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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
 Wed Aug 28, 2002 5:17 am
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Today: August 26, 2002 at 1:20:05 PDT
Health Worries Threaten Scottish Dish
By ED JOHNSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON- The traditional recipe for haggis, a potent Scottish dish long associated with highland fortitude, could face extinction amid concerns over mad cow disease.
Scotland's most famous food was eulogized by the poet Robert Burns who declared it the "great chieftain o' the puddin-race."
Scots have eaten it for centuries, usually with turnips and potatoes, and quite frequently doused with whiskey.
But food safety experts say haggis - usually the heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep minced with suet, onions, oatmeal and seasonings and boiled inside the animal's intestines - should be banned because of the possible risk of mad cow disease, a fatal brain destroying illness.
Britain's Food Standards Agency wants the European Commission to ban the use of sheep intestines in food throughout Europe, officials said Sunday, fearing that bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, is present in sheep.
The proposed ban would mostly affect lamb sausages wrapped in natural casings, but would also spell doom for traditional haggis.
The proposal was roundly scorned by Haggis fans.
The Scottish National Party, which campaigns for an independent Scotland, dubbed it "ludicrous," and "officialdom gone mad."
Burns, the 18th-century bard who is Scotland's most famous poet, celebrated the dish with his popular ode, "Address to a Haggis."
Fans of the poet mark his birthday on Jan. 25 with a celebratory dinner, where haggis is brought out accompanied by a bagpiper, poetry is recited and the meal is toasted with whiskey.
"It would be ridiculous if we had to alter the way haggis is made because of this," said David Smith, honorary secretary of the Burns Howff Club in Scotland, which celebrates the poet's life. "Sheep intestines are an important element of haggis and there is no way we will stop eating it. Chefs would also be appalled if they were told they could not use sheep intestines, in fact they would find it laughable," he added.
The British food agency says there is a "theoretical risk" that BSE, which infected thousands of cattle during an epidemic in the late 1980s and early 1990s, might also be present in sheep after flocks were fed recycled meat and bone meal from infected cows. The disease has never been found in sheep, however.
A human form of the disease, apparently spread by eating infected beef, has killed at least 90 people in Europe.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/aug/26/082609903.html
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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
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Mon Sep 16, 2002 6:07 am
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Monday September 16, 10:26 AM
Rat poison suspected in China mass poisoning
BEIJING (Reuters) - Rat poison may be to blame for a mass food poisoning that killed 41 people and sent hundreds to hospital near China's central city of Nanjing at the weekend, state media reported on Monday.
"Initial investigations indicate there was rat poison in the food that was served to victims," the China Daily quoted Zhou Qiang, a Jiangsu provincial government spokesman, as saying.
The paper said doctors treating the victims said their symptoms were consistent with rat poisoning and Zhou said it could have been put in the breakfast snacks deliberately.
The official Xinhua news agency said on its Web site on Saturday 400 people, many school children and construction workers, were poisoned at a breakfast shop in the town of Tangshan, and 41 had died. It later reverted to an earlier story saying 200 were poisoned and dropped the toll, saying only that a number of people died. Zhou was quoted by the China Daily as saying the death toll was "less than 100". Locals who had seen scores of ambulances, however, estimated that more than 100 had died and some said on Sunday they saw victims bleeding at the mouth and ears.
Authorities had held for questioning the boss of the Heshengyuan Soy Milk chain store, which sold food including sesame cakes and fried dough sticks.
China's cabinet and the Communist Party's Central Committee, which oversees national policy, sent a team of police and health officials to investigate the case, state media said, highlighting concerns in Beijing about bad publicity in the run-up to a key leadership transition expected later this year.
Food poisoning deaths have sometimes occurred in China from restaurants using cheaper industrial salts instead of edible, supermarket salt.
Food poisoning killed 146 people and affected more than 15,000 others last year in China. Many of these incidents were due to rat poison, chemicals and bacteria, state media have said.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/020916/reuters/asia-125348.html
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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
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Wed Sep 18, 2002 3:42 am
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Today: September 17, 2002 at 12:25:27 PDT
Meat Recalled Over E. Coli Concern
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SMITHFIELD, Va.- A Pennsylvania beef-packing company owned by Smithfield Foods recalled 203,600 pounds of ground beef after some of its meat tested positive for E. coli bacteria.
