In the ongoing cases involving E. coli contamination linked to Cargill Meat Solutions, a settlement in one lawsuit has been reached. According to Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), the parents of a girl who was hospitalized for over one month as a result of eating E. coli contaminated hamburger meat, reached a settlement last week with Cargill.

The 11-year-old fell ill in 2007 after she ate a contaminated hamburger from Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation, said MPR, that contamination led to a massive—845,000 pound—recall of frozen ground beef parties. The girl spent three weeks on kidney dialysis and her family racked up about $350,000 in medical bills, said MPR. It seems that the young girl developed a serious kidney disease that can lead to renal failure and long-term kidney problems. (more…)

Another outbreak of salmonella poisoning has been linked to alfalfa sprouts. This time, the contamination has sickened one dozen people in the state of Michigan. The Associated Press (AP) also reported that the outbreak has resulted in at least two hospitalizations, to date.

According to the AP, the Michigan Departments of Agriculture and Community Health released a public-health alert late last week warning residents in that state to stay away from raw alfalfa sprouts until it can be determined how the outbreak originated. According to officials involved in the outbreak investigation, the 12 cases reported thus far have been of Salmonella Typhimurium and have been confirmed in Bay, Genesee, Kent, Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties, said the AP. It seems as if the outbreak began August 17 and September 18. (more…)

Today we are reporting on two separate recalls concerning foods potentially contaminated with the dangerous, sometimes deadly, Listeria monocytogenes pathogen, which can result in Listeriosis.

Listeriosis can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms, such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. In pregnant women, Listeriosis can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, or birth of a baby suffering from the infection. Pregnant women are about 20 times likelier than others to be infected, with about one-third of all Listeriosis cases occurring during pregnancy. (more…)

The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has filed a complaint for permanent injunction against Rel’s Foods Inc., of Oakland, California, seeking to stop the company from manufacturing, producing, and selling adulterated food products, the FDA just announced.

According to an FDA press release, the complaint also names Rel’s Vice President, Peder Scott Sorensen, and two managers, Patrick O’Malley and Timothy E. Ault. Rel’s prepares, processes, and distributes a variety of ready-to-eat sandwiches to convenience stores, deli markets, liquor stores, mini-marts, and gas stations in Nevada and California. (more…)

Costco and Tyson Foods have struck an agreement that will allow the retailer to test Tyson’s beef trimmings for E. coli prior to grinding and mixing. The agreement comes just days after The New York Times published an expose detailing gaps in the way ground beef is tested for E. coli.

As we reported earlier this week, the Times reported on Sunday that much of the ground beef consumed in the U.S is made from beef trimmings. These ingredients come from parts of the cow that are most likely to be tainted with E. coli bacteria. Despite this, most meat processors test their ground beef only after trimmings from multiple slaughterhouses have been mixed and ground together. This practice makes it difficult to determine the original source of E. coli should it be found during later testing, or if an outbreak occurs. (more…)

A variety of so-called healthy foods have topped a list of the 10 riskiest foods regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) just reported. The group pointed out that leafy greens, eggs, and tuna top the list and 10 foods are linked to 40 percent of all food borne illness outbreaks connected with FDA-regulated foods.

Tomatoes, cheese, ice cream, sprouts, and berries also made the list, which, said the CSPI is why the United States Senate should pass legislation, as was recently enacted by the House, to reform food safety laws. The CSPI, a nonprofit advocacy group, wrote the report. (more…)

United States Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, told Minnesota Public Radio News that the Obama administration is hard at work improving U.S. food safety and plans on seeking Congressional legislation to allow mandatory tainted food recalls. It seems, said Minnesota Public Radio, that a large New York Times report published this weekend, pointed to some food safety system issues, citing cases in Minnesota.

Vilsack delivered his speech at the University of Minnesota. “If there’s a problem we’d like to be able to respond quickly, rather than rely on a voluntary recall that may not be either timely or fully implemented,” Vilsack said, quoted Minnesota Public Radio. “We’d like to have the power to get the product off the market and out of the market as quickly as possible,” Vilsack added. (more…)

The New York Times has published an interesting report detailing flaws in the U.S. beef inspection system. Because of these flaws, consumers nationwide may face a serious risk from E. coli and other food borne illnesses every time they bite into a hamburger.

The New York Times report uses the case of a 22-year-old woman who developed a severe E. coli infection in 2007 after eating a frozen hamburger patty made by Cargill that was labeled “American Chef’s Selection Angus Beef Patties.” In October 2007 Cargill recalled over 840,000 pounds of these and other ground beef patties after they were linked to an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that sickened more than 900 people. Today, the young woman is paralyzed from the waist down due to her bout with E. coli. (more…)

Yesterday, U.S. bankruptcy judge, William E. Anderson, ordered Peanut Corporation of America’s (PCA) insurance carrier to ensure $12 million are available to reimburse those who suffered health complications as a result of the massive Salmonella outbreak that originated from contamination at the PCA, reported CNN.

According Trustee Roy V. Creasy of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia, Lynchburg Division, claims have to be submitted to a claims administrator by October 31, said CNN. (more…)

Although the exact origin of the historic E. coli outbreak linked to the Country Cottage Restaurant in Oklahoma remains unknown, a civil lawsuit has been filed against the Locust Grove restaurant and its owners, said the Pryor Daily Times.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health’s final report pointed to the ongoing spread of food borne bacteria throughout the restaurant, as opposed to one specific food or incident, as sparking the outbreak, according to a prior Associated Press (AP) report. The outbreak of the rare E. coli O111, is believed to be the largest in the history of that strain. One man died, 314 people fell ill, and scores were hospitalized, including a number of children requiring dialysis. (more…)