Salmonella Taste Toll Rises Again — to 636

Officials remind of their limited role, year after salmonella outbreak at popular festival

(NEWSER) - With news still coming of people stricken by tomatoes tainted with salmonella, health officials say they're taking full precautions to prevent another outbreak at this year's Taste of Chicago, the Tribune reports. Booths will be inspected four times a day for sanitary conditions at the event, which begins today—though authorities warn they don't test actual dishes for safety. More»

39 people in 15 states were sick between February and May

(AP) - A total of 39 people, nearly half of them ages 5 and under, were sickened from a salmonella outbreak spread through handling baby chicks or ducklings. The cases occurred from late February to late May and are spread through 15 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Ohio had the most cases, with eight. The other states were Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. More»

In detecting outbreaks of tainted food, some states are far superior

(NEWSER) - When it comes to salmonella and other food-borne illnesses, federal agencies are rightly putting money into preventing future outbreaks, but few agencies are focused on detecting them. That task falls mostly to state and local officials, which means the ability to connect several sick citizens and call it a salmonella outbreak varies widely by state, the New York Times reports. More»

(AP) - Kraft Foods detected salmonella in a California nut company's product over 6 months ago but didn't notify the firm until last week, a rep for the parent company said today. Roasted nuts from Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc., the company at the heart of the nationwide pistachio recall, failed a Kraft salmonella test in September 2008, the AP reports. More»

Earlier Ga. salmonella scare also thought caused by rainwater

(NEWSER) - A leaky roof at the Peanut Corporation of America’s Georgia plant is seen as a possible culprit for the recent salmonella outbreak, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Not only is water necessary to activate salmonella, but rain could have washed salmonella-carrying bird droppings into the plant. “Allowing water to get into a dry processing environment would be like putting gas on a fire,” one expert said. More»