Texas A&M Agrilife Research and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station were awarded a grant from the USDA to study and develop super-repellent and anti-fouling surfaces for foods. These types of surfaces could be used to help ensure the safety of fresh food products. Dr. Luis Cisneros-Zevallos, AgriLife Research food science and co-principal investigator for … Read more
The Salmonella Carrau outbreak that is linked to precut melon products sold at Target, Walmart, Kroger, and other stores has prompted questions about prepared produce. And unfortunately, the history of prepared produce outbreaks is long. Any food can be contaminated with pathogens. The fruits and vegetables can pick up bacteria in the fields, during harvest, … Read more
The FDA has released a report on avocado and hot pepper sampling, as part of their “new, proactive sampling program,” that was adopted in 2014. The program attempts to help public health investigators identify patterns in certain foods that may help reduce microbial contamination. They found Listeria monocytogenes on 17.73% of the avocado skin samples. … Read more
Consumers are understandably nervous about the new romaine lettuce growing season in the Yuma, Arizona region after the large E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that was linked to that product earlier this year. In that outbreak, 210 people were sickened, and 96 people were hospitalized. Five people died. So how should you, and can you, wash … Read more
There are two outbreaks right now in the U.S. that are linked to fresh produce. A cyclospora outbreak linked to Del Monte Vegetable Trays has sickened 212 people in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan. And a Salmonella Adelaide outbreak linked to recalled fresh precut melons has sickened. So the CDC is offering advice on fruit … Read more
Food safety groups and consumer groups are calling on the FDA to establish requirements for rapid traceability of produce within the next six months. Nine organizations sent a letter to the FDA on May 24, 2018, after government officials have not solved the deadly multistate E. coli O157:H7 HUS outbreak linked to romaine lettuce. The … Read more
The multistate E. coli O157:H7 HUS outbreak that is linked to romaine lettuce from the Yuma, Arizona growing region has sickened at least 121 people in 25 states. This is a serious outbreak. More than 50 people have been hospitalized. Fourteen of those people have been diagnosed with HUS, a complication of this infection that … Read more
A Salmonella Newport outbreak in Washington and Oregon has been linked to precut fruit sold at QFC, Fred Meyer, Rosauers, and Central Market stores. How is this possible? How can fruit, which doesn’t naturally carry pathogenic bacteria like meats and poultry do, be contaminated? Most people don’t know that eating produce is the most common … Read more
Many food poisoning outbreaks in the past few years have been caused by contaminated produce. They range from the deadly Listeria monocytogenes outbreak linked to Jensen Farms cantaloupe to the Salmonella outbreak in Minnesota linked to tomatoes served at Chipotle restaurants. In fact, a study conducted by Center for Science in the Public Interest in … Read more
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that $21.8 million in federal money will go to 42 states for use in implementing FDA’s new regulation, “Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption” (commonly called the Produce Safety Rule). The FDA Produce Safety Rule was finalized in 2015 … Read more