That's Fit

Anyone who was scared off greens after the massive spinach recall two years ago might find themselves eating a big spinach salad soon. The FDA is allowing spinach and lettuce manufacturers to irradiate their products before they hit grocery store shelves. Irradiation, which is the process of exposing an object to radiation, kills dangerous bacteria like E. coli, salmonella, and listeria.

Irradiation won't sterilize the greens, but the FDA is hoping it will drastically reduce the risk of outbreaks like the one that killed four people in 2006. But critics wonder if irradiation is the answer. I worry that steps like this one will lull consumers into believing that the problems with our food safety have been fixed, and that it takes the focus away from farming and manufacturing processes that put us at risk in the first place.

It's not clear from the article whether irradiated spinach and greens will be labeled. Some people worry about the long-term health effects of eating irradiated foods, but the FDA assures consumers that there is no radiation left behind, nor does the process affect taste, texture, or nutritional value. What do you think?

A friend of my mom's has been sick for weeks, with a case of possible salmonella poisoning. The culprit, she thinks, are the peppers she put on her build-your-own salad at a local restaurant. I'm not sure what kinds of peppers are to blame for her illness but I do know this: government inspectors have just issued a strong warning to consumers not to eat jalapenos, or fresh salsa made from them.

The warning comes as a result of one single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper found in Texas. This discovery, say officials, is the equivalent of a fingerprint. Still, it's cause for worry.

Perhaps the tainted pepper came straight from a farm, a plant, a packing house. It's all pretty unclear. But those involved realize the need to iron out the details of this scare soon, as parts of the country are entering prime hot pepper season.

After all but taking down the tomato industry with their recent recall, the FDA has yet to find the culprit of the current salmonella outbreak. Now they're turning their attention to foods like hot peppers and cilantro, noting that it might not be tomatoes themselves, but a food that is commonly eaten with tomatoes.

With the number of people who have fallen ill quickly approaching 1,000, it's clear that an answer needs to be found soon. The FDA has been focusing on tomatoes coming from Mexico, but they've yet to pinpoint a source.

For more on this outbreak, and for information on what specific foods to avoid, visit the FDA's website.

Yesterday, I saw some tomatoes back in circulation. Could it be? Are they back? Some of them are.

According to a June 11 notice issued by the FDA, consumers can now consume raw red plum, raw red Roma, or raw red round tomatoes -- but ONLY if grown and harvested from certain areas that have not been associated with the outbreak. My state -- Florida -- happens to be one of these areas, which is why they are resurfacing here in the Sunshine State. Take a look at this list and see if your state makes the cut. Types of tomatoes not linked to any illnesses are cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and any tomato with the vine still attached.

The FDA also wants you to know this: If you are unsure of where the tomatoes you have in your home are from, contact the store or place of purchase for that information. If you are unable to determine the source of the tomatoes, do not eat them. And don't forget that raw tomatoes are often used in the preparation of fresh salsa, guacamole, and pico de gallo, are part of fillings for tortillas, and are used in other dishes.

Surely, you know by now that tomatoes are a no-go. Well, some of them, anyway. I admit I was in the dark at first and didn't know of the whole tomato salmonella outbreak until I tried to order a salad at a restaurant and was told there was not a single tomato in the establishment. Bummer for me -- I rely on juicy items like tomatoes to take the place of dressing on my salads. Forgetting about the trouble with tomatoes, I tried to order them again today on my kid's chicken burrito. Nope. No tomatoes. No salsa. Nothing of the sort.

So, what's up with the trusty tomato lately? According to this washingtonpost.com post, here's the deal: On June 8, the FDA issued a broad warning, telling consumers not to eat raw Roma, red plum, or red round tomatoes. Don't eat products containing these types of raw red tomatoes either, unless the tomatoes are from California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands, and Puerto Rico. Also safe: Cherry, grape, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached.

For an updated list of safe tomato sources and other important and ever-changing information, keep checking back here. And until tomatoes are clearly in the clear, please eat safely.

When I was young, we had a German Short-haired Pointer and it was my job to feed him one night. I came back in the house and made a slightly strange comment about the dog's food smelling kind of good. My brother -- prankster that he is -- dared me to eat some of it. I flat out refused. But he had the dog-food-eating bug by then so he grabbed a handful for himself. The thought of that still grosses me out. For good reason.

A recent outbreak of salmonella has been traced to the handling of dry dog food. This is the first time a link between dog food and human disease has been discovered. Approximately 70 people contracted salmonella from dry dog food produced by Mars Petcare's Pennsylvania plant. No dogs were reported to have contracted the illness. Many of the people who contracted salmonella from dog food were three years old or younger.

Malt-O-Meal has recalled two of its cereals after 23 people have fallen ill with salmonella. The Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat cereals are sold under several different brand names: Malt-O-Meal, Acme, America's Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannford, Jewel, Laura Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw's, ShopRite, Tops, and Weis Quality. (See actual packaging here.)

The cereals are stamped with "use by" dates of April 8, 2008 (APR0808) to March 18, 2009 (MAR1809). If you have them in your cupboards, the FDA recommends that you throw them out.

Salmonella can cause nausea, cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. It can be serious in young children, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems.

