Some apple and carrot portable pouch baby foods, manufactured by Plum Organics of Emeryville, California, is being recalled over potential botulism contamination, the Associated Press (AP) just announced.

The AP reported that the recalled apple and carrot Plum Organics baby food was sold individually throughout the United States at Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us stores. The recalled Plum Organics baby food was sold in 4.22-ounce pouches, with a “best by” date of May 21, 2010, and UPC 890180001221. (more…)

A fourth recall has been implemented for uneviserated fish in as many months. This time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that S&M (USA) Enterprise Corporation, of Brooklyn, New York, is recalling its White Herring because the fish was found to be uneviserated.

Uneviscerated fish are those fish who were not disemboweled and whose internal organs remain intact within the fish. The sale of uneviscerated fish is prohibited under New York State Agriculture and Market regulations because Clostridium botulinum spores are more likely to be concentrated in the viscera—or internal organs—than any other portion of the fish. Uneviscerated fish have been linked to outbreaks of botulism poisoning in the past and the FDA is advising that the recalled S&M Enterprise White Herring may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum spores, which can cause Botulism, a serious and potentially fatal food borne illness. (more…)

A recent analysis of a variety of earlier studies—a meta-analysis—has revealed a “significant” link between smoking and an increased risk for colorectal cancer and death, Science Daily is reporting.  Science Daily notes that tobacco was the cause of about 5.4 million deaths in 2005, yet there are still about 1.3 billion smokers, worldwide.  Health Day News reported that smoking increases the risk of CRC by about 18 percent, with a 25 percent increased risk of death, according to the study, which was published in the December 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Up until now, an array of cancers have been clearly linked to smoking; this was not always the case with smoking and colorectal cancer—also known as CRC—due to inconsistent study outcomes, notes Science Daily.  “Because smoking can potentially be controlled by individual and population-related measures, detecting a link between CRC and smoking could help reduce the burden of the world’s third most common tumor, which currently causes more than 500,000 annual deaths worldwide.  In the United States alone, an estimate of approximately 50,000 deaths from CRC would have occurred in 2008,” the authors write, quoted Science Daily.  Study author Edoardo Botteri, M.Sc., of the European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy, and colleagues conducted the meta-analysis, said Science Daily, in order to review and summarize published data that looked at the link between CRC and death to smoking. (more…)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just issued a warning to consumers and retailers regarding the risk of botulism from ungutted, salt-cured alewives—also known as gaspereaux—fish, which may have been sold in Florida.  The warning advises retailers and food service operators not to offer these ungutted, salt-cured alewives/gaspereaux fish originating from Michel & Charles LeBlanc Fisheries Ltd., CAP-PELÈ, New Brunswick, Canada.  The fish may be contaminated with the Clostridium botulinum (C. botulinum) toxin, which is the bacteria that causes botulism.  Consumers are warned not to consume the contaminated fish.

The fish were imported into the United States from Canada and shipped to the following Florida distributors:  Quirch Foods Inc., Den-Mar Exports LLC, Dolphin Fisheries Inc., and Labrador & Son Food Products Inc.  The ungutted, salt-cured alewives/gaspereaux fish were packed in 30-pound, white plastic pails with green plastic lids, with the brand name “Michel & Charles LeBlanc Fisheries Ltd.,” and the phrase “Product of Canada” appearing on the side of the pails.  One hundred seventy-three (173) 30-pound pails of the fish were distributed and may have been repacked or sold loose by retailers in Florida. (more…)

Two years ago, three people from Georgia, one from Florida, and two from Canada all fell seriously ill with botulism after consuming Bolthouse Farms carrot juice that was likely not properly refrigerated, Reuters reports.  One patient died within three months and two patients remain on ventilators today.  According to Reuters,  the other three received ventilator treatment for a period of 54, 90, and 129 days, respectively.  Of the five survivors, two are at home, two are in rehabilitation centers, and one remains hospitalized.

