Author: Liz Pegram
During the height of the pandemic, grocery stores began routinely sanitizing shopping carts and baskets after each use to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Now that the rate of COVID infections is far less, this practice of cleaning carts is becoming a thing of the past. However, sanitizing shopping carts is extremely beneficial to minimize the spread of foodborne pathogens and grocery stores should not overlook its importance. In a study by the University of Arizona, their results found that the number of bacteria on a shopping cart was higher than the amount on surfaces of a public…
Food poisoning is often a concern among airplane passengers indulging in an in-flight meal service. Common symptoms of food poisoning include nausea and vomiting, neither of which a passenger wants to experience while being confined in tight quarters nor in the days and weeks following travel. How valid is this fear? Food served on an airplane is handled differently and has fewer regulations due to the constraints of space, time, and oversight. The FDA typically inspects airline caterers only every three to five years and inspects airplanes whenever it is convenient. Although it is entirely possible for the food to…
Announced on February 3rd, Fresh Ideation Food Group LLC based in Baltimore, issued a recall for over 400 ready-to-eat products because of possible Listeria concerns. The products were recalled after samples of Listeria monocytogenes were found in the processing facility and products were recalled as a precautionary measure. The products that were recalled have a sell by date from January 31st-February 6th and include deli sandwiches, sliced fruit, wraps, croissants, snack trays, pizza, and yogurt. They are sold under a variety of brand names but are marked with the “Fresh Creative Cuisine” label, signifying that they come from the Baltimore facility.…
Since December 2021, the price of eggs in grocery stores has increased by almost 60% due to inflation and diseases. This substantial increase in price has inspired more Americans to buy chickens and create their own backyard coops. Although a fun hobby in theory, backyard coops are extremely susceptibleto pathogens and foodborne illnesses. If one chicken in a backyard coop gets sick, often the disease spreads to all the chickens in the coop (and is not always detected by inexperienced coop owners). Salmonella and Avian influenza are the most common foodborne illnesses that spread in chicken coops. In 2022, The…
How Does Hepatitis A Spread Through Food? In a developed country such as the United States, outbreaks of Hepatitis A (HAV) from contaminated food are not common but are still possible and have occurred in the past. Some outbreaks have been linked to thousands of cases. It can be difficult, however, to pinpoint the source of infection because of the late onset of symptoms especially when the victims are geographically scattered. A food product can become contaminated at any step during the process of harvesting, distribution, preparation, etc… When the problem occurs at one of the early stages, say during…