There was this one time, Chapman and I went to Australia and New Zealand, and at a dinner in Melbourne, he thought it would be adventurous to order kangaroo.

Tasted like deer.

Now that I live in Brisbane, kangaroo meat is fairly easy to find; I just have no interest in it.

And like any other food, kangaroo is prone to contamination.

ABC reports that three years after Russia banned kangaroo meat after finding high levels of bacterial contamination, animal rights groups say there are still problems with hygiene in supermarket meat.

Some of the tests show high levels of E. coli.

The kangaroo industry says the tests are not scientific and it claims animal rights groups are extremists.

Animal rights groups are using the hygiene issue as a weapon to try and close down the industry, worth $75 million a year.

As part of their campaign, the animal rights groups purchased kangaroo meat for human consumption from Coles, Woolworths and IGA supermarkets in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and had the samples tested in an independent laboratory.

Eight of the 26 kangaroo samples tested positive for the bacteria salmonella and 11 samples showed relatively high levels of E. coli bacteria.

The Kangaroo Industry Association says the laboratory results are not scientific because there is no way of knowing how the meat was transported from the supermarkets to the laboratory or how long it took to get there, and no independent scrutiny of the process.

Associate Professor Vitali Sintchenko says that illness from eating kangaroo meat is extremely rare, adding, “We haven't seen any cases of food poisoning from - that we know of in New South Wales in the last five or six years coming from kangaroo meat.”

The kangaroo industry also claims there has never been a recorded case of food poisoning from kangaroo meat in Australia. Now the industry is lobbying the Russians to reopen the meat trade. But last month, Animal Liberation took their lab results to Russia to try to persuade authorities there to continue the ban.

I don’t like mangoes. I’ve tried because they grow in trees on front lawns in Brisbane, but the flesh is too pulpy; makes an excellent juice though.

For those Canadians living tropical fantasies for the last days of summer, beware those mangoes from Mexico.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and North American Produce Sales are warning the public not to consume the mangoes described below because they may be contaminated with Salmonella Braenderup bacteria.

The affected Mangoes, product of Mexico, were sold as individual fruit with a sticker bearing PLU# 4959 and other information. These mangoes were sold at various retail stores between July 12 and August 14, 2012. Consumers are advised to contact the retailer to find out if you have the affected mangoes. If you have illness symptoms or any health concerns possibly associated with these mangoes, please contact your family doctor.

These mangoes may have been distributed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon.

There have been several confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these mangoes.

Traducido por Gonzalo Erdozain

Resumen del folleto informativo mas reciente:
- 2 muertes y 178 enfermos asociados con melones distribuidos por un granjero de Indiana.
- Refrigere el melón luego de cortarlo. Bacterias como la Salmonella y Listeria pueden proliferar rápidamente en temperaturas mayores a los 41°F (5ºC).
- La piel áspera del melón dificilita la eliminación de bacterias a través del lavado.
- Un cepillo debe ser utilizado durante el lavado para disminuir el riesgo de introducción de patógenos durante el corte.

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The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and Hoffman Town & Country Meat Market of Detroit Lakes today issued a consumer advisory for whole-muscle turkey jerky after state investigators linked the product to four cases of illness caused by Salmonella bacteria.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) determined that there have been four cases of infection with the same strain of Salmonella in Minnesota residents.

All four individuals reported eating turkey jerky during the week prior to becoming ill (onsets of illness from August 2 through August 7). One of the cases lives in the Twin Cities metro area, and three in Greater Minnesota. One of the cases was hospitalized, but all have recovered.

Hoffman Town & Country Meat Market has issued a voluntary recall of all whole-muscle turkey jerky product sold on or before August 21, 2012. This product was sold wrapped in white butcher paper. Consumers should not eat any product they still have on hand. Instead, they are advised to return these products for a full refund. Anyone requiring more information about the product is advised to contact the company at (218) 847-7207. Hoffman Town & Country Meat Market is cooperating with MDA and MDH in this investigation.