Dr. Anandi N. Sheth from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and colleagues, said that the subsequent investigation revealed that Clostridium botulinum likely developed as a result of inadequate refrigeration, said Reuters.  According to investigators writing in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, “This investigation demonstrates that carrot juice and other processed foods with no natural barriers to C. botulinum germination require additional chemical or thermal barriers.” (more…)

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker just released an alert to consumers to not eat “Frozen Salted Croaker” because they pose a botulism risk.  The Frozen Salted Croaker was distributed by YS Trading Corp of 38-21 23rd Street, Long Island City, New York 11101 and is being recalled because the product was uneviscerated, which means that the fish was illegally sold whole, without its inner organs being properly removed.  The Frozen Salted Croaker was sold in Hicksville, New York; Flushing, New York; and New Jersey in un-coded, unlabeled plastic bags.

Uneviscerated fish is prohibited under New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ regulations because Clostridium botulinum spores are more likely to be concentrated in the viscera—the internal organs in the main cavities of the body, specifically the intestines—than in any other portion of the fish.  Uneviscerated fish has been linked to outbreaks of Botulism poisoning.  Because the fish is uneviscerated—or sold whole, with its internal organs in tact, the croaker is likelier to become contaminated with Clostridium botulinum spores, which can cause Botulism, a serious and potentially fatal food-borne illness.  The croaker is also known by the names Tambour, Adlerfisch, Corbina, Gorbyl, and Nibe.  The fish is relatively small, only reaching weights of from one-to-two pounds. (more…)

Federal lawmakers are looking to reform the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates drugs and 80 percent of the food Americans eat.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates the other 20 percent of food—generally meat.  Despite that the FDA monitors the overwhelming majority of this nation’s food, it only received a fraction of the funding and the staffing of the USDA.

Meanwhile, we have long been reporting on the issue of food regulation in the U.S. in the face of ongoing, often massive nationwide outbreaks of deadly food borne illnesses such as Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli, to name a few.  Given the recent problems with meat and produce that have sickened thousands and hospitalized dozens in the past couple of months, perhaps our food safety systems needs—if not an overhaul—some changes to better protect Americans. (more…)

Another lawsuit has been filed against the Kroger Company grocery store in response to the multi-state E. coli poisoning that sickened dozens and has been linked to ground beef purchased at Cincinnati-based Krogers.  The woman, Amanda Adam of suburban New Albany, was sickened with E. coli, according to the lawsuit filed Monday against the nation’s largest traditional grocery chain.  Adam named Kroger and the beef supplier, which had not been named at the time of the filing, in the suit, which accuses Kroger of negligence and is seeking at least $25,000 in damages.

Adams’ lawsuit claims she bought two beef patties from a Kroger store in Dublin on June 4 and cooked them that same day.  Adam alleges that she began feeling ill on June 8 and was admitted to a Cincinnati hospital on June 10.  Kroger spokeswoman Meghan Gylnn said Kroger’s does not comment on pending litigation.  On June 25, Kroger initiated a voluntary recall of all ground beef sold between May 21 and June 8 at stores in Michigan as well as in Columbus and Toledo, Ohio. (more…)

The New Era Canning Company, which was shut down by the federal government since December for repeated recalls of canned produce over possible botulism contamination, just received approval to reopen and restart production by securing a temporary emergency permit.  The permit allows the company to begin shipping some of its current stock of canned produce and restart production, although that isn’t likely to begin until later this summer.

New Era’s first recall in December involved 171 cases of institution-size cans of green beans after results from a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection showed the potential for botulism contamination.  A test sample showed a “presumptive positive” result for clostridium botulinum bacterium spores.  Under certain conditions, the spores have the potential to produce a toxin that causes botulism. (more…)

A settlement was just reached in a federal botulism contamination lawsuit filed by Emanuel Cisneros who sued Bumble Bee foods and its subsidiary, Castleberry’s, for unspecified damages linked to his children’s extended illness.  The children, Marissa and Samuel Cisneros, were hospitalized last June and were subsequently included in The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) listing of patients who ate botulism- tainted Austex brand hot dog chili sauce.

Castelberry’s denies liability under the settlement agreement, but following the outbreak, Castleberry’s recalled a wide variety of products nationwide and closed its Georgia plant.  The amount paid to the Cisneros family is confidential. (more…)