8/19/14 Health News: Mars recalls thousands of products ♦ Heinz recalls four batches of infant food in China ♦ FORMER RANCHO EMPLOYEES CHARGED WITH 11 FELONIES

Confectionary business Mars recalls thousands of products after food bug found

The Bristol Post Confectionary giant Mars is recalling thousands of its products from shops across Bristol and the UK after “elevated levels” of a food poisoning bug was found. As well as Mars Milk, Starburst, Bounty and Snickers brands are also on the list, which applies to bottles carrying a best-before …continue reading

Heinz recalls four batches of infant food in China

\Ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co has recalled some infant food in eastern China after it was found to contain lead in excess of the allowable limit, the company said on Monday. The move by Heinz comes after food safety regulators in eastern Zhejiang province said on Friday that they had found "excessive amounts of lead" in the company's AD Calcium continue reading

FORMER RANCHO EMPLOYEES CHARGED WITH 11 FELONIES

Straight-up fraud and conspiracy, mostly to get cows with “cancer eye” past USDA inspectors so they could be processed along with healthy animals, were allegedly behind the demise of the Petaluma, CA, slaughterhouse that closed in February during a recall of nearly 9 million pounds of beef. There is no hint in the indictment unsealed... Continue Reading

2/27/24 Health News: THEORIES PILE UP ON RANCHO BEEF INVESTIGATION - 18 Exposed to Incurable Disease - Poor Nations Seek Hepatitis C Drug - Medical Errors

THEORIES PILE UP AS RANCHO BEEF INVESTIGATION CONTINUES

So many people are wondering why 8.7 million pounds of meat processed by Rancho Feeding Corporation in Petaluma, CA were recalled and the slaughterhouse subsequently closed. Could it be an inspector shortage? An inspector-veterinarian dispute? Cancerous cow eyes and circumvented inspection requirements? Theories abound and we’re keeping count. The union representing U.S. Department of Agriculture... Continue Reading

18 May Have Been Exposed to Incurable Disease

Doctors and hospital officials from Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, are notifying 18 neurosurgery patients that they might have been exposed to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a serious and incurable neurological disorder. "It is important to note that there are multiple variations of CJD and this case is not related to mad cow disease," Novant Health said in a statement. The hospital confirmed that on January 18, an operation was performed on a patient with CJD symptoms who later tested positive for the illness.

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Poor Nations Seek New Hepatitis C Drug

Now that wealthy nations have a simple pill regimen that can cure hepatitis C, calls are mounting from representatives of poor nations for the same drugs. In December, the Food and Drug Administration approved sofosbuvir, from Gilead Sciences. Under the brand name Sovaldi in the United States, it is expected to cost $84,000 per treatment. Four other companies are developing similar pills expected to reach the market in the next three years, with similarly high price tags. Worldwide, at least 150 million people — nearly five times the number with H.I.V. — are believed to have hepatitis C, which can cause liver damage and cancer. Continue Reading

Medical Errors That Shook Greece

From incorrect medical assessments and contaminated blood transfusions, to errors that left patients paralyzed or with serious disabilities, physicians in Greece have also had their share of failures over the past years and were involved in medical errors. On the occasion of the Papageorgiou Hospital in northern Greece which is planning to introduce a mobile phone signal jammer for its operating rooms so that physicians won’t be able to use their cell phones while operating..Continue Reading

2/26/14 Health News: Problems at Rancho Slaughterhouse - Vitamin C Reduced Stroke Risk - Itching: More Than Skin-Deep - Thousands Exposed to Measles

Federal Inspector Reported Problems at Rancho Slaughterhouse

A federal food inspector at Rancho Feeding Corp. repeatedly criticized practices inside the Petaluma slaughterhouse now at the center of an international meat recall and an ongoing criminal investigation, according to union officials. Continue reading

Vitamin C Linked With Reduced Stroke Risk

Making sure you get enough vitamin C could help protect you from stroke, a small new study suggests. Research shows that risk of hemorrhagic stroke -- which is more deadly, but rarer, than ischemic stroke -- is lower among people who have normal vitamin C levels, compared with people with depleted vitamin C levels. “Our results show that vitamin C deficiency should be considered a risk factor for this severe type of stroke, as were high blood pressure, drinking alcohol and being overweight in our study,” study researcher Dr. Stéphane Vannier, M.D. said in a statement. Continue Reading

Itching: More Than Skin-Deep

The experiment was not for the squirmish. Volunteers were made to itch like crazy on one arm, but not allowed to scratch. Then they were whisked into an M.R.I. scanner to see what parts of their brains lit up when they itched, when researchers scratched them and when they were finally allowed to scratch themselves. The scientific question was this: Why does it feel so good to scratch an itch? Itching and scratching engage brain areas involved not only in sensation, but also in mental processes that help explain why we love to scratch: motivation and reward, pleasure, craving and even addiction. What an itch turns on, a scratch turns off — and scratching oneself does it better than being scratched by someone else. Continue Reading

