What should have been happy vacation memories turned into a horrific nightmare of foodborne illness from salad after 55-year-old Julie Packard returned home from Hawaii.

Packard, now 58, and her family vacationed in paradise in December 2021. It was their second trip to the island state, and they thought they

Continue Reading Vacation in paradise capped off by severe case of rat lungworm disease

AJC International, Inc. of Atlanta, GA, is recalling approximately 17,428 pounds of frozen, raw pork products that were not presented for import reinspection into the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

The problem was discovered during routine FSIS surveillance activities of

Continue Reading Pork products distributed in Hawaii, American Samoa, and Palau recalled over lack of import reinspection

The 53-minute film “Accidental Host — The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease” produced by Dr. Claire Panosian, has been airing on PBS stations around the country since last October and will see its third round of primetime broadcasts on PBS Hawaii on Aug. 17 and Aug. 20.

People can be infected

Continue Reading PBS stations airing ‘Accidental Host–The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease’

The conference committee’s amendments on prohibitions and exemptions were accepted before the North Dakota Legislature OK’d farmers selling raw milk directly to consumers.

Those provisions provide that

— A farm may sell raw milk directly to the end consumer for personal consumption.

— A farm may not sell raw milk

Continue Reading Legislatures are acting mostly with caution when it comes to raw milk

Four states that currently outlaw the retail sales of raw milk and allow only limited access to unpasteurized dairy products are finding it hard to make any progress this legislative season.

Of the four states, only Illinois currently allows for herd share agreements, which means a person has to buy

Continue Reading Raw milk legalization does not appear to be catching on at the statehouses

Officials in Hawaii are clamping down on retailers that sell raw goat’s milk, using the threat of seizure and fines up to $10,000 per day.

The state Department of Health has embargoed raw milk products, which it says are not safe for human consumption, according to a public warning from
Continue Reading Health department warns against drinking raw goat milk; issues cease and desist order for retailers

Researchers have increased knowledge of the lifecycle of some parasites by studying snails in Thailand. These parasites can cause severe infections in humans who consume raw or improperly cooked fish that have fed on infected snails.

Parasitic flatworms were found to use several species of thiarid snails, commonly found in
Continue Reading Scientists study role of snails in parasites that pose public health threat

Opinion

“Tropical parasites in our food? No way!” most Americans think.

It’s time to think again.

In May Hawaii’s Department of Health announced three more cases of rat lungworm in recent visitors. Already endemic in Hawaii, Asia, Australia, Brazil and the Caribbean, the exotic foodborne menace is also emerging in
Continue Reading Paradise parasites — Challenges to controlling rat lungworm disease