Bagged Lettuce Or Bulk? Experts Offer Food Safety Advice

A recall this week of 8,000 cases of Fresh Express Hearts of Romaine salad marks the sixth time since April that the nation’s top producers of bagged lettuce have pulled products because of worries about food safety.  Still, many experts consider bagged lettuces to be safer than the loose variety. The debate continues…

Mango Alert! FDA Issues Warning On Mangoes In Salmonella Outbreak

Federal health officials have issued an alert on Daniella mangoes, a brand distributed by a Northern California company, in connection to the outbreak that has caused 103 cases of salmonella poisoning in 16 states so far.

New York State Is Investigating Energy Drinks

• The New York attorney general has subpoenaed three large makers of so-called energy drinks as part of an investigation into whether the companies are misleading consumers about how much caffeine the drinks contain and the health risks they could pose.
• The attorney general is also looking at whether the companies - Monster Beverage, PepsiCo and Living Essentials - violated federal law in promoting the drinks as dietary supplements rather than as foods, which are regulated more strictly.
• State authorities are also concerned about whether all of the ingredients that go into the beverages are properly disclosed.

Why Are Cantaloupes So Often Responsible For Foodborne Illness Outbreaks?

• Cantaloupe’s unique, rough skin can trap and hold bacteria, which can easily penetrate to the inside of the melon.
• Additionally, while bacteria doesn’t usually grow on the surface of most fruits and vegetables after harvest due to lack of moisture and nutrients, according to the FDA, bacteria has been found to grow on the outside of cantaloupe and watermelon after being picked. 
• There are also several points of contamination along the supply chain - growing, harvesting, packing, storage, transport, distribution and processing - all the way to the consumer’s kitchen, where simply cutting the melon can transfer pathogens to the edible parts of the fruit.

Consumer Reports Receives $2 Million Grant For Food Safety Study

Don’t trust the Feds to protect your food supply? Consumer Reports to the rescue! Consumer Reports, the product-testing magazine, has received a $2 million grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to engage in an ambitious two-year study of the safety of meat, poultry and other food items.

Christopher Meyer, a spokesman for the magazine, said that according to the Centers for Disease Control, food-borne illness is on the rise, and about one of every six Americans is sickened by such illnesses every year.

“We thought that with more resources, we could make a huge difference in the quality of the food supply,” he said.

Chinese Activists Use Online Tools To Spread Cautionary Tales

Driven partly by the government’s foot dragging on food safety, such grassroots activism is unusual in a country where citizen action is discouraged, and often dangerous.