The Department of Health is considering issuing new guidelines on open farm visits for young children following an outbreak of E. coli infection that has been linked to four petting farms across the country.

Sark would be unable to react quickly enough to an outbreak of E. coli because of inadequacies in its catering law. Accusations of a slow response to the recent outbreak made against Surrey authorities have ‘refocused’ Sark’s Public Health Committee on making sure it could deal with a similar problem.

Six more lawsuits were filed today by Quad-City area residents against McDonald's Corp. over a hepatitis A outbreak this summer.

Scientists in China have discovered that a natural plant hormone, applied to crops, can help plants eliminate residues of certain pesticides. The study is in the current issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the availability of the first draft guidance for industry on Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies or REMS, which are required for certain drugs or biologics.

Jars of Vegemite labelled 'iSnack 2.0' are destined to become collectors items after Kraft announced today it will change the name. Just four days after Kraft announced the name of the new Vegemite, the company has issued a press release admitting that Australians “just don’t like the name”.

In late 2008 and early 2009, the Peanut Corporation of America shipped peanuts tainted with the Salmonella typhimurium bacteria. That's not a good thing, of course, but it shouldn't have been too big a deal. Pull some peanuts off the shelves and go on about your day.

http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2009/09/articles/restaurant-inspection/foodhandlers-should-be-nevernude-australia-restaurant-learns-the-hard-way/ Three semi-naked male food handlers working in a Sydney restaurant kitchen are the latest in a record list of 127 fines to appear on the NSW Government’s Name and Shame website this week.

NEW YORK -– A comparative genomics study is providing new insights into the processes that lead to enterohemorrhagic forms of Escherichia coli. Japanese researchers sequenced the genomes of three enterohemorrhagic E. coli, or EHEC, strains and compared these newly sequenced genomes with the genomes of two EHEC O157:H7 strains and 21 strains of Shigella or non-EHEC E. coli.