Food Contamination And Poisoning

An outbreak of E. coli illness linked to a California company's unpasteurized apple juice claimed its first fatality Friday with the death of a 15-month-old Colorado girl. Anna Gimmestad, an only child, died at Children's Hospital in Denver after a two-week battle with kidney failure, known to be a complication of an especially virulent bacterial strain known as E. coli O157:H7. The child's parents, from Greeley, Colo., said the child had consumed fruit "smoothies" made by Odwalla Inc.

Health officials have recalled more than a ton of Greenbank Farms raw-milk cheese, which they said was contaminated with a potentially life-threatening bacteria. Food and Drug Administration officials said the recall of Greenbank Farms sharp cheddar cheese distributed in California and Washington has been given the department's highest priority because of the life-threatening potential of the bacteria, listeria monocytogenes.

Consumers in Japan are unknowingly eating dolphin and porpoise-- marketed as whale meat--that contain dangerously high levels of mercury and other contaminants, according to new research by a Harvard University biologist. The scientist who discovered the contamination feels so strongly about the health threat that he took the unusual step last week of writing a letter to top Japanese officials calling for public warnings and an immediate ban on sales of the contaminated meat.

Jars of Gerber baby food again were yanked from the shelves of an Irvine grocery store after a customer reported finding a note in one container saying it had been poisoned, police said Thursday. It was the second incident in less than a month in which parents feeding their babies have discovered a threatening note in a jar of Gerber banana yogurt dessert, said spokesman Lt. Jeff Love of the Irvine Police Department. Stores throughout the city have been warned about possible tampering.

A senior Coca-Cola executive Sunday confessed that the company had mishandled the scare over contaminated products in Belgium and France, which led to the biggest recall in the U.S. soft drink giant's history. "I admit we perhaps lost control of the situation to a certain extent," Philippe Lenfant, director-general of bottling division Coca-Cola Enterprises, told Belgium's RTBF television.

Try searching for a culprit in the 90 brands caught up in the recent recall of canned chili, stew and other products, and you weave back to a single manufacturer. That also was the case in recalls of spinach, pet food and frozen meat. Companies increasingly are paying others to make the foods we eat -- or the ingredients in them -- and then selling it under multiple brand names. And that has prompted a growing debate about food safety.

Federal investigators found a decaying rat inside a Diet Pepsi can sold in Orange County, but decided to close the case without issuing warnings to Pepsi-Cola or to the public, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed Wednesday, An FDA spokeswoman said that it was not known how the rat got in the can and that the July incident seemed to be "isolated."

From Bel-Air to Holmby Hills it was hard to get a cup of coffee Thursday. Stan's Donuts had to use bottled water to make its famous doughnuts. And Noah's Bagels was forced to sell non-bagel sandwiches. And so it went, as a warning over possible water contamination sent coffee shop owners, hoteliers and residents on Los Angeles' Westside scrambling to find other ways to satisfy their breakfast needs.

Recalling the muckraking food-industry exposes of almost a century ago, President Clinton on Saturday announced a new system for guarding against deadly bacteria in meat and poultry by relying more on scientific testing and less on the touch, sight and smell of federal inspectors. The responsibility for designing and implementing the new system--and its eventual cost of perhaps $100 million a year--will fall mainly on private industry.