Results tagged “salmonella”

A routine inspection by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets turned up 30 rodent droppings, nearly two dozen dead cockroaches, and two live ones at a Long Island plant that produces a range of chocolate-coated items, including almonds, pistachios, raisins and peanuts. But the company, Setton Foods International, was permitted to continue shipping its products through March because the live roaches were successfully killed during the inspection, Newsday reports.

With more than 575 people sick in 43 states, public fears over salmonella-tainted peanuts are affecting restaurant menu offerings in the city. The Times reports that peanut-based desserts made by Gramercy Tavern’s Nancy Olson and Dovetail’s Vera Tong have been removed at least temporarily from dessert menus, and more customers want to know the origin of peanut products served by restaurants. The salmonella crisis allegedly stems from tainted peanuts sold by Peanut Corp. of America, a Virginia-based company, to an assortment of manufacturers and food producers like Clif Bar and Little Debbie.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into...any place serving food, a new outbreak of Salmonella has brought back the fear, sickening at least 372 people in 42 states, and possibly felling an elderly woman in Minnesota who had the infection when she died. The Centers for Disease Control [CDC] says 18% of the Salmonella victims have been hospitalized since this outbreak was first noticed back in the beginning of September.

So that happened. It seems like only yesterday we were having a good laugh about how the $175 burger with the gold leaf flakes at Wall Street Burger Shoppe made the $81 hamburger at The Old Homestead look like rancid dog food. Now all we care about is when the next 69 cent sandwich sale will go down at Swich. 2009 is going to be the year when we learn to cook! (That's where Danielle Sucher weekly recipes come in.) But before we elbow our way onto the rapidly-expanding bread line that is 2009, let's look back in hunger at some of the top food stories this year.

It was the jalapeno all along. Yesterday the F.D.A. announced that after a three month investigation into a salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 1,251 people in 43 states, officials have finally been able to match the bacteria strain to a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper handled by a small Texas produce shipper. Fresh tomatoes were previously believed to be the culprit, and an F.D.A. warning against certain tomato varieties has cost growers an estimated $450 million. Oopsy!

Although the F.D.A. has been unable to pinpoint the source of a recent salmonella outbreak that infected over 1,190 people in 42 states, officials have announced that all varieties of tomatoes currently in the fields and in stores are safe to eat.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the Center for Disease Control is looking into other causes of the salmonella outbreak that has affected hundreds of Americans across the country.

Just as fast food chains Taco Bell and Wendy's are bringing the tomatoes back to their menus, the NYC Health Department announced that there have been six more reported cases of salmonella, bringing the total of NYC area cases of the disease to seven.

As if mocking the inadequacy of federal investigators, a ruthless army of salmonella-tainted tomatoes continues to sicken Americans, and the FDA seems utterly helpless to pinpoint the source. Frustrated officials admitted yesterday that the trail had run cold, and the agency's food safety chief, Dr. David Acheson, told reporters “maybe we were being too optimistic” in earlier statements about cracking the case.

This tomato jam is adapted from a recipe for a Moroccan chicken tagine. Sweet and savory, this jam is best served with hearty entrees. It is not suitable for home canning, so please don't use this recipe to preserve your gorgeous summer tomatoes without adapting it to make sure the acidity level is high enough to keep it safe.

Everybody relax: New York grown tomatoes are perfectly safe to eat raw, at least according to the government. Yesterday the State Department of Agriculture tried to calm a jittery public with an announcement that a recent salmonella outbreak is not linked to tomatoes grown in the Empire State. At least 23 people have been hospitalized across the country, mostly in New Mexico and Texas, where the first fatality was reported yesterday.

Panic is gripping stomachs nationwide as news spreads about a salmonella food poisoning outbreak caused by certain varieties of tomatoes. The FDA has not been able to pinpoint the source of the poisoning, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports at least 23 people, mostly in New Mexico and Texas, have been hospitalized since mid-April, with no fatalities… yet. The main symptoms are diarrhea and extreme abdominal pain.

The FDA is blaming melons shipped from Honduras for a salmonella outbreak that’s affected at least 50 people in 16 states, including New York. No deaths have been reported yet, but 14 people have been hospitalized and the FDA is telling consumers to check with stores to see where recently purchased melons came from, specifically any from Honduran company Agropecuaria Montelibano.