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.

iGPS urges the U.S. Senate to mandate latest tracking technology in legislation to prevent foodborne illnesses

Cost-effective technology that allows products to be traced through the U.S. supply chain might have helped contain the spread of hydrolyzed vegetable protein products contaminated with Salmonella, Intelligent Global Pooling Systems announced today. iGPS urged the U.S. Senate to mandate the latest tracking technology in legislation pending to overhaul the nation's food safety law.

15 Mar 2010

Threat of food supply contamination: National sanitary standards on pallet industry needed

The need to set national sanitary standards on the pallet industry to curb the threat of contamination to the U.S. food supply was drawn into sharp relief by a just-issued report by the Produce Safety Project showing acute foodborne illness costs the nation $152 billion annually in healthcare, workplace and other economic losses.

6 Mar 2010

Scientists devise worldwide alert system to monitor contaminated food products

Countries producing food containing harmful bacteria and toxins could be named and shamed more quickly using a worldwide alert system devised by a team of scientists from Kingston University in South West London. The team, led by Professor Declan Naughton, says the easy to use computer tool can be used to monitor contaminated products; helping to prevent them reaching shop shelves and ensuring that food is safe to eat.

5 Mar 2010

SynCardia Total Artificial Heart recipient celebrates 10 years of life

On Feb. 22, Bill Wohl, a former recipient of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart, will celebrate 10 years of enjoying life to the fullest with the donor heart he received at University Medical Center on Feb. 22, 2000.

17 Feb 2010

Studies suggest potential therapeutic targets for food poisoning, TB and autoimmune diseases

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered how the virulent food-borne bacteria Listeria monocytogenes induces infected immune cells to sabotage their own defensive response.

2 Feb 2010

One-third of dairy products exceed microbe contamination levels, says study

One-third of samples of milk and dairy products analysed in various restaurants exceed the microbe contamination limits set by the European Union, according to a study carried out by researchers from the University of Valencia (UV). The experts advise against keeping milk in jugs and suggest that these foodstuffs need to be better handled.

30 Jan 2010

New scientific data reveals wood pallets present dangerous risks to our foods and medicines

Coming on the heels of the sweeping Tylenol recall, new scientific data from independent tests reveal more about the hidden dangers of wood pallets and the threat they pose to the foods we eat and the medications we rely on every day.

28 Jan 2010

Aid begins flowing into Haiti, up to 3m may be affected

"Aid started flowing into Haiti Wednesday in the wake of the earthquake that slammed the impoverished nation late Tuesday afternoon," CNN reports. "One of two [U.S] military cargo planes carrying a 30-man assessment team arrived at Port-au-Prince airport Wednesday evening to assess Haiti's needs."

17 Jan 2010

Health risks of wooden pallet shipping platforms, call for Congress and FDA regulation

The expanded recall of TYLENOL Arthritis pain reliever is fresh evidence of the need for Congress and the FDA to regulate wood pallets used to transport food and pharmaceuticals in the United States because of the dangers they pose to human health.

4 Jan 2010

Former CDC head to lead Merck's vaccine division

The pharmaceutical company Merck on Monday named former CDC head Julie Gerberding as president of the company's vaccine division, Reuters reports. "Gerberding, who led the CDC from 2002 to 2009 and stepped down when President Barack Obama took office, will head up the company's $5 billion global vaccine business that includes shots to prevent chickenpox, cervical cancer and pneumonia," the news service reports.

22 Dec 2009

Wood pallet: A source of food poisoning bacteria

In a random sampling of wood pallets used to ship food in Portland, ME, and Philadelphia, PA, numerous pallets tested positive for Listeria and abnormally high counts of bacteria that could potentially create health hazards for consumers.

17 Dec 2009

New form of pathogen becomes a healthcare challenge in Africa

Research shows how a new, more deadly strain of Salmonella emerged over an 18-month period. Becoming resistant to antibiotics, acquiring the ability to spread from person to person and losing genes along the way, the new strain has become a healthcare challenge in Africa, killing up to one in four patients.

1 Dec 2009

Novel breakthrough may lead to new methods for sterilizing food and medical equipment

Got food poisoning? The cause might be bacterial spores, en extremely hardy survival form of bacteria, a nightmare for health care and the food industry and an enigma for scientists. Spore-forming bacteria, present almost everywhere in our environment, can also cause serious infectious diseases, such as tetanus, anthrax, and botulism.

12 Nov 2009

ImmunoLin provides immediate benefit to the function of immune system and gut

A new study provides evidence that ImmunoLin®, an all natural and GRAS approved source of immunoglobulin, will provide immediate benefit to the function of the immune system and the gut. Immunoglobulins, or antibodies, are specialized proteins found in blood that the immune system naturally produces for immunity.

6 Nov 2009

London residents are one of the most unhygienic in Britain: Poll results

London residents have today been revealed as one of the most unhygienic in Britain, according to a poll of 4,000 adults by Wet Ones to launch National Hand Hygiene Awareness Week.

26 Oct 2009

Poll results reveal Bristol residents as the most unhygienic in Britain

Bristol residents have today been revealed as the most unhygienic in Britain, according to a poll of 4,000 adults by Wet Ones to launch National Hand Hygiene Awareness Week.

26 Oct 2009

Wood pallets tested positive for three types of food poisoning bacteria

Wood pallets used to ship food in the Washington Metropolitan Area tested positive for three types of deadly food poisoning bacteria, raising new concerns about the risks wood pallets pose to the nation's food supply.

13 Oct 2009

New vaccine may prove effective against urinary tract infections

University of Michigan scientists have made an important step toward what could become the first effective vaccine to prevent urinary tract infections, if the robust immunity achieved in mice can be reproduced in humans.

18 Sep 2009

Health care reform should tackle food safety

Linda Rivera’s excruciating case of food poisoning (Severe Case Gives Context to Issue of Food Safety Washington Post 9/1/09) should shine some light on a crucial reality that is missing from most health care reform plans: you can’t fix America’s health care unless you provide Americans with a safe food supply.

10 Sep 2009

Phenotype microarrays compare growth characteristics of pathogenic and non-pathogenic E. coli

Dr Karin Heurlier and colleagues at the Universities of Nottingham and Birmingham in conjunction with Biolog Inc of California USA, used powerful high throughput analytical tools (phenotype microarrays) that enabled them to compare about 2000 growth characteristics of several pathogenic (disease-causing) E. coli with a non-pathogenic laboratory E. coli strain.

9 Sep 2009