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Another Touchy Subject

PORKER

Well-known member
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/349263_pesticide30.html?source=mypi

Scroll down the the table in the above link .
 

Choclab

Well-known member
This came from my neck of the woods.....lotta bunny huggers over here....I'm surprized it took them so long to do this in the first place. Oh well.....my oranges are still tasty
 

PORKER

Well-known member
US: Salmonella fertilizer sparks lawsuit, worries over tainted produce
Salmonella has allegedly been found in organic fertilizer, leading to a lawsuit and concerns that the salmonella-tainted fertilizer could contaminate fruits and vegetables being sold to consumers. In a suit filed February 6th in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, the Oceano Packing Company is suing True Organic Products and Western Farm Service for selling fertilizer contaminated by salmonella. The lawsuit came after three unrelated Oceano customers reported finding salmonella in Oceano crops.

True Organic and Western Farm are being sued for negligence, breach of express and implied warranty of fitness, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, unfair competition, and for allegedly violating the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. Adopted as part of the 1990 Farm Bill, the Act states that any agricultural product labeled or represented as 100 percent organic must be produced in accordance with federal guidelines and requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) establish national standards governing the marketing of certain agricultural products as organically produced; assure consumers that organically produced products meet a consistent standard; and facilitate interstate commerce in organically produced fresh and processed food.

According to the lawsuit, salmonella has already been found in crops in which contaminated fertilizer tainted the products. It is unknown if these crops have been released to the public and how many crops were affected. The results are unimaginable given that the tainted fertilizer would likely also contaminate livestock and run-off into water supplies and other crops. The complaint also alleges that Western Farm engaged in criminal conversion and defamed Oceano, that Western Farm representatives entered Oceano’s property in January without permission, removing items, mostly chemicals. The complaint also alleges Western Farm represented to third parties that Oceano does not pay its trade debts in a timely manner.

During the 2007 growing season, Oceano contacted Western Farm, a California company, for its recommendation on a fertilizer. Western recommended a fertilizer known as "true 10-5-2", manufactured by True Organic Products. Oceano, which claims to have conducted its own investigation, states the fertilizer was the source of salmonella contamination.

Salmonellosis is an infection emerging from Salmonella and is usually passed from the feces of people or animals to other people or animals. Most people infected with Salmonellosis develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours following infection. Many different kinds of illnesses can cause these symptoms; determining Salmonella requires laboratory tests to identify the bacteria in the stools of an infected person. Once identified, testing can determine the specific type of Salmonella and which antibiotics treat it. Salmonellosis lasts a week and most people recover without treatment; however, in some, diarrhea may be so severe hospitalization is required and the infection may have spread from the intestines to the blood stream and other body sites. Without treatment, severe cases can result in death. Some bacteria are resistant to antibiotics, largely due to the use of antibiotics to promote the growth of feed animals. A small number of persons infected will develop pains in their joints, irritation of the eyes, and painful urination—a condition called Reiter’s syndrome—which can last for months or years and can lead to chronic arthritis; antibiotic treatment does not make a difference in whether or not the person later develops arthritis.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
2006 E. coli outbreak linked to local farm
BY STACEY SHEPARD, Californian staff writer
e-mail: [email protected] | Friday, Feb 22 2008 11:10 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Feb 22 2008 10:12 PM

Food safety officials have linked a Kern County farm to tainted iceberg lettuce that sickened 81 people in Iowa and Minnesota in late 2006.

Lettuce raised on Wegis Ranch in Buttonwillow and served at Taco John’s restaurants was the source of the large E. coli outbreak, the 16-month federal and state investigation revealed.

The report does not definitively state how the lettuce was contaminated but said water contaminated by manure from two nearby dairies could be a possible source.

Wegis Ranch uses manure water to irrigate some fields where animal feed is grown, according to the report. It said lettuce linked to the E. coli outbreak was grown directly across from two of those fields.

In addition, the ranch’s irrigation system may have allowed manure water to taint freshwater used to irrigate fields where lettuce was grown, the report concluded.

E.coli samples from the ranch and dairies genetically matched the strain found in the tainted lettuce. The dairies were Maya and West Star North.

The investigation was done by the California Department of Public Health’s Food and Drug Branch and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“This latest report tells us once again that our food safety system is dysfunctional,” state Sen. Dean Florez said Friday.

The Shafter Democrat said the report will be the subject of an upcoming hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Food-Borne Illness.

It’s also likely to reinvigorate Florez’s efforts to get tougher food safety regulations enacted after he failed to do so last year.

The senator drafted stricter regulations after another E. coli outbreak in 2006 in which Salinas Valley spinach killed three people and sickened hundreds. They were defeated in a committee chaired by his political foe, Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford.

