Marie Callender joins the recall list

Marie Callender frozen meals are being recalled nationwide after they were linked to 29 salmonella illnesses in 14 different states.

The company is recalling all of the meals, which are labeled "Marie Callender's Cheesy Chicken and Rice White Meat Chicken and Broccoli over Rice Topped with Rich Cheddar Sauce," regardless of production date.

The product was distributed to retail outlets nationwide.

The most common symptoms of salmonella are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within eight hours to 72 hours of eating a contaminated product. It can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems.

When I visited their website I found a small headline banner at the top of the page:

Can you see it? Go ahead and click on the picture to make it bigger so you can see it. I'll wait. 

(taps my fingers impatiently)

Yes, I am tapping my fingers impatiently. Do you want to know why? It's not because I want YOU to hurry up. It's because I can't believe THEY don't think people getting ill from their food should take away from their beautifully designed web page. (Yes, there was a little sarcasm in that sentence.)

I believe that people getting ill from their food should be the main focus of that page. 

I believe that they should feel so bad that people have gotten sick that they make that obvious. That they apologize. That they tell you how to get help. ON THE FRONT PAGE. NOT on some tiny banner at the top of the page that takes you to their Media Relations page that IS NO HELP AT ALL.

Nope. No help at all. As a matter of fact, the recall is just a headline thrown in there with their other headlines including "ConAgra Foods Announces Details of Fiscal 2010 Fourth-Quarter Earnings Release and Conference Call" and "ConAgra Foods' Manwich(R) Brand Goes Country With CMA Music Festival Sponsorship". Hello?!? 

So when I clicked the link that would tell me all about what ConAgra is doing to help people sickened by their Marie Callender frozen meals I expected to find something saying how sorry they were THERE. Wrong again. This is what I got:

ConAgra Foods is announcing a precautionary recall of Marie Callender’s Cheesy Chicken & Rice single-serve frozen entrées. Consumers who have this product in their freezer should discard it or return it to their retailer for a refund.

The company has been working closely with state and federal authorities, and while there is no definitive link between the recalled product and any illness, the company is proactively recalling the product after being informed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of a possible association between the product and eight people in the U.S. who have been diagnosed with salmonellosis linked to Salmonella Chester. CDC interviews have identified individuals who reported eating this product in April and May, 2010. The last reported illness was reported on May 22. 

Individuals concerned about an illness should contact a physician. Consumption of food contaminated with Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, a common bacterial food borne illness. Consumers with questions about the recall should contact ConAgra Foods at 1-866-484-9610.

Do you notice the words precautionary recall and no definitive link and possible association? So that makes me think, ok, they were wrong. There's nothing to worry about. Mmmhmm.


How about the truth now? Wouldn't that be refreshing. The CDC says:

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture Laboratory reported to CDC that it has isolated Salmonella Chester from an unopened package of Marie Callender’s Cheesy Chicken & Rice single-serve frozen entrée collected from a case patient.  Subtyping of the Salmonella strain is under way.

It seems like ConAgra just doesn't want to admit when they have a problem. I think I'll be checking all my packages for their name from now on.

Food Recalls: Salmonella

There is a LARGE recall of products right now that contain Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein because of salmonella contamination. The list contains Walmart's Great Value products, Dean's products, McCormick products, Publix products and Kroger products just to name a few. FoodSafety.gov says the following:

Salmonella Associated with Foods with Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein

• Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) is a flavor enhancer used in processed foods. 

• HVP manufactured by Basic Food Flavors has been recalled because of Salmonella. See the consumer alert. 

• No illnesses have been reported. 

• HVP is used in a wide variety of food products. Only products made with HVP from Basic Food Flavors are being recalled. 

Please click here to view the list of food products that are being recalled. It's a very long list (17 pages) so look carefully to make sure you don't have any of the products!

Pistachio newest nut to avoid

I don't know about you but I haven't had a peanut in a while now. I just can't bring myself to do it. I can't get past the idea of dying because I had a snack.

In case you've somehow missed it, peanuts have been on the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recall list after a salmonella outbreak in a PCA (Peanut Corp. of America) plant out of Georgia. The outbreak is still an issue and products are still being added to the list (you can find an up-to-date list at the bottom of this page). More than 690 people in 46 states have gotten sick and almost 3,900 products have been recalled.

Now there is a new nut to concern yourself with, the pistachio.

Tuesday Kraft Foods Inc. notified the FDA that it had detected salmonella through routine product testing in roasted pistachios . Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix because of those test results.