Moyer Packing, based in Souderton, Pa., was told by the Department of Agriculture on Sept. 10 that a sample was contaminated. Late last week, Moyer determined that the beef was produced Aug. 31 and the company recalled beef made on that day.
The tainted ground beef was shipped to customers in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Moyer is owned by Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, is the world's largest hog producer and processor. David Bartlett, a Smithfield Foods spokesman, said customers who think they bought the recalled beef should check with the store they purchased it from. He said there have been no reports of illnesses associated with the ground beef.
E. coli can cause vomiting, cramps and diarrhea. It also can lead to kidney failure and death, particularly among the elderly and children.
The following products were recalled:
-"Pure Ground Beef 93 Coarse," bearing the code "1930316100."
-"Pure Ground Beef Chuck Coarse," bearing the code "1940056100."
-"Pure Ground Beef Round X85," bearing the code "1941116100."
-"Pure Ground Beef 75 Coarse", bearing the code "1910216100."
-"Pure Ground Beef 81 Coarse," bearing the code "1920116100."
-"Pure Ground Beef 91 Coarse," bearing the cod "1930146100."
-"Pure Ground Beef Sirloin X90," bearing the code "1942116100."
-"Pure Ground Beef Sirloin Coarse," bearing the code "1942016100."
-"Pure Ground Beef 91 Coarse," bearing the code "1930116100."
-"Pure Ground Beef 73 Coarse GU," bearing the code "1910016110."
Also being recalled are 40-lb cases labeled "Pure Ground Beef X Sirloin Fine" and bearing the code "1942164100."
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On The Net: Agriculture Department: http://www.fsis.usda.gov
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/sep/17/091704114.html
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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
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Fri Sep 27, 2002 10:10 pm
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59 sickened by E.coli
From the National Desk
Published 9/27/2002 1:12 PM
MADISON, Wis., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Public health officials said Friday 59 people have been sickened by E. coli O157:H7 in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois but it still is unclear where the contamination originated and whether the cases are related.
The majority of the cases are in Wisconsin, with Minnesota reporting six and Illinois one.
The U.S. Agriculture Department is investigating the Minnesota and Wisconsin cases. Samples of ground beef obtained from the homes of two Minnesota victims tested positive for E. coli bacteria.
Health officials have not yet said where the ground beef was purchased or processed.
Nineteen of those sickened required hospitalization, with one victim suffering from hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure.
Epidemiologists said two strains of E. coli are involved -- one affecting 33 Wisconsin residents and the other infecting 19.
The outbreak first was reported Aug. 20 and the second, Sept. 9.
E. coli is characterized by diarrhea, nausea and stomach cramps. Health officials say it can be avoided by cooking meat thoroughly or choosing irradiated products.
News of the outbreak comes just days after the USDA announced a series of new measures aimed at reducing the incidence of contamination as part of a Food Safety and Inspection Service review prompted by scientific data indicating the pathogen is more common than previously believed.
Among the USDA actions was elimination of current exemptions from FSIS microbiological testing.
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020927-115107-2286r |
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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
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Sat Sep 28, 2002 7:50 am
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Today: September 27, 2002 at 17:55:06 PDT
Wis. Meat Co. Recalls Ground Beef
By MELISSA TRUJILLO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILWAUKEE- A Wisconsin meat packing company said Friday that it is recalling about 400,000 pounds of ground beef that may be connected to an E. coli outbreak that sickened 40 people in three states.
Health investigators also are probing another E. coli outbreak that sickened 19 people in Wisconsin. It is not known if the outbreaks are related, though officials believe all the people got sick after eating ground beef. The most recent case was reported in mid-September.
Officials learned of the first outbreak last month after 19 people who went on a rafting trip in northern Wisconsin fell ill. While investigating the first outbreak, officials found another of a different strain. That outbreak hit 40 people in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. The meat company said its recall was a precaution.
"The evidence linking this to this product is what you would call circumstantial," said Justin Segel, president of Emmpak Foods. "We are in the interest of public safety, consumer safety, recalling five days of production."
Last May, the company recalled 471,000 pounds of ground beef because it may have been contaminated with E. coli. Symptoms of E. coli infection include diarrhea and stomach cramps. The bacteria can be lethal in some cases.
