- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
At least 58 people have been sickened, and two — one in California and one in Canada — have died because they contracted E. coli O157:H7 in November and December, believed to be related to eating romaine lettuce or other leafy greens. In the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has linked at least 17 reports of illness in 13 states to the outbreak.
That has many people passing on Caesar's salad. But UC Cooperative Extension specialist Trevor Suslow said it is unlikely that romaine now at grocery stores is contaminated, reported Bob Rodriguez in the Fresno...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Food safety technology has improved significantly in recent years as molecular microbiology, electronic data sharing and analysis of matching genetic relatedness has advanced, reported Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times. The comments are from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension specialist Trevor Suslow, who is featured in a Q&A about the food safety problems suffered by the fast-casual restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill.
"We've got a long way to go still to make the level of compliance more uniform, better,...
- Author: Brenda Dawson
An article in The Denver Post by Michael Booth and Jennifer Brown discussed the possibility of criminal charges against Jensen Farms for its involvement in the cantaloupe listeria outbreak. The article discusses the history of legal charges made in food poisoning cases, including issues of willful negligence.
Trevor Suslow, UC Cooperative Extension food safety specialist at Davis, was told by the farm owner that they believed the postharvest system used in conjunction with the outbreak was an improvement over their previous methods — though Suslow disagrees. He acknowledges, however, that the FDA does not...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The reported foodborne illness outbreak in Ohio, Michigan and New York this week differs from other recent leafy green contamination episodes in the type of E. coli that was identified in the lettuce, according to an article published today in Western Farm Press.
Trevor Suslow, a UC Davis Cooperative Extension food safety specialist, told reporter Cary Blake that E. coli 0157:H7 is the classic type of E. coli that can cause serious illness and potential death.
“E. coli 0145 is well recognized as a type that can cause these...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Davis Cooperative Extension specialist Trevor Suslow wrote an opinion piece for Food Safety News saying a recent Consumers Union study - which questioned the safety of prewashed salad greens - has caused a flurry of concern and confusion.
An article in the March 2010 issue of Consumer Reports magazine said its study of packaged leafy greens found nearly 40 percent of samples contained bacteria that are common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination, according to a news release distributed on