February 2010

MeatPoultry.com, February 2, 2010 by Steve Bjerklie

One of the meat industry’s most respected yet sharpest and, arguably, its most litigious, critics says he is “hopeful” about the nomination of Dr. Elisabeth Hagen to the crucial post of undersecretary of agriculture for food safety.

“I am very hopeful she will do the kind of

Daniele International Inc., an establishment with operations in Pascoag and Mapleville, R.I., is now recalling approximately 1,263,754 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) varieties of Italian sausage products, including salami/salame, in commerce and potentially available to customers in retail locations because they may be contaminated with Salmonella, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service

West Missouri Beef, LLC, a Rockville, Mo., establishment, is recalling approximately 14,000 pounds of fresh boneless beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced.

The following products are subject to recall:

* One combo bin containing approximately 2,000 pounds of fresh

The Rhode Island Department of Health announced this afternoon that recent test results strongly suggest black pepper is the source of the Salmonella outbreak associated with Daniele Inc. Daniele purchased black pepper from two different distributors (Mincing Oversees Spice Company and Wholesome Spices) who buy imported black pepper. Samples of pepper from both distributors have

The China Daily reported a few days ago that the government has launched a “10 day crackdown on latest milk scare.” And, for good reason – apparently, they need “to track and destroy melamine-tainted milk products nationwide as a 2008 contamination scandal continued to haunt the country.”

According to the paper:

… “[t]he National Food

According to a press release this morning, Consumer Reports’ latest tests of packaged leafy greens found bacteria that are common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination, in some cases, at rather high levels.

The tests, which were conducted with financial support from the Pew Health Group, assessed for several types of bacteria, including total

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution and AP, over 100 victims of last year’s nationwide salmonella outbreak will split $12 million as part of a bankruptcy settlement with the insurer of the company linked to the illnesses.

The attorney for the bankruptcy trustee, Atlanta attorney Alan Maxwell said Monday the money comes from an insurance

Kelsey Wittenberger and Erik Dohlman of USDA’s Economic Research Service just published an interesting report on the 2008-2009 Salmonella Peanut Butter Outbreak – Outlook Report No. (OCS-10a-01) 18 pp, February 2010.  I was a bit surprised at their conclusion:

The 2009 foodborne illness outbreak linked to Salmonella in peanut products resulted in one of the