Foodborne Disease

Federal health officials have announced plans to expand research on whether chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk poses a threat to humans and other species.

(CIDRAP News) – Recent meat recalls associated with a prolonged listeriosis outbreak show that the current federal program for keeping Listeria out of meatis falling short, Elsa Murano, the US Department of Agriculture's undersecretary for food safety, said in remarks prepared for a speech yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) Ð A second poultry processing plant has been linked by DNA fingerprinting to the multistate listeriosis outbreak in the Northeast, and two other plants are being investigated in connection with the outbreak, according to federal health officials.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a long-standing policy of not buying irradiated ground beef for the federal school lunch program, but that may change by the end of this year.

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has halted the importation of Mexican cantaloupes because of evidence that unsanitary conditions in melon fields and processing facilities have caused four salmonellosis outbreaks in the past 3 years.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has finished writing rules that open the door to the irradiation of fruits and vegetables imported into the United States.

(CIDRAP News) – Irradiated ground beef has been showing up in more and more American supermarkets this year, with at least a dozen chains representing thousands of stores now stocking it, according to reports from the Minnesota Beef Council and other industry sources.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal health officials announced today that three environmental samples taken from a Pennsylvania poultry processing plant contained a Listeria strain matching that of patients in the current listeriosis outbreak in the Northeast. The announcement came 3 days after the company expanded its recall of turkey and chicken products from the original 295,000 pounds to a record-setting 27.4 million pounds.

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week that companies can petition the agency for permission to use terms like "electronic pasteurization" in place of "irradiation" on the labeling for irradiated foods.

(CIDRAP News) Ð A Pennsylvania company is recalling 295,000 pounds of ready-to-eat turkey and chicken because of possible Listeria contamination, but the recalled products have not been linked to the recent rash of listeriosis cases in the Northeast, federal health officials announced yesterday.