Foodborne Illness

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports there have been 72 people nationwide sickened with four strains of Listeria monocytogenes in 18 states including Florida. The illness began showing up after July 31, 2011 and was traced back to a farm in Granada, Colorado that grew the Rocky Ford type of cantaloupe, named for the region where it’s grown. Jensen Farms issued a voluntary recall on September 14.

So far there has been one person in Florida infected. Texas has 14 illnesses, while New Mexico has 10 and Colorado 15. Thirteen deaths have been reported – 2 in Colorado, 1 in Nebraska, 4 in New Mexico , 1 in Oklahoma, 2 in Texas, 1 in Maryland, 1 in Missouri and 1 in Kansas.

Consumers are being urged not to eat any Rocky Ford cantaloupes from Jensen Farms, while other cantaloupes are safe to eat. If you don’t know where it comes from, the CDC recommends you discard the fruit.

Listeria Contamination

Listeriosis is an infection that comes from eating the Listeria bacteria. Symptoms include fever and muscle aches, diarrhea or gastrointestinal symptoms. The illness is treated with antibiotics. Listeria can grow on the fruit whether it is in room or refrigerator temperatures. In this case, outbreaks have occurred in states where the fruit is not shipped. The company says it is sometimes sold and resold.

Persons particularly at risk are older adults, individuals with a weakened immune system and pregnant women. The average age of those sickened is 60 years old. Ninety-nine percent were hospitalized.

As to the source?

While it has not been pinpointed, the likely suspect is the farm’s water supply. If water is contaminated by animal droppings it can become a perfect place for Listeria growth since the bacteria thrives in moist, muddy conditions and is often carried by animals. Since the bacteria is hearty, it’s advised to wash and sanitize any surfaces that may have touched the fruit.

If you are injured by a dangerous product, you may be eligible to recover the cost of your medical bills and hospitalization as well as lost wages under Florida’s product liability laws.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/index.html

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Sunday, July 23, notified the public of a massive recall of papayas from Agromod Produce, Inc. of McAllen, Texas, because of a link to the bacterial contamination Salmonella, which can cause fatal infections in people with an underdeveloped or compromised immune system.

Symptoms of Salmonella sickness are fever, diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and abdominal pain. In rare instances the bacteria can enter the bloodstream causing more severe illness. The FDA tested samples at Agromod Produce in Texas and found the positive confirmation along with a second positive test at the border. The FDA says the shipments that tested positive were not distributed in the U.S. The whole fresh papayas, grown in Mexico, were distributed throughout the U.S. and Canada and sold in retail stores prior to July 23, Sunday. Consumers should look for a Blondie Brand, Tastylicious Brand, Mananita, and Yaya Premium papaya with yellow, blue, orange and green stickers.

While none of the papayas that tested positive were distributed in the U.S., earlier this week, there were 97 reported cases of Salmonella Agona, including eight in Georgia, which resulted in 10 hospitalizations in 23 states related to the consumption of papayas. Consumers with any papayas that have the Agromod Produce sticker on them should discard the fruit. Papayas are also used in fruit salsas and fruit drinks, so consumers should be aware of these uses of the fruit as well. If you feel you may have consumed contaminated papayas, consult with a healthcare professional. Consumers who have any questions should call Agromod Produce at (800) 385-7658 or call the FDA website concerning food safety at 1-888-SAFEFOOD.

Approximately 76 million Americans are sickened from contaminated food every year. The FDA only inspects a small percentage of food for safety so the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law by President Obama on January 4th. It gives federal regulators more muscle when it comes to demanding a food recall, instead of just requesting the producer recall tainted food. This should shift some of the focus from responding to food safety violations to preventing it in the first place. If you have suffered due to food that is contaminated or has been recalled, consulting with a Jacksonville food recall attorney can help you understand what legal options are available to you.

Sources: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/foodborne-outbreak-potentially-associated-with-papaya-distributed-by-agromod-produce-inc-126114438.html, http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm265166.htm, http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm264854.htm and http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety/fsma/default.htm

The report is stomach turning. Chicken manure piled high, rodents and wild birds carrying salmonella living near chickens that lay eggs for consumers. Chickens crowded in small cages with infections and broken bones. The Consumer Affairs article contains details too sickening to describe.

That is part of the Food and Drug Administration’s report on the half-billion egg recall, the largest in U.S. history, and the sickening of approximately 1,500 people in 10 states. It is the largest epidemic of Salmonella Enteritidis in the U.S. The report states that chicken mill workers were not wearing protective clothing. FDA inspections were nowhere to be found. Welcome to modern day agriculture or agribusiness as it’s known.

New government rules went into place in July. If they had been implemented just a little bit sooner, the outbreak could have been prevented. Reportedly, the egg producers in Iowa had not even been following the federal environmental workplace rules that are on the books as no one was watching.

As a result of this massive food product recall, the FDA is planning to inspect all large egg farms in the U.S. before the end of 2011. This will be the first FDA effort to inspect large egg farms in decades.

The Food Safety Modernization Act is facing a tough challenge in the Senate, which is heavily influenced by the agriculture lobby. The bill has already been approved in the House. It would give the FDA the power to order mandatory recalls of contaminated food and to lift the registration of a food manufacturer. As it stands now, the FDA must work cooperatively with the offender, waiting for it to agree to a recall.

Industrialized agriculture churns out more than its share of defective food products to keep food cheap. But at the end of the day, E. coli and salmonella have a cost and so does the use of synthetic hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides. That’s why many consumers and restaurants are now switching to cage-free eggs. In the end, consumers get to vote with their wallet which type of farm they want their food to come from.

An outbreak of Salmonella-infected eggs traced to two Iowa farms has sickened more than 2,000 individuals around the country, including as far east as Georgia.

The Salmonella strain in question is Enteritidis (SE). As many as 2,000 people may have been sickened in 17 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So far, no cases have been reported in Florida.

Salmonella causes severe cramps, fever, diarrhea, and in some cases in people with a weak immune system, can cause a life-threatening bloodstream infection.

The FDA continues to have on-site investigators at Hilldale Farms of Iowa, Inc. and Wright County Egg in Iowa after a laboratory confirmed the strain of Salmonella Enteritidis, which is associated with the shell eggs.

So far, the number of recalled eggs has reached 550 million after being sold to various distribution centers and retailers.

Eggs are distributed in 6-egg cartons, dozen-egg cartons, 18-egg cartons, 30-egg packages, and 5-dozen cases with the plant code of:

-P1860 – Julian dates ranging from 099 to 230

-P1663 – Julian dates ranging from 137 to 230

The eggs in question were sold under the Hilldale Farms, Sunny Farms, and Sunny Meadow names through the following stores:

Farm Fresh, James Farms, Glenview, Mountain Dairy, Ralphs, Boomsma, Lund, Kemps and Pacific Coast, Lucerne, Ralphs, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, and Dutch Farms.

Cases began coming forward in May, but were not linked to a national outbreak until July.

Salmonella
Hens can pass on the bacterial infection by eating feed that is contaminated with rodent feces, which contains the bacterium. They then can lay eggs that are infected, or eggs can become contaminated during shipping or packaging. The FDA is checking the feed supply to the two farms.

The outbreak occurred just as new federal regulations designed to prevent salmonella contamination of eggs took effect on July 9, reports the Washington Post.

The rules, under development since 2004, require egg farms of a certain size to test for “environmental contamination,” to control rodents, to have clean poultry houses and transport eggs at cool temperatures. The farms in question say they had already voluntarily been following the measures which will now become mandatory.

Cooking an egg thoroughly kills the bacterium and it is not advised to eat dirty eggs, ones that are cracked in the box, or eggs that have been left unrefrigerated for more than two hours, reports the FDA. Florida food recall attorneys would like to remind you to be safe and check your eggs to ensure that you have not gotten a contaminated batch.

The United States Department of Agriculture issued a June 2 statement regarding S.P. Provisions, a Portland, OR company and their product recall of nearly 40,000 pounds of ground beef products. The products were recalled due to concerns of potential E. coli contamination.

The recall includes five- and ten-pound bags of ground beef as well as “chili grind” products. The USDA says the recall was prompted by microbiological sampling by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, and not by reports from consumers which, according to the article, were not received by the USDA.

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If you look at the states listed on the FDA’s website as the ones from which you can safely buy tomatoes  free from salmonella contamination,  Florida remains the only state broken up by counties.

That’s because the suspected site of the nationwide contamination - that has so far sickened 552 people in 32 states- is centered in central or south Florida.

Florida was in the middle of harvesting tomatoes when the salmonella outbreak was first identified in Mid-April.

This weekend, FDA inspectors are heading to Florida farms looking for the source of the rare Saintpaul strain of salmonella in tainted tomatoes. A packing house is where many tomatoes from various farms come in and the contamination could be spread.

Florida tomato growers are feeling the pinch. In Mulberry, Florida, East Coast Brokers & Packers have hundreds of boxes of tomatoes just being help in a warehouse. The industry will cost the state hundreds of millions in revenue.

Salmonella sickness includes nausea, vomiting and cramps and diarrhea. The elderly and very young, anyone immune compromised can become serious ill or salmonella can even become fatal if it gets into the blood stream.

Check FDA’s Web site for an update on how our state is faring.