Mechanically tenderized beef will need to be so labeled by May 2016, the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
The new labeling requirements cover raw or partially cooked beef products, the FSIS said in a statement.
"This commonsense change will lead to safer meals and fewer foodborne illnesses," said USDA Deputy Undersecretary Al Almanza.
The ongoing outbreak of cholera in Haiti that began in late 2010 has led to a dramatic rise in cases over the past 6 months, with nearly 12,000 reported already this year. The rate is only expected to soar further when the rainy season starts next month and as international aid dries up, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) story yesterday.
Saudi Arabia today reported two more MERS-Cov cases in different cities, after a weekend with no new cases.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported three more MERS-CoV cases today, including the second one from Mecca this year, along with one death in a previously reported case.
The decline of US TB cases showed signs of slowing last year, as the WHO sets an ambitious goal of reducing global TB cases by 90% in 20 years.
The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) is declining in Europe, but the continent still sees 1,000 new cases a day and drug-resistant TB remains at high levels, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe (WHO Europe) said in a joint surveillance report today.
The recent rise in MERS-CoV activity continues in Saudi Arabia, with two new cases reported by the country's Ministry of Health (MOH) today, along with five deaths and two recoveries in previously reported cases.
The national count of children affected by an unexplained polio-like illness that causes limb weakness has increased by one, to 112 in 34 states since August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in an update yesterday.
Amid a widespread measles outbreak, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) is considering recommending that physicians be compensated for counseling parents about the importance of childhood vaccines, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.
The committee is also looking at a recommendation that would set a minimum vaccination coverage goal for clinicians, the story said.
Tuberculosis cases decreased by 6% during 2012 in 29 European countries, while hot spots in northern Europe and the Baltic states remained, according to a report issued today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
