lunch today I was forced to order a BLB sandwich, which is bacon, lettuce, and more bacon. I'm thinking of ditching the lettuce too, just to be safe." During last night's monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Jimmy Kimmel gives his thoughts about the halt in tomato use and sales due to the recent Salmonella outbreak. Don't miss the helpful PSA from the Broccoli Council at the end! Watch the clip after the jump....
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You know something is news when it graces the cover of the New York Post. The main focus of the story is that the burger chains have stopped serving tomatoes on their burgers, and people are upset. At the Mickey D's on Sixth Avenue between 21st and 22nd streets, Beata Royzman, 17, a La Guardia HS senior, winced as she bit into a cheeseburger that didn't have tomatoes. "It's disgusting," she groaned. "It would be much better with tomatoes... Previously: Salmonella Scare Halts Tomato Sales...
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These tomatoes may be safe, but others may give you Salmonella poisoning. Beware. Bountiful grape tomatoes still populate Mickey D's "premium salad," but you're out of luck if you want a tomato slice on your burger. Reuters reported today that McDonald's and Wal-Mart stores have stopped selling certain tomatoes. Chipotle and Target are also nixing tomatoes to play it safe. On Saturday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned U.S. consumers that the Salmonella outbreak—145 reported cases, including at least 23 hospitalizations since mid-April—is linked to raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes. The FDA says that it is safe to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, and tomatoes grown at home....
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Slate lets us know it's safe to eat pork brains, but inhaling them would be a bad idea....
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