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http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/sep/27/092707485.html
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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
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Mon Sep 30, 2002 7:39 am
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Today: September 29, 2002 at 10:40:07 PDT
Scientists Find Clue to Carcinogen
By LAURAN NEERGAARD
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON- Scientists have found a clue to the chemical reaction that may cause potato chips, french fries and other fried or baked starchy foods to build up high levels of a possible cancer-causing substance.
The suspect is asparagine, a naturally occurring amino acid that, when heated with certain sugars such as glucose, leads to the formation of the worrisome substance acrylamide.
The Food and Drug Administration has made studying acrylamide's risk and determining how to lower its levels in food one of its highest research priorities, according to a plan that agency officials were to discuss Monday with consumer groups and food manufacturers.
Canada's government made the discovery about the suspect chemical reaction and has ordered food manufacturers to look for ways to alter it and thus lower levels of acrylamide in food.
Cincinnati-based manufacturer Procter & Gamble Co. says its scientists, too, have found the asparagine connection. It is the first clue to emerge in the mystery of acrylamide since Swedish scientists made the surprise announcement in the spring that high levels of the possible carcinogen are in numerous everyday foods: french fries, potato chips, some types of breakfast cereals and breads - plenty of high-carbohydrate foods that are fried or baked at high temperatures.
The chemical was not found in boiled foods, which are cooked at lower temperatures. Sweden's findings were confirmed in June by governments in Norway, Britain and Switzerland, and preliminary testing of several hundred foods by the FDA suggests U.S. foods contain similar acrylamide levels, said Richard Canady, who is directing the agency's assessment of acrylamide's risk.
Acrylamide is used to produce plastics and dyes and to purify drinking water. Although traces have been found in water, no one expected high levels to be in basic foods.
It causes cancer in test animals, but it has not been proved to do so in people. Still, Swedish scientists have said the levels are high enough that foodborne acrylamide might be responsible for several hundred cases of cancer in that country each year.
In the United States, the FDA has been careful to caution that acrylamide so far is only a suspected carcinogen. The FDA has not yet advised consumers to alter their diets to avoid it.
Still uncertain is whether the FDA, once it finishes testing different foods next year, will publicly identify which brands contain the most acrylamide - information wanted by consumer advocates.
For now, Canady said, "We want to reinforce ... eating a balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables. That's the best way to ensure that you're getting adequate nutrition."
The FDA has an impressive research plan but "should give the public better advice," said Michael Jacobsen of the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest.
"People should be consuming less french fries and potato chips for other reasons - the salt, the calories, the fat - and the government should have been urging that anyway. Here's yet another reason," he said.
The food industry stresses that while fried potato products are getting most of the bad publicity - most testing so far shows the highest levels in them - acrylamide is in a wide variety of foods.
Procter & Gamble said Friday that its testing found acrylamide in such previously unimplicated foods as roasted asparagus and banana chips.
"The other aspect people need to look at is while a french fry or a potato chip may be high ... in concentration, it still comes down to what is the total contribution of that food to the diet," said Henry Chin of the National Food Processors Association.
Asparagine is in lots of vegetables, Chin noted.
Regardless, the asparagine clue is encouraging, Chin and Jacobsen said. Different varieties of potatoes contain different levels of both asparagine and glucose.
That might explain varying acrylamide levels among different brands - levels in french fries, for instance, vary widely among fast-food restaurants.
Pick a different potato and a brand's acrylamide level might drop.
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On the Net: Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/ --
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/sep/29/092900 |
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Dan Rockwell
Joined: 10 Dec 2001
Posts: 1988
Location: Stamford, CT, USA |
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Mon Oct 14, 2002 3:41 am
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Today: October 13, 2002 at 14:25:17 PDT
Wampler Expands Deli Product Recall
By TINA MOORE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHIA- Wampler Foods recalled all cooked deli products made since May at a suburban plant and halted production because the meat is possibly contaminated with listeria, authorities said Sunday.
The recall of about 27.4 million pounds of meat is the largest in USDA history. It follows an Oct. 9 recall of 295,000 pounds of turkey and chicken products at the plant in Franconia.
The company voluntarily expanded the recall to all cooked deli products made from May 1 through Oct. 11 and halted production Saturday at the facility about 25 miles north of Philadelphia after receiving test results of samples taken from floor drains.
