If it seems like this summer has brought about food recall after food recall, well, you’re not wrong. A great many products have been pulled from shelves in the past few months, most of them vegetables. It seems that foodborne illness is on the rise, in general. [1]
Texas health officials have stated that Blue Bell Creameries will be paying a fine of $850,000 to rectify damage caused by the listeria outbreak at their plant. [1]
The 2015 outbreak of the virus sickened several people and killed three. The company will have to pay $175,000 within the next thirty days, while the remainder may be paid over the next 18 months. If they fully comply with regulations, they may not have to pay the rest of their bill at all.
Although there have been no known illnesses from Meijer’s fresh salads and sandwiches, they are none-the-less embarking on a recall of their food due to potentially being infected with Salmonella. The sandwiches and salads that are affected were sold between July 20, 2016 and July 25, 2016.
This precautionary measure was put into place after Prime Foods, LLC, who supplies Meijer with eggs for their fresh products, announced that some of their eggs have tested positive for salmonella.
Twelve people in New Hampshire have been sickened with the same strain of E. coli. While officials are pointing toward ground beef as the culprit, as this is the same food all of those who became ill consumed, they have all eaten it at different locations. [1]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday that 9 people in Minnesota and Wisconsin had been diagnosed with E. coli poisoning, including 2 individuals who had to be hospitalized, but have since recovered. The source of the outbreak has been traced back to alfalfa sprouts from Jack & The Green Sprouts in River Falls, Wisconsin.
The CDC said in an announcement:
Chipotle’s locations across the country shut down on Monday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to tune into a livestream from Denver to hear executives discuss their plans for preventing future food poisoning outbreaks.
No one can argue that 2015 was a rough year for Chipotle. Five outbreaks of foodborne illness have struck the Mexican restaurant franchise since October, giving a bad reputation to a food chain that is going the route of healthy and GMO-free (at least on the surface).
Here’s a timeline of Chipotle’s nightmare:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently finalized rules designed to prevent outbreaks of foodborne illness caused by contaminated produce that sicken millions of Americans each year. The rules establish safety standards for produce farms and hold importers accountable for verifying that foods brought into the country meet U.S. safety standards.
