Bravo Cheese Recalls all of its Cheeses

               On November 23 this year, Bravo Farms had decided to recall all of its cheeses because of the many E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks from their products. They sell many different varieties of cheeses in retail stores throughout the nation, mainly on the west coast. They sold cheeses that included Gouda, Pepper Jack, Tulare Cannonball, and different styles and flavors of Cheddar cheese. “Out of concern for any further contamination we have decided to further expand the recall to include all of our cheeses,” the company said. After the recent Gouda cheese (mentioned in my previous blog) outbreak in 5 different states, they decided to test their cheese plant for any pathogens. During the investigation, listeria monocytogenes and E.Coli O157:H7 bacteria have been discovered by California Department of Food and Agriculture, the company says.

Rooftop Garden

These are the picutres I took at our class trip to the rooftop garden. It was really interesting to discover people are trying to be green any possible way they can. Growing your own produce helps you learn about gardening and ways that you can be healthier. Growing your own produce is organic and is much healthier than buying fruits and vegetables from the supermarket because you do not add any preservatives, hormones or chemicals that makes our food less nutritious. This has inspired me to be more aware of what I eat and how I can choose healthier foods.

Tylenol and Other Medication Recalls

                 This November, more than 40 over-the-counter medications are voluntarily being recalled by the McNeil Consumer Healthcare company. These include pain, fever and allergy medications for infants and children. Forms of Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, and Zyrtec and all being recalled. Their has been traces of higher concentrations of ingredients in the products that are supposed to be. Some of the medications “may contain inactive ingredients that may not meet internal testing requirements' or 'may contain tiny particles” and in addition, some of the raw materials in the products were 

 and that some of the raw materials used to make the products were adulterated with bacteria. The McNeil company that their are no reports of detrimental medical mishaps, the recall is a “precautionary measure.”  

               If medication similar to these being recalled are needed you can substitute them with medications such as a chewable tablet, a box of the medicine that hasn’t been recalled with a lot number that wasn’t included in the recall, or another brand or generic form of the medication which has not been affected by the recall at all.

Recalled over-the-counter medications for infants and children include these medications:

• Tylenol Infants' Drops
• Children's Tylenol Suspension
• Children's Tylenol Plus Suspension
• Motrin Infants' Drops
• Children's Motrin Suspension
• Children's Motrin Cold Suspension
• Children's Zyrtec
• Children's Benadryl Allergy liquids in bottles

Don't take food samples from Costco

                Who knew that a tiny cube of a cheese sample could make 27 year old social worker Annette Sutfin so sick? She took a cheese sample at one of the Costco’s in Phoenix, Arizona and went to the hospital three days later. She suffered stomach cramps on October 18, and they got really intense on the 21st. When she went to the hospital, she was released, but she went back two days later because of bloody diarrhea. She stayed till the 25th and later got a call from the Maricopa County Health Department on November 1 to tell her she tested positive for E. coli 057:H7.

               No one had told her that the Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda Cheese she took a sample of was made from raw milk and that their are risks to be considered when consuming unpasteurized products. "All the things you read about E. coli seem to be about beef," she said and the investigation of what she ate did not seem likely to lead back to the small Costco cheese sample. 

  Sutfin did recover but not 100 percent. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, their were 10 other victims of the outbreak in Arizona. Eight are from Colorado, three are from New Mexico, two are from Nevada and one is from California.

Watch Your Lettuce

               Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio, may be responsible for a romaine lettuce recall earlier this year, that had sickened students in three states. According to the lettuce distributor, investigators are tracing the outbreak to a farm in Yuma, Arizona. Freshway Foods sold the lettuce in 23 states and recalled it because of a possible E. coli 057:H7 outbreak. Three of the illnesses were life-threatening. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked 10 other cases to the recall.  

               Both college and high school students were effected by the outbreak. Health officials claim that college students were sickened in April and have already recovered. The superintendent in New York, James Parla said that two cases were confirmed and connected to other cases in two different states. Vice President at Freshway Foods Devon Beer, said that the company with the FDA and found the farmer who grew the contaminated lettuce but would not name him. 

