Dole Fresh Vegetables is voluntarily recalling over 750 cases of DOLE® Seven Lettuces salad with Use-by Date of April 11, 2012.

While no illness has yet been associated with eating the salads, a random sample collected by the State of New York found contamination with Salmonella.

The recalled packages have a UPC code of 71430 01057 and Product Codes 0577N089112A and 0577N089112B.

Consumers should check the codes and the use-by date and throw out any suspicious salads. Retailers are being told to check shelves for any remaining Dole Seven Lettuce salads and remove them.

If you have questions, you can call the Dole Food Company Consumer Response Center at (800) 356-3111, which is open 8:00 am to 3:00 pm (PDT) Monday – Friday.

People with cancer or who are on chemotherapy should be especially careful to avoid foods that may carry bacteria. They have less healthy immune systems and can become seriously ill from Salmonella infections.  Young children and the elderly are also at risk for severe, sometimes life-threatening infections.

More information about Salmonella from the Centers for Disease Control.

Symptoms of salmonella infection include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps that develop 12 to 72 hours after eating something contaminated by the bacteria. Most healthy adults recover without treatment, but severe cases may require a trip to the hospital and antibiotics.

Hillandale Farms of Iowa is recalling shell eggs because they may have been contaminated with Salmonella.

Lab tests have confirmed cases of Salmonella enteritidis associated with eating the eggs.

Eggs were packaged under the names Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms, and Sunny Meadow and distributed in 14 states.  They have the following plant numbers and Julian dates stamped on the end of the carton or on the label:

• P1860 – Julian dates ranging from 099 to 230
• P1663 – Julian dates ranging from 137 to 230

The plant number begins with the letter P and then the number. The Julian date follows the plant number, for example: P1860 230.

Consumers who believe they may have purchased these shell eggs should not eat them but should return them to the store where they were purchased for a full refund. Consumers with questions should contact Hillandale Farms at (866) 262-4208.

Previously the FDA announced an egg recall from Wright County Egg, another Iowa producer.

Check the eggs in your refrigerator!

The FDA, collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Agriculture, and state health departments, have traced a nationwide spike in Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) infections to a single firm in Iowa.

Eggs shipped from Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa after May 16,2010 have been recalled.

The CDA received approximately 200 reports of Salmonella Enteritidis every week in late June and early July, more than four times the usual 50 weekly reports over the past five years.

Wright County Egg says that the affected eggs are packaged under the following brand names: Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps in various carton sizes.

Check your egg carton to see if what you have is part of the recall.

The shipment date uses a Julian format ranging from 136 to 225.  Eggs were shipped from plant numbers 1026, 1413 and 1946. Dates and codes can be found stamped on the end of the egg carton. The plant number begins with the letter P and then the number. The Julian date follows the plant number, for example: P-1946 223.

Salmonella infections often cause fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.  Infections can be serious and even fatal in young children, the elderly or frail, or people with compromised immune systems.  Cancer patients and those undergoing chemotherapy may be at high risk.

Wright County Egg and the FDA urge anyone with eggs involved in the recall not to eat them and either throw them out or return them to the store where they bought them for a refund.  If you think you are sick from eating eggs, call your doctor!

The FDA offers this advice for preparing and eating eggs in general:

• Keep eggs in their shells refrigerated at 45 degrees (Fahrenheit) or lower.
• Never eat raw eggs.
• Throw out dirty or cracked eggs.
• Wash your hands, cooking utensils, and food preparations surfaces thoroughly with soap and water after preparing raw eggs.
• Cook all eggs until both yolks and whites are firm.
• Don’t keep eggs warm or at room temperature more than 2 hours.
• Refrigerate all leftovers containing eggs promptly.
• Avoid estaurant dishes made with raw or undercooked, unpasteurized eggs. Restaurants should use pasteurized eggs in any recipe (such as Hollandaise sauce or Caesar salad dressing) that calls for raw eggs. Ask to be sure.
• Eating raw or undercooked eggs should be avoided, especially by young children, elderly persons, and person with weakened immune systems or debilitating illness.

More information about egg safety from FoodSafety.Gov.

The FDA has announced that Caldwell Foods is recalling raw alfalfa sprouts linked to an outbreak of salmonella in ten states.

The sprouts are sold under the brand names

• Caldwell Fresh Foods in 4-oz plastic cups, 1-lb plastic bags, 2- and 5-lb plastic bags in cardboard boxes with a Caldwell Fresh Foods sticker
• Nature’s Choice in 4-oz plastic cups
• California Exotics brands in 5-oz plastic clam-shell containers

FDA reminds the public that children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems should avoid all kinds of raw sprouts, even those grown at home.