Friday Kroger Co. (the grocery store chain) recalled bagged pistachios from California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the nation's second-largest pistachio processor. They voluntarily recalled more than 2 million pounds of its roasted nuts shipped since last fall. Those nuts were sold in 31 states.

A spokesman for the company, Fabia D'Arienzo, said "It will be safe to assume based on the volume that this will be an ingredient in a lot of different products, and that may possibly include things like ice cream and cake mixes. The firm is already turning around trucks in transit to bring those back to the facility."

Salmonella is the most common cause of food-borne illness. It is a bacteria that causes diarrhea, fever and cramping. While most people recover it can be life threatening for children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.

FDA adds new products to recall list

The list is still growing for peanut products that contain salmonella. Dog products from American Health Kennels Inc., candy from Gurley's Foods Inc., and PB & Whey Protein Bites were added yesterday. You can click here for the details on those products I just mentioned and I have added the FDA search widget to the top of my sidebar for easy access. New products are still being added to the list so please, please, please check it often and consider carefully if anything you are using could possibly contain peanuts or peanut butter. I realized this morning (well after the fact) that I had eaten Valentine's Day candy that contained nuts. I hope they weren't any of THOSE nuts. Ugh. Will this ever end?

PCA is no more

Back on January 8 I began talking about the salmonella outbreak that has since been linked back to the Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) and specifically to their Blakely Georgia plant. As of this past Friday, February 13, the PCA is no more.

They officially filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Virginia on Friday. Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidates all of the company’s assets and distributes that money to the company’s creditors. That’s good news for the creditors and in my opinion good news for us. We won’t have to worry about any more food coming from PCA.

In a story I read this morning it was reported that officials had also shut down the Texas plant this week because products tested there had positive results for salmonella too. When health officials went in that plant they found rodents, feces and feathers in the ceiling above the production area. Because no inspections had been made by the state there previously, ALL products ever produced there have been recalled and are being destroyed.

To date the salmonella outbreak that has been traced back to the Georgia plant has sickened over 630 people and possibly caused nine deaths. There are over 2000 products on the recall list.

I’m once again left wondering.

How many plants are producing food but not being inspected by states?
How many foods have I eaten since March of 2005 (the date the Texas PCA plant opened) that could have possibly contained peanuts or peanut products?
How lucky am I to have not gotten ill?
How many illnesses were actually salmonella but never treated so they haven’t been documented?
How many people work in plants that are nasty?
Don’t they know people are eating that food?
Don’t they care?
Why don’t they do anything to change it?
Why?

FDA Product Recall List

An end, an Elvis and a loss

Of course you know the first story that caught my eye while reading my morning news was about PCA (Peanut Corp of America). Federal officials now say PCA intentionally sent out products that were contaminated with salmonella. I’ve been trying to tell people but I guess those particular people don’t read my blog.

The story also said that the USDA was one of PCA’s biggest clients. While USDA officials did regularly visit the plant in Blakely Georgia, they were not trained in food safety and basically did no more than read reports while they were there. This week the USDA ended their business connection to PCA. Peanut butter from that plant was sent out for use in free lunch programs in California, Minnesota and Idaho.

As of today the salmonella outbreak has caused 575 illnesses in 43 states and at least 8 deaths. There are now 1679 products on the recall list.

The second story that caught my eye today came out of Florida and involves Elvis. That’s really what caught my eye. The first line of the story read “Elvis has left the vehicle.” I had a giggle and just had to read the whole story.

The 46 year old man named Elvis Alonzo Barrett racked up quite a few traffic violations. More than 50 actually. All in the same day.

Apparently his license had been suspended and he panicked when officers tried to pull him over. Police chased him during which time he ran red lights, crashed into a fence and into another car. He received tickets for everything from possession of a crack pipe all the way down to not wearing his seat belt.

The last thing I really paid attention to before starting my daily blogs was my Dead or Alive feed. James Whitmore has died at the age of 87 from lung cancer. He was an actor. He appeared in the films The Asphalt Jungle, Give ‘em Hell, Harry, and many others. My favorite movie that he performed in was The Shawshank Redemption.

In case you missed it

I’ve been ranting now for a couple of weeks about the Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) and their Blakely Georgia plant. I’m sorry to tell you that I’m not done ranting yet. And now Washington has joined me on my rant.

