05.mar.07
The Enquirer (OH)
Peggy O’Farrell
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007303050044
Hamilton County restaurant inspections have, according to this story, entered the digital age.
Health Commissioner Tim Ingram was cited as saying today that consumers will be able to access restaurant inspections online starting this summer through the health district’s Web site, www.hamiltoncountyhealth.org, and the information should be available online by August.

06.mar.07
Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-allergy/AA00067
Although there is no surefire way to prevent your child from developing a food allergy, introducing foods at the right age may help. Experts still need to do more studies to find out exactly what works best, but here are some steps you can take:
Avoid peanuts during pregnancy and while nursing. Eating peanuts during pregnancy and while breast feeding may increase your child's risk for developing a peanut allergy and other allergies — especially if you have a family history of allergies.

05.mar.07
ConsumerAffairs.com
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/03/peanut_butter_notthefirst.html
While the Peter Pan/Great Value peanut butter episode took most consumers -- and, seemingly, most food safety regulators -- by surprise, it was nothing new to Sanford Bass, a Topeka, Kansas, retiree.
As Bass remembers it, the first Peter Pan peanut butter salmonella outbreak occurred back in 1971 or 1972. He was then working for Derby Foods, a division of Swift & Co., in Chicago.

04.mar.07
Washington Post
Rick Weiss
The U.S. government is, according to this story, on track to approve a new antibiotic to treat a pneumonia-like disease in cattle, despite warnings from health groups and a majority of the agency's own expert advisers that the decision will be dangerous for people.
The drug, called cefquinome, belongs to a class of highly potent antibiotics that are among medicine's last defenses against several serious human infections. No drug from that class has been approved in the United States for use in animals.
The American Medical Association and about a dozen other health groups warned the Food and Drug Administration that giving cefquinome to animals would probably speed the emergence of microbes resistant to that important class of antibiotics, as has happened with other drugs. Those super-microbes could then spread to people.

05.mar.07
Times-News (ID)
Steve Crump
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2007/03/05/features/image/107524.txt
TWIN FALLS -- Scott Martin, professor of food microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was quoted as saying in this story that, "Ninety percent of sparrows carry salmonella. If a sparrow defecates when it's flying over a field, you're potentially at risk of salmonella if you eat something grown in that field."
Tom Shanahan, spokesman for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, was quoted as saying, "(Food-borne illnesses from) spinach, peanut butter and strawberries - none have been prevented by the consumer. They were contaminated before they reached the consumer. There is public sentiment building that we need better national food oversight to ensure food safety."

28.feb.07
Associated Press/New York Times
LOS ANGELES -- Health officials were cited as saying Tuesday that an employee of Wolfgang Puck Catering diagnosed with the hepatitis A virus may have exposed guests at several events, including Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue party.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health was cited as saying the risk of illness was "quite low," but anyone who ate raw food at the magazine's Feb. 14 party was urged to receive a preventive shot by Wednesday.
Carl Schuster, president of Wolfgang Puck Catering, was quoted as saying, "We immediately worked to take every precaution to further safeguard our patrons and other employees."

28.feb.07
KLTV 7 News
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6152338
So far we've met eight East Texas women who say they take their purses everywhere.
They agreed to let us take a culture swab of the outsides, which were sent to the microbiology lab at UT Health Center at Tyler.
Dr. Richard Wallace who specializes in infectious diseases was quoted as saying, "The technician that prepared these plates said she'd never cleaned her purse. And she took one look at them and said she wanted to go home and clean her purse."
Consistently found on most of the purses is bacteria categorized as gram negative rods.

28.feb.07
49 ABC News
http://www.49abcnews.com/news/2007/feb/27/peanut_butter_recall_causes_backlog_postal_workers/
The peanut butter recall is, according to this story, clogging up the works at a Nebraska post office.
The post office in Omaha, Nebr. is dealing with a massive amount of mail containing lids from recalled peanut butter on their way back to ConAgra, a Nebraska-based company.
At least 12 bins of packages containing lids came from people all over the country looking for a refund from the company.
ConAgra initially told consumers to mail lids in for a refund.
The company has since announced that you can just take the jar back to the grocery store for a refund.

27.feb.07
New York Times
Alexei Barrionuevo
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/business/27bees.html
VISALIA, Calif. -- In 24 states throughout the U.S., beekeepers have discovered their bees disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation’s most profitable.
The story says that the sudden mysterious losses are highlighting the critical link that honeybees play in the long chain that gets fruit and vegetables to supermarkets and dinner tables across the country.

27.feb.07
Canton Repository (OH)
J.M. Hirsch, Associated Press
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=338706
When it comes to motivating people to wash their produce before eating it, visuals, according to this story, seem to help.
Potatoes, for instance. No food safety argument is needed when dirt is that easy to see and feel. But how about tomatoes and apples, which arrive at the grocer flawless and shiny? And bananas and watermelons, the skins and rinds of which you'll never eat?
Getting people to wash those just takes a different sort of visual.
Ann Zander, a food safety expert with the Colorado State University Extension, was quoted as saying, "Probably 100 people handled that banana before you did. If you have somebody who hasn't washed his hands after the bathroom or has the flu, that's all over it."