Eat Healthy – But Safely, Too

If you’re trying to eat better with the aim of improving your health or losing some pounds, that’s great. But besides the health benefits of food, you also need to monitor the safety of what you eat. And that holds true as well when the food isn’t considered healthy. Here, Stop Foodborne Illness, a nonprofit… Continue reading Eat Healthy – But Safely, Too

The Most Dangerous Foods

We’re all familiar with reports of foodborne illness and governments alerts to avoid a particular food until the problem is solved. But which categories of food are the source of most illnesses? To find out, the federal Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC) compiled statistics related to four of the most serious bacteria: Salmonella, Escherichhia… Continue reading The Most Dangerous Foods

One in Ten Parents Say Their Child Has Gotten Sick from Spoiled or Contaminated Food

One in ten parents say their child has become sick from contaminated food, with restaurants being the worst culprits, according to new research. Few parents are using some simple strategies to protect kids from food poisoning outside the home, such as at a potluck or restaurant, according to a new report from C.S. Mott Children’s… Continue reading One in Ten Parents Say Their Child Has Gotten Sick from Spoiled or Contaminated Food

Raw Dough Can Be A Raw Deal

Do you find it hard to resist gobbling up a piece of raw dough when making cookies, or letting your grandkids scrape the bowl? Do children in your family use raw dough to make ornaments or homemade “play” clay? If your answer to any of those questions is yes, that could be a problem. Eating… Continue reading Raw Dough Can Be A Raw Deal

In Search of a Good Egg

What makes a good egg? Cage-free. All natural. Antibiotic-free. Pasture-raised. What’s the difference? With the myriad eye-grabbing copy printed on egg cartons, it can be hard to parse health benefit from marketing ploy. While some of the nomenclature is part of highly regulated government certifications, much is subject to minimal scrutiny… giving an illusion of… Continue reading In Search of a Good Egg

Spices and Salmonella

When it comes to food safety, we tend to think about improperly cooked or stored food. But there is a risk from another source: spices commonly found in stores. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been monitoring the safety of spices, focusing on the presence of Salmonella. Here, the agency answers some frequently… Continue reading Spices and Salmonella

Better Treatment for Listeria?

Researchers have discovered that the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes grows on refrigerated smoked salmon via a different pathway than had been known to do in the laboratory. The research could lead to reduced incidences of food-borne illness and death, said principal investigator Teresa Bergholz, PhD., of  North Dakota State University, Fargo. The study appears July 24… Continue reading Better Treatment for Listeria?

Pet-Transmitted Diseases: How to Avoid Them

Researchers are now making recommendations on how people can minimize the transmission of disease from pets. Investigators from The Ohio State University and partner institutions have compiled information for more than 500 studies worldwide to make the recommendations. The study was published in CMAJ, The Canadian Medical Association Journal. Among the nearly 20 diseases people… Continue reading Pet-Transmitted Diseases: How to Avoid Them

What You Need to Know about Listeria

Although you might be more familiar with food-borne bugs like salmonella and e. coli, listeria is an even more dangerous bacteria that causes the illness listeriosis. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), listeria causes an estimated 260 deaths; in 2011, the CDC says, it caused an estimated 33 deaths in 28 states… Continue reading What You Need to Know about Listeria