"We want consumers to be aware of the recall because of the potential for foodborne illness," said Dr. Garry L. McKee, the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service administrator. "Diners may also wish to ask if their meals contain the recalled products."
The national recall is the largest in the history of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, inspection service spokesman Steven Cohen said. Each package being recalled bears the plant number P-1351 inside the USDA mark of inspection and a production date.
Wampler officials said the recall didn't include fresh turkeys and that it should have no effect on the holiday season.
The discovery was the result of a scientific investigation into the cause of illnesses, deaths and miscarriages in the Northeast from the listeria strain, the federal agency said.
No Wampler's products have been linked to that outbreak, said David Van Hoose, Wampler's chief executive officer.
At least 120 illnesses and 20 deaths were caused by listeria in eight Northeast states since last summer.
The genetic strain that caused those illnesses is different than the strain found at the plant, officials said.
"We don't have any scientific evidence at this point that there is a connection, but our analysis of sampling in that plant is not complete," Cohen said.
The deli products were sold to consumers in retail groceries, delicatessens and food service distributors under the Wampler Foods and select private labels.
Company officials said consumers who had cooked meats produced during the recall period should return the meats to where they were purchased.
Listeria can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea, according to the USDA. It can be fatal in young children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems and can cause miscarriages and stillbirths.
Van Hoose said plant workers will receive training and the plant will be cleaned before production resumes. The meat being recalled makes up roughly 6 percent of the company's total turkey production, he said.
The company didn't say how much revenue it would lose as a result of the shutdown. Consumers with questions can call the company at toll-free at 877-260-7110 or the USDA Meat and Poultry hotline at 800-535-4555.
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On the Net: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service: http://www.fsis.usda.gov Wampler: http://www.wampler.com
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/oct/13/101301033.html |
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Mech
Joined: 06 Jun 2001
Posts: 8237
Location: THE 4th REICH USA |
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Mon Oct 14, 2002 4:49 pm
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Pilgrim's Pride Begins Record Meat Recall
Mon Oct 14, 6:40 AM ET
By Randy Fabi
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. poultry giant Pilgrim's Pride Corp. has launched the largest U.S. meat recall in history and halted production at a Pennsylvania plant because of possible contamination with listeria.
Pilgrim's Pride -- the second biggest U.S. poultry producer -- said in a statement it was recalling 27.4 million pounds of fresh and frozen ready-to-eat turkey and chicken products under the Wampler brand.
The company said the recall occurred after environmental tests at its Franconia, Pennsylvania, plant found a strain of listeria similar to the one identified in an outbreak in the U.S. Northeast that has caused at least 23 deaths and 120 illnesses.
"A strain with similar characteristics to the (Northeast) outbreak was found on the plant's floor drain, but it was never in contact with food," said Richard Cogdill, the company's chief financial officer.
Cogdill said the recall was a "precautionary step" and no illnesses have been linked to meat produced by the Pittsburgh, Texas-based company.
"We have no reason to believe our products are the cause of this," he added.
The company said it voluntarily closed the meat processing plant about 25 miles north of Philadelphia.
The recalled deli meat products were produced between May 1 and Oct. 11 and distributed nationwide. All products bear the establishment code "P-1351" inside the USDA mark of inspection.
Pilgrim's Pride last week pulled 295,000 pounds of turkey and chicken products from the market due to listeria concerns.
Eating food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, leading to miscarriages and stillbirths, as well as infections in those with weak immune systems.
LISTERIA INVESTIGATION
The USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) have been unable to pinpoint the source of the listeria outbreak in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut, Michigan and Massachusetts.
But the CDC has suspected turkey deli meat as one likely source.
The company said it hoped to reopen its meat processing plant by Tuesday.
"We closed the plant and we are completely resanitizing the equipment," Cogdill said.
Steve Cohen, spokesman for the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said the department must first certify the plant meets federal food safety standards before it can be reopened.
About 2,500 cases of listeriosis occur each year in the United States. Listeria can be destroyed by cooking meat to a temperature of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 C).
In the previous largest U.S. meat recall, Hudson Foods recalled 25 million pounds of hamburger in 1997 after 15 people in Colorado fell ill. Hudson was purchased by poultry giant Tyson Foods Inc. one year later. |
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