Food Contamination And Poisoning

Melamine in Chinese-produced milk powder has sickened hundreds of thousands of children and added to a growing list of made-in-China foods banned across the globe. Now, some scientists and consumer advocates are raising concerns that fish from China may also be contaminated with the industrial chemical. China is the world's largest producer of farm-raised seafood, exporting billions of dollars worth of shrimp, catfish, tilapia, salmon and other fish. The U.S.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans on Monday to overhaul its efforts to safeguard drinking water and to tighten restrictions on four waterborne compounds that can cause cancer. Officials said the steps would help regulators identify new contaminants faster and move quickly with new technologies to prevent harm to consumers. Environmentalists expressed hope that the moves will break a regulatory logjam at the EPA, which has not listed a new water contaminant for regulation in more than a decade.

A malfunctioning cleaning system in a Los Angeles milk production plant probably accelerated bacterial growth in a tank of nonfat milk, state officials said Friday, which caused about 100 people to fall ill and led to the voluntary recall of the milk. Officials of Vons Companies Inc., however, said there was no connection between the cleaning system and the spoiled milk.

Tea parties aren't the only place you'll hear grumbling these days about the imposition of a "nanny state." Just take a seat in any Louisiana oyster bar. On a recent weeknight, Paul Stahls had just polished off a plate of raw oysters on the half-shell at Casamento's Restaurant, one of New Orleans' beloved seafood joints. He worried whether this culinary experience, so deeply ingrained in Louisiana culture, might be threatened by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration crackdown. "Are you truly going to tell me that I can't have a raw oyster?"

The Klaus family has lived the fast-food industry's nightmare: people getting sick from E. coli. A few days after picking up a dinner of hamburgers and chicken nuggets at a Wendy's drive-in, the Salem, Ore., family received a call from county health inspectors inquiring whether they had eaten food from the chain. JoAnn Klaus already knew something was wrong: Her 4-year-old son, Evan, was hospitalized with diarrhea and dehydration, and 23-month-old Scott had similar symptoms.

The Food and Drug Administration and state health authorities warned consumers Friday not to eat any flavors of White Rabbit candy imported from China because they may be contaminated with the chemical melamine. The California Department of Public Health specifically identified White Rabbit candies imported and distributed by Queensway Foods Co. of Burlingame, Calif. Queensway is voluntarily recalling the chewy sweets after state testing detected melamine in some pieces.

Salmon raised in ocean feedlots, the main source of supply for American consumers, contains such high levels of PCBs, dioxins and other toxic chemicals that people should not eat it more than once a month, according to an extensive study reported today in the journal Science. The study, which has triggered heated protests from the industry, focused on commercially raised salmon in both the Atlantic and Pacific.

If you want to get rid of a pest, why not use a littler pest to plague it? That's the tack OKd last week by the Food and Drug Administration, which has for the first time approved the use of bacteria-eating viruses as an additive to foods. From now on, these viruses -- known as bacteriophage or phage -- can be sprayed on ready-to-eat cold cuts and luncheon meats by manufacturers to prevent listeriosis, the most deadly of all food-borne illnesses in this country.

My eyes popped open sometime after midnight and I knew I was in trouble. This was not a typical bellyache. It radiated from my gut. Whatever it was, I could feel it in my toes. I tossed about, trying helplessly to fall back asleep. Beads of sweat rose suddenly on my forehead. A sharp chill hit me. My teeth clattered, my body shuddered. Then things got bad. I bolted for the bathroom.

A Van Nuys High School senior was suspended Friday for five days and faces expulsion for allegedly giving two female students a pie that may have been tainted with a laxative, school authorities said. The male student, whose name was not released because he is a minor, was arrested earlier this week but no charges will be filed against him, said Los Angeles Unified School District officials.

A Northern California grocery chain has recalled cantaloupes sold in its stores after detecting salmonella in the fruit during routine testing. Raley's, a chain centered in the Sacramento area but with locations as far south as Salinas and in Nevada, has voluntarily recalled 1,120 cartons of Del Monte whole cantaloupes because of possible contamination. The store said cantaloupes currently on its shelves are not affected. The chain operates grocery stores under the names Raley's, Bel Air, Nob Hill and Food Sources.

A Culver City company's alfalfa sprouts were recalled Wednesday by the California Department of Public Health because of possible salmonella contamination. Agency Director Mark Horton warned consumers not to eat certain Kowalke Organics alfalfa products with sell-by dates June 18 to June 30. The items were sold at Southern California Gelson's and Whole Foods Market grocery stores.

There's a toll to eating raw cookie dough. The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told consumers Friday not to eat prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough because the products may be contaminated with a potentially deadly form of E. coli. Since March, at least 66 people in 28 states have gotten sick after eating the dough. The FDA and Nestle didn't identify the states.

Food safety inspectors say managers of a Central California plant at the center of a salmonella scare knew some of its pistachios were tainted but continued shipping nuts for six more months. The Food and Drug Administration issued a sweeping national warning in March for consumers to avoid eating pistachios after concerns surfaced about nuts from Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc.

Supermarkets pulled pistachios and some pistachio-laden foods from their shelves Tuesday, moves resulting from this week's Food and Drug Administration warning to consumers not to eat the nuts because they could be tainted with salmonella. The FDA is scrambling to prevent a repeat of a recent salmonella outbreak from peanuts that has sickened more than 690 people in 46 states.

Federal food safety officials warned Monday that consumers should stop eating all foods containing pistachios while they determine the source of a possible salmonella contamination. Still reeling from the national salmonella outbreak in peanuts, the Food and Drug Administration said central California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the nation's second-largest pistachio processor, was voluntarily recalling a portion of the roasted nuts it has been shipping since last fall.

At least seven Marina High School students, including five drill team members, were recovering Thursday after they unknowingly chewed LSD-laced bubble gum that had been given to them by other students, parents and authorities said. Several law enforcement officials said it was the first time they had heard of chewing gum used to transmit drugs. But some students on campus said that lacing bubble gum with LSD, or "acid," is a new fad. Police said the episode began Tuesday about 10 p.m.

Taco Bell fired its produce provider in the Northeastern states after green onions supplied by the company were suspected in an E. coli outbreak believed to have sickened more than 160 people, company officials said Saturday. The Irvine-based Mexican food chain also said that it had tested more than 150 ingredients from its restaurants and, with the exception of a preliminary positive result for green onions, everything was contamination-free.

With more food recalls happening weekly, consumer advocates, supermarket chains and legislators are exploring better ways to stop the sale of tainted food, and one plan under discussion by lawmakers in Sacramento involves using supermarket checkout scanners to help. Programming supermarket computers to trigger an alert every time a recalled product is scanned at the checkout counter could be an easy way to better protect shoppers from buying and eating tainted foods, consumer groups say.

For months, courts across China refused to accept the lawsuits from families whose children were killed or sickened by tainted milk. Now, in a turnaround, hundreds of families are planning to file suit after the country's highest court said this week that cases would be accepted.