Author: Tony Coveny, Ph.D

Nearly three dozen cases of salmonella food poisoning are suspected in Hillsdale County, MI. following a festival that took place between July 31st and August 3rd. A single event at the festival, however, has been pinpointed as the source of the outbreak – according to health official Rebecca Burns, from Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Counties Community Health Agency, all 33 probable victims, including the eight laboratory-confirmed victims, attended the Reading Summer Festival Days alumni reunion dinner on August 2. According to health officer Steve Todd, the attendees were contacted in the aftermath of identifying the outbreak source, and nearly 150 of the…

According to Utah Department of Health (UDOH) official Becky Ward, there are now 45 victims in a Campylobacter outbreak linked to raw milk and raw cream purchased from the Ropelato Dairy in Weber County, Utah – but as the number grows, so too does the distribution, with illnesses now piling up in neighboring counties, including Cache, Davis, Morgan, Salt Lake, and Utah counties, and two victims have now been identified in California and Idaho. The first case surfaced back in early May, on the 9th, and the most recent was confirmed on July 21st. The UDOH undertook an extensive investigation…

The Centers for Disease Control and prevention, or CDC, is investigating an outbreak of Salmonella Braenderup that has sickened at least four persons in four states. Along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has jurisdiction over the production and sale of peanut and nut butters in the U.S., the CDC has been collaborating with state health organizations to investigate this multistate outbreak. As early as Wednesday this week, preliminary results led investigators to name nSpired Natural Foods, Inc. as the likely source. The victims, even though in different states, were linked to a single source of Salmonella…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Firm Press Release for the recall of peanut butter produced by nSpired Natural Foods Inc. According to the Press Release, nSpired Natural Foods is voluntarily recalling a large number of lots that include peanut, almond and other nut butters due to their potential to be contaminated with salmonella. According to one source, the recall followed “routine testing,” but a number of other reports indicate that at least four illnesses have been linked to the recalled peanut butter. The recall includes Arrowhead Mills® Peanut Butters, MaraNatha® Almond Butters, Kroger No- Stir Creamy…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are now investigating an outbreak of Salmonella Newport, Salmonella Hartford, and Salmonella Oranienburg that has been linked to organic sprouted chia powder made from chia seeds. The CDC and FDA became involved after pulsed-field gel electrophoresis confirmed that the victims were linked to the same source – initially 12 victims were linked to a rare Salmonella Newport never previously recorded in PulseNet in the U.S., but the investigation grew as other victims were identified with two other strains of salmonella, including Salmonella Hartford and…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced an ongoing investigation of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses, the latest of which was reported on June 25, 2014. Whole Foods Market, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), the FSIS, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is conducting the recall of hundreds of pounds of ground beef due to the discovery of a link between consumption of Whole Foods Market ground beef and at least three E. coli illnesses, all of who presented with E. coli O157:H7 between June 13th and…

Health officials appear to have located the source of five dozen E. coli O157 illnesses linked to the Fond du Lac Reservation, in Minnesota, in July. Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) spokesman Doug Schultz says that the trace-back investigation has led investigators to three events in mid-July, between the 11th and 16th, including an Elders’ Picnic, a wedding celebration, and a three-day conference. The same caterer supplied food to all three events, including potato salad to two of the events, and ingredients served in potato salad to the third event. “After interviewing a good percentage of the people involved,” Schultz…

The Zerebko Zoo Tran, a travelling petting zoo, has suspended all operations after being linked by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to over a dozen E. coli illnesses in that state. Most of the 13 victims, ranging from age 2 to 68, attended an event with the Zerebko Zoo Tan travelling petting zoo on July 4th at an event in Nashwauk, and the others attended county fairs in Polk, Rice and Olmsted counties where they spent time at the Zerebko Zoo Tan petting zoo. Two of the thirteen did not attend these fairs or events, but are considered secondary…

The Foster Farms antibiotic-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak, now nearing 18 months running, may finally be over, this according to some wary health officials. It was only in January that officials made the same prediction – only to identify another 300 victims in the ensuing months. So far, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are 634 confirmed victims across 29 states and Puerto Rico. These victims presented with symptoms of one of seven strains of Salmonella Heidelberg between March 1, 2013, and July 11, 2014. The actual number of victims is likely in the thousands,…

VR Green Farms’ canned products are now being recalled nation-wide due to the possibility of serious illness. Dr. Ron Chapman, the director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is cautioning consumers to stop eating canned foods from VR Green Farms because they may contain Clostridium botulinum (causing a condition known as “Botulism”), a deadly pathogen that can grow in foods that are improperly prepared and canned/jarred. At issue are VR Green Farms products like the Pine Nut Basil Pesto, which according to health officials may be linked to two botulism cases. One of those cases is believed to…