Jul 28, 2010
Reptile food recall linked to multistate Salmonella outbreak
A Georgia company has recalled the frozen reptile food that it distributes to all states except Hawaii after possibly linked human Salmonella infections were reported in 17 states, according to a Jul 26 recall notice issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The reptile food consists of frozen mice, rats, and chicks and was sold in pet retail stores and through mail order. The company, Biggers & Callaham, based in Cleveland, Ga., does business as Mice Direct and ordered the recall after the FDA found the pathogen during frozen-mice sampling. It has warned customers not to feed the recalled products to animals, even after heating in a microwave. It also said that products shipped after Jul 24 will have been irradiated to address Salmonella contamination issues.
Jul 26 FDA recall notice
Poll finds confidence gap in US food safety
Many Americans are still concerned about the safety of the nation's food supply, particularly meat, according to a poll released yesterday by National Public Radio (NPR) and Thomson Reuters. The poll found that 61% are concerned about food contamination, with 51% worried most about the safety of meat. For comparison, 25% said they worried most about seafood, followed by produce at 23% and dairy products at 4%. Americans were split on what to do about food safety problems. Some called for more government oversight, though most said companies should boost their quality-control systems. The telephone survey was conducted Jul 1 through Jul 11 and included responses from 3,015 participants.
Jul 27 NPR blog post
NPR/Thomson Reuters food safety
poll results
