Health officials in Snohomish County, WA, are warning people who ate at two Taco Bell locations to monitor themselves for signs of hepatitis A infections and get vaccinated if they are not already.

“People who ate food from the Taco Bell at 2727 Broadway on May 22-23 or the Taco

Continue Reading Taco Bell employee infected with hepatitis A; county in Washington issues health alert

An upcoming Feb. 17 vote by the Washington State House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will tell whether a bill to remove regulations from raw milk sold directly from the place of production is a serious threat to public health or just an early session fluke. House Bill 1490, which

Continue Reading Washington State Bill to exempt consumer sales of raw milk up for committee vote

Williams Valley Family Farm LLC of Clayton, WA, is recalling retail, raw whole milk because of E. coli contamination. The recall was initiated after routine sampling conducted by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) revealed the presence of toxin-producing E. coli in the farm’s unpasteurized, raw milk dated Oct.
Continue Reading Raw milk recalled in Washington after sampling reveals E. coli contamination

Writing in Forbes recently, Nick Sibilia, with the public interest law firm Institute forJustice, was positively giddy about the Food Freedom movement.

“Almost four years after the nation’s first ‘food freedom law was enacted, hundreds of new local businesses have sprouted across three states, and without a single outbreak of
Continue Reading ‘Microenterprise home kitchens’ look for food safety exemptions in Washington

The Washington State Department of Agriculture is about to find out if appeasement works with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In 2018 the FDA stopped sharing nonpublic information with the state department (WSDA), and a top state official says the action “had a significant negative impact” on food safety.
Continue Reading Exemptions added to state public disclosure act to get FDA to resume sharing information

Salmonella Infantis has sickened Canadians in five provinces, according to Public Health Canada. The likely cause has not been identified with any certainty, but many who became sick report eating cucumbers before becoming ill.

Public Health Canada says most of the illnesses are centered on British Columbia, which has 37
Continue Reading Cucumbers suspected in Salmonella illnesses on both sides of border

Due to multiple reports of oyster-associated Norovirus-like illnesses, Washington State is conducting a recall for all shellfish harvested from 3/15/17 to 4/11/17 from the implicated portion of the Hammersley Inlet growing area.   The area of the recall has been closed.

At this time the following companies are identified in this
Continue Reading State oyster recall underway on Pacific Northwest coast over Norovirus

Two young Washington state girls are hospitalized with complications from E. coli infection and their school has been temporarily closed for cleaning. One of the girls has reportedly developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious kidney condition linked to E. coli infection. Health officials said the source of their exposure
Continue Reading Two E. coli cases linked to livestock close Washington school