The Peanut Salmonella Recall

More than 200 peanut products have now been recalled because of Salmonella bacteria potential, U.S. health officials say.

The recalled products all contain peanut butter made at Sunland Inc., a manufacturing company in New Mexico because Salmonnella has been found in samples taken from the company's production plant.

Sunland recalled about 100 of its products in late September because they may have been contaminated with Salmonella. Today, the recall is now up to 240 products.

The recall includes all products made at Sunland's product plant since March 1, 2010, the FDA said. Of the newly recalled products, about 50 have "Best-If-Used-By" dates that have not expired, and 90 have "Best-If-Used-By" dates that have expired, but may still be in consumer's homes.

A total of 35 people from 19 states have been sickened from the outbreak, most of whom are children. They were infected with a strain of bacteria called Salmonella Bredeney.

A full list of the recalled products can be found on the FDA's site.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends consumers do not eat the recalled products, and dispose of them or return them to the store.

Salmonella in dog food sickens 14 people

Fourteen people in at least nine states have becomes ill by salmonella after handling contaminated dog food from a South Carolina plant that just a few years ago produced food tainted by toxic mold that killed dozens of dogs.

At least five people were hospitalized because of the dog food, which was made (yet again) by Diamond Pet Foods at its plant in Gaston, S.C., the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. No pets were sickened.

"People who became ill, the thing that was common among them was that they had fed their pets Diamond Pet Foods," said CDC spokeswoman.

Three people each were infected in Missouri and North Carolina; two people in Ohio; and one person each in Alabama, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the CDC said.

"Our folks are really wanting people to be aware of it. They want to be aware that this is causing people to get sick because they may have product in their homes. For every one that is reported, there may be 29 others," the spokesperson said.

People can get salmonella by handling infected dog food, then not washing their hands before eating or handling their own food, health officials said.

The South Carolina plant temporarily was shut down April 8. 

Diamond Pet Foods has issued four rounds of recalls for food made at the plant, located outside of Columbia, S.C., between Dec. 9 and April 7. 

"We took corrective actions at the plant, and today the plant is up and running. Our mission is to produce safe pet foods for our customers and their pets in all Diamond facilities," the company said in a written statement.

In 2005, a toxic mold called aflatoxin ended up in food made at the same Diamond Pet Foods plant in South Carolina and dozens of dogs died. The company offered a $3.1 million settlement. The Food and Drug Administration determined the deadly fungus likely got into the plant when it failed to test 12 shipments of corn.

Agriculture officials in Michigan found the strain of salmonella during routine testing of dog food on April 2 and health investigators noticed there was a possible link to the food made by Diamond Pet Foods. 

The recall covers pet food brands made at the Gaston plant, including Canidae, Natural Balance, Apex, Kirkland, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul, Country Value, Diamond, Diamond Naturals, Premium Edge, Professional, 4Health and Taste of the Wild.

KFC: $8m payout to girl paralysed by poison chicken

(Monika Samaan and her father Amanwial leave the Supreme Court in Sydney in the photo above)

KFC has been ordered to pay $8 million to the parents of a girl who charge she was paralysed and brain damaged after eating a chicken Twister.

(Monika before and after the incident)

Monika Samaan, was age 7 when she became seriously ill with salmonella poisoning after eating at the Villawood KFC in 2005. 

Last week her family won an order against KFC, ordering KFC to pay $8 million plus legal costs.

KFC denied it was responsible for the poisoning and says it will appeal the decision.

In a statement the restaurant said the case was clearly tragic but they were "deeply disappointed and surprised" by the Judge's decision.

"We believe the evidence showed KFC did not cause this tragedy and, after reviewing the judgment and seeking further advice from our lawyers, we have decided to appeal Justice Rothman's decision."

Samaan was in a coma for six months and was left with spastic quadriplegia with severe brain damage after becoming ill.

During the trial her father told the court that he and his wife and son also required hospitalization after sharing her Twister.

The court had v heard that on the evening she ate the Twister, Monika said she couldn't finish, so she shared it with her elder brother and parents. 

Her grandmother who was also in the house chose not to have any. The next morning the four who had eaten the Twister felt ill with vomiting and diarrhea.

The next day Monika collapsed and all four were rushed to Westmead and Fairfield hospitals.

Experts at Westmead Hospital found Monika, her parents and older brother had a common strain of salmonella in their stools, although Monika's case was very rare.

Feds knew about the salmonella last year

Federal officials said they knew about this dangerous form of samonella at a Cargill turkey plant last year.

Even knowing this, the feds did nothing until an outbreak killed one person and sickened 77 other people.

Cargill and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the recall of ground turkey from the Cargill plant in Springdale, Ark., on Aug. 3.

The USDA said the third-largest meat recall in history affected 36 million pounds of ground turkey, and it took them all this time to do it.

The reasoning for the delay?

"We have constraints when it comes to salmonella," said Elisabeth Hagen, the USDA's top food-safety official. She said that unlike E. coli, salmonella isn't officially considered a dangerous adulterant in meat unless that meat is directly tied to an illness or death. (well congratulations, it has.

A routine USDA inspection last year of the Cargill plant in Arkansas turned up three samples contaminated with salmonella Heidelberg, the agency said. A USDA spokesman said the agency brought the findings "to the attention of the facility."