               The recall only includes lettuce that had a “best if used by” date on or before May 12 because Freshway Foods did not continue buying its lettuce from the manufacturer. It was not clear why the contaminated lettuce had hit college and high schools students the worst but it was probably because of the "grab and go" salads sold at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, Marsh grocery stores food service outlets and in-store salad bars and delis. Most of the recalled lettuce was sold in states east of the Mississippi River. It was sold in Alabama, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

More recalls at Wal-Mart

               In May 2010, alfalfa sprouts sold to over 400 Wal-Mart stores in 15 states have been recalled because they were contaminated with salmonella. The sprouts were sold raw by Caldwell Fresh Foods to Wal-Marts in Alabama, California, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin, the company said. The Centers for Disease Control said that the sprouts had sickened 22 people in 10 states and a baby located in Oregon. The rest of the eleven were from California. Besides Wal-Marts, the sprouts were also sold to restaurants, deli’s and nationwide retailers. Caldwell Fresh Foods did not comment on the situation and they did not answer the company phone.

               The Oregon Department of Human Services announced the first outbreak and reported that the sprouts were sold in 18 states in South, Midwest and West. Two people were also sickened in Nevada and two in Wisconsin. The CDC said that one person each became ill in Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico and Colorado. The sicknesses began between March 1 and May 2 and six people were reported to be hospitalized. The spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Caren Epstein said that the sprouts were removed from the stores as soon as their was knowledge of the contaminated produce. She reported that 75 in Illinois, 56 in Georgia and 47 Wal-Marts in Louisiana purchased the sprouts and the rest of the stores included 12 other states. 

Cadmium: Dangerous Toys/Giveaways at McDonald's

               In June 2010, 12 million cadmium-tainted "Shrek" drinking glasses sold by McDonald's were being recalled. Similar cheap products raise many questions about the products being manufactured for Americans. "It could have been any glass company," said Ron Biagi, an executive with Arc International, which made the glasses. "We all do the same thing using materials from the same suppliers." McDonald’s stated that their glasses met the federal guidelines with the cadmium levels permitted to make the product. Scott Wolfson, a spokesman of a CPSC-testing lab, said that the glasses do not meet the standards of the toxic mental of what they contain. The CPSP issued a major announcement telling consumers to stop using the dangerous glasses. "We believe the Shrek glassware is safe for consumer use," McDonald's USA spokesman Bill Whitman said. "However, again to ensure that our customers receive safe products from us, we made the decision to stop selling them and voluntarily recall these products effective immediately." 

              Cadmium can cause bone softening, kidney problems, hinder brain development in young people and long term exposure can cause “adverse health effects.” The Shrek-glassware would cause long term exposure with low levels, and would enter a child body if the child puts their unwashed hand into their mouths.

Subway: Not as fresh as you think...

               According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, forty-eight Illinoisans contracted a rare form of salmonella after eating at Subway restaurants in June 2010. Out of the forty-eight, seventeen were hospitalized. This illness has reached as far as 18 counties. Subway isn’t aware of the specific food that was contaminated, but them and FDA are working together to figure out where exactly the problem is coming from. 

               In 2008, Subway had additional problems with salmonella in Great Britain. Subway sold contaminated meat for about five months which causes 120 illnesses and one death. These problems result in revenue issues within the company especially in Illinois. To promote the new breakfasts, Chicago and Northwest Indiana would give away breakfast sandwiches for free from 7-11 a.m. on Tuesdays. Any effort to promote their business is a plus. 

Letting Salmonella Slide

  Basic Food Flavors Inc. is the company who produces hydrolyzed vegetable protein, (HVP) which is a food enhancer used in many ready-to-eat foods. A recall included 177 products containing HVP in June 2010. On June 23, Basic Food Flavors Inc. received a warning letter from the FDA for documentation on their products. 

  During the last inspection of the plant, Salmonella contamination was found and led to a recall of all HVp powder and paste made by the company since September 17, 2009. Food safety officials in Washington D.C. were worried about the thousands of products that would need to be recalled so the FDA limited its recalls on products because it lacked a “kill step,” (when potentially dangerous pathogens are removed from a product when it is being manufactured). Only 177 products were recalled. The FDA said that “the salmonella had established a niche environment”, and it was contaminating the facility. The company is trying to think of solutions so that it will not survive and become a bigger problem in the factory. 

No More Bison Meat

               About 66,000 pounds of ground and tenderized steak bison products were recalled because of potential E. coli O157:H7 in July 2010 by the Rocky Mountain Natural Meats company in Henderson, Colorado. The recall occurred after the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) had found products to be contaminated with E. coli. An investigation done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and the New York Department of Health discovered that 6 people had became sick after consuming products from the company.  One person was from New York and the other five became ill in Colorado. The products were distributed from May 21 and May 27. Although the sell-by date for the recalled meat has passed, consumers may still have the product in their freezers.