News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) yesterday announced new measures to improve the safety of raw ground turkey and chicken products, including requiring companies to reassess their food safety plans.

The new steps are in response to several Salmonella outbreaks that have been linked to ground poultry, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said in a statement.

(CIDRAP News) – Consumer Reports magazine has stirred debate about pathogens in pork by reporting a small study in which Yersinia enterocolitica was found in 69% of samples, while more common foodborne pathogens like Salmonella and Listeria were much less prevalent.

(CIDRAP News) – In a special journal supplement today, federal officials reported that progress is slowing in the battle against the six most common foodborne diseases, among a raft of other findings.

(CIDRAP News) – The number of US gastroenteritis deaths more than doubled in 8 years, with Clostridium difficile and norovirus as the two most common culprits, researchers reported today at an infectious disease conference.

(CIDRAP News) – The incidence of dairy-related foodborne illness outbreaks is 150 times higher in raw milk and is greater in states where the products are legal, researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.

Their 13-year review, coming amid one of the nation's largest outbreaks ever linked to raw milk, also found that patients affected by raw milk outbreaks are more likely to be sicker and younger.