Volunteers of America Kitchen In Los Angeles Linked To Salmonella Outbreak

Posted by Salmonella Attorney on October 24, 2008

A single kitchen that supplies food to 29 preschools operated by the Volunteers of America of Greater Los Angeles has put up to 900 people at risk of exposure to salmonella.

A salmonella outbreak linked to the kitchen has sickened more than two dozen children and adults in the Los Angeles area. Among the sick, 15 were sent to hospitals for treatment, according to the Los Angeles County Public Health Department (LACPHD).

As of Thursday, there were 25 confirmed cases in the salmonella outbreak.

LACPHD  officials inspected the kitchen, which voluntarily closed at the end of last week and reopened Tuesday, said Bob Pratt, president of the Volunteers of America of Greater Los Angeles.

Dassey said public health investigators were still in the process of determining the extent of the outbreak, which seemed to grow by the hour.

For more, go here.

Canada's Raw Milk Poster Boy Compares Himself With Gandhi and King--Dilutional or Dilirious?

Posted by Salmonella Lawyer on October 20, 2008

Let's see.   You cook up a scheme to evade the law.   You get caught.  You then conclude you must bejust like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.  Ordinarily we'd say "Only in America," but this two-bit drama is going on in Canada.

We refer to Michael Schmidt, who was found guilty of contempt of court for ignoring an order to cease selling raw milk.   Selling unpasteurized milk is illegal in Canada because health officials say it can carry salmonella, E. coli and Listeria.

You can drink raw milk from your own cow and the scheme Schmidt was using to evade the law was to sell shares of his cows to willing city residents.

Schmidt clearly wants to be Canada's poster boy for raw milk.  Outside the courtroom, where prosecutors want the judge to impose a $5,000 fine and charge the so-called organic farmer court costs of $53,000; Schmidt indulged in drinking raw milk and made his lofty comparisons.

"When Gandhi picked up the salt, he kept marching, and when Martin Luther started the Montgomery bus strike, he kept going until the law was changed," Schmidt said.

For more from The Canadian Press, go here.

Wisconsin Updates Public On Multi-State Salmonella Outbreak

Posted by Salmonella Lawyer on October 13, 2008

Well, it's been a week since we learned that consumers were being blamed for a multi-state salmonella outbreak involving under-cooked chicken.  Today, Wisconsin stepped forward with its perspective on the foul situation. 

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said four Wisconsin cases are part of a multi-state Salmonella outbreak that has caused 32 illnesses in 12 states.   The department also said:

Since August, four Wisconsin residents have had laboratory-confirmed Salmonella infections that match the DNA fingerprints of the national outbreak strain. The four Wisconsin residents reported consuming frozen chicken products. Health officials will continue to monitor for additional cases.

Milwaukee County Adult male
Ozaukee County Adult male
Washington County School-age male
Adult female

For more, go here.

Federal Government Blames Salmonella Outbreak On Consumers

Posted by Salmonella Lawyer on October 06, 2008

Bad, bad, bad consumers!  Don't you fools know that if you pick up the wrong box in the grocery store coolers with thousands of products that can be microwaved that some smaller percentage must be oven-baked?  Can't you read the small print on the boxes?  What's the matter with you?

That's what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is telling  32 people in 12 states were sickened with salmonella poisoning after eating precooked, frozen chicken dinners.   FDA says the victims didn't follow the instructions that said to heat the meal in the oven, and instead used the microwave.

Carlota Medus, an epidemiologist with the Minnesota Department of Health, told the New York Times: "The issue is that people think it’s cooked and it just needs to be heated up. Microwave cooking for something that has to be cooked isn’t always a good idea."   Minnesota is one of the 12 states with victims.  The others have not been named.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture also issued an alert on the salmonella outbreak, which was discovered by Minnesota's testing.  It can be found here.

Minnesota has linked the outbreak to contaminated chicken Kiev and cordon bleu made by Milford Valley Farms.

State Forces Alamosa To Accept Chlorinating & Testing Of Water

Posted by Salmonella Lawyer on October 05, 2008

Eight months after the town's public water supply was found to be responsible for a salmonella outbreak that made more 400 people sick and contributed to one person's death, Alamosa, Colorado has reached an agreement with the state Department of Health and Environment for regular testing.

Denver's Channel 7, the local ABC affiliate, says the town and the state agreed last week to a plan that will see Alamosa chlorinating its drinking water and using a sensitive test for organisms.   The plan  stems from the outbreak of salmonella this spring that spread through the city's tap water system.

Before the outbreak, the city did not chlorinate its water, but now agreed to do so at the rate of 1 to 2 milligrams per liter. 

The agreement also calls for at least 10 tests per month of its water for a bacteria found in feces and at least 10 tests every three months for any organisms in the water.

Alamosa's new water treatment plant was in the works before the outbreak occurred.   It was constructed primarily because of the town's need to control levels of naturally occurring arsenic.