Annual English deaths due to listeria have doubled during the decade and one metropolitan borough is trying to do something about it by targeting pensioners in a campaign warning about the dangers of ready-to-eat meats.
Two of England’s 161 deaths by listeria last year were of Kirklees residents. Listeria deaths in 2000 throughout England totaled
The special hearings on the state of food safety in Canada –called after people consumed meat contaminated with listeria last summer from a Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto, resulting in the death of 22 Canadians—continue up north.
Latest to weigh in with their opinions are Canada’s meat inspectors.
According to the Vancouver Sun
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “is currently conducting a risk analysis of the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes in foods like dairy products, deli meats and fresh produce, and has encouraged raw milk cheesemakers to contribute data to the study. Their conclusions could vindicate or signal the end of raw milk cheese production.”
So says
In case anybody was wondering, political tactics remain the same world-wide. In the United States, President Obama is still blaming President Bush for most anything that might stick. In Canada, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz of the Conservative government in Ottawa just blamed a 2005 decision by the previous Liberal government for last year’s
We love Canada and the UK. After every major outbreak, there is always some high level inquiry or royal commission to hear from. This time, its Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, making the report on the listeria outbreak blamed on the meat cutting machinery at Maple Leaf Foods Toronto plant.
Dr.
Since August 2008 twenty-one Canadians have died after eating Maple Leaf deli meats contaminated with Listeria. We all watched in horror as the worst food safety crisis in modern Canadian history rolled across the country.
There are six different kinds of Listeria. Five of them are harmless. The sixth, called Listeria monocytogenes is
According to the Spokane Newspaper, Washington State health investigators are still attempting to solve several cases of food-borne infections that have caused several pregnant women to lose their babies since January.
They suspect the women in Yakima, Klickitat and King counties ate unpasteurized cheese that was contaminated with listeria bacteria. Listeria is often found
Dr. David Williams, Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health, said the listeria outbreak associated with
Maple Leaf food products is over.
The date of onset of illness of the last individual associated with the outbreak was September 26.
Laboratory results for any listeria cases were monitored until November 26 since the incubation period for
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The Okanagan region of southeast British Columbia is a long way from the Maple Leaf Foods ready-to-eat meat processing plant outside Toronto.
Nevertheless, an elderly Okanagan woman’s death in September was blamed on the national outbreak of listeria that was blamed on Maple Leaf. It was one of at least 20 deaths linked to the
The Georgia Department of Agriculture is warning the public and advising the U.S. Department of Agriculture that some Zeigler Wieners are contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
State food scientists found the listeria in a sample of the wieners.
The contamination was found in a 12-ounce package of Zeigler chicken and pork wieners marked CI USE BY