Foodborne Disease

(CIDRAP News) – An unusual strain of Escherichia coli O157 that standard laboratory culture methods cannot detect has been identified in a disease outbreak associated with a nursery in Scotland and in other cases in Scotland and England, according to recent news reports.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) yesterday announced plans to provide more help to operators of small meat, poultry, and egg-product plants in improving their food safety programs.

(CIDRAP News) – After close to 2 years of expanded testing, the US government is estimating that there are between four and seven cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) among the nation's 42 million adult cattle.

"The data shows that the prevalence of BSE in the United States is extraordinarily low," US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Mike Johanns said at a teleconference this morning.

(CIDRAP News) – Food stores may soon be able to offer ground beef and other meat products treated with a mixture of harmless bacteria that reportedly can reduce common pathogens by 99% or more.

(CIDRAP News) – The incidence of most major foodborne diseases in 2005 changed little from the previous year and generally continued a slow decline from levels measured in the late 1990s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

(CIDRAP News) – Cooking poultry to a temperature of 165°F will ensure it is safe to eat, though higher heat may be desirable for the sake of taste or appearance, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today.

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers have announced a new approach to making a vaccine for the foodborne illness listeriosis that may also bode well for fighting certain other infections, including salmonellosis and tuberculosis.

(CIDRAP News) – An outbreak of apparent botulism associated with home-preserved bamboo shoots has sickened more than 150 people following a festival in northern Thailand, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

(CIDRAP News) – To help consumers identify meat and poultry products that are being recalled because of contamination or some other hazard, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing to publish the names of retail stores that have carried the products.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced a new initiative to reduce Salmonella contamination in raw meat and poultry, mainly by focusing more effort on processing facilities that need improvement and reporting test results faster.