Parra favored an industry proposal containing self-regulated safety measures.

The E. coli-tainted lettuce was grown at Wegis Ranch before those measures took effect and there have been no food-borne outbreaks since then, said Mike Young, part-owner of the ranch.

Lettuce is no longer grown at the ranch because those measures prohibit leafy greens from being grown close to confined animal facilities like dairies, Young said.

The ranch does grow tomatoes and cucumbers but sends them to processing plants where they’re cooked at temperatures high enough to kill any pathogens.

Young said the report shows food safety agencies don’t know enough about agriculture or E. coli to police the food industry.

“When it takes them 16 months to come out with a report that's inconclusive, it's hard to stomach,” Young said.

Florez disagreed with Young’s assertion that the industry’s self-regulation measures included land-use issues.

“I look forward to hearing testimony at the hearing to clarify this issue,” Florez said.

*** Government sure works SLOW!! Link
http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2008/02/23/after_spinach_scare_fda_calls_for_hand_washing/
 

PORKER

Well-known member
“When it takes them 16 months to come out with a report that's inconclusive, it's hard to stomach,” Young said.
I would say so, since ScoringAg.com would have been able to do a traceback in 3 (THREE) ,seconds or less and saved the government millions and illnesses to customers of Taco John’s restaurants .
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Copyright 2008 Grand Forks Herald

Grand Forks Herald (North Dakota)

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News

March 7, 2008 Friday

STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS

20080307-GF-Cattle-producers-face-another-roadblock-0307



Cattle producers face another roadblock

David Dodds, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.


Mar. 7--Cattle producers in northwest Minnesota now have another headache to contend with because of the recent spate of bovine tuberculosis infections.

Pembina Trail Resource Conservation & Development says that it will not be able to pick up and discard dead animals that have collected on area farms during the winter months because rendering facilities in the state will not accept the carcasses for fear the disease might spread.

Two area counties -- Roseau and Beltrami -- are at the core of 11 bovine tuberculosis infections that have turned up in the state since 2005. Four beef cattle herds in those counties have tested positive for the disease during the past 12 months.

Pembina Trail RC&D has been providing the dead animal service for the past 14 years as well as offsetting some of the cost for producers. It serves producers in seven counties in northwestern Minnesota, including Roseau County, but not Beltrami County.

Shawnn Balstad, Pembina Trail coordinator, said the trucking company that contracts to do the service recently was notified by a rendering facility in Blue Earth, Minn. that it would not allow carcasses from any northwestern Minnesota counties because of the disease.

Another facility, in Long Prairie, Minn., also has indicated it would not be accepting dead animals from the area.

Balstad said a number of attempts were made to get the facilities to reconsider if, for instance, no dead animals were brought in from Roseau County.

"They said, 'no,' they don't want any," Balstad said.

She said that the state may have stepped in and allowed an exception if producers could provide proof that their animals were free of the disease.

But that would cost the producers more money for tests and veterinary expenses.

Last year, program haulers made 51 stops to area producers, disposing of more than 143,000 pounds of dead animals, Balstad said.

"It was a pretty popular program," she said.

The program also was able to divvy about $2,600 among the producers it served to help offset their costs.

Pembina Trail typically has run the program between March 15 and April 15, closer to the onset of spring weather conditions, Balstad said.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Pork products found containing 'Super Bug'

(MEATPOULTRY.com, March 20, 2008)
by Bryan Salvage
TORONTO, CANADA ― Antibiotic-resistant Staph bacteria has been found by Canadian researchers in pork products bought in retail stores throughout that country, according to The Canadian Press.

Less than 10% of sampled pork chops and ground pork that were recently bought in four provinces tested positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, said Dr. Scott Weese, lead researcher, in a presentation given yesterday to the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta. The bacteria would be destroyed by proper cooking, so Staph food poisoning is not a major concern, said Weese, an expert on zoonoses. This confirmed report of MRSA is the first in retail meat in North America and among jsu a few of such reported findings throughout the world.

Mr. Weese was concerned, however, if people handling meat contaminated with MRSA on its surface would end up accidentally "colonizing" themselves. People who carry the bacteria on their skin or in their nostrils are at greater risk of going on to develop a Staph infection, which can range from a hard-to-heal boil to pneumonia to a potentially deadly bloodstream infection, the report said.

But Weese affirmed that it is premature to conclude that MRSA in meat might be playing a role in increasing cases of such infections outside of hospitals and in people who haven’t been taking antibiotics. "It's way too early to say that it does. But we have to look at whether it does."
 
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