Lawmakers met today to discuss the issue and they are upset. They wanted to know how food makers and state health inspectors are allowed to keep negative test results to themselves. And yes, that’s true. Federal laws do not require companies or state officials to report their findings to the federal government. They don’t have to say one word. They have even gotten away with operating a plant that the government is unaware exists. Right here in Texas the PCA owned a plant that was not licensed, registered or inspected for four years. They only discovered that plant after this outbreak.

One senator (Sen. Patrick Leahy, Democrat-Vermont) was quoted in the AP story as saying he’d “like to see some people go to jail”. Well welcome to my world. Why are you so late?

The list of recalled products is growing. According to the AP story it has passed 1000 products now. I couldn’t possibly list them here, but if you’d like to check it (I know I did) you can click here.

Thanks to the Electronic Freedom of Information Act we are entitled to view the records from the inspections that were made by the FDA after the discovery of salmonella in PCA products. I read every word of it. If you’d like to read it yourself you can click here but I’ll give you a summary. (Note that it’s a PDF file and Adobe Reader will be required to view it.)

Let me start out by saying it’s disgusting. The way that this plant was run and maintained, or rather not maintained, is just pathetic.

Salmonella was found and documented in 12 different instances. But that’s actually not the worst part of the report.

The line that the Salmonella Typhimurium (the strain of salmonella that is making everyone ill right now) was found on was not cleaned after the discovery of the bacteria. To make that worse the company continued to manufacture peanut products using that line all the way up until the FDA came in to inspect the plant on January 9. After people had died.

The roaster that was supposed to wipe out any microbiological contamination was set up improperly. The temperature was not set hot enough to kill the salmonella and the belt that moved the peanuts through the roaster was set to the wrong speed not allowing the roaster enough time to kill the salmonella. Oh but it gets worse.

Raw product was stored next to product that was ready to be packed up. There were 2000 pound containers sitting next to each other that were impossible to tell apart. Plus those containers were within 15 feet of a crack in the floor where salmonella was found.

Salmonella was also found on the cooler floor just 3 feet away from finished products and mold was found on the cooler’s walls and ceiling. They said the fans in the cooler were leaking water and pallets of finished product were sitting directly underneath that unit. The ceiling in the entire plant leaked either air conditioner ‘water’ or rain water and products were below all the places leaks occurred.

Worst of all it says that the day they first went into the plant there was a build up of product residue on all of the equipment (grinders, hoppers, and the line) that was allowed to remain there and product continued being produced around it. That there was a “slimy black-brown residue” on a conveyer belt and that pieces of a yellow & black caution sign were flaking off into products.

It also mentions several other things (holes in the ceiling and roaches for two) but honestly I’m just way too grossed out now to continue telling you about it. I’m just stunned. I’m almost stunned speechless. That’s hard to do.

I’m glad the PCA and their dirty ways have been brought to the attention of Washington legislators. I hope they are able to find PCA guilty of something criminal. I know they are criminals. I’m not actually as worried about that part of it as much now. Now what I’m worried about is how many other plants are out there doing business in the exact same way PCA was; especially food manufacturers. Just what am I supposed to eat? Is any of it safe?

Who’s in charge here?

Since the beginning of the present salmonella outbreak, I’ve been bringing you news on it. I’ve provided you with links to information on the outbreak. I’ve provided you with lists of recalled products. I’ve done this for two reasons. One, it’s important. And two, I’m mad.

My anger has tripled this morning. Maybe even quadrupled. I’m pretty mad. If you were someone that saw me in person, you would probably turn around and move away from me as fast as possible once you saw the look on my face. I’m truly that angry today.

Reading my morning news stories I came across yet another story on the Peanut Corp. of America (PCA). Imagine that. The story said that federal health officials have now officially opened a criminal investigation of the plant. Yesterday. Well, it’s about time.

I’m not just mad at the PCA. I’m also mad at the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). It has now been revealed that the FDA hasn’t been to the Blakely Georgia plant since 2001. Yes, I am aware that it’s presently 2009. Maybe now you see what my anger is based on.

To make matters worse, the FDA did not go into the plant because of the salmonella. They went because a shipment of peanuts that originated at the PCA plant were stopped and refused at the Canadian border because it contained metal shavings. That’s when they thought they might need to go into the plant. Don’t worry that it’s been 8 years since any federal inspectors were in the plant. The PCA had their own inspectors, they should be fine. No need to worry about them. Yeah, right.

Then when the FDA finally did go into the plant they didn’t check for anything except metal. No check for salmonella. Why would they worry about that? It’s not like there was JUST ANOTHER CASE OF PEANUT BUTTER SALMONELLA POISONING A COUPLE YEARS AGO. That doesn’t matter.

