"food poisoning" news and stories

The world's deadliest dish has struck again.

Blowfish is being blamed for sickening seven diners in northern Japan Tuesday after an unlicensed chef served the poisonous fish -- fugu in Japanese -- at a restaurant in Tsuruoka city.

Three people remained hospitalized Wednesday after they experienced breathing trouble and developed limb paralysis from the sashimi and grilled blowfish testicles, the Associated Press reports.

According to canada.com, it seems that a simple typo in a Swedish magazine led to four people being poisoned. See, a recipe for apple cake was posted, and "Instead of calling for two pinches of nutmeg, it said 20 nutmeg nuts were needed." The error was spotted after printing, letters were sent to subscribers, and inserts were added to store issues. But these warnings didn't reach everyone. One group of people still tried out this horrifically over-nutmegged recipe, and the four suffered poisoning symptoms like dizziness and headaches.

How can anyone choose to make that recipe and not question that amount, or not be turned off by it? One sniff of nutmeg is hint enough that it's way too strong to imagine 20 nuts in one cake. So, even if you don't come to the conclusion that there was a typo, one would think that the recipe would just seem, well, gross. I can only imagine that those who ate it have taste buds that don't measure sickening amounts of nutmeg.

The wonderful benefits of industrial food! According to a recent New York Times article, it turns out that vinegar and a mix of other ingredients make the majority of commercial brands of mayonnaise protect against food spoilage. So, this summer, when you make sandwiches for a picnic, you can use plenty of mayonnaise without wondering whether or not it will cause food to rotten and cause food poisoning.

During the summer, many of us get concerned that in the scorching heat food will turn on us. And so, considering the fact that one of the ingredients in mayonnaise is uncooked egg yolk, it makes perfect sense that we'd assume that mayonnaise can cause diseases, like salmonella. Of course, one needs to differentiate between the mayonnaise you make at home and the one you purchase in the grocery store. But, so long as the eggs are pasteurized and you make sure to use vinegar, another basic mayonnaise ingredient, you will be fine!

So, this summer, do not fret over mayonnaise! Make your own mayonnaise! Foods that cause food poisoning are often made up of low-acid ingredients and involve improper storage and handling.

You're on vacation in Greece when your stomach gives a sudden lurch and you start to suspect that the grilled lamb you ate the night before might not have been as squeaky clean as you thought (this is not a scenario I've ever found myself in, but hey, it could happen). Instead of running out to a pharmacy for the local equivalent of Pepto-Bismol, head to the local cheese shop for a slab of raw milk feta.

According to Panagiotis Chanos, a researcher from the University of Lincoln, they've been able "to isolate lactic acid bacteria found in raw sheep milk from small farms in Macedonia, northern Greece. Several of these friendly bacteria naturally produce antibiotics that killed off dangerous food-poisoning bacteria like Listeria."

They are hoping to take this research and leverage it into new ways to fight Listeria, as it has been known to cause death in populations who have weakened immune systems.

[via The Grinder]

Source

Seventeen visitors to the Taste of Chicago food festival have become sick, and officials say that several of them are sick from salmonella poisoning.

All of the sick people ate from the same booth at the show, a booth that served grilled lamb and beef, pomegranate barbecued chicken, baklava, and cucumber salad over hummus. They're not sure how the outbreak occurred, since the festival (which showcases foods from 70 restaurants) was under the supervision of the Health Department. Though I think any festival that lasts 10 days and has that many people eating various foods from 70 different places isn't too easy to monitor.

Three of the 17 were hospitalized.