It's National Pizza Week! Have pizzas been linked to any food poisoning outbreaks in the U.S.? The answer is yes. The ingredients in pizza that could be problematic include flour in the dough, cheeses, produce such as leafy greens, and any type of meat toppings. But since pizzas are usually cooked so thoroughly, how can people get sick? There are three answers to that question: handling the pizzas before they are cooked, cross-contamination, and microwave cooking. Raw dough is considered a risky food, since flour used to make it has long been associated with E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks, from the Nestle raw cookie dough outbreak in 2009, to the General Mills flour E. coli outbreak in 2016 that sickened 63, to the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to ADM Milling flour last year that … [Read more...]
Second Pizza Ranch E. coli Outbreak Lawsuit Filed
A second lawsuit stemming from the E. coli outbreak linked to Pizza Ranch restaurants was filed yesterday in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska (in Case 8:16-cv-00136). The suit was filed on behalf of a Nebraska child who was hospitalized for four weeks with complications from E.coli food poisoning. According to the lawsuit, the child's family ate at a Pizza Ranch in Lincoln, Nebraska on Dec. 31st 2015. The girl, who is in third grade, began experiencing symptoms three days later. She became severely dehydrated and was admitted to the hospital where it was confirmed that she had an E. coli infection. She then developed pancreatitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) a potentially fatal complication of E. coli infections that causes kidney failure, seizure, … [Read more...]
Pizza Ranch E. coli Outbreak Hits Minnesota Hard
Minnesota was hard hit by a multistate E.coli outbreak linked to Pizza Ranch restaurants. Five of 13 people sickened are from Minnesota where health officials say those sickened developed E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating at Pizza Ranch between December 6, 2015 and January 16, 2016. Dough used to make desserts is the suspected source of the outbreak. Pizza Ranch has discontinued using the dough. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today that the outbreak is over as the most recent illness was reported on February 9, 2016. Illnesses were reported from Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Jersey, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Minnesota is the only state where multiple cases were reported in this outbreak. Two children in … [Read more...]
Pizza Ranch Linked to Multistate E. coli Outbreak
Updated March 16, 2016. A multistate E. coli outbreak has been linked to food served at Pizza Ranch restaurants. The outbreak includes five cases in Minnesota and one in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The illnesses took place between December 2015 and February 2016. Because the last case was reported February 9, the outbreak is considered over, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Two children were hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) a complication of E. coli infections that causes kidney failure, seizure, stroke, coma and death. HUS most often affects children under 10. Dough used to make desserts is the suspected source of the outbreak. But, health officials have not yet … [Read more...]
