food safety
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CDC: Shutdown Strains Foodborne Illness Tracking
As we Tuesday, the government shutdown is pushing the nation's food safety system to its limits. For instance, there is normally a team of eight people overseeing the critical foodborne illness tracking database . This team identifies clusters of sickness linked to potentially dangerous strains of pathogens such as E. coli or salmonella... Read More »
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China Arrests 900 In Fake Meat Scandal
Chinese authorities seize 20,000 tonnes of illegal meat products and detains gang passing off fox, mink and rat as mutton Read More »
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Disease Detectives Are Solving Fewer Foodborne Illness Cases
Recall, if you will, some of the biggest foodborne illness outbreaks of the past decade. There was the nasty of listeria from cantaloupe in 2011 that killed 33 people. And the ugly Salmonella Heidelberg from Foster Farms chicken [...] But according to a released Monday by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been reporting and solving fewer and fewer outbreaks over the past decade. Read More »
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Drug-Resistant Bacteria On Chicken: It’s Everywhere And The Government Can’t Help
Two important, linked publications are out today, both carrying the same message: The way we raise poultry in this country is creating an under-appreciated health hazard, and the government structures we depend upon to detect that hazard and protect us from it are failing us. Read More »
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EWG Releases 2014 Pesticides In Produce ‘Dirty Dozen’ And ‘Clean Fifteen’: Apples Worst Offender, Once Again
The Environmental Working Group has released its 2014 editions of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ and ‘Clean Fifteen’ guides to pesticides on produce. Read More »
FDA Fails To Protect Against Antibiotic Resistance, Guarantees More Needless Death And Suffering
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria infect two million Americans every year, causing at least 23,000 deaths. Even more die from complications related to the infections, and the numbers are steadily growing. Read More »
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FDA Finally Imposes Some Controls On Agricultural Antibiotics. Sort Of.
This morning, the US Food and Drug Administration dropped some long-awaited-but-still-big news regarding the use of antibiotics in meat production. Tl;dr: The FDA asked (but did not compel) the livestock industry to stop using the micro-dose “growth promoter” antibiotics that are widely believed to contribute to increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria in animals, food and humans. Read More »
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Food Fraud: Labels On What We Eat Often Mislead
Despite trend in local, "authentic" foods, many aren't what they seem. Read More »
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Genetically Modified Crops Resistant to 2,4-D Spur Debate, Calls for Labeling
A debate over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is raging across the country from farms to the federal government. A company called Dow Chemical is on the verge of getting approval for a new genetically engineered corn that's supposed to be immune to the chemical weedkiller "2,4-D" - a primary component of Agent Orange, the New York Times reported. Read More »
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Got Milk? Got Drugs? Got Both?: State Responds After Idaho Dairy Cattle Test Positive In Food Safety Tests
The [FDA] is worried about what it calls an "important potential public health issue." It could be in your latte or your child's bowl of breakfast cereal. It could be in your refrigerator or freezer. At the very least, the FDA wants to make certain that it's not in any of the 8 million milk-producing cattle in the United States or the 500,000 dairy cows in Idaho. Read More »
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Group Warns Almost 500 Products Contain Chemical Found In Yoga Mats
Subway made news earlier in February when the sandwich chain announced it was removing a chemical called azodicarbonamide (ADA), which is used to make yoga mats, from North American formulations of bread. But now, a consumer advocacy group is warning people that almost 500 more food items on the market have this same compound. Read More »
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How's The Sausage Made? These Folks Really Want To Share The Knowledge
With the current bloom of artisanal small-batch producers across the country, you'd think that all you need to start up a new food business is a good idea and a lot of gumption. And for the most part, that's true. But when it comes to artisanal producers working with meat, you also need something else: a Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points plan. Or, if you will, a HACCP. Read More »
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Is the Consolidation of the Food Industry Turning Lettuce into a Weapon of Mass Destruction?
In the summer of 2006, consumers across the country began falling sick from a particularly nasty strain of Escherichia coli bacteria, known as 0157:H7. Not all E. coli bacteria are dangerous, but 0157:H7 belongs to the Shiga toxin-producing group of pathogens (known as STEC), which can cause severe, and sometimes fatal, illness. By early October, 199 people in twenty-six states had fallen ill, resulting in 102 hospitalizations and thirty-one cases of kidney failure. Three people died, including a two-year-old boy in Utah...
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Latest “Red Meat Study” Doubly Flawed
No, meat is not unsafe—nor is L-carnitine.A recent study published in the journal Nature Medicine associates the amino acid L-carnitine, found in red meat, supplements, and sports supplements, with the risk of heart disease. Read More »
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Millions March Against Monsanto Calling For Boycott Of GMOs
On May 24, millions of people from around the world participated in the March Against Monsanto, calling for the permanent boycott of genetically engineered foods and other harmful agro-chemicals. Marches occurred on six continents, in 52 countries, with events in more than 400 cities, including 47 U.S. states. Read More »
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