It’s National Food Safety Month! This month the American Dietetic Association wants to heighten awareness of food safety issues. From E. coli and cross contamination to washing your hands and monitoring your family for food poisoning symptoms, the ADA wants consumers to be aware of the dangers associated with contaminated food and help prevent the spread of foodborne illness. Here at Neblett, Beard,... [more]

Shigella is a bacterium that can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain in its victims. Shigella can be passed from infected person to infected person. Just under seventy percent of Shigella cases in the United States are linked to Shigella sonnei, sometimes caled “Group D” Shigella. Shigella food poisoning cases often emerge 24 to 48 hours after being exposed to the Shigella bacteria.... [more]

Listeria monocytogenes, a bacteria which causes Listeriosis foodborne illness, often causes food poisoning victims to suffer fever, muscle pain, and nausea or diarrhea. On occasion, the Listeria bacteria can spread to an individual’s nervous system. In these cases, Listeria will cause a headache, stiff neck, confusion, vertigo, or seizures. Raw foods, including unpasteurized milk can be a source... [more]

An Idaho Correctional Center (south of Boise) has found E. coli bacteria in the water supply. It appears that the E. coli bacteria have forced the Idaho Correctional Center to boil water in order to prevent the spread of E. coli illnesses. E. coli is not only a foodborne illness. E. coli can also be a waterborne illness. An individual who drinks E. coli contaminated water or a beverage made with water... [more]

What if it didn’t take 48 hours to determine if a food sample was contaminated with harmful E. coli bacteria? What if instead, it only took one hour? That is what scientists at Purdue University are working towards and may have actually succeeded. The recent ground beef recall  from Cargill Meat Solutions could have benefitted from such speedy E. coli detection methods. As of right now, three individuals... [more]

Salmonella has made headlines lately. With over 550 million eggs recalled and a nationwide investigation linked to restaurants and egg farms, few consumers will ever forget the Salmonella outbreak of 2010. While Salmonella is a devastating illness which inflicts diarrhea and nausea upon its victims, it is not the only foodborne illness. While the media focuses intensely on Wright County Egg and Hillandale... [more]

No one is surpised that when you mix sewage contaminated water and food, someone is bound to get sick. It appears that 24 customers at a pizza restaurant got more than they bargained for after dining out. Because E. coli bacteria managed to travel into a water well used by Fralo’s Art of Pizza in Leon Springs, Texas, some of the patron’s turned up with E. coli food poisoning. KENS5 is reporting... [more]

At the end of last week, several possible Salmonella illnesses were being investigated in LaCross Wisconsin. The LaCrosse Tribune reported that Vernon County Health Department and Vernon Memorial Healthcare were investigating several cases which maybe Salmonella related. Given the current voluminous Salmonella outbreak which has been reported nationwide and the half a billion eggs recalled in relation... [more]

Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Mississippi residents have been contending with the current Salmonella enteritidis outbreak just like the remainder of the country. Residents of the Gulf South Region have been on the lookout for recalled eggs. These same consumers have followed the Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms recalls and wondered why this would happen.   The departments of agriculture and... [more]

  With all the negative news currently inundating the airwaves and internet, it is nice to hear some positive news regarding one university’s fight against foodborne illness, specifically Salmonella enteritidis. Penn State has over twenty years searching for solutions to prevent food poisoning related to Salmonella enteritidis. During the early 1990’s, Penn State researchers began utilizing flock... [more]