Idaho illnesses have prompted the Idaho Central Health District into issuing warnings to consumers about unlicensed restaurants and unregulated food vendors. In the last few months, officials have received food poisoning complaints related to those facilities. Consumers are urged to use caution when purchasing foods from home vendors and to not visit unlicensed “underground” restaurants … Read more
Sick restaurant employees cause 40% of foodborne illness outbreaks, according to an article in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for the week of June 2, 2023. Hundreds of foodborne illness outbreaks associated with retail food establishments are reported every year to the CDC. The period of time … Read more
The CDC says that onions are linked to the Salmonella Oranienburg outbreak that has now sickened at least 652 people in 37 states, an increase of 60 more patients since the last update six days ago. Epidemiologic and traceback evidence has found that whole red, white, and yellow onions distributed by ProSource Inc. that were … Read more
In the latest issue of the Center for Disease Control and PRevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Notes From the Field addresses the role of food handlers restaurants in Hepatitis A transmission. Hepatitis A transmission is occurring in unprecedented numbers across the United States, given that there is an effective vaccine against the virus. As … Read more
It’s time to bring back Gross Food Neews, our look at issues and problems in the food industry that are, well, gross. The topic today is those disposable gloves food handlers use to prevent the spread of bacteria. And the startling finding that some of these new disposable gloves contain feces and bacteria. There have … Read more
The FDA has released findings from the first phase of a 10 year study that is looking at restaurant foodborne illness factors in fast food restaurants and full service restaurants. The report looked at risk factors from 2013 to 2014. The first 10-year study was conducted between 1998 and 2008. In the 2008 study, the … Read more
As part of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for the week of April 21, 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a study about food allergy practices in restaurants across the country. Food allergies affect about 15,000,000 people in this country and cause about 30,000 emergency department visits and 150 … Read more
If you had to make a list of things you wouldn’t want to see in a restaurant kitchen, it’s a good bet that some of them are included in this month’s edition of the Neews, food safety stories that put the eew in news, including one contender that may not have initially sprung to mind: sewage. … Read more
Outbreak data analyzed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says that Americans are twice as likely to get food poisoning from restaurants than from food prepared at home. The review, which covers outbreaks from 2002 through 2011, is titled “Outbreak Alert! 2014”. The worst outbreaks of that decade included a Campylobacter … Read more
Everyone has eaten at food courts in shopping malls. They’re convenient places to grab a quick bite to eat. The food might not be gourmet, but it’s usually pretty good. But have you ever wondered about the food safety at food court dining establishments? When I was younger, my mom would always have wet wipes … Read more