![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
In 1999, an estimated 5,000 deaths, 325,000 hospitalizations and 76 million illnesses were caused by foodborne illnesses within the US. [1] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began tracking outbreaks starting in the 1970s. [2] By 2012, the figures were roughly 130,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. [3]
Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a serotype of the bacterial species Escherichia coli and is one of the Shiga-like toxin–producing types of E. coli. It is a cause of disease, typically foodborne illness, through consumption of contaminated and raw food, including raw milk and undercooked ground beef. Infection with this type of pathogenic bacteria may lead to hemorrhagic diarrhea, and to kidney failure; these have been reported to cause the deaths of children younger than five years of age, of elderly patients, and of patients whose immune systems are otherwise compromised.
Foodborne illness is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites, as well as prions, and toxins such as aflatoxins in peanuts, poisonous mushrooms, and various species of beans that have not been boiled for at least 10 minutes.
Listeriosis is a bacterial infection most commonly caused by Listeria monocytogenes, although L. ivanovii and L. grayi have been reported in certain cases. Listeriosis can cause severe illness, including severe sepsis, meningitis, or encephalitis, sometimes resulting in lifelong harm and even death. Those at risk of severe illness are the elderly, fetuses, newborns, and those who are immunocompromised. In pregnant women, it may cause stillbirth or spontaneous abortion, and preterm birth is common. Listeriosis may cause mild, self-limiting gastroenteritis and fever in anyone.
Romaine or cos lettuce is a variety of lettuce that grows in a tall head of sturdy dark green leaves with firm ribs down their centers. Unlike most lettuces, it is tolerant of heat. In North America, romaine is often sold as whole heads or as "hearts" that have had the outer leaves removed and are often packaged together.
The 2006 North American E. coli outbreak was an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak from prepackaged spinach. The outbreak occurred in September 2006, and its origin was an Angus cattle ranch that had leased land to a spinach grower. At least 276 consumer illnesses and 3 deaths have been attributed as a result from the outbreak.
Intralytix, Inc. is a privately owned biotech venture incorporated in the State of Maryland on July 28, 1998. Intralytix specializes in bacteriophage based products used to control bacterial pathogens in environmental, agricultural, food processing, and medical settings.
Escherichia coli O121 is a pathogenic serotype of Escherichia coli, associated with Shiga toxin, intestinal bleeding, and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). HUS, if left untreated, can lead to kidney failure.
The 2008 United States salmonellosis outbreak was an outbreak of salmonellosis across multiple U.S. states due to Salmonella enterica serovar Saintpaul. Over the course of the outbreak, 1442 cases were identified across 43 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigation determined that jalapeño peppers imported from Mexico as well as Serrano peppers were major sources of the outbreak. Tomatoes may have been a source as well. The outbreak lasted from April to August 2008.
Adulteration is a legal offense and when the food fails to meet the legal standards set by the government, it is said to have been Adulterated Food. One form of adulteration is the addition of another substance to a food item in order to increase the quantity of the food item in raw form or prepared form, which results in the loss of the actual quality of the food item. These substances may be either available food items or non-food items. Among meat and meat products some of the items used to adulterate are water or ice, carcasses, or carcasses of animals other than the animal meant to be consumed. In the case of seafood, adulteration may refer to species substitution (mislabeling), which replaces the species identified on the product label with another species, or undisclosed processing methods, in which treatments such as additives, excessive glazing, or short-weighting are not disclosed to the consumer.
Raw meat generally refers to any type of uncooked muscle tissue of an animal used for food. In the meat production industry, the term ‘meat’ refers specifically to mammalian flesh, while the words ‘poultry’ and ‘seafood’ are used to differentiate between the tissue of birds and aquatic creatures.
The 1996 Odwalla E. coli outbreak began on October 7, 1996, when American food company Odwalla produced a batch of unpasteurized apple juice using blemished fruit contaminated with the E. coli bacterium, which ultimately killed a 16-month-old girl and sickened 70 people in California, Colorado, Washington state, and British Columbia, of whom 25 were hospitalized and 14 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome. Odwalla made and marketed unpasteurized fruit juices for the health segment of the juice market.
In 2006, there were several outbreaks of foodborne illness from spinach and lettuce contaminated by E. coli O157:H7.
The 1992–1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak occurred when the Escherichia coli O157:H7 bacterium killed four children and infected 732 people across four US states. The outbreak involved 73 Jack in the Box restaurants in California, Idaho, Washington, and Nevada, and has been described as "far and away the most infamous food poison outbreak in contemporary history." The majority of the affected were under 10 years old. Four children died and 178 others were left with permanent injury including kidney and brain damage.
The 2012 outbreak of Salmonella took place in 15 places worldwide with over 2,300 strains identified.
Driven by fresh-market use, the consumption of spinach has been on the rise in the United States. Per capita use of fresh-market spinach averaged 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) during 2004–2006, the highest since the mid-1940s. The fresh market now accounts for about three-fourths of all US spinach consumed. Much of the growth over the past decade has been due to sales of triple-washed, cello-packed spinach and, more recently, baby spinach. These packaged products have been one of the fastest-growing segments of the packaged salad industry.
Salmonellosis annually causes, per CDC estimation, about 1.2 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations, and 450 deaths in the United States every year.
Food safety in the United States relates to the processing, packaging, and storage of food in a way that prevents food-borne illness within the United States. The beginning of regulation on food safety in the United States started in the early 1900s, when several outbreaks sparked the need for litigation managing food in the food industry. Over the next few decades, the United States created several government agencies in an effort to better understand contaminants in food and to regulate these impurities. Many laws regarding food safety in the United States have been created and amended since the beginning of the 1900s. Food makers and their products are inspected and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture.
The 2024 McDonald's E. coli outbreak was an outbreak from September to October 2024 involving contaminated slivered onions on Quarter Pounders sold at McDonald's stores in 14 U.S. states. At least 104 people contracted Escherichia coli, and one person died.
Dr. Robert Solomon, who treated the second victim, said he and a pathologist attributed her death to "botulism" and that "everything points to type the ...
The death of a Westchester County man Wednesday night, apparently from botulism, and the serious illness of his wife has precipitated a nationwide search for 6,444 cans of vichyssoise marketed under the Bon Vivant label.
The manufacturer, Schwan's Sales Enterprises in Marshall, Minn., recalled its ice cream last week after the first reports of food poisoning. Investigators have found salmonella bacteria in samples of Schwan's ice cream eaten by people who became ill. ...
The Department of Public Health (DPH) has issued a warning to consumers not to drink any milk products from Whittier Farms in Shrewsbury because of listeria bacteria contamination, which has contributed to the death of two people
Topps Meat Co. of Elizabeth, which is involved in the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history, said today it is going out of business after more than six decades
Product samples from Peanut Corp. of America in Lynchburg, Va., were tested positive in Minnesota and Connecticut for the bacteria that have sickened at least 474 people in 43 states and may have contributed to six deaths, said officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At least 13 people in eight states have died after eating cantaloupe contaminated with listeria, in the deadliest outbreak of food-borne illness in the United States in more than a decade, public health officials said on Tuesday.
The company, which is one of the country's largest produce marketers, says the restrictions could damage its reputation, and it has sued the Food and Drug Administration to lift them.
Federal officials said on Tuesday that they were investigating an apparent link between ground turkey meat and a nationwide outbreak of salmonella illness that has so far killed one person in California and sickened at least 76 more people in 26 states.