From Canada to Mexico, our continent is currently teeming with food and food-animal based illness. Here’s what’s happening:
An outbreak of Salmonella poisoning (or Salmonellosis) in Canada may be associated with contaminated melons. Salmonella bacteria in the soil can easily cling to the pitted surface of ground-growing melons and can be transferred to the edible flesh of the fruit if the rind is not properly cleaned before being cut. Salmonella infection presents with symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever, and anyone suspected of Salmonella exposure should seek medical attention.
Five-gallon plastic jugs of chopped onions sold in Oakland, California, and distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay area are being recalled by CJ United Corporation, due to potential Salmonella contamination.
A “bleach-like substance” in bottled water from a Southern California school vending machine seems to have made twelve junior high students ill. The FBI sent a hazardous materials team to investigate, while the Pepsi Bottling Group insists their company is not to blame.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2010