Meat plants are expected to pass a performance standard that allows up to 49.9 percent of tests to come back positive for salmonella. 

Researchers from Narms found salmonella Heidelberg in a package of ground turkey that came from the Cargill Arkansas plant.

In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began investigating clusters of salmonella Heidelberg illnesses that had begun in March. Antibiotic-resistant forms of salmonella such as Heidelberg have become a serious health problem because they cannot be treated with some common antibiotics. If untreated, infections can be fatal.

EGGS - We're from the government and we're here to help

The old joke goes something like this: "We're from the government and we're here to help."

The problem is, nobody's laughing.

Two federal agencies are downplaying not noticing anything with regards to the massive egg recall that so far has hit 22 states and pulled back the curtain on government officials.

So far there has been 1,300 cases of salmonella poisoning and 500 million eggs have been recalled from two Iowa egg distributors.

One supplier linked to the cases has a history of violations dating back to 1994 -- but the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture says it never had an inspector dedicated to food safety at the farms.

According to an FDA, the FDA has traditionally been responsible for monitoring egg safety after the eggs are processed and the USDA is responsible for egg safety at the processing facilities.

Translated, this means they have done nothing to assure safety.

A USDA official, said that USDA agencies have had no involvement in food safety regulations over shell eggs. There job was to inspect them for thickness and cracks and other quality assurance factors in order to give them a USDA seal of approval. That approval however, does not certify that an egg is salmonella-free.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said  that the new rules that went into effect last month giving the FDA authority to test eggs for salmonella "very likely" would have enabled the FDA to find  the problem before the outbreak.

She said the FDA will conduct "hundreds" of inspections in the months ahead under its new authority.

President Clinton promised during a 1999 speech that there would be "extensive tests" at egg farms and said there would be an elimination of egg-based salmonella cases by 2010.

That never happen.

There are those who believe the FDA probably had some authority to inspect egg farms but just didn't do it.

The truth is, food safety has not been a major concern here.

We have this company repeatedly violating laws and no one was doing much about it.

We told you the egg counting will continue.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday more egg recalls most likely will be necessary in the face of salmonella outbreaks. The new recalls, if they are issued, would be the largest egg recall in recent history, more than half a billion eggs.

Egg Supplier has a history of violations

So far we have two Iowa farms that have recalled more than half a billion eggs.
Both farms have a relationship with the same suppliers of chickens and feed.

Both of these farms have businessman Austin "Jack" DeCoster in common, and he has been cited for numerous health, safety and employment violations over the years. DeCoster owns Wright County Egg, the first farm that recalled 380 million eggs.
That's when there were more than 1,000 reported cases of salmonella poisoning.

Another of Jacks companies, Quality Egg, supplies young chickens and feed to both Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, that's the second farm that recalled another 170 million eggs the following week.
People keep asking, "what happened?"
The cause of the outbreaks is still unknown, and the Food and Drug Administration investigators are still  at the farms trying to figure it out.

Here's a look at DeCoster and his food and farm operations:

— In 1997, DeCoster Egg Farms agreed to pay $2 million in fines to settle citations brought in 1996 for health and safety violations at DeCoster's farm in Turner, Maine. The conditions were "as dangerous and oppressive as any sweatshop." With unguarded machinery, electrical hazards, exposure to harmful bacteria and other unsanitary conditions.

— In 2000, Iowa designated DeCoster a "habitual violator" of environmental regulations for problems that included hog manure runoff into waterways. As a habitual violator he was subject to increased penalties and prohibited him from building new farms.

We're not saying DeCoster's company is responsible for the current salmonella outbreak, but having said that,  DeCoster's Wright County Egg is already facing at least two lawsuits related to the egg recall. One is from food distributor Dutch Farms, which says the company used unauthorized cartons to package and sell eggs under its brand without its knowledge.

The other is from a person who said they became ill after eating tainted eggs in a salad at a restaurant in Kenosha, Wis.

So yes, he's innocent until proven guilty, but, The CDC said investigations by 10 states since April have identified 26 cases where more than one person became ill. Preliminary information showed that DeCoster  was the supplier in at least 15 of those.

288 Million Eggs Recalled

We posted a USA Today story this morning on Facebook, now here's the video.

Salmonella in alfalfa sprouts sickens 23 people in 10 states

There is an outbreak of salmonella in 10 states because of raw alfalfa sprouts distributed by a Los Angeles-based company.

The Caldwell Fresh Foods of Maywood, Los Angeles was responsible for distributing the tainted vegetable which has sickened at least 23 people in 10 states, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said.

The company has issued a voluntary recall of all alfalfa sprouts manufactured under the Caldwell Fresh Foods, Nature's Choice, and California Exotics brands, the department said.

After learning of the recall, the health department contacted food markets throughout the county to make sure that the sprouts had been removed from shelves and destroyed

The sprouts are sold at Wal-Mart, Trader Joe's stores, among other outlets, in 19 states.

So far, at least 23 people in 10 states have been sickened, 11 of them in California, including three in San Diego. No cases have been reported in the Los Angeles County.

Though some of those sickened have been hospitalized, no one has died.

Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps between 12 and 72 hours after infection. The illnessusually lasts four to seven days.

This is the 32th time since 1995 that alfalfa sprouts have caused an outbreak of food poisoning, prompting health officials to issue warnings.