My main problem is why did the FDA allow a company that sold food products for the general public’s consumption to use their own inspectors? Why didn’t they insist on making regular inspections? I worked in restaurants for 25 years and I can’t tell you how many health inspectors I saw. They popped in unannounced and checked everything under the roof at least once every month. All those individual restaurants were feeding was whatever town I happened to be living in at the time. We weren’t shipping food out all over the country. But we had to meet certain standards and if we didn’t we were closed immediately and not allowed to reopen until the problem was fixed. How was this plant that now has over 430 products on the recall list allowed to continue producing those products and worse yet, shipping them out for us to eat? For us to feed to our children.

According to PCA company documents the original lab they hired to test their products found at least 12 cases of salmonella in the plant. PCA then turned around and hired another company that tested the products and found no salmonella so they shipped the products out. I’m sorry but that’s just crap. If the first test was positive, in my mind there is no need for a second test. And by using a different company to ensure a different result makes me think they were acting in a criminal manner.

In a PCA media statement they said “It is because of our commitment to our customers and consumers that PCA has taken extraordinary measures to identify and recall all products that have been identified as presenting a potential risk.”

I think the only thing PCA is committed to is making money. They haven’t taken any extraordinary measures. The only reason they are doing anything now is because people have died. They blatantly sent out products that they had been told were a danger to people. They chose to ignore basic food handling procedures. They didn’t even bother to clean their plant. When FDA inspectors recently visited the plant they found roaches, mold, a leaking roof and “numerous other sanitation problems.” Commitment to our customers. What a joke.

My hope is PCA will now go out of business. I want them to never again produce anything for us to eat. I also hope the people that worked at that plant are thoroughly educated in food safety and any of them that made the decisions as to whether or not sell those contaminated products should receive jail time. What they did was criminal; they should be treated as such.

The list is still growing for recalled peanut products

The Peanut Corp. of America has been shut down. At least for the time being. As of today more than 500 people have become ill and it is believed that 8 people have died from salmonella poisoning originating in the Blakely Georgia plant.

The company announced that they are recalling all products produced in their plant as far back as January 1, 2007. Considering they provide peanut products (including peanut butter, peanut paste, peanut meal, granulated peanuts and whole roasted peanuts) for hundreds of products I’m pretty worried about it. The peanut products are included in ice creams, cakes, crackers, sauces and even dog treats.

To make matters worse, at least in my opinion, FDA inspectors previously found salmonella in the plant 12 times but the plant never stopped production. According to the story I read, the contaminated production lines that the salmonella was discovered on weren’t even cleaned. That’s just negligent.

Georgia’s agriculture commissioner wants a criminal investigation of the company. I totally agree with him. The FDA says it’s too early for that and they want to finish their investigation first. Whatever. It’s obvious to me that the plant ignored basic food safety and shipped out products that they knew weren’t safe.


From the FDA website:

FDA and CDC recommendations for consumers include:

* Do not eat products that have been recalled and throw them away in a manner that prevents others from eating them.
* To determine if commercially-prepared or manufactured peanut butter/peanut paste-containing products (such as cookies, crackers, cereal, candy and ice cream) are subject to recall, consumers are urged first to visit FDA’s website and check the searchable database of recalled products.
* For information on products containing peanut butter from companies not reporting recalls, consumers may wish to consult the company’s website or call the toll-free number listed on most packaging. Information consumers may receive from the companies has not been verified by the FDA.
* If consumers cannot determine if their peanut butter, peanut butter/peanut paste-containing products or institutionally-served peanut butter contains PCA peanut butter/peanut paste, FDA recommends that they do not consume those products.
* Persons who think they may have become ill from eating peanut butter are advised to consult their health care providers.


That cinches the deal for me. I’ve mentioned before my lack of trust in other people preparing my food. It’s totally gone now. I’ll be making everything myself. If things keep going the way they are these days, I’ll be growing my own food too. And now I’m worried about my mother’s dog. I wonder if the treats she has in a jar on her counter were made from products from that Blakely plant? I’m going to have to give her a call. I don’t want her one remaining baby becoming ill because my mother decided she was a good girl and deserved a biscuit. That would really suck.

