APHIS seized prohibited pork sourced from China, along with poultry and ruminant products from New York City retailers in the last three months of 2021, according to a press release from the USDA. APHIS is the Animal and Plant Protection Service branch of that agency. More than 1900 pounds of prohibited products were seized. The … Read more
A consumer advisory for bushmeat has been issued by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). This illegal product was confiscated in December 2021 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. There have been “multiple instances” of bushmeat being smuggled into Minnesota from Liberia, according to the notice. Those products were seized and destroyed. Bushmeat is raw … Read more
The USDA has issued a public health alert for siluriformes imported from Brazil because that country is ineligible to export these fish to the United States. A recall was not recommended for these catfish because the government believes that the item is no longer available for sale in stores for purchase by consumers. The frozen … Read more
Mexican papayas are still on the FDA Import Alert list for possible Salmonella contamination, after a 2017 outbreak that sickened at least 251 people across the country with nine strains of the pathogen, including Thompson, Kiambu, Anatum, Agona, Gaminara, Urbana, Newport, Infantis, and Senftenberg. That outbreak began in March 2017 and ran through October 2017. Another … Read more
The Vibrio outbreak that was linked to fresh crab meat imported from Venezuela has ended, according to the FDA. As of September 27, 2018 26 lab-confirmed cases in seven states and the District of Columbia were reported in people who ate this product. Nine people were hospitalized. Illness onset dates ranged from April 1, 2018 … Read more
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) recently wrote a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, questioning the USDA’s process approving China’s poultry processing plants. These plants are now able to export processed chicken to the United States. She expresses concern about the way the USDA has approved those plants. Her letter states that she opposed the equivalency … Read more
In late June, the first shipment of processed chicken from China arrived in the U.S. Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, issued a statement about this event. In 2014, China completed the paperwork to certify four of its poultry processing plants so they can export these items to the U.S. The raw … Read more
The USDA announced this week that they have instituted additional pathogen testing of all shipments of raw beef and ready-to-eat products from Brazil after a scandal erupted in that country. It is alleged that beef company officials paid bribes to Brazilian government inspectors to ignore adulterated meat that was put into commerce. Company officials are … Read more
A study published in the March edition of the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases reveals that more Americans are being sickened by imported food. The study’s authors state that “a small but increasing number of foodborne disease outbreaks [are] associated with imported foods, most commonly fish and produce. New outbreak investigation tools and federal regulatory authority … Read more
The hepatitis A outbreak linked to Tropical Smoothie Cafe products that were made with frozen strawberries has sickened at least 134 people, according to the FDA. Those berries were allegedly imported from Egypt, according to government officials. Now the FDA has issued an import alert banning frozen strawberries from one Egyptian facility, although a portion … Read more