Contamination News and Research

RSS

CARVER + Shock for safer food

Like Johnny Appleseed of yore, the Food and Drug Administration is scattering food-defense programs across the US so that the country's million or so food processors can better secure their food against possible contamination by terrorists.

20 Jun 2007

Contact lens solution linked to Acanthamoeba keratitis

The use of a particular contact lens solution has a strong association with Acanthamoeba keratitis, a rare severe eye infection, report researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago in a study published online this week by the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

17 Jun 2007

Don't flush old or unused medications

Your spring cleaning is done. Or is it? Did you clean out your medicine cabinet? Before you flush old or unused medication, precautions need to be taken.

16 Jun 2007

Best way to prevent contamination of fresh produce is to intervene before the harvest

Monitoring vegetables while they are growing is crucial in the prevention of contamination of fresh produce with harmful bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella, say plant pathologists who are members of The American Phytopathological Society (APS).

14 Jun 2007

FDA Tomato Safety Initiative

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin a multi-year Tomato Safety Initiative to reduce the incidence of tomato-related foodborne illness in the United States.

14 Jun 2007

Cancer death rates remain high decades after exposure to arsenic

Death rates from lung and bladder cancer remained high decades after residents in northern Chile were exposed to high levels of arsenic in their drinking water, according to a new study by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Pontificia Universidad Cat'lica de Chile in Santiago.

14 Jun 2007

Survey of public knowledge of avian influenza

Researchers at the Food Policy Institute at the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station have conducted a nationwide survey of public knowledge, attitudes, intentions and behaviors related to the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

14 Jun 2007

Salmonella outbreak tails off but 628 infected by contaminated peanut butter

Latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), say since 1st August 2006, 628 people in 47 states have been infected with salmonellosis after eating peanut butter contaminated with the Tennessee strain of Salmonella.

4 Jun 2007

Mercury's link to heart disease

Heavy metals and other toxins have been linked to many human diseases, but determining exactly how they damage the body remains a mystery in many cases.

1 Jun 2007

New weapons in the fight against food poisoning

University of Nottingham experts have joined forces with Canadian biotech company GangaGen Life Sciences Inc to develop new weapons in the fight against food poisoning.

28 May 2007

Contact lens solution found to cause serious infection

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has issued a warning to health care professionals and consumers regarding a certain contact lens solution.

27 May 2007

Stem cells may look malignant, not act it

Call it the cellular equivalent of big glasses, a funny nose and a fake mustache.

24 May 2007

Could the food we eat be contributing to the continuing rise of antibiotic-resistant infections?

Harmless and even beneficial bacteria that exist in our food supply may also be carrying genes that code for antibiotic resistance.Once in our bodies, could they transmit the resistance genes to disease-causing bacteria?

24 May 2007

New weapons in the fight against food poisoning

University of Nottingham experts have joined forces with Canadian biotech company GangaGen Life Sciences Inc to develop new weapons in the fight against food poisoning.

24 May 2007

System to identify air travel passengers responsible for the unintentional release of germs

Researchers developing a system that uses mathematical models and sensors to locate passengers releasing hazardous materials or pathogens inside airline cabins have shown that the technique can track a substance to an area the size of a single seat.

24 May 2007

Cause of drug-resistant wound infections among soldiers in Iraq down to hospitals not battlefield

An outbreak of drug-resistant wound infections among soldiers in Iraq likely came from the hospitals where they were treated, not the battlefield, according to a new study in the June 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online.

22 May 2007

Imported Chinese seafood not 100% safe

Adding to China's recent problems of food safety is now seafood contamination.

17 May 2007

More power to FDA on drug safety

The Senate overwhelmingly passed significant prescription drug safety reforms to give the Food and Drug Administration more power to deal with unsafe medicines on the market, moving the issue of drug safety to the House, where a strong bill has been introduced but has yet to be considered.

10 May 2007

FDA says beware of glycerin imported from China

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has issued a warning to drug manufacturers, suppliers and health professionals that counterfeit drug additives have been using diethyline glycol, or DEG as a substitute for glycerin in cough medicine, fever medication and injectable drugs.

7 May 2007

Fecal microbes high in New Orleans sediments following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

In a new study documenting the microbial landscape of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, scientists report that sediments in interior portions of the city appear to be contaminated with fecal microbes, a chronic condition they say persisted in the area before the hurricanes, and that the resulting water quality in the city and in nearshore waters of the lake continues to be impacted by discharges from this contamination.

4 May 2007