State and Federal officials announced today that they are investigating a multi-state outbreak of E. coli O121:H19 infections related to Earth Grown frozen falafel sold by Aldi stores.
As of this afternoon, the Food and Drug Administration is reporting that 20 people are confirmed infected with five requiring hospitalization. No
Continue Reading New E. coli outbreak traced to frozen falafel sold at Aldi stores
Scientists from a university in Singapore have found strains of foodborne E. coli have different tolerances towards acidic conditions.
E. coli O157:H7 is widely recognized due to the severity of illnesses it causes. There are another six serogroups identified by the United States Food and Drug Administration as emerging pathogens
Continue Reading Scientists study diversity of big six E. coli strains
E. coli O157:H7, O26, O111, O103, O121, O45 and O145 – it can get a bit(e) confusing. As of June 8, 2012, the CDC and various State health Departments report that there are 14 cases of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O145 infection with indistinguishable DNA patterns that have been
Continue Reading Publisher’s Platform: Non-O157 E. coli – An Alphabet Soup of Illness
We’re not sure what more we could have served up during this past week, the first of our third year serving the food safety community.
There was no better package out there on the Obama Administration’s gutsy decision to ban six more virulent strains of E. coli from beef than
Ever since the Jack in the Box outbreak of 1993, E. coli O157:H7 has been understood as a major public health threat. It was declared illegal by the U.S. Department of Agriculture the following year, and ground beef is now tested regularly for its presence.
But while other strains of
Continue Reading The Big Six: USDA's Newest Banned Bugs
According to the CDC, E. coli O157:H7 causes 73,000 illnesses and 50 deaths every year in the United States. Another six E. coli strains – O26, O45, O111, O121, O145, and O103 – are considered less pervasive, sickening “only” an estimated 37,000 people a year and killing nearly 30. E.
Continue Reading Publisher's Platform: A Bit(e) of E. coli History
Last week I talked about Marler Clark’s nearly two-decade effort to provide information about food safety. Here’s another example of the informational websites we’ve created to help keep consumers informed:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 48 million-foodborne illness cases occur in the United States every
Continue Reading Publisher's Platform: More 411 Information
A few years ago I came back from a vacation to find my office covered in Shigella–not microscopic foodborne illness-causing bacteria, but giant, stuffed Shigella from www.GiantMicrobes.com (pictured, left). Soon thereafter, my Shigella were joined by E. coli and Salmonella, which now adorn the Christmas tree in the Marler Clark
Continue Reading A Gift for Everyone on Your List
All Shiga toxin-producing E. coli–not just E. coli O157:H7–should be declared as adulterants under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), says a petition filed today with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS).
Not to do so, “ignores the grave dangers that scientific and medical research
Why Should the Food Safety and Inspection Service Declare Enterohemorrhagic non-O157 E. coli to be an Adulterant?
It seems that any serious discussion of E. coli O157:H7 always has to start with one event: the 1993 outbreak associated with the Jack in the Box restaurant chain. This, of course, is
Continue Reading USDA Should Declare non-O157 E. coli an Adulterant
