Food Safety NewsGretchen is a Seattle-based reporter covering issues ranging from child nutrition to local agriculture to foodborne illness outbreaks and global food safety issues. In June of 2011 she reported from Hamburg on the European E. coli outbreak. Gretchen graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in English and French before moving to the pacific northwest. She delved into the world of food safety after being a lifelong foodie in order to find out what issues compromise the security of her favorite pastime – eating, and what can be done about them. Gretchen is excited to be part of the diverse and passionate Food Safety News team.
Hand washing is paramount after handling animals in public places, according to new guidelines on animal handling from the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NAPHV). This month the association released updated recommendations on how to prevent the spread of disease from live animals to humans in public settings. The compendium of measures to curb zoonotic disease, which is posted...
In the search for the cause of Haiti's recent cholera outbreak, which has claimed more than 4,500 lives and sickened 300,000 people, the finger of blame cannot be pointed at a single source, says a new report. According to an independent panel of experts commissioned by the United Nations (UN), the disease that has ravaged the country since last November was...
Editor's Note: This article is the continuation of a series on emerging techniques introduced at the Foodborne Pathogen Interventions Symposium in Seattle on April 27. The event was hosted by the Seafood Product Association. Today's installment focuses on bacteriophages, presented by Dr. Alexander Sulakvelidze of Intralytix™. The word "virus" usually sends people grabbing for the hand sanitizer. But some of...
When it comes to choosing what to eat, taste still takes the cake as the deciding factor for Americans; however price is edging up in importance, and health is still a top concern, according to a new survey. The opinion poll, released Thursday by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, provides a window into consumer views on a variety...
Drug residue found in veal calves after slaughter should be further investigated on the farms where they were raised, said the Center for Science in the Public Interest Wednesday in response to a request to exempt dairy farms from this type of follow-up testing. This week, the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS), a policymaking group comprised of state regulators...
In the ongoing debate over whether or not to regulate the use of antibiotics for food animals, moms fall squarely into the "yes" category.That's according to a new study released Tuesday by Pew Charitable Trusts, which is using the research to fuel a campaign featuring mothers who oppose the use of animal antibiotics for non-therapeutic purposes. The survey, commissioned by...
Editor's Note: This article is the second in a series on new and food pathogen interventions discussed at the Food Pathogen Interventions Symposium hosted by the Seafood Products Association. Last week, the Foodborne Pathogen Interventions Symposium highlighted several evolving technologies for fighting foodborne pathogens. Food Safety News is profiling some of these interventions in a series. Today's installment discusses ozone...
Salt is commonly viewed as the enemy of a healthy diet. However, liberal use of the salt shaker might actually be more of a cure than a curse when it comes to human health, according to new research. The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), followed health trends in 3,681 individuals over a median of almost 8...
Editor's Note: This article is part of a series on new and novel food pathogen interventions, based on presentations at the Food Pathogen Interventions Symposium in Seattle, WA on April 27, 2011. Last week, a group of scientists and food safety leaders came together at a conference in Seattle to share their expertise on various techniques for guarding against contamination...
Attorneys general from more than a dozen states are calling on Pabst, maker of the new highly alcoholic flavored drink "Blast," to take the dangerous punch out of its product. In a letter to Pabst CEO Charles Metropoulos, the attorneys general of 17 states, plus the city of San Francisco, demanded that the company reduce the alcoholic content of the...
California, a state that has long been at the forefront of the fresh food movement, is planting the seed of its "California cuisine" in the next generation. This month marked the launch of the "Nourish California" program, an educational initiative designed to teach kids about where food comes from before it gets to the plate, from growing to preparation. The...
In revising a plan that had been criticized by consumer groups and others, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed a program to establish a voluntary, national marketing agreement to set safety standards and regulate the handling of leafy green vegetables. The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released an outline Tuesday of the program, called the National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement...
Consumers in the United Kingdom have spoken, revealing their views on nanotechnology in foods. The verdict? Healthy skepticism. Or rather, a skepticism of nanoparticles that do anything besides improve health. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) Thursday published a study on attitudes of UK residents towards the use of nanotechnology in food products and food packaging. The FSA study surveyed 120 people...
Almost a quarter of the meat and poultry sold in U.S. grocery stores may be contaminated with drug-resistant forms of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, also known as Staph, according to a study released Friday. Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) examined 136 samples of meat and poultry from grocery stores in five cities around the country and found that...
Move over, E. coli O157:H7. It's time to share the spotlight, or at least the microscope, with other types of foodborne illness-causing E. coli bacteria. While the most serious and widely publicized E. coli outbreaks are usually linked to one particular strain of the bacteria -- O157:H7 -- other pathogenic species are becoming more widely recognized by food scientists as...
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