The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is out with new data on outbreaks of foodborne illness, reporting statistics from 2009-2015 when outbreaks sickened more than 100,000 people.
Out of the 100,939 people who were confirmed with food poisoning from various pathogens during that time, 5,699 had to be admitted to hospitals and 145…
In the past few days, there have been two interesting reports on antibiotic resistance. One was released by Consumer Reports entitled, “How Safe Is Your Ground Beef?” The other, much less publicized, was put together by scientists and physicians who work in public health and do know something about antibiotic resistance.
This second report was …
April’s botulism outbreak in Ohio was the nation’s largest in 40 years, and one of the first patients to become ill died. But CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is crediting early recognition and fast action with limiting the damage. The single fatality in the Ohio botulism outbreak blamed on a church potluck luncheon…
Those of us who practice daily journalism usually make like cowboys and keep our eyes on the horizon for what’s coming next. But sometimes, one of us has to double back to check on something behind us that was left with too many questions. That’s where we found ourselves in February with the strange twist…
This past summer, consumers were confronted with a series of recalls of peaches, nectarines, plums, pluots and other stone fruits potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The fruit, sourced from Wawona Packing Co., was recalled from major retailers such as ALDI, Trader Joe’s, Costco, Kroger and Walmart. Many consumers began expressing concerns that they had…
Problems with food preparation, hand-washing and food-safety training were cited as the cause of two large, multi-serotype Salmonella outbreaks at Arkansas prisons in August of 2012, according to a new study released in last week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 
Investigators from the Arkansas Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control…
Several years ago I started following the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). It used to come weekly in the mail (perhaps it still does), but it is a bit easier to see it online and it can be quickly downloaded. Given my profession, I tend to quickly pass over some…
