Foodborne Disease

(CIDRAP News) – Two federal government agencies announced today they are joining with Cornell University to launch a program to provide produce growers and packagers with food safety information.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday said it found Listeria monocytogenes and a long list of food safety infractions during an October inspection of a San Antonio produce plant linked to 10 illnesses, including 5 deaths.

Nov 2, 2010

Nov 1, 2010

(CIDRAP News) – In the first clinical trial of a norovirus vaccine—in which volunteers were deliberately exposed to the common gastrointestinal virus—the inoculation reduced participants' risk of illness by 47%, according to results released recently by LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration announced today that it gave state and local governments 84 grants totaling $18.5 million in the past year to help them prepare for and respond to foodborne disease outbreaks and threats to the food supply.

Oct 22, 2010

(CIDRAP News) – Reports presented at the Infectious Diseases Society of America's (IDSA's) annual conference today revealed that contaminated crayfish can cause severe illness and looked at the risk of contracting Salmonella infections from pet frogs, among other findings.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today called for certified food protection managers to become a common presence in retail food settings, based on results of a 10-year study showing that having them made meaningful differences.

Michael R. Taylor, the FDA's deputy commissioner for foods, recognized the retail food industry's progress in food safety but said the findings of the study revealed room for improvement.