The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected a number of snack imports made by Indian company Haldiram Snacks for concerns over high levels of pesticides, mold and bacteria. The move comes as global food corporation Nestlé has been subjected to a nationwide ban in India of its Maggi
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Consumer-Funded Test Finds 11 of 12 Pet Foods Contaminated
A number of pet food brands are contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria and other contaminants that could cause negative health effects to humans and their pets, according to a testing project funded by a group of pet owners and coordinated by the Association for Truth in Pet Food. The
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The Search for Alternatives to Antibiotics
Ask any doctor or veterinarian to rate the important medical discoveries of the past century, and antibiotics would surely be at or near the top of the list. In this century, too, antibiotics are expected to remain an essential tool for treating animal and human diseases. But the “miracle of
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Global Microbe Genome Database Represents ‘Some Exciting Science’
If the world’s food safety scientists act now, they have the opportunity to create a global network of microbial data that will dramatically improve the ability to track and combat disease outbreaks of all sorts, including foodborne illness outbreaks, significantly tackling the spread of disease worldwide. That was the argument
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E. coli Sculpture Headed to Oklahoma City
Spotted: E. coli bacterium in Oklahoma City. Not to worry, this specimen is not alive. It’s a glass sculpture by artist Luke Jerram and it’s going on display this week at the Oklahoma City Art Museum as part of an exhibit called FUSION [A New Century of Glass]. The
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Hidden Roommates: Uncovering Microbes at Home
Most people would not be hard-pressed to name what’s in their fridge. Milk, eggs, raw chicken and leftovers are likely candidates. But these visible items are just a fraction of what lives in this appliance, which is also home to many species of bacteria and other microorganisms.
A team of
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Office Desktop Dining Still Tops the Charts
Four years after an infamous University of Arizona study reported that our desks carry 400 times more dangerous bacteria than the average public toilet seat, guess where most of us are still eating?
Yep, you guessed it. Eighty-three (83) percent of us still say we are eating both meals and
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Playgrounds for Bacteria at Fast Food Restaurants
It all happened by accident. One day this past spring, Erin Carr-Jordan, mother of four and professor at Arizona State University, rushed into a Tempe McDonald’s because her three-year-old child needed to use the bathroom. Before they left, her child wanted to spend time at the fast-food restaurant’s playground.
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Don't Carry School Lunch Into the Danger Zone
Whether they are in backpacks, cubbies or desks, lunches packed for schoolchildren often sit around for three to four hours in various states of refrigeration before the lunch bell ever rings. This simple observation inspired some researchers from the University of Texas-Austin to ask the question: Do preschoolers’ packed lunches
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Sprouts and Bacteria: It's the Growing Conditions
Who would’ve guessed sprouts? Who would have predicted that Germany’s E. coli outbreak, already one of the worst food poisoning epidemics in recent times, might be connected to a food that is virtually a cliché for health foods and vegetarians?
Actually, that might have been the guess of anybody familiar
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