Outlines of the plea agreements between the government and brothers Jalel and Yahya Nasser Aossey were coming into focus ahead of today’s federal court hearings in Cedar Rapids, IA. Court documents suggest that Jalel Aossey and the corporate entities are each being allowed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy. Yahya Nasser Aossey… Continue Reading
When the government needs help with a foodborne issue, they turn to a certain committee for scientific advice. In its last term, the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) worked on how to reduce Norovirus infections and to help the Department of Defense ensure that the food procured for U.S. military personnel… Continue Reading
September is National Food Safety Education Month and this year, the Partnership for Food Safety Education, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Food and Drug Administration are trying to debunk some common myths about keeping food safe in the refrigerator. Use a Thermometer Feeling the cold air when you open… Continue Reading
Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, that they had made a determination of “nonregulated status” for the Innate potato, which is genetically engineered to resist late blight and black spot bruising. This Russet Burbank variety was developed by the J.R. Simplot Company, a… Continue Reading
A report released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that consumers respond to foodborne illness outbreaks differently depending on the severity. The case study, produced by Fred Kuchler, Ph.D., an economist with USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS), compared warnings about cantaloupes issued in 2011 and again in 2012. The first recall was due… Continue Reading
It’s back-to-school time, and, for many students, that means that many parents will be packing lunches for their kids again. Leaving food at room temperature can cause bacteria to grow to dangerous levels that can cause illness. Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F, doubling… Continue Reading
The British have long referred to Norovirus as “the vomiting disease,” but now a “vomiting machine” has been invented at North Carolina State University and put to serious use in the study of how the illness spreads. This week, the open source journal PLOS ONE published the NC State research under the title, “Aerosolization of a… Continue Reading
Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) are still waiting for answers to animal antibiotics questions posed eight months ago. The senators originally wrote to the co-chairs of the Interagency Task Force for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in December 2014 wanting to know about how the task force plans to address issues in enforcement,… Continue Reading
Researchers at the University of Arizona are exploring natural methods for improving the safety of organic leafy greens with common ingredients such as oregano, cinnamon and vinegar. The team led by Sadhana Ravishankar, associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Science and Microbiology, has found that by washing the vegetables with water containing plant extracts… Continue Reading
Twenty years ago, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta established the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) to track incidence of foodborne illness. For the September 2015 issues of Emerging Infectious Diseases, members of the FoodNet workgroup wrote about the history and achievements of the program. In the late 1980s… Continue Reading