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Friday, July 25, 2008

R.I.P. Randy Pausch

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Food Safety article in WSJ

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article today on Food Safety. Something I feel is well worth your reading time. I'm including a bit but please check out their webpage at this link for the complete article.

Salmonella Outbreak Exposes Food-Safety Flaws

Lack of Preparation
And Poor Records
Cause Delays, Errors
By JANE ZHANG and JANET ADAMY
July 23, 2008; Page A2

The twisting road that led federal investigators to announce Monday that they found a single contaminated jalapeƱo pepper grown in Mexico and sitting at a distribution center in McAllen, Texas -- the smoking gun in the continuing salmonella outbreak long blamed on tomatoes -- has exposed problems in the U.S. food-safety system.

After weeks of trying to get to the bottom of the outbreak, it occurred to investigators in late June that they had to look beyond fresh tomatoes. In at least two large clusters of illnesses, tomatoes weren't a factor, and cases kept piling up after the government had warned consumers to avoid eating fresh tomatoes.

Hurdles to the probe ranged from poor record-keeping for tracking fresh produce to some overwhelmed state health departments to the fact that jalapeƱos had never before been implicated in a salmonella outbreak.

"It's a mess -- that's part of the problem with the food-safety system we have today," said Michael Doyle, director of the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety. "When folks get together at the table, no one is officially in charge. Sometimes one person talks over another."

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of 12 federal agencies responsible for food safety, relies heavily on state health departments to test stool samples. But some states don't have the money or resources to handle that task quickly. Delays in reporting -- Texas, with the largest number of cases, had a backlog -- slowed the probe.

Monday, July 14, 2008

The Salmonella scare

It seems that everyday more information is NOT known about this latest outbreak. It truly is a bit scary. I am hoping that it will put a spotlight on what a vulnerable position we are in when it comes to our food supply.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Changed the Layout Today

Hope things will show up better. Also hope to have more contributors for this one.

Are we ever going to admit

that somewhere along the line we have not kept track of our food supply the way we should. This comes from the New York Times article about the Salmonella outbreak reaching 1,000+. You can read the article at the NYT website by clicking this link.

All four items cited today are common ingredients in some of the building blocks of Mexican cuisine, and the C.D.C. told consumers to stay away from fresh salsa, guacamole and pico de gallo if they wish to reduce the risk of infection.

In the months since the outbreak was first detected in April, the agency has identified 1,017 people who were infected with the same strain, Salmonella Saintpaul. But officials warned that “it is likely that many more illnesses have occurred than those reported.”

The illness usually lasts less than a week without treatment, but 203 people were hospitalized with severe conditions. As with nearly any infection, the very young and the very old face the most risk. Indeed, the C.D.C. said that the death in Texas of a man in his 80’s was directly tied to salmonella.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Enjoy your 4th

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Beef Recall - Kroger's

Kroger grocery stores are recalling Private Selection Natural Ground Beef sold in 16 oz. packages located in the self-service meat case.

If you have Private Selection Natural Ground Beef marked with "sell by" dates of July 11 through July 21, Kroger is asking you to return the product to a store for a full refund or replacement.

This affects Kroger's Atlanta Division -- which include stores in Georgia, South Carolina, Eastern Tennessee and Alabama.

Kroger shoppers who have questions about this recall are encouraged to call 800-632-6900 or visit www.kroger.com/recalls.