A Belgrade Fall Festival outbreak in Bozeman, Montana has allegedly sickened at least 200 people, according to the Gallatin City-County Health Department and news reports. The Festival was held at the Belgrade Senior Center. According to the Gallatin City-County Health Department Facebook page, beef brisket served at the festival on September 16, 2023 is suspected as the source of these illnesses. All but one of those sickened ate the brisket. Officials do not know what pathogen caused this illness. Event coordinators are cooperating with the health department in its investigation of this outbreak. According to NBC Montana, the beef brisket is a tradition at that festival. The Belgrade Chamber of Commerce smokes the beef overnight before the day of the festival and serves the meat … [Read more...]
Weinstein Meats Recalls Raw Burgers For Foreign Material
Weinstein Meats is recalling raw ground beef burgers because they may be contaminated with foreign material in the form of white neoprene pieces. This poses a choking and mouth injury hazard. No adverse reactions have been reported to the company to date in connection with the consumption of this product. The recalling firm is Weinstein Wholesale Meats Inc. of Forest Park, Illinois. The raw ground beef burger patties were produced on March 14, 2023. The recalled product is 10.7 ounce vacuum-sealed packages that contain two pieces of "100% Grass Fed & Finished Beef Burger Patties 85% Lean/15% Fat." The use by/freeze by date printed on the label is 4/11/23. The burgers have the establishment number "Est. 6987" stamped inside the USDA mark of inspection. They were shipped to an … [Read more...]
Safer Food Choices For Those at Risk For Food Poisoning
Every month there is at least one food recall about a potentially dangerous food in the United States. These recalls are for foods that may be contaminated with E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, cyclospora, and Campylobacter. Unfortunately, some foods are inherently risky because of the way they are grown or prepared. While the general public certainly is at risk for illness from these foods, there are some people who can become seriously ill if they are infected. There are safer food choices for anyone who is at high risk for food poisoning complications. People at higher risk for serious complications from food poisoning include the very young, the elderly, pregnant women, people with chronic health problems such as diabetes, and anyone with a compromised immune system. … [Read more...]
Morasch Meats Diced Beef Recalled For Possible E. coli O157:H7
Morasch Meats Diced Beef is being recalled for possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination. There are no confirmed reports of illnesses related to the consumption of this product. The recalling firm is Morasch Meats of Portland, Oregon. The recalled product is raw frozen diced beef. It was produced on August 24, 2022. The item is 30 pound box packages that contain Beef Diced 3/10# bags. The case code on the product is FM010152, the lot code that is stamped on the label is 082422, and the date 8/24/2022 is printed on the case label. Each case has three 10 pound vacuum-sealed, clear plastic bags of the diced beef. The product has the establishment number "EST. 4102" stamped inside the USDA mark of inspection. The beef was shipped to distributors in Oregon for further distribution to … [Read more...]
Three Sick in E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak in King County, Washington
Three people are sick in an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in King County, Washington, according to information from the King County Health Department. No one has been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported. And no source for the pathogen has been identified. Three people from three separate households have been sickened with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria (STEC). The illness onset dates range from October 4 through October 16, 2022. The patient age range is from 18 to 36 years. Confirmed cases are linked through whole genome sequencing, which means they likely have a common source of infection. Two out of those three patients reported eating dishes that were prepared with raw or undercooked beef before they got sick. But officials cannot rule out other possible sources … [Read more...]
New Salmonella Muenchen Beef Outbreak on USDA Investigation Table
A new Salmonella Muenchen beef outbreak has been posted on the USDA Outbreak Investigation Table, with no more information provided. This table provides even less information than the FDA CORE Outbreak Table, which at least tells us the number of people sick, and whether traceback or other work has started. So we do not know how many people are sick, what states they live in, whether traceback has begun, if any onsite inspections have started, and if any food has been collected and tested for pathogens. All of those things must start before an outbreak can be officially announced. There is only one other active outbreak on that table, an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that may also be linked to beef. No more information has been provided about that outbreak either. So far this year, … [Read more...]
USDA Adds Possible Beef E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak to Table
The USDA adds a possible beef E. coli O157:H7 outbreak to its Outbreak Investigation Table. The Salmonella outbreak linked to chicken is still on the table. No more information is available about either of these outbreaks. The last outbreak of USDA-regulated foods that was identified and solved was the 2021 Salmonella Hadar outbreak linked to ground turkey that sickened at least 33 people in 14 states and hospitalized four. This outbreak is most likely not linked to ground beef, since the USDA stipulates whether or not the product is ground in its table. Outbreaks associated with whole cuts are not common. The last outbreak linked to whole beef cuts was in 2009, when 21 people in 16 states were sickened with E. coli O157:H7 infections. Beef products from National Steak and … [Read more...]
FDA’s Food Safety and Nutrition Survey Report Released
The FDA's Food Safety and Nutrition Survey, the agency's probability consumer survey designed to assess consumer awareness, knowledge, understanding, and self-reported behaviors regarding food safety, has been released for 2019. The survey was launched to help the FDA make informed regulatory, education, and policy decisions to protect public health. The survey was a mail-push to web methodology. The population includes adults who live in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. A total of 4,398 responses were collected during ht months of October and November 2019. Before this methodology change, FDA consumer surveys were conducted using phone interviews. The key findings on food safety include consumer knowledge about where they think they may contract food poisoning, … [Read more...]
September is Food Safety Education Month to Stay Healthy
September is Food Safety Education Month to keep you and your family healthy. This year the focus is on how to prevent food poisoning when cooking at home. First, following the four step recipe for food safety is crucial: Clean (wash your hands often, clean counters with hot soapy water, don't wash chicken or meat); Separate (keep raw meat, chicken, turkey, seafood, and eggs away from produce); Cook (cook foods to safe final internal temperatures and use a food thermometer); and Chill (refrigerate leftovers promptly). Then, you should focus on preventing Salmonella infections. Salmonella causes more foodborne illnesses in the United States than any other bacteria. Chicken is a major source of these illnesses, although outbreaks linked to ground beef have also … [Read more...]
CFIA Cancels License of Ryding-Regency Meat Packers
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has cancelled the Safe Food for Canadians license of Ryding-Regency Meat Packers LTD that are loaded in Toronto, Ontario, effective December 2, 2019. The license of this facility was suspended on September 17, 2019. This happened because "of the opinion that a risk of injury to human health may result if the licence holder continues to conduct an activity that is identified in their licence. It was determined as part of a food safety investigation that the licence holder had failed to implement effective control measures." Many food recalls for E. coli O157:H7 in various beef and veal products were associated with this investigation. You can see the long list of recalled products, brand names, and more information about these recalls at the … [Read more...]