From the FDA:

All consumers and restaurant/delicatessen operators should immediately stop using Caldwell Fresh Foods raw alfalfa sprouts. FDA reminds consumers that children, the elderly, pregnant women and persons with weakened immune systems should avoid eating raw sprouts of any kind (including alfalfa, clover, radish and mung bean sprouts). More information for consumers about avoiding the risks associated with eating sprouts is available. from FoodSafety.Gov.

The Centers for Disease Control are also investigating the outbreak.  More information is available from the CDC.

African Water Frog

The Centers for Disease Control are warning of an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium connected with handling water frogs, including African Dwarf Frogs.  More than 50 people, mostly young children, have been diagnosed with the disease since June of 2009.  About one in four have had to go into the hospital, but none has died so far.

The CDC stresses that people with compromised immune systems, including cancer patients on chemotherapy, should avoid handling frogs and reptiles and anything that comes in contact with them like aquariums, habitats, and water.  These animals should not be in households with children under five.

Infections have been discovered in 25 states.  In talking with patients, the CDC found that many had handled the frogs before getting sick.  Bacteria were also found in aquariums housing the frogs in several different places.

The CDC recommends:

• Always wash your hands after handling any amphiphian (like frogs) or reptile (like turtles) or their housing, food, or anything that may have touched them.  Parents should help children with handwashing.
• Be aware of the signs of Salmonella infection such as diarrhea, fever, or abdominal cramps.  Call your health care provider right away if anyone in the family has them.
• People at risk for serious problems with Salmonella infections — children under 5, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems — should not handle frogs or turtles or anything that comes in contact with them.
• Animals that carry Salmonella infection should be kept out of the households of children under 5 and people with weakened immune systems.

Jason A. Bradley took the photograph of the African water frog.

Research this week finds FDG/PET able to predict response to chemotherapy even after one treatment, and chemotherapy before surgery for liver mets makes CT scan evaluation less accurate.

Finding the best imaging methods to diagnosis and monitor cancer and comparing new colorectal cancer screening technologies to current standards are among recommended priorities for comparative effectiveness research (CER).  The FDA reports new egg safety rules and the recall of a powdered dietary supplement.

Videos of cancer patients are now online discussing the emotional impact of their diagnosis in The Day I Found Out.

Research Reports

• Reduced uptake on FDG/PET after the first chemotherapy treatment may be able to predict how well patients will respond to chemo. In early information from a study of  advanced colorectal cancer patients reported at ASCO 2009, PET scans before initial chemo and  again two weeks later accurately predicted tumor response on later CT scans.   Dr.  Alain Hendlisz said, “Our results show that if tumor metabolism does not respond after 14 days, the patient is not likely to experience tumor shrinkage two or three months later on. Finding this out early on in treatment can help us avoid unnecessary side effects and also allows us to try another type of therapy sooner, if possible, to optimize results for our patients.”
• Chemotherapy before surgery to remove colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver makes CT scan evaluation less accurate. Doctors in France compared whether liver metastases were correctly identified in 92 patients, 30 of whom did not have chemotherapy before surgery.  CT either failed to find lesions or identified tumors that weren’t there in half of the chemotherapy patients but only about a third of those who went directly to surgery.  Other factors making CT scans less accurate were more than three liver tumors and fatty deposits (steatosis) in more than 30 percent of liver tissue.  Benjamin Angliviel and the team from the Hôpital Ambroise Paré in Boulogne report their results in the May, 2009 issue of the Annals of Surgical Oncology.

Other Headlines

• Finding the best imaging strategies for the diagnosis, staging, and monitoring of cancer is among the 25 most important priorities for comparative-effectiveness research (CER) recommended by a new Institute of Medicine report.  Comparing the effectiveness of new colorectal cancer screening methods, including CT colonographyand FIT, to usual care with FOBT and colonoscopy to prevent colorectal cancer is among the second tier of 25.  The IOM report chose 100 priorities from an initial list of 1,300 as important for $1.1 billion in CER funding to help Americans make good health care decisions based on evidence from research.  Said Dr. Harold C. Sox, co-chair of the IOM panel, “Healthcare decisions too often are a matter of guesswork because we lack good evidence to inform them.”
• Cancer survivors share their stories of diagnosis and treatment on video talking about The Day I Found Out. Developed by the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, the videos include several colon cancer patients including C3 advocate and stage IV survivor Anita Mitchell who talks about her oncologist who gave her hope when he said, “I have a plan for you.”  She says, “All I needed was that hope.”
• The FDA has issued new rules to help reduce Salmonella infections from eggs.   Large egg farmers will have to buy chicks from bacteria safe sources, keep facilities clean and bacteria-free, test their facilities regularly, and refrigerate eggs promptly for storage and shipment.  Salmonella enteritidis causes more than 140,000 illnesses every year, some of which are life-threatening.  FDA tells consumers to buy only refrigerated eggs, check for clean and uncracked shells, refrigerate eggs promptly at home, and cook eggs until yolks are firm.
• FDA: Vital Pharmaceuticals has recalled lots of its powdered dietary supplement Stealth Chocolate and Stealth Vanilla because it may be contaminated with Salmonella. Milk protein concentrate, one of the supplement’s ingredients, was recalled by the supplier.  The dietary supplements were sold nationwide, including at GNC stores.  Consumers with questions may contact Vital Pharmaceutical Inc. at 1-800-954-7904 or 954-641-0570 during the hours of 9 am – 5 pm, Monday through Friday.

