Thread: McDonald's Pulls Sliced Tomatoes From Menu

McDonald's Pulls Sliced Tomatoes From Menu
Salmonella Outbreak Prompts Concern
June 9, 2008

NEWTON, Mass. -- Hold the tomatoes. Signs posted at franchises in Newton and around the country advise customers that the fast-food outlet has temporarily removed sliced tomatoes from its menu, after a Food and Drug Administration advisory warned of a salmonella outbreak.

The sign read that McDonald's "hasn't experienced any related negative issues to date, but consider this a precautionary measure."

Salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has spread to 16 states, federal health officials said.

McDonald's has removed tomatoes from its sandwiches. Spokeswoman Danya Proud said McDonald's will continue to serve grape tomatoes in its salads because no problems have been linked to that variety.

The source of the tomatoes responsible has not been pinpointed. The illnesses began between April 16 and May 27, Arleen Porcell, a Centers for Disease Control spokeswoman said.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, particularly in young children, sick and elderly people.

About 150 people have been sickened by the salmonella "Saintpaul" infection in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, the CDC reported.

Common symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/mostpop ... etail.html

This whole thing with unsafe food is really getting disgusting.....not to mention expensive to keep tossing. Oh yes....eat fresh fruits and vegetables for your health.....that is if it doesn't kill you first.

The first thought I had when they mentioned salmonella was "uncured" chicken manure on the fields.

to my knowledge, in order to use any manure, it must sit for a long period of time to allow it to become safe to use.

I am not sure if this can come from human hands, even if they were unwashed.

Yet, it is still so frustrating that every time we turn around, there is another product being pulled and making people sick.

I went to Taco Bell on Sunday and they had no tomatoes too!

W

The first thought I had when they mentioned salmonella was "uncured" chicken manure on the fields.

Hmmm.......I didn't know that. The chicken farm I worked at spread manure all the time. They cleared the pits about every 3 days and it went straight out to fields. Around the area I lived it was corn for feed, alfalfa, and hay mostly......can't think of anything except soy beans and an occational mustard field that might have gone to human consumption and I'm not even sure about the soy for sure. Maybe it was for feed as well.......it was major cow country. But I worry here. We got our water report and it's present there. Not in big quantities, but with it in our water well for the subdivision and all having septic tanks and not city sewers, I wonder how safe it is at times.

Too many washed and bagged veggies and fruits,etc. are having these contamination issues. More mechanization, less human handling and appropriate washing and sanitation measures will lessen this frequency.

Lemons, when cut and available in the public often harbor fecal matter from employees hands while handling the lemons for our drinks. Obviously, this means not sufficient hand washing.

Romans 5:8

Especially since this case seems to be in the product, not something on the ouside that can be washed away.

When it is on the inside, somewhere in the growing process or formation process forward as you mention crazybird, that is the alarming part. Washing won't help that.

Here is something that will immediately change how we handle pet food.

(quote)

Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Dry Dog Food

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
Wednesday, May 21, 2008; 12:00 AM

WEDNESDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) -- An outbreak of human Salmonella infection, which occurred as far back as 2006, has been traced to contaminated dry dog food, the first time such a link has been uncovered, according to U.S. officials.

And, Salmonella infections in humans from dry dog food may be an under-recognized source of illness in people, especially young children, officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

"This is the first time human illness has been linked to dry dog food," said CDC epidemiologist Dr. Casey Barton Behravesh, who co-authored a report on the finding.

The CDC isn't sure how the Salmonella bacteria got into the dog food, Barton Behravesh said. "There are a number of possible ways that that could happen, and that's something we are still trying to figure out," she said, adding that there have been previous cases of people contracting Salmonella infection from contaminated pet treats.

The incidents of people becoming infected with Salmonella from dry dog food occurred in 2006 and 2007. An estimated 70 people, mostly in the Northeast, were infected by dog food produced by Mars Petcare at its Pennsylvania plant. About 40 percent of those infections involved infants, according to the report, published in the May 16 issue of the CDC'sMorbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Most of the cases occurred in Pennsylvania (29), New York (nine) and Ohio (seven). There were also reported cases in Alabama, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, North Carolina and Virginia.

Among the 61 people whose ages were available, the median age was 3 years, and 24 were less than 1 year old. Of the 38 people for whom clinical information was available, 15 (39 percent) had bloody diarrhea. For the 45 persons whose hospitalization status was known, 11 (24 percent) had to be hospitalized. No deaths were reported, according to the report.

No pets became ill. However, Salmonella was identified in feces samples from dogs that ate the dry food. In addition, Salmonella was found in open bags of the pet food fed to the dogs and in unopened bags of dog food made in the Pennsylvania plant, the CDC said.

Mars Petcare voluntarily recalled some bags of the two brands of food involved, but neither of the recalled brands was related to human illness, the CDC said.

Infection with the Salmonella bacteria produces an illness called salmonellosis. According to the CDC, most infected people develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps within 12 to 72 hours. The illness typically lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment. But, for some, the diarrhea may be so severe that they need to be hospitalized. In these patients, the infection can spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other parts of the body, leading to death unless antibiotics are administered promptly. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness.

Salmonella infection typically comes from undercooked eggs, poultry, or meat, but can also result from direct contact with farm animals, reptiles and pets. To prevent infection, the CDC recommends washing your hands immediately after handling the food, including dry dog food.

"The most important thing is to wash your hands right after you handle any dry dog food, any other pet food, pet treats, even supplements or vitamins," Barton Behravesh said. "In addition, keep infants and other young children away from pet food, because kids tend to want to see what their dogs are eating and grab at the pet food and play with it or even put it in their mouth."

One expert thinks contamination of pet food is likely to become more commonplace.

"There have been problems with pet foods before," said Dr. Pascal James Imperato, chairman of the department of preventive medicine and community health at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in New York City.

"If the food had any animal product in it, there could have been contamination, or if it was being processed in a plant where they were also processing animal product, then contamination can easily occur," he said.

Imperato said the way food is produced makes it more likely that contamination will occur.

"There is greater industrialization of the production of food products, both for humans and animals, and these are complex processing systems. Therefore, there is greater opportunity for contamination," Imperato said. "We are likely to see many more of these problems."

More information

For more on salmonella, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCES: Casey Barton Behravesh, D.V.M., Dr.P.H., epidemiologist, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta; Pascal James Imperato, M.D., chairman, department of preventive medicine and community health, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, New York City; May 16, 2008,Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

(quote)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02363.html

Romans 5:8

I read that as well......it's scarey. My dog for some reason will just not eat it. He'll kill a bird and eat without a thought ,but he scans the dog food now with much more care.. They seem to know when it's unsafe.

Crazybird, I have a cat like that....no wait, he's just picky. Nevermind!!

Anyways, they do seem to know when food is not right for the most part, and may have a lot to do with their breeds too, some have very heightened sense of smell.

Also Crazybird, I spoke with a friend who also had grown up around chickens and other fowl, and her mother would use the hay that was in their pens, but she would let it sit like a compost pile, stir it around with other garden clippings and then after one year use it. She used to lecture about not using it before one years time.

We never had chickens, so personally, I would not know, just from living around people who did out where we lived.