Food Poisoning News and Research

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Food poisoning is a term given to infections with bacteria, parasites, viruses, or toxins from germs that affects humans via contaminated food or water.

Researchers design surface-scanning coil detector for direct bacteria detection on food surfaces

As anyone who has ever consumed bacteria-contaminated food and experienced "food poisoning" can tell you, it's a miserable experience. Yet it's an all-too-common one, with foodborne illnesses making 1 in 6 Americans -- or 48 million people -- sick each year. Of these people sickened, 128,000 end up in the hospital, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while 3,000 die.

19 Oct 2013

Researchers develop simple blood test to identify patient with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

For the first time, a simple blood test may be the best way to determine if a patient is suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or another serious condition such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease, according to Cedars-Sinai physician researcher Mark Pimentel, MD, lead author of a multicenter clinical trial.

17 Oct 2013

Researchers discover how Yersinia immobilizes immune system to spread within organs

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts have identified how one type of bacteria, Yersinia, immobilizes the immune system in order to grow in the organs of mice. To do so, the researchers extended the use of a technique and suggest that it could be used to study other bacteria that use the same or similar means of infection.

17 Sep 2013

Domestic animals less likely to be major source of antibiotic resistant Salmonella in humans

A new study has shown that, contrary to popular belief, local domestic animals are unlikely to be the major source of antibiotic resistant Salmonella in humans. The result comes from a detailed study of DNA from more than 370 Salmonella samples collected over a 22-year period.

13 Sep 2013

Scientists solve structure of infection tool used by Yersinia bacterium

Abdominal pain, fever, diarrhoea -- these symptoms could point to an infection with the bacterium Yersinia. The bacterium's pathogenic potential is based on a syringe-like injection apparatus called injectisome.

1 Aug 2013

Infrared light allows characterization of pathogens

The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is commonly found in nature and frequently colonizes the skin and the upper respiratory tract of humans. A healthy immune system can fight the microorganism but once the immune system is weakened the pathogen can spread and lead to life-threatening diseases of the lungs, the heart and other organs.

15 Jul 2013

Treating bacteria with silver compounds boosts efficacy of old antibiotics

Slipping bacteria some silver could give old antibiotics new life, scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University reported June 19 in Science Translational Medicine.

20 Jun 2013

Common sugar molecule promising target for development of broad-spectrum vaccine

Developing new vaccines to protect against diseases that plague humans is fraught with numerous challenges-one being that microbes tend to vary how they look on the surface to avoid being identified and destroyed by the immune system. However, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have discovered a sugar polymer that is common on the cell surface of several pathogens.

28 May 2013

Molecular switch protects salmonella from harm during infection

For the first time, researchers have found a particular kind of molecular switch in the food poisoning bacteria Salmonella Typhimurium under infection-like conditions. This switch, using a process called S-thiolation, appears to be used by the bacteria to respond to changes in the environment during infection and might protect it from harm, researchers report this week online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

28 May 2013

ACOEM re-issues environmental checklist to improve quality of indoor environment

To commemorate the annual observance of Earth Day on April 22, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) has re-issued its checklist of Ten Environmental Hazards You Can Live Without.

22 Apr 2013

New technique developed at MU may make food contamination testing more rapid, accurate

Sales of chicken products in China plummeted recently during an outbreak of a deadly new strain of bird flu. From bird flu to mad cow disease, numerous food scares have made global headlines in recent years.

19 Apr 2013

Researchers develop novel microfluidic device to separate, detect non-spherical bioparticles

A bioengineering research team from the National University of Singapore team led by Associate Professor Zhang Yong has developed a novel microfluidic device for efficient, rapid separation and detection of non-spherical bioparticles.

17 Apr 2013

Virginia Tech scientists provide new evidence that biofilms are at work in survival of Salmonella

Virginia Tech scientists have provided new evidence that biofilms - bacteria that adhere to surfaces and build protective coatings - are at work in the survival of the human pathogen Salmonella.

11 Apr 2013

Fish-related ciguatoxin danger highlighted

Researchers report that 28 cases of ciguatera fish poisoning occurred in New York City during 2010–2011, a greater number than were reported during the preceding 10-year period.

6 Feb 2013

New records of fraudulent food products added to USP Food Fraud Database

Nearly 800 new records of "food fraud" added to the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention's (USP) Food Fraud Database present new information about foods that are vulnerable to fraudulent manipulation in today's food supply.

25 Jan 2013

Carob extract could fight the microbe responsible for listeriosis

The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS') award-winning Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions podcast series reports that an antibacterial extract from the leaves of the carob tree (the source of a popular chocolate substitute) could fight the microbe responsible for the serious form of food poisoning called listeriosis.

17 Jan 2013

Researcher explores new PCR system to discover dangerous foodborne pathogens

Pina Fratamico is on the quest to find the easiest and fastest way to test for harmful Escherichia coli in ground beef. In an article published in Frontiers in Microbiology on the 20th of December, she explores using a next-generation real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system to discover specific gene targets that indicate the presence of dangerous foodborne pathogens. The results show that assays performed using this PCR system are rapid, sensitive, and reliable.

20 Dec 2012

Study suggests that existing HIV drug could be a potential therapy for Staph infections

A new study by NYU School of Medicine researchers suggests that an existing HIV drug called maraviroc could be a potential therapy for Staphylococcus aureus, a notorious and deadly pathogen linked to hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations each year.

15 Dec 2012

Researchers shed new light on how salmonella bacteria cause infections

Researchers have found that the bacteria are able to change key cells that line the intestine, enabling the bugs to thrive.

12 Dec 2012

Carob extracts may combat listeriosis

Leaves of the plant that yields carob - the substitute for chocolate that some consider healthier than chocolate - are a rich source of antibacterial substances ideal for fighting the microbe responsible for listeriosis, a serious form of food poisoning, according to a report in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

19 Oct 2012