In California, Thousands Exposed to Measles

Thousands of San Francisco Bay Area residents may have been exposed to measles this month when an unvaccinated student at the University of California, Berkeley, attended classes and rode the area's BART transit system. Public health officials in Contra Costa County, outside of San Francisco, said anyone riding BART from Feb. 4 to Feb. 7 during the morning or late evening commutes could have been exposed to the highly contagious respiratory virus. The young man in his 20s lives in the county and was confirmed to have measles. He was likely infected while traveling recently in Asia, health officials said..Continue Reading

2/22/14 FDA Health News: Rancher Fights FDA Over Recall - Lawsuit Against FDA Over Food Additives - Massive Beef Recall

RANCHER FIGHTS ORDER IN BLANKET 9-MILLION-POUND BEEF RECALL

If there is one steak you can trust in a marketplace dominated by factory farming, it comes from Bill Niman’s 800-acre ranch in Bolinas.  The owner of BN Ranch, Mr. Niman has toiled for decades to set the highest standards in the beef industry, verifying the source of all his cattle, spurning antibiotics and growth hormones and overseeing each animal’s slaughter and butchering.

But no matter how many precautions Mr. Niman has taken, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has condemned his meat — and the grass-fed beef from almost every ranch in West Marin — as “unsound, unwholesome or otherwise… unfit for human food” in a recall earlier this month of 8.7 million pounds of beef products. The recall treats the highest-quality beef from BN Ranch browned into a sirloin roast at Chez Panisse as a health hazard equal to ground beef from spent dairy cows blended for frozen Hot Pockets Philly Steak & Cheese. . Continue Reading

LAWSUIT BROUGHT AGAINST FDA REGARDING FOOD ADDITIVES

After agreeing to a settlement in a dispute about final rule deadlines for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) earlier this week, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) has filed another lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – this time over food additives. The suit is asking the Court to vacate FDA’s 1997 proposed... Continue Reading

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE MASSIVE RANCHO BEEF RECALL?

More than two weeks after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the initial recall of beef products processed by central California’s Rancho Feeding Corporation, several questions remain unanswered regarding both the ongoing investigation into the processing plant and the recall itself. The recall involves all 8.7 million pounds of beef slaughtered at Rancho’s plant during... Continue Reading

Beef Products Added to Recall Due to Processing Diseased Animals

Rancho Feeding Corporation, a Petaluma, Calif. establishment, is recalling approximately 8,742,700 pounds, because it processed diseased and unsound animals and carried out these activities without the benefit or full benefit of federal inspection. Thus, the products are adulterated, because they are unsound, unwholesome or otherwise are unfit for human food and must be removed from commerce, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The following Rancho Feeding Corporation products are subject to recall:

"Beef Carcasses” (wholesale and custom sales only)

2 per box "Beef (Market) Heads" (retail only)

4-gallons per box "Beef Blood" (wholesale only)

20-lb. boxes of “Beef Oxtail”

30-lb. boxes of “Beef Cheeks”

30-lb. boxes of " Beef Lips"

30-lb. boxes of "Beef Omasum"

30-lb. boxes of "Beef Tripas"

30-lb. boxes of "Mountain Oysters"

30-lb. boxes of "Sweet Breads”

30- and 60-lb. boxes of “Beef Liver”

30- and 60-lb. boxes of “Beef Tripe”

30- and 60-lb. boxes of “Beef Tongue”

30- and 60-lb. boxes of "Veal Cuts"

40-lb. boxes of "Veal Bones"

50-lb. boxes of “Beef Feet”

50-lb. boxes of “Beef Hearts”

60-lb. boxes of "Veal Trim"

Beef carcasses and boxes bear the establishment number "EST. 527" inside the USDA mark of inspection.  Each box bears the case code number ending in “3” or “4.” The products were produced Jan. 1, 2013 through Jan. 7, 2014 and shipped to distribution centers and retail establishments in California, Florida, Illinois, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

Note. It has been reported that the Owner of Rancho Feeding Corporation has received no documentation of the reason for the recall. They have a veterinarian at the plant every day and do not slaughter deceased animals No one has been reported as being sick from his products..Most of this meat has already been eaten

Beef and Beef Products recalled

Rancho Feeding Corporation, a Petaluma, Calif., establishment, is recalling approximately 41,683 pounds of various meat products because they were produced without the benefit of full federal inspection, making them unfit for human food, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The following Rancho Feeding Corporation products are subject to recall:

• “Beef Carcasses”
• 50-lb. boxes of “Beef Feet”
• 20-lb. boxes of “Beef Oxtail”
• 50-lb. boxes of “Beef Hearts”  
• 60 and 30-lb. boxes of “Beef Liver”
• 30-lb. boxes of “Beef Cheeks”
• 60-lb. boxes of “Beef Tripe”
• 30-lb. boxes of “Beef Tongue”

Beef carcasses and boxes bear the establishment number "EST. 527" inside the USDA mark of inspection.  Each box bears the case code number “ON9O4.” The products were produced Jan. 8, 2014, and shipped to distribution centers and retail establishments in California. 

The problem was discovered as a result of an ongoing investigation. FSIS believes the company produced product without full ante-mortem inspection as per federal regulations.

FSIS has received no reports of illness due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider.