Category Archives: Food Safety News

Food Safety Guides for Groups Most Vulnerable to Foodborne Illness Now Available

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have partnered to create six booklets with food safety advice for populations that are most susceptible to foodborne illness. The booklets in this “at-risk series” are tailored to help older adults, transplant recipients, pregnant women, and people with cancer, diabetes or HIV/AIDS reduce their risk for foodborne illness.

FDA warns consumers not to eat cantaloupes from Burch Equipment LLC of North Carolina

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat whole cantaloupes from Burch Equipment LLC, of Faison, N.C., because of possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono). The company had shipped 580 cases of whole cantaloupes on July 15, which were then distributed to retail stores in New York and Maine. Consumers who may have cantaloupes with a red label displaying the words Burch Farms and referencing PLU #4319 should discard them as a precautionary measure. Cantaloupes from the North Carolina firm tested positive for L. mono following sampling carried out in New York, as part of sampling conducted through the USDA Microbiological Data Program. On July 28, 2012, Burch Equipment LLC issued a voluntary recall of the 580 cases of whole cantaloupes. No known illnesses have been reported that are linked to consumption of these cantaloupes.

Huxtable’s Kitchen Voluntarily Recalls Trader Joe’s brand Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Quinoa and Wheatberry Salad Because of Possible Health Risk

Huxtable’s Kitchen is initiating a voluntary recall of Trader Joe’s Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Quinoa and Wheatberry Salad because the onions used as an ingredient have the potential to be contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.
Read The Complete Story!

Burch Equipment LLC, North Carolina, is Voluntarily Recalling 580 Cases of Whole Athena Cantaloupes Due to Possible Health Risk

Burch Equipment LLC, North Carolina, is voluntarily recalling 580 cases of whole Athena cantaloupes due to the potential for being contaminated with listeria. FDA and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture are working with Burch Equipment LLC following a random sample of an Athena cantaloupe testing positive for listeria monocytogenes.
Read The Complete Story!

Whole Foods Market® in FLORIDA issues voluntary recall of prepared foods items made with raw onions due to potential health risk

Whole Foods Market in the state of Florida only has initiated a voluntary recall of certain fresh food items sold in prepared foods departments, as well as one item sold in seafood departments of their 17 Florida stores. The items are being recalled as they could have been made using raw yellow onions processed by Gills Onions, LLC, which initiated a recall on their product due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.
Read The Complete Story!

FDA: More than 150 antiretroviral drugs available through PEPFAR for worldwide HIV/AIDS relief

Today, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg announced the agency has approved or tentatively approved a total of 152 antiretroviral drugs in association with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to treat those infected with HIV/AIDS in countries that lack the tools needed to fight the AIDS epidemic.

FDA warns consumers not to eat shellfish from Oyster Bay Harbor, Nassau County, NY

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat raw or partially cooked oysters and clams (shellfish) with tags listing Oyster Bay Harbor, in Nassau County, N.Y., as the harvest area, following illnesses reported in several states caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria.