By Miriam Raftery

 June 15, 2018 (San Diego) – The Kellogg Company has announced a recall of Honey Smacks cereal, which is linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened over 70 people  in 31 states, including California.

 In addition, the Centers for Disease Control have confirmed that pre-cut melons in California and other states have been recalled due to a separate salmonella outbreak. Melons were sold in major outlets including Walmart , Sprouts and Trader Joes. Read more on recalled melons here.

CDC warns against snuggling chickens or ducks, bringing poultry inside home

Photo credit: USDA FlickR.com, Creative Commons image by Alice Popkorn

July 10, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Across the nation, people have flocked to owning backyard chickens and other poultry.  But now the Centers for Disease Control  has issued a warning not to cozy up to your backyard birds.  That’s because four separate Salmonella outbreaks linked to backyard flocks have sickened 181 people in 40 states, including several cases  in California.

In  one outbreak, CDC conducted interviews and found that 86% of the ill people had conducted with chiceks, chickens, ducks or ducklings before falling ill. Moreover, the CDC reports, “Many ill people in these outbreaks reported bringing the live poultry into their homes, and others reported kissing or cuddling with the live poultry. These behaviors increase a person’s risk of a Salmonella infection.”

Who knew that chicken snuggling was so popular?

By Miriam Raftery

July 9, 2014 (Fresno) -- At least 621 people in 29 states have been sickened by a salmonella outbreak linked to Foster Farms chickens.   The government has  ordered a shut down of one of the company’s facilities in California and a voluntary recall has been issued by the company on chicken products sold at major retail outlets including large grocery store chains as well as military bases.

The outbreak has gone on for 16 months, but the company did not agree to recall most products until early July.  The outbreak includes seven strains of a drug-resistant form of salmonella that makes infections hard to treat.  Almost 40 percent of the victims have been hospitalized and 13 percent developed serious bloodstream infections, NBC news reports.

October 11, 2013 (San Diego) – Nearly two dozen San Diegans have fallen ill with salmonella due to raw chicken products from Foster Farms facilities in California.  However the products were also sold under other brands and store names including Ralph’s, Safeway, Kirkland (sold at CostCo), O Organics, and Eating Rights. 

Foster Farms announced yesterday that it has reached an agreement with federal inspectors to make improvements to its processing.  They company has not recalled products, insisting that cooking the tainted chickens thoroughly eliminates risk.  But Consumer Reports contends that the chicken products should be recalled to protect consumers.

By Miriam Raftery

September 26, 2012 (California) -- Sunland Inc., which makes the recalled Trader Joe’s Salted Valencia peanut butter, has now broadened its recall to include other nut-based spreads that may be contaminated with Salmonella. These include Target's Archer Farms and Earth Balance, manufactured between May 1 and Sept. 24, 2012. View the full list of products affected in Sunland's press release.  

August 18, 2010 (Washington D.C.) – The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announces a four-fold increase in salmonella cases nationwide since May, including outbreaks in California and other states linked tocontaminated eggs. Wright County Egg of Iowa has recalled eggs distributed nationwide under the brand names Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.