Outbreaks

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Could it be that the Jensen Farms LM outbreak will be traced to contaminated irrigation water?

Looks like the Arkansas river is the irrigation source for this entire farming region through a series of diversion canals and ditches. We also have to remember that pesticides are also applied using surface water sources in some regions.

For some great pictures of…

Being an avid reader and researcher of all things food safe, I cannot help but notice a trend. The pattern of reported large scale multi-state outbreaks every few weeks or months seems to be changing to a pattern of small scale but almost daily outbreaks at the local level.

Coincidentally there seems to be a shift from …

Se Bill Marler’s blog, where one of his clients in the DeFusco Bakery Salmonella crises in Rhode Island tells it like it is on TV.

http://www.marlerblog.com/legal-cases/the-civil-justice-system-and-the-media-in-action/

Thankfully, we have a functioning tort system in the US. It stands in the gap for the decrepit and often ineffective regulation of facilities by our disconnected health authorities. While this…

Cantaloupes are again the vehicle for Salmonella. Such instances should be closely investigated to determine the root cause. Typical contamination sources in growing cantaloupes would include irrigation, run off, human waste, animal intrusion and infected workers.

The problem of contamination and potential growth of bacteria on melons is a difficult one. Normally, with a product that can…

The hazaelnut outbreak may spur FDA to move in its new powers.

Here we see the packinghouse that packed the hazelnuts refusing to cooperate with officials after nuts it shipped sickend several people with E coli O157:H7. (Note the very soiled hands in this picture this would not be an acceptable level of cleanliness for a

While tomatoes were identified early as an outbreak vehicle, subsequent investigation revealed Serrano and jalapeno peppers as the common food item in later outbreaks. I agree with Dr. Acheson that the epidemiological association is only an approximation and there will be a potential for things to occur by chance alone and confounders, but the relationships…

I have now been involved in over 60 investigations of foodborne illness as an expert, on the sides of both plaintiffs and defendents, some reflections:

1. Most outbreaks that result in lawsuits have evidence of multiple major sanitation deficiencies

2. Most have pest problems as part of the documentation

3. Many have serious time and temperature issues

4.

Doug Powell below writes in his Barfblog about the delay in CDC notifying the public about the source of the current SE outbreak in eggs. The CDC went public in mid August when apparently sufficent information existed in late July to implicate Iowa’s Wright Egg Farms.

Other outbreaks in the recent past had the same scenario, a…