Food Nutrition and Wellness Information:

Sabra Recalls 30,000 Cases of Classic Hummus for Possible Listeria Risk

BY NEWS DESK | APRIL 8, 2015

Sabra Dipping Co. LLC of White Plains, NY, has recalled 30,000 cases of Sabra Classic Hummus due to the possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes.

After routine inspections at a Kroger outlet in Port Huron, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development officials reportedly learned about the risk of contamination in the prepackaged product. The department then informed the company and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Only certain lots of the Classic Hummus are being recalled, and no other Sabra products are affected. There are no reported cases of illnesses to date.

The recalled products and product codes are:

040822011143/300067 – Sabra Classic, 10 oz. – 3-059/Best before May 11, 2015

040822011143/300067 – Sabra Classic 10 oz. – 3-060/Best before May 15, 2015

040822014687/300074 – Sabra Classic, 30 oz. – 3-059/Best before May 11, 2015

040822342049/301216 – Sabra Classic Without Garnish, 32 oz. – 3-059/Best before May 11, 2015

040822017497/301290 – Sabra Classic, 17 oz. Six Pack – 3-058/Best before May 11, 2015

040822017497/301290 – Sabra Classic, 17 oz. Six Pack – 3-059/Best before May 11, 2015

040822342209/301283 – Hummus Dual Pack Classic/Garlic – 3-058/Best before May 11, 2015

Consumers are advised to throw out any product with those codes, which are on the top of each package. The recalled products may also be returned to the store where purchased for a refund. Those with questions may call Sabra at 888-957-2272 Monday through Friday.

In healthy individuals, infection with Listeria monocytogenes may cause short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. However, young children, the elderly or those with compromised immune systems can contract serious and sometimes fatal infections. Listeria can also cause miscarriage and stillbirth in pregnant women

FNW, FL, FS Agenda: Thursday 3/27-Monday 3/30/15

All classes will work on individual assignment sheets. 
All class work will be graded...

FNW: Thursday, March 26, 2015

Presenting Chapter 5 Food Safety and Sanitation  Media Projects.  30% of final grade.

Food Safety Resource:

http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/view/assetGuid/521314DE-6983-412E-B924-CB7E6CBB002B

Top 10 Food Additives to Avoid

Food Science Resource:

Which Is Worse: High Fructose Corn Syrup Or Plain Old Sugar?

ByANDREW WEIL, MDFEBRUARY 27, 2015WRITE A COMMENT

PHOTO BY ANDREW UNANGST/GETTY IMAGES

• Subscribe

While both sweeteners really aren't great, high fructose corn syrup, which is found in a wide variety of highly processed foods and beverages such as baked desserts, salad dressings, ketchup, sodas, and ice cream, is the slightly more dangerous choice.

Too much of any sugar is bad for you—in excess, it promotes insulin resistance, weight gain, and inflammation that contributes to chronic illnesses like heart disease and cancer. From a health perspective, some experts say HFCS (which is, obviously, derived from corn) is no different than table sugar (which comes from sugar cane and sugar beets), but there's one difference between highly-processed HFCS and regular sugar that gives me pause: Some forms of HFCS may release more fructose within the body than does sucrose, or table sugar (which pales equal parts glucose and fructose). Glucose triggers feeling of fullness to help keep you from overeating, while fructose doesn't.

Worse: a recent study in the Journal of Nutrition found that HFCS is significantly more toxic to female mice than table sugar is, harming their reproductive health and shortening their lifespan. Other animal studies suggest that high intakes of HFCS can slow brain function, impairing memory and the ability to learn. 

MORE: 6 Ways To Cut Down On Sugar Without Losing Your Mind

There is also an environmental impact to consider, as the government-subsidized growing of corn requires large amounts of fertilizer and pesticides, and depletes the soil of nutrients.

Though some manufacturers, like Hershey, are doing away with HFCS in favor of ordinary table sugar, many still favor HFCS because it tastes sweeter than regular corn syrup, helps maintain a long shelf life for their products, and, until recently, has been relatively inexpensive. But there are better, healthier ways to add flavor, like a splash of maple or glucose syrup or adding vanilla or cinnamon.

Regular sugar can add to the pleasure of eating in small doses, but we consume far too much of it. In fact, the average American consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar daily, most of that coming from sugar-sweetened sodas, grain-based desserts such as cookies and cake, candy, energy drinks, ready-to-eat cereals, and yeast breads. So when you're reaching for a snack, read ingredient lists carefully to avoid added sugars as much as possible. Or stick with naturally low-sugar options like air-popped popcorn, plain Greek yogurt, sorbet, and dried fruit. 

Food Nutrition and Wellness Resource:

Apples Were Apparently the Contaminated Ingredient in Those Caramel Apples

BY DAN FLYNN | MARCH 20, 2015

It looks like the apple, and not the caramel, is getting the blame for the deadly multistate outbreak of Listeriosis linked to caramel apples that occurred late last year.

The outbreak sickened 35 people in 12 states, requiring hospitalization for all but one victim. Seven of the sickened people died. Canada also reported an additional case genetically related to the U.S. outbreak.

The Listeria outbreak was first thought to be limited to commercially produced, pre-packaged caramel apples, but according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least three people who had eaten only whole or sliced green apples before getting sick were victims of the outbreak.

Its role as the common supplier to companies making caramel apples led investigators to a Bakersfield, CA, apple processing plant owned and operated by Bidart Bros. Environmental sampling discovered two strains of Listeria monocytogenes inside the apple processing plant, which were matched to apples collected from retailers.

Caramel apple producers, including Happy Apple, California Snack Foods, and Merb’s Candies, were among the first to recall products. While the onset of the outbreak illnesses ran from Oct. 17, 2014, to Jan. 6, 2015, it was not until nearly the end of that period that Bidart Bros. was identified as the common supplier to the caramel processors.

It was also on Jan. 6, 2015, that Bidart Bros. recalled its entire 2014 crop of Gala and Granny Smith apples. The company stated that its final shipment was on Dec. 2, 2014.

The raw apple cases and the strains found inside the plant both point to the apples as the source of the Listeria, but the order in which these events were first reported may have left people confused.

At last month’s Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC) public meeting on attribution estimates for foodborne disease outbreaks, a participant from the University of Minnesota wanted to know if the “candy apple” outbreak would be attributed to the apples or “tossed off as a complex food.”

The question related to the fact that in its analysis of all foodborne illness outbreaks that occurred between 1998 and 2012, IFSAC excluded those attributed to foods with multiple ingredients to which the specific ingredient was never identified as the source of the pathogen.

“In that case,” responded CDC’s Dr. Dana Cole, “we were fortunate to isolate the contaminate ingredient and that will be classified as a simple food outbreak.” Her response seemed to indicate the single ingredient identified as the source of last fall’s Listeria outbreak was the apple, not the caramel.

Overall, IFSAC found that fruit was the source of 50 percent of the Listeria cases, but this was extrapolated from one out of 24 Listeria outbreaks where 147 people were sickened by cantaloupe in 2011. The partnership between CDC, the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the Food and Drug Administration warned that its confidence in its Listeria estimates was not very high because of the small number of outbreaks included from the study period.