A Cornell University research group has created a system in which food pathogens can be tagged with “nanobarcodes” that fluoresce under UV light that can then be read by a computer scanner or fluorescent light microscope.
“We wanted something that could be done with inexpensive, readily available equipment,” said Dan Luo, Cornell University assistant professor
Before you fire up the grill this summer, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns about dangerous food-borne diseases that can be transmitted by the consumption of improperly prepared foods.
An estimated 76 million cases of food-borne disease occur each year in the United States. The CDC estimates that there are 325,000 hospitalizations
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Escherichia coli O157:H7 is an emerging cause of foodborne illness.
An estimated 10,000 to 20,000 cases of infection occur in the United States each year. Infection often leads to bloody diarrhea, and occasionally to kidney failure. Most illness has been associated with eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef. Person-to-person contact in families and child care centers is also an important mode of transmission. Infection can also occur after drinking raw milk and after swimming in or drinking sewage-contaminated water.
Consumers can prevent E. coli O157:H7 infection by thoroughly cooking ground beef, avoiding unpasteurized milk, and washing hands carefully. Because the organism lives in the intestines of healthy cattle, preventive measures on cattle farms and during meat processing are being investigated.Continue Reading Escherichia coli O157:H7 Frequently Asked Questions
A growing market of food shoppers are becoming sensitive to how their food is made.
Some people talk of how buying some foods undermines the world’s rain forests or coastlines. Others campaign to save the American family farm or improve conditions for foreign laborers. Some call for the American system of big farms and companies
While well-intentioned, the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s recent hand-washing guidelines simply may not be good enough to protect children from E. coli and other potentially deadly bacteria at petting zoos, particularly since hand washing does nothing to prevent spread of E. coli by inhalation.
The Animal Welfare Act only requires petting zoos to give certain
Report a Food Illness
This project is being conducted by researchers and epidemiologists at the National Food Safety & Toxicology Center at Michigan State University. The Developmental Steering Committee had scientists from the Michigan Department of Community Health, Michigan Department of Agriculture, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Mid-Michigan District Health Department, Barry-Eaton District
People’s love-hate relationship with fast food holds a special place in our catalog of food fears. We love fast food, but we’re afraid of germs and food contamination. We’re afraid of getting fat, so we stop eating for pleasure.
In addition, people flock to a type of group mentality when it comes to media. Wendy’s
This summer, as with every summer, children will be visiting fairs, zoos, theme parks or other child-oriented places such as petting zoos. If you arm yourself with some facts and err on the side of caution, they should be safe from the worries of contracting E. coli and similar pathogenic diseases.
Not only do
UCLA has been awarded more than $6 million over four years by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to support research for countering threats from bioterrorism agents and infectious diseases. UCLA will be a major component of the Pacific Southwest Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research, a consortium of more than
Contact with animals at fairs and petting zoos can be fun, but it also can lead to the transmission of various serious infectious diseases if proper precautions are not taken.
Children are most susceptible to infection from bacteria and parasites from animals because they are more likely to put their fingers or other objects into