10/24/2013 Daily Food News: AG Runoff Causing Health Risk, Meat with Drug Residue, Vaccine for Multiple Strains of FLu, Russia Bans Foods

EMERGING CONTAMINANTS: AG RUNOFF POSES HEALTH RISKS

The most well-documented impacts of agriculture runoff on human and ecological health are primarily related to nutrient pollution in water, where nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers cause oxygen-starved “dead zones” in water. Now, scientists and government agencies are also examining the impacts of agriculture runoff as a significant source of emerging contaminants, substances that may... Continue Reading

FOOD-SAFETY COALITION ASKS FARM BILL CONFEREES TO REJECT TWO AMENDMENTS

Note: Time to Write your Congressman

Members of a food-safety coalition are gunning for two amendments to the Farm Bill they say would delay implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act and impede a state’s ability to protect its citizens from foodborne illness. Eight consumer groups comprising the Make Our Food Safe Coalition and the Safe Food Coalition sent a...Continue Reading

FDA WARNS NY RANCHER ABOUT POTENTIALLY HARMFUL DRUG RESIDUES

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning letter to the owner of Riverview Ranch and Livestock in New York, after an investigation found that the operation sold an adulterated animal for slaughter for food.. Continue Reading

Study: Flu vaccine plus immune suppressor may offer broader protection

US researchers reported yesterday that giving mice a flu vaccine and simultaneously treating them with rapamycin, an immune-suppressing drug, caused them to generate antibodies that were protective against other flu strains, including H5N1 and H7N9. Continue Reading

PROBLEMS POSED BY ANIMAL AGRICULTURE HAVE WORSENED IN RECENT YEARS

In the past five years, policies by the Obama administration and Congress have worsened the problems that animal agriculture poses to public health, the environment and animal welfare, Continue Reading

Russia’s Food Patriotism and Bans on Select Imports

You may not have heard of Gennady Onishchenko, but if his own accounts are to be believed, he’s the Russian government official who single-handedly averts major public health crises posed by foreign countries’ dangerously lax and unsophisticated food safety standards. To others, Onishchenko, Russia’s chief sanitary inspector, is also Russia’s chief manufacturer of elaborate food safety scares to wage geopolitically motivated trade wars with other countries, particularly former Soviet republics. Continue Reading

Recall : Two Types of Herring Fillets Infected with Listeria

ZIP INTERNATIONAL GROUP LLC, is recalling herring fillet in oil (FOSFOREL, ATLANTIKA) 400 gram in plastic packaging due  to Listeria contamination.Gold Star Smoked Fish Corp. is also recalling Rybacka Wies Brand Herring Fillets In Oiii"Matjes Sledz w oleju" due to contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria monocytogenes is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women

The recalled herring fillet in oil (FOSFOREL, ATLANTIKA) 400 gram in plastic packaging includes best by dates 05/15/2013 and 7/17/2013 (UPC: 4607095500208). The best by date is located on the round side of the packaging and was sold to retail grocery stores in New York State beginning on 03/15/2013 and ending on 5/24/2013. It is a product of Russia.

The Rybacka Wies Brand Herring Fillets is packaged in 17.64oz/500 grams plastic containers and has an expiration date of 10/31/13 stamped on the back of the container. The UPC Number is 021 143241228. The product was sold nationwide. It is a product of the USA.

The recalls was initiated after routine sampling by New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets Food Inspectors and subsequent analysis of the product by Food Laboratory personnel found the product to be positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with these problems. Consumers who have purchased herring fillet in oil (FOSFOREL, ATLANTIKA) should not consume it, but should return it to the place of purchase. Consumers with questions may contact the company @ 732-225-3600, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM EST from Monday to Friday. Consumers who purchased Rybacka Wies Brand Herring Fillets in Oil/"Matjes Sledz w oleju" should not consume it and should return it to the place of purchase. Consumers with any questions may contact the company directly at 718-522-5480.