The Food and Drug Administration recommends that consumers not eat raw alfalfa sprouts or combinations of sprouts that include alfalfa due to potential contamination with Salmonella Saintpaul.

The Centers for Disease Control, working with the FDA and state health departments, have identified 31 cases of illness traced to alfalfa sprouts in six different states since mid-March.  All either ate sprouts in a restaurant or bought them in retail stores.

Because the outbreak is widespread, the FDA suspects the problem may be in the seeds used for sprouting and how they are handled.

Previously, the FDA offered the following advice to all consumers concerning sprouts:

• Cook all sprouts thoroughly before eating to significantly reduce the risk of illness.
• Sandwiches and salads purchased at restaurants and delicatessens often contain raw sprouts. Consumers who wish to reduce their risk of foodborne illness should specifically request that raw sprouts not be added to their food.
• Homegrown sprouts also present a health risk if eaten raw or lightly cooked. Many outbreaks have been attributed to contaminated seed. If pathogenic bacteria are present in or on seed, they can grow to high levels during sprouting even under clean conditions.

Cancer patients, particularly those receiving chemotherapy, may be at increased risk for serious problems if they get sick from food contaminated with Salmonella. The FDA recommends avoiding raw sprouts completely for people with compromised immune systems.

The CDC and FDA recommend at all times that persons at high risk for complications, such as the elderly, young children, and those with compromised immune systems, not eat raw sprouts because of the risk of contamination with Salmonella or other bacteria.  Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses, such as meningitis and bone infections.

After a joint inspection by the Food and Drug Administration and the California Department of Public Health found evidence of Salmonella contamination in critical areas of the Setton  processing facility, Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella has recalled all pistachios from the 2008 crop. The recall includes those nuts roasted in the shell, shelled roasted nuts, and raw shelled nuts.

FDA is advising consumers not to eat pistachios or food products containing them (such as pistachio bakery goods and pistachio ice cream) unless they can determine that the products do not contain pistachios from Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc., (“Setton”).

FDA is maintaining a searchable list of recalled products that contain Setton nuts. The CAL-PURE co-op of California pistachio growers  and the Western Pistachio Association list brands that do not contain Setton pistachios.

Cancer patients, especially those on chemotherapy, may have reduced immune systems that make them particularly vulnerable to Salmonella infection.

Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella in California has recalled over a million pounds of pistachios after Salmonella was found in Back To Nature Trail Mix by Kraft Foods.  Kraft traced the contamination back to Setton.

Setton is recalling both its large bulk shipments of pistachios to other manufacturers and Setton Farms brand roasted salted shelled pistachios in 9 oz. film bags.  The Setton Farm bags of pistachios were distributed in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky and have UPC Code: 034325020252 with a “Best Before” date between 01/06/10 and 01/19/10.

They should not be eaten, and can be returned to the store where they were purchased for a full refund.

Since the bulk nuts are reprocessed by a number of manufacturers, the FDA recommends that consumers avoid eating all pistachio products until the full scope of the problem is known.  It is expected that more products will be recalled, and the FDA will be developing a searchable database of recalls.

More information is available from Setton at (888) 228-3717.

The Food and Drug Administration has expanded the recall of peanut products from the Peanut Corporation of America’s plant in Blakely GA after inspectors identified additional strains of Salmonella at the facility along with poor sanitation practices.

The plant provides peanut butter and peanut paste to more than 70 food companies that manufacturer a wide variety of products from cookies to ice cream to dog food.  Hundreds of products have been voluntarily recalled by those companies.  So far, there is no evidence that any retail peanut butter is contaminated.  The Centers for Disease Control has not had reports of Salmonella infection from strains other than Typhimurium.

The FDA and CDC recommend:

• Don’t eat any of the recalled products and throw them away in a way that others can’t eat them.
• Check the FDA database of recalled peanut items before eating any commercially-prepared or manufactured food containing peanuts, peanut butter, or peanut paste.
• For peanut items not on the FDA database, check the manufacturer’s web site or call the toll-free number found on most packaging before eating them.
• If safety of an item containing peanut products cannot be determined, don’t eat it and dispose of it safely so it cannot be eaten by others.
• People who think they may have become ill from eating a contaminated product should contact a health care professional.

In addition, although the risk of animals getting a Salmonella infection is low, children and adults who handle recalled animal snacks should take special care by washing their hands thoroughly before and, especially, after feeding treats to pets.