An Oregon man contracted to clean a meat processing plant died last week when he fell into a machine at the facility. Hugo Avalos-Chanon, age 41, of Southeast Portland died late Friday night after becoming entangled in a blender at the Interstate Meat Disrtibutors, Inc. plant in Clackamas, OR, reported the Oregonian. Interstate Meat Distributors… Continue Reading
At least 124 people are now known to have been sickened in the Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak linked to chicken, reported the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday. The announcement was made after Oregon and Washington’s state health departments announced early that day that they had recorded 56 and 43 illnesses linked to… Continue Reading
Around 90 people fell ill with gastrointestinal symptoms after attending a meeting of women healthcare professionals at the Oregon Zoo last week. The meeting was attended by 220 members of the Women’s Healthcare Associates group last Wednesday morning. After the event, nearly 100 people became sick with what officials believe was Norovirus infection, according to… Continue Reading
Voters in 38 states Tuesday will decide upon 174 statewide ballot measures, and perhaps luckily, none are specifically about food safety. But like California’s highly touted Proposition 37 to require labeling of food made from genetically modified crops, several states are deciding on ballot measures that at least kick around the edges of food safety… Continue Reading
FDA announced this week that two food supplement companies have recently halted production in response to claims and court orders. Truman J. Berst, doing business as Alternative Health and Herbs Remedies, was ordered on Sept. 20, 2012, by permanent injunction in an Oregon Federal District Court, to stop selling its herbal supplement products, which were… Continue Reading
The West often gets divided up: cowboys vs. Indians, wet vs. dry, Catholics vs. Protestants and cattle vs. sheep, just to name a few. Now Oregon vs. Canola has been added to that list. And while some say that the new maps that take effect Friday open Oregon to genetically modified canola, others say that… Continue Reading
Three Oregonians were hospitalized with boutlism after eating at a private barbecue, according to state health officials. The Clostridium botulinum bacteria that infected these individuals is thought to have come from home-canned foods served at the event, held in Deschutes County. All three victims were residents of the county, located in central Oregon. The Deschutes… Continue Reading
Oregon state senior epidemiologist William Keene is a fan of Berton Roueché, whose books, like Eleven Blue Men, revealed the whodunnit work of epidemiology. Now Keene, of the Oregon Public Health Division, and fellow sleuth Kimberly Repp, of Oregon Health and Sciences University, have cracked a case and told a real-life detective tale worthy of… Continue Reading
Nineteen people in Oregon are ill with E. coli in an outbreak traced to raw milk from Foundation Farm near Wilsonville — up one from the 18 cases reported Thursday — according to a April 20 news release from the Public Health Division of the state’s Health Authority. Of the 19 people, 11 have culture-confirmed E…. Continue Reading
A 13-year-old, one of four children hospitalized in an outbreak E. coli infection linked to raw milk, is in critical condition, according to a spokesman from Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, OR. As of Thursday, the potentially fatal foodborne pathogen had sickened as many as 18 people in Oregon. Five of the cases patients have… Continue Reading
Raw milk from Foundation Farm near Wilsonville, Oregon, has been identified as the link in an outbreak of E. coli infections that has put four children in the hospital and may have sickened as many as 18 people. According to a news release Tuesday from the Oregon Department of Public Health, test results of samples… Continue Reading