On the web:

Peanut plant problem forces fresh recall

The FDA page on recalled products - main page

The FDA list of recalled products

Little Debbie snacks now added to list of recalled products

From the Little Debbie website:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 18, 2009 — 7 p.m. EST

MCKEE FOODS CORPORATION ANNOUNCES VOLUNTARY NATIONWIDE RECALL OF LITTLE DEBBIE® PEANUT BUTTER TOASTY AND PEANUT BUTTER CHEESE SANDWICH CRACKERS BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE HEALTH RISK

COLLEGEDALE, Tenn. – McKee Foods Corporation today announced a voluntary recall of two varieties of peanut butter sandwich crackers because the products have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. The two sandwich crackers are:

• Little Debbie® Peanut Butter Toasty sandwich crackers — all sizes.

• Little Debbie® Peanut Butter Cheese sandwich crackers — all sizes.

Products impacted by the recall were produced on or after July 1, 2008, and include all sizes, weights and packages.

The Little Debbie® Cheddar on Cheese sandwich cracker is not affected by this action. No other Little Debbie® products are involved in this recall.

McKee Foods does not purchase peanut paste or peanut butter from PCA (Peanut Corp. of America), and therefore, no other Little Debbie® products containing peanut butter are affected by this action.

Consumers who have purchased the recalled products are urged to discard the crackers but retain the freshness code and contact Consumer Affairs.

Little Debbie Consumer Services:

1-800-522-4499

Updated list of recalled Kellogg products

I've had several people contact me today worried about the products that are affected by the recent salmonella outbreak. Kellogg has voluntarily recalled the following products and are advising consumers to destroy them:

Austin® Quality Foods Cheese Crackers with Peanut Butter - all sizes

Austin® Quality Foods Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers - all sizes

Austin® Quality Foods Mega Stuffed Cheese Crackers with Peanut Butter - all sizes

Austin® Quality Foods PB & J Cracker Sandwiches - all sizes

Austin® Quality Foods Super Snack Pack Sandwich Crackers

Austin® Quality Foods Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers - all sizes

Austin® Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter - all sizes

Austin® Quality Foods Reduced Fat Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers

Austin® Quality Foods Reduced Fat Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers

Austin® Quality Foods Cookie/Cracker Pack

Austin® Quality Foods Variety Pack

Keebler® Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers - all sizes

Keebler® Toast & PB'n J Flavored Sandwich Crackers - all sizes

Keebler® Toast & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers - all sizes

Famous Amos® Peanut Butter Cookies (2- and 3-ounce)

Keebler® Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies (2.5-ounce)

The Kellogg website states "The actions we are taking today are in keeping with our more than 100- year commitment to providing consumers with safe, high-quality products," said David Mackay, president and CEO, Kellogg Company. "We apologize for this unfortunate situation."

If you have any questions about Kellogg products or would like a refund you can call the Kellogg Consumer Response Center at 877-869-5633.

FDA urges people to avoid peanut butter products

Not my cookies too?!?

I wrote about a week ago about the peanut butter salmonella outbreak that is causing illness all over the country. That has now been expanded to include all peanut products. Officials have tracked the salmonella back to a Georgia plant that provides peanuts to 85 food companies including Kellogg.

Keebler cookies have been pulled from shelves as a precaution and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it is no longer just a bulk peanut butter issue. They are now looking at all products that contain peanuts and peanut paste including baked goods containing peanuts.

The Blakely Georgia plant is owned by Peanut Corp. of America and provides peanuts to 85 different companies. Peanut Corp. has recalled 21 lots of peanut butter that they believe to be the culprit but some companies, such as Kellogg’s, have pulled all their products that contain peanuts from store shelves. Kellogg also pulled their Austin peanut butter sandwich crackers in addition to the Keebler cookies.

Officially there have been over 450 cases of salmonella illness and six deaths from this outbreak. An elderly North Carolina man died yesterday from the same strain of salmonella that has been found in the offending foods.

Four people have died in Minnesota and Virginia (two in each state) and one person has died in Idaho. Four of those five people were elderly. Food borne illnesses are generally worse in the elderly, young, pregnant and people who have reduced immune systems.

I personally am glad I haven’t had anything with peanuts in it for a while now. At the beginning of the outbreak, it was just coincidental that I hadn’t eaten peanut products but now that it’s been in the news, I’ve purposely avoided them. I suffer from Graves Disease which is an autoimmune disease. I just can’t take that chance.

While I don’t expect people to cut all peanut products out of their lives, I do think at this time it would be prudent to check all your packages for peanut products and specifically for who produced those peanuts and if it was the Peanut Corp. of America. 85 companies produce a lot of products. And many products either contain peanuts or were cooked in peanut oil and people are unaware of it unless they have a peanut allergy.

I have been known to enjoy a Keebler cookie on occasion however and knowing that Kellogg was worried enough to pull them from the shelves has me scared. The only upside that I can see from this outbreak is the companies will be more aware of the situation and hopefully do more to test their products BEFORE they are sent out to the public.

Please wash your hands

When I was 15 I got my first real job. I’d had babysitting jobs before that. And animal sitting jobs. Just never a job that someone wrote my name on a check. That job was at McDonald’s. It was a good first job. The people were nice and I enjoyed myself.

That’s where my food service career began. I spent the next twenty five years cooking in one restaurant or another. Most of the time I enjoyed it. There were occassions that I just thought I’d rather shovel manure than cook in another restaurant, but I always ended up back in the business. It’s what I do.

At the end of my career (I haven’t worked in almost a year now) I pretty much knew everything I needed to know about food handling and food safety. I spent the last almost decade working for the United States Beef Corporation also known as Arby’s. I was there for nine years.

Because I was in management, I was sent to ‘school’ often. I’d drive to Tulsa and attend classes given by a very entertaining man named Andrew. He was awesome. He made learning fun.

Once every two years I attended ServSafe classes. ServSafe classes are sponsored by the National Restaurant Association and teach the fundamentals of food safety. It’s an eight hour class with a no-time-limit test afterwards. If you passed the test you were certified and that was a plus to the health department. All the managers that worked for our company were required to take and pass the ServSafe class. If you didn’t pass it you had to come back. I never had that problem. As a matter of fact I was always the first person done and never scored lower than a 96. The last time I took it I scored a 99 and was done in a stunning 14 minutes. Andrew said it was a record.

The reason I’m telling you these things is because there is a food borne illness outbreak happening right now. I wasn’t aware of it until, like normal, I was reading the mornings headlines. I was scanning the page and the word salmonella jumped out at me. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta are investigating a salmonella outbreak that has caused illness in almost 400 people in 42 states.

Salmonella is a nasty food borne illness. It causes abdominal cramps, headaches, nausea, fever, diarrhea and sometimes vomiting. It can cause severe dehydration in infants and the elderly. The incubation period is 6 - 48 hours after you’ve been exposed. That means it can be two days after you eat the contaminated food before you show signs of illness.

The source of this disease can be from several places, including domestic and wild animals and humans. In people it’s source is the intestinal tract. That means someone didn’t wash their hands after using the restroom. Yuck. Please wash your hands…

Most people automatically think of chicken when they think of salmonella, and while it’s true chicken is a common source, there are other foods that are culprits. They include fish, shrimp, tofu, melons, tomatoes, raw sprouts and egg products like custard and pastry creams.

Those foods are by no means the only foods to be careful with. Salmonella can be present in many meats and different forms of produce. The best policy is to always follow safe food handling practices. The CDC does not know how this particular outbreak is spreading yet. Please don't forget about the tomatoes or the peanut butter. The peanut butter salmonella outbreak was in 2007 and was in a major name brand, Peter Pan, as well as the Walmart equal to that name brand.

Avoiding cross contamination, keeping foods at their proper temperatures and practicing good personal hygiene are the best ways to prevent a food borne illness in your house.

Don’t use the same knife on meat that you used on produce. Make sure you keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold and that you cook meats to at least 165 degrees for a minimum of fifteen seconds (this means when you insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, the temperature stays steady on 165 degrees for 15 seconds). Don’t allow foods to remain at room temperature for more than two hours. If it does, throw it away. The loss of the food is much better than the illness you’ll have to suffer through if you decide to take that risk.

And wash your hands often! Hand washing is the single most important factor in safe food handling. Most people either don’t wash their hands at all or they don’t wash them properly. Just a quick splash under the water will NOT remove the offending bacteria. You don’t have to use antibacterial soap. To me that’s just a waste of money. Regular soap can do exactly the same thing as antibacterial soap if you wash properly.

Make sure you use hot water and that you scrub all the surface of your hands including under your fingernails. Fingernails are a great holder of bacteria. Another thing most people don’t think about is their jewelry. Rings with a lot of tiny places can hold and transfer bacteria too.

And last but not least, make sure you wash for the proper amount of time. A good trick to help you accomplish this is to sing happy birthday while you’re washing. Sing it all the way through and you’ll have spent a good two minutes washing. Perfect!

I hope these things I’ve learned help people to stay healthy in their cooking habits. They are easy and I promise after doing them for awhile you don’t even think about it anymore.

Click here to read the story about the CDC and the latest salmonella outbreak