12/30/14 Health News: Diseased meat on sale ♦ Oyster Contamination ♦ Technique Quickly Identifies Bacteria For Food Safety ♦ Fast-food consumption linked to lower test score

Unanswered Questions Over Oyster Contamination

THE reason and source of cadmium contamination of Namibian oysters, which resulted in Hong Kong stopping all live oyster imports from Namibia on 23 December till further notice, still has to be identified, according to the chairman of the Namibian Mariculture Association, Gonçalo Murta. "We know of the ban but none of us have received the official test results from Hong Kong. … Continue Reading

Diseased meat on sale

BEIJING: China has dismissed eight officials after pork from pigs infected with a "highly contagious virus" was found to have entered the market, state media said Monday. The country's latest food scandal was revealed in an investigation by state broadcaster China Central Television which said the annual revenue of the tainted pork was more than 20 million yuan ($3.2 …Continue Reading

Technique Quickly Identifies Bacteria For Food Safety, Healthcare And Homeland Security

Researchers at Purdue University have used a new technique to rapidly detect and precisely identify bacteria, including dangerous E. coli, without time-consuming treatments usually required. The technique, called desorption electrospray ionization, or DESI, could be used to create a new class of fast, accurate detectors for applications ranging from food safety to homeland …Continue Reading

Fast-food consumption linked to lower test score gains in 8th graders

The amount of fast food children eat may be linked to how well they do in school, a new America-wide study suggests. This study can't say why fast-food consumption is linked to lower grades, but other studies have shown that fast food lacks certain nutrients, especially iron, that help cognitive development. In addition, diets high in fat and sugar -- similar to fast-food meals -- have been shown to hurt immediate memory and learning processes. Continue Reading

8/8//14 Health News: 5 Die From Food Poisoning ♦ TRUE IMPACT OF FOODBORNE ILLNESS ♦ Vibrio Illnesses Prompt Closure of Samish Bay’s Oyster Harvest

5 Die From Food Poisoning From Southern Chinese Snack

At least five people have died and another 17 others were poisoned in China’s southern Yunnan Province after they ate fermented corn flour snacks. Continue Reading

REAL-LIFE STORIES REVEAL THE TRUE IMPACT OF FOODBORNE ILLNESS

Alex Donley was a tender-hearted 6-year-old who dreamed of someday being a paramedic when he was stricken with an E. coli infection in 1993 after eating a hamburger made from contaminated ground beef. Four days later, he died in a hospital room after suffering a horrific bout of hemolytic uremic syndrome, a kidney disease stemming... Continue Reading

Vibrio Illnesses Prompt Closure of Samish Bay’s Oyster Harvest Until Sept. 30

Confirmation that shellfish from Samish Bay in northwest Washington state was the source of at least one illness, and possibly three others, caused by the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus, has prompted the state’s health department to close commercial oyster harvesting in the bay until Sept. 30.Continue Reading

Oysters Recalled in Massachusetts

Oyster beds in Plymouth, Kingston, Duxbury, and Marshfield are closed until further notice because a pathogen that can cause nausea, fever, and other ailments has been linked to those areas, state officials said Friday.

The pathogen, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, has been tied to oysters harvested in the beds, the state Department of Public Health and Division of Marine Fisheries said in a joint statement.

Officials said the shuttered beds are in Plymouth Harbor, Kingston Bay, Duxbury Bay, Bluefish River, and Back River.

Harvesting oysters in these areas is prohibited during the closure, and officials have launched a recall of oysters collected from the affected spots since July 22, according to the statement. It is the first Vibrio outbreak linked to a specific harvest area in the Bay State, officials said.

Public health officials have linked three cases of Vibrio illness to oysters consumed from the affected areas, including two cases where oysters were eaten outside Massachusetts, the statement said. All three victims recovered.

Symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, and chills, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The illness usually lasts for three days, but people with weak immune systems may experience serious health problems, the CDC said on its website.

About 10 percent of victims may require hospitalization for blood infections, state officials said.

In Massachusetts, officials have received 50 confirmed reports of the infection in residents since May 31, compared with 27 cases during the same time period last year, authorities said.

“Vibrio is an emerging, naturally occurring bacterial pathogen often found in oysters harvested from warmer waters,” said the statement from the Massachusetts agencies. “It is not related to pollution of Massachusetts shellfish.”