Foodborne illness costs Americans billions each year, but the cost varies dramatically by state, according to a new analysis by Robert Scharff an economist and scientist at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center at Ohio State University. Having previously published estimates of the national cost of foodborne illness, Scharff noticed the disparity and looked into further with this study. What he found could help state governments prioritize their resources. Scharff found that the average cost of a case of fooborne illness varies from state to state -$1,666 in Ohio compared with $2,443 in Maryland. But he also found that that the bacterial, viral and parasitic agents that make people sick vary by state, too. Vibrio is a bacteria frequently associated with raw seafood. … [Read more...]
Blue Bell Listeria Lawsuit Assigned to Judge Lee Yeakel
The nation's first lawsuit filed in the Blue Bell ice cream Listeria outbreak has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin, Texas. The case centers on the near-fatal illness in Houston suffered by the associate executive director of a 462-apartment continuing care retirement community who regularly ate the type of Blue Bell ice cream that state and federal authorities have linked to the outbreak. D. Philip Shockley, 32, sued Blue Bell Creameries USA Inc. on May 19. The ice cream lawsuit alleges that Shockley's devastating listeriosis infection was caused by tainted products that Blue Bell made in facilities infested with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. Judge Yeakel was appointed to the federal bench in 2003 by President George W. Bush after confirmation by … [Read more...]
Blue Bell Lawsuit Refers to Via Christi Hospital Outbreak
The nation's first Blue Bell ice cream Listeria lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Texas includes details of similarity between a retirement home director in Houston who nearly died of Listeria meningitis and a cluster of five people in Wichita who were striken by listeriosis after eating Blue Bell ice cream while at Via Christi Hospital. All six individuals ate single-serve ice cream products purchased from Blue Bell Creameries Inc. through institutional, or food service, channels. According to a copy of the lawsuit filed by Pritzker Hageman attorneys on behalf of David Philip Shockley, he repeatedly ate single-serve Blue Bell ice cream products while on the job at a 462-apartment continuing care retirement community in Houston. The 31-year-old man with a masters degree in public … [Read more...]
CDC: 71 Food Poisoning Deaths in 2014
Food poisoning killed 71 Americans last year and sent 4,445 to the hospital, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The news about trends in illnesses associated with various pathogens such as E.coli, Listeria, Salmonella and Campylobacter was a mixed bag. Compared with 2006–2008, the 2014 incidence was: 32 percent lower for Shiga toxin–producing E. coli (STEC) O157; 22 percent lower for Yersinia; 52 percent higher for Vibrio, 13 percent higher for Campylobcater and about the same for other pathogens. While there were fewer illness from Shiga toxin–producing E. coli (STEC) O157 and Salmonella Typhimurium in 2014 than there were in the 2006–2008 and the 2011-2013 reporting periods, the incidence of non-O157 STEC and Salmonella Infantis … [Read more...]
Blue Bell Plants to Get Intensive Cleaning, Retraining, Re-engineering
Blue Bell Ice Cream announced an intensive cleaning, retraining and re-engineering plan to start next week to exterminate Listeria monocytogenes -- the pathogen that led to a deadly outbreak of listeriosis in Kansas. Three people in Wichita are dead after contracting the disease last year. The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have linked the illnesses to consumption of milkshakes made from Blue Bell ice cream from Brenham, Texas. Another cluster of listeriosis in Texas has been tied to Blue Bell ice cream made in Oklahoma. The company also has a manufacturing plant in Alabama and recently announced a complete recall of all its ice cream after once again finding the pathogen in line samples of its products. “We intend to make a fresh start,'' said Blue Bell CEO and … [Read more...]
Oklahoma Inspectors Liked Blue Bell Plant Just Before Finding Listeria
Dairy Services inspectors for the state of Oklahoma liked what they saw at the Blue Bell Ice Cream plant in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, just weeks before the company shut down production there and expanded recalls related to an ice cream Listeria outbreak. "Great job," "Keep it up!" and "No violations observed!" were among the remarks written into the report from a March 18 food safety review at the plant, according to an inspection document obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. A few days earlier, federal health officials had linked Blue Bell ice cream made in Texas to an outbreak of listeriosis that killed three people in Wichita, Kansas. Then, on March 22, Kansas officials informed Blue Bell that they found Listeria monocytogenes in a Blue Bell 3-ounce … [Read more...]
No Multistate Food Poisoning Outbreaks So Far in 2015, Six Year Record
It was 2009 the last time we made it this far into the year without a multistate food poisoning outbreak being announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Of course, that doesn't mean that one hasn't happened or isn't happening right now, it just means the CDC hasn't told anyone about it. The CDC publishes a list of "selected multistate food poisoning outbreaks" each year. The rest fly under the radar. For the last five years ,there have been about 10 announced multistate food poisoning outbreaks, with the first one occurring between January and March. Not April, like 2009's first, a Salmonella outbreak associated with pistcahios. The new year was still new when last year's first outbreak was announced, a Salmonella outbreak linked to cashew cheese. That … [Read more...]
Food Safety Violations Found at Kansas Prisons
Inspections conducted at prisons in Kansas by the Kansas Department of Corrections has found consistent food safety violations in the prison system's kitchens. Almost 340 inspections conducted between January, 2013 and July 2014 at 19 facilities found repeated deficiencies and noncompliance. It is considered cruel and unusual punishment to not take adequate care of prisoners, who are under complete government control. In addition, when outbreaks occur, taxpayer money is then spent giving medical care to prisoners and investigating the problem. Lawsuits against prisons have been filed and won by the families of prisoners who have been sickened in outbreaks at prisons and jails. The violations recorded in the inspections included not keeping proper temperature logs, not having inmate … [Read more...]
New Mexico Caramel Apple Listeria Toll Could Climb
The number of people in New Mexico infected by Listeria from caramel apples could be more than five, a number that only one other state has matched in the ongoing state and federal investigation of a deadly listeriosis outbreak. The New Mexico Department of Health said work is ongoing to identify additional cases in the state. So far, more than one New Mexico baby has been diagnosed with Listeria while other case patients range in age up to 42. "These cases reside in Bernalillo, McKinley, and Lea counties and became ill in October and November,'' according to a caramel apple Listeria health alert from the department. "All were hospitalized and are recovering.'' Of 10 states confirmed by the CDC to be part of this outbreak, only Missouri was reported initially to have as many cases as … [Read more...]
Food Poisoning Can Have Lifelong Health Effects
Every American has had food poisoning at one time or another. Most people dismiss the illness as the "24 hour flu", even though no such illness exists. If you have had diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps, nausea, and fever that passes fairly quickly, you probably had food poisoning. Most people recover fully after these illnesses and don't give them a second thought. But did you know that some people never fully recover from food poisoning? The effects of these illnesses can last a lifetime. In the UK, a young women who contracted an E. coli O157:H7 infection when she was two years old just learned she needs a second kidney transplant. When she got sick as a child, she was hospitalized with kidney failure after eating a contaminated sandwich. She had a stroke and many serious … [Read more...]