Many moons ago I was fresh out of college and working at my first "real" job. The department I worked in had a potluck to celebrate some random event. Everyone brought in food, the boss had a few bigger items catered, and we all had a great time. (We usually did. It was an incredibly fun place to work.) The next morning I walked in to the office and there was barely anyone in my department. In fact, all the cubicles next to me were deserted. I wandered around and finally found six other co-workers. The other 30 some people in my department had called in sick. Seriously. In a department of more than 40 people, only six of us weren't ill.

A few days later (after the rest of the staff had recuperated) we all compared notes. The six people who hadn't gotten sick were the only ones who hadn't eaten any of the giant catered sub sandwich. From that moment on, that sandwich was not-so-fondly referred to as the "salmonella sub."

Food poisoning is an unfortunately common occurrence. Rates of foodborne illnesses had declined for many years but, since 2004, they've remained steady. The CDC had aimed to greatly lower the level of such illnesses by 2010, but the stall in the decline is making that goal seem more difficult. CDC representatives say that we need to take greater measures with food safety. In 2007 there were more than 17,000 confirmed cases of foodborne infections.

My very, very favorite fruit of summer is the cantaloupe. It's sweet, juicy heaven. The only problem is, in my neck of the woods, cantaloupes are only in season for a few weeks every year. The rest of the year, they are imported from some far off country, which is why I only eat them in the summertime.

If you've had a cantaloupe recently and it's too cold outside for it to have been grown locally, you might want to take a look at the label before you eat it. Cantaloupes grown by a Honduras manufacturer have been recalled because they may be contaminated with salmonella. If your cantaloupe was grown in Honduras, you should throw it away.

Cantaloupes aren't very acidic, so they can be prone to contamination. To protect yourself, make sure you choose melons that are firm and unbruised. Scrub the melon under cool water with a brush before cutting, and refrigerate any leftover cut portions within two hours.

Bright shades of pink, purple, yellow and green make a pretty sight in a basket. But be careful if you plan to eat decorated Easter eggs; if handled improperly they can be contaminated with salmonella. Some tips:

• Hard-boil your eggs thoroughly, and cool completely before coloring.
  
• Use a food-quality, non-toxic dye.
• Don't apply color to eggs with any cracks in them.
• Put colored eggs back in the fridge after coloring them; the eggs shouldn't be left out for more than 2 hours before eating.
• If kept chilled, they can be stored for up to 1 week.
• Don't hide real eggs for an egg hunt -- they can be inadvertently exposed to bacteria (and what a stink it would create if you neglected to find one).
  

Or, you can really play it safe and blow out the eggs like I did. That way, you can leave them out as long as you want and even save your masterpieces for another year.

Maybe getting that pet turtle wasn't such a great idea after all.

That's probably what a number of parents are saying after a salmonella outbreak, apparently caused by a popular type of pet turtle, has sickened over 100 people and landed 24 people in the hospital.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that this is the largest outbreak of salmonella on record. The most common symptoms reported to the CDC included bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping, fever and vomiting, and the median age of patients was 7 1/2 .

To read more about this salmonella outbreak, follow this link to an article featured in the Los Angeles Times.

Safeway, one of the larger supermarket chains in the U.S., may have distributed fresh ground beef products to customers in five states that were contaminated with multi-drug resistant Salmonella, said the USDA this week.

The states included in the USDA's report were Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico. The potentially contaminated beef products were sold between September 19 and November 5, 2007.

If you purchased fresh beef products from Safeway in those five states in the listed timeframe above -- and perhaps froze them for later use -- you may want to discard of them safely now.

If not frozen, these products have been consumed by now, of course. Still, those who stockpile fresh meat in those larger freezers, take note.

Another food recall was announced late this week, with authorities announcing that over 5,500 pounds of fresh basil grown in Mexico were being recalled due to a possible salmonella contamination.

Fresh basil is a great way to spice up everyday dishes without using sodium or other undesirable taste enhancers, so it's disenchanting to hear than an actual fresh spice has been recalled.

But, these vegetables are grown just like any other, and sometimes face the same problems with safety. Like the spinach recalls last year and this year, the basil was grown in farms within Mexico's southern Baja California region.

Another food recall this week was announced after salmonella bacteria poisoning became suspect in Banquet brand chicken and turkey pot pies. Additionally, many generic store brands were under the recall as well.

The CDC in Atlanta started investigating the problem early this week after some reports of illnesses last week were tied to the consumption of these pot pie products.

Over 100 sick people were identified and the correlation between them was the el-cheapo, frozen pot pie. Banquet is a discount brand produced by ConAgra Foods, the same company that brought us the wonderful peanut butter recall earlier this year.

Pot pie production was halted this past Tuesday by ConAgra, so perhaps these distasteful products will stay off shelves for at least a little while.

Kraft Foods said this past Wednesday that it is recalling Baker's Premium White Chocolate Baking Squares due to a possible salmonella contamination.

These products are generally used in baking recipes, and include 6-ounce packages with this UPC code:

0043000252200 (and printed with these "best when used by" dates: 31 MAR 2008 XCZ, 01 APR 2008 XCZ, 02 APR 2008 XCZ, 03 APR 2008 XCZ).

Although no illnesses have been reported yet, Kraft recalled over 24,000 cases of the product after FDA testing revealed the presence of salmonella in some of the six-ounce packages.