salmonella

There have been many surprising foods linked to salmonella lately, including tainted peanut butter and pistachios. Now government health officials are encouraging people to avoid raw alfalfa sprouts, since they may be contaminated with a strain of salmonella. There have been 31 cases of illness reported since mid-March in Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia. Sickness came after people said they consumed raw alfalfa sprouts obtained at restaurants or bought from stores. Since the sprouts were grown in multiple states, the FDA says the seeds used to make the sprouts are contaminated.

So for now, I'd pass on the sprouts in your salad and on your sandwiches.

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It's amazing that tiny nuts could cause so much trouble. Last week Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc. recalled more than two million pounds of roasted pistachios shipped since last Fall, and now the recall has been expanded to include all raw nuts and all roasted nuts from the producer's 2008 crop.

It's seen as a proactive move because there have been no confirmed illnesses, but health officials don't want to take any chances this time around and the FDA has indicated it will issue more sweeping decisions like this going forward. Dr. David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods at the FDA commented, "We’re going to try to stop people from getting sick in the first place, as opposed to waiting until we have illness and death before we take action."

Check the FDA website for its list of products affected by the recall, and if you don't see a pistachio-containing product that's in your pantry, don't eat it for a few weeks until there's more news about specific items. So far the list contains items such as trail mix, ice cream, and candy. Food safety first!

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Nipping on the heels of the ongoing peanut butter salmonella outbreak is a new scare in tainted nuts, and this time salty fingers are being pointed at pistachios. Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc. has recalled more than two million pounds of roasted pistachios shipped since last Fall, just fraction of the 55 million pounds processed by the company last year.

Because the nuts in question were shipped in bulk to wholesalers who repackaged the nuts for consumers, the effects of a pistachio-driven outbreak could be far-reaching. While growers aren't happy about the safety implications, the FDA recommends steering clear of any product containing pistachios until they have more information about the situation. That means avoiding everything from ice cream and cake mixes to trail mix and energy bars.

While eating pistachios is a decidedly delicious way to lower the LDL (bad) levels of cholesterol in your body, rely on other sources for improving heart health like olive oil and your morning oatmeal until there's more detailed news available.

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Last night — only two months after a colossal peanut scare that led to a recall of more than 3,800 peanut products — the FDA recalled two million pounds of pistachios that have been distributed nationwide due to risk of a salmonella outbreak.

The new contamination concerns, which are not tied to the peanut products, were traced to pistachios grown by Setton Farms of Terra Bella, CA. One of Setton Farms' customers, Kraft Foods, alerted the FDA of its findings on March 24 after it discovered several strains of salmonella during routine analysis of its pistachio products. Packaged foods containing traces of the pistachios — from ice cream to boxed cakes to trail mix — have been pulled from shelves.Although so far there have been no reported illnesses and only a couple of consumer complaints, the FDA is advising customers to avoid eating pistachios until it confirms more details of the outbreak. Pistachio growers are not happy: "We hope the FDA comes out with a more refined statement about which pistachios to avoid. The vast majority of pistachios are not tainted," said Richard Matoian, executive director of California's Western Pistachio Association.

Considering President Obama just vowed to strengthen America's food safety system, I hope this issue gets addressed immediately. Until then, I plan to avoid nuts for the time being. What about you? Are you surprised to hear about another nut recall so soon?

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