At least 13 people are dead amid 72 sickened in 18 states in an outbreak of listeria food poisoning tied to contaminated cantaloupes, federal health officials said Tuesday.

There must now be many people around the world who are alive and well thanks to medical information gleaned from the Internet. Especially with rare conditions, such information has facilitated the recognition of patterns of symptoms whose significance was not apparent even to the patients' own doctors.

ALOR SETAR -- Seventy-one students from a school at Jalan Stadium here suffered food poisoning after consuming sambal sotong (chilli-based squids) at their hostel canteen Friday. They were rushed to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital on Saturday after suffering from stomach ache, nausea, dizziness, vomitting and diarrhoea.

FSIS has posted the second quarterly progress report of calendar year 2011 on Salmonella testing of selected raw meat and poultry products.

Publix Super Markets is issuing a voluntary recall for spinach dip because it may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes. The problem was discovered as a result of routine microbial testing conducted by Publix. The 16 ounce containers of prepackaged spinach dip were sold at Publix retail deli departments with a UPC of 41415-00062 and use by date of OCT 10 C1.

Food adulteration in India seems to be getting deadlier by the day. First we had some unscrupulous dairy farmers in western Uttar Pradesh inventing synthetic milk - a deadly cocktail of urea, caustic soda and vegetable oil. Then we had reports of fruits, particularly mangoes, being ripened with calcium carbide and now, there are reports of fish being made to appear fresh with formalin.

SUMMARY

Abstract:  Brine solution injection of beef contaminated with Escherichia coli  O157:H7 on its surface may lead to internalization of pathogen cells and/or cross-contamination of the brine, which when recirculated, may serve as a source of new product contamination. This study evaluated survival of E. coli O157:H7 in brines formulated without or with antimicrobials.

Recall Release FSIS-RC-76-2011 CLASS I RECALL HEALTH RISK: HIGH Congressional and Public Affairs (202) 720-9113 Cathy Cochran