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Tag: foodborne illnesses

  • Raw Oysters Behind Salmonella Outbreak Sweeping Across the US, CDC Warns

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    If you’re looking to start 2026 on the right foot, it might be wise to avoid raw oysters for the time being. Health officials have linked an ongoing Salmonella outbreak to the popular seafood item.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 64 people across 22 states have been sickened by the same outbreak strain of bacteria, and nearly two dozen have been hospitalized. While a common source of transmission hasn’t yet been identified, the majority of interviewed individuals reported eating raw oysters shortly before their illness began.

    “Epidemiologic data show that oysters may be contaminated with Salmonella and may be making people sick in this outbreak,” the CDC stated in its update released last week.

    Worse than it seems

    There are several different types of Salmonella bacteria that can cause illness in people, though the symptoms tend to be similar and gastrointestinal in nature. These include diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps. The illness will usually clear up within a few days and without the need for antibiotic treatment. But in rare cases, the bacteria can spread to other parts of the body and cause life-threatening complications like meningitis or sepsis.

    A strain of Salmonella Telelkebir is behind the current outbreak. The first known cases date back to June 2025, while the latest were reported in November 2025. Twenty people have been hospitalized to date, though none have died.

    It can take up to a week for symptoms to start after exposure and three to four weeks before a case is identified as part of the same outbreak, so the actual toll is probably substantially worse than documented.

    “The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses,” the CDC said. “This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella.”

    State and local health officials have been interviewing sickened people about their recent diet, and raw oysters have come up as a likely culprit for the outbreak. Out of 27 cases interviewed so far, three-quarters reported eating raw oysters in the week before they became sick.

    The one silver lining is that the outbreak strain of Salmonella doesn’t appear to be drug-resistant, meaning conventional antibiotics should work to help prevent or treat severe infections.

    What to do

    The CDC notes that raw oysters can be a potential contamination threat at any time of the year. And Salmonella isn’t the only germ that likes to call oysters home; the food can also carry foodborne infections like hepatitis A, Vibrio bacteria, and norovirus.

    As a result, health officials generally recommend avoiding raw oysters and clams altogether—a tip that’s all the more useful now, given this current outbreak.

    “Cook oysters before eating to reduce your risk of food poisoning,” the CDC stated.

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    Ed Cara

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  • How long can a Thanksgiving buffet sit out? A doctor explains

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    (CNN) — Nearly 82 million Americans are expected to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday, including many of you.

    As family and friends gather together to share meals, it may be good to remember that foodborne illnesses are on the rise. These are mostly preventable with the right precautions.

    I want to make sure that the food my family and I are preparing is safe—and so are the leftovers, so I turned to CNN wellness expert Dr. Leana Wen. Wen is an emergency physician and clinical associate professor at George Washington University. She previously served as Baltimore’s health commissioner, where her responsibilities included overseeing food safety.

    CNN: What causes foodborne infections?

    Dr. Leana Wen: Foodborne infections are caused by pathogens, like bacteria, viruses and parasites. In the US, the most common form of foodborne infection is norovirus, which is a contagious virus that spreads from person to person through sharing utensils or touching objects that an infected person has touched and then touching your mouth. There are also several bacteria that cause foodborne illness, including salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter and listeria.

    CNN: What symptoms do people experience?

    Wen: Typical symptoms of foodborne illness include abdominal cramping, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. Many people recover within 24 hours, but some can become very ill, depending on the pathogen and their underlying medical conditions. Those at highest risk for complications are young children, pregnant women, older individuals and people with immunocompromising medical illnesses.

    CNN: I’ve seen a lot of recalls for food products. How do I make sure that the food I’m preparing is OK before placing it out at meals?

    Wen: Rhere have been several instances of high-profile food recalls, but it’s important to remember that the majority of foodborne illnesses occur in everyday settings that don’t involve high-profile cases. Definitely be aware of food recalls (the US government maintains a comprehensive list of recent recalls) and make sure that you don’t have products in your fridge or pantry that are deemed unsafe. But don’t obsess over it, as chances are that the food you buy will be safe. However, there are many other things that you can and need to do make sure you abide by safe food preparing practices.

    CNN: Let’s talk about some of these best practices. How do I defrost my turkey safely?

    Wen: This is a great question and applies not only to turkey but also to other poultry and meat. The concern is to keep bacteria from growing when the turkey thaws.

    There are three ways to safely thaw turkey. The easiest, though the one that takes the longest, is to thaw in the refrigerator. You put the turkey in a container to prevent it from dripping onto other food. It generally takes 24 hours for each four to five pounds of turkey, so an 8-pound turkey could take two days, and a 12-pound turkey could take three days.

    The second way is to wrap the turkey in a leak-proof bag and submerge it in cold water. This takes about 30 minutes per pound, so the 8-pound turkey will take about 4 hours to thaw. You could use tap water and change the water every 30 minutes. It’s important to cook the turkey immediately after it is thawed to prevent bacteria growth.

    The third way is to use a microwave. How long it will take depends on the specific microwave. This is the fastest method, but because some parts of the turkey will start to cook during microwaving, it’s essential to cook the turkey right after thawing.

    It’s not a good idea to leave the turkey thawing on the counter in a warm room. That’s because parts of the turkey may still be frozen while some parts reach high enough temperature for the bacteria to rapidly multiply.

    CNN: How long can a Thanksgiving buffet sit out? Does it vary by dish?

    Wen: The rule of thumb to keep in mind is the “two-hour rule.” Once the food is cooked, it should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours. In the summer, if this is an outdoor picnic and the temperature is over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, food should be refrigerated after an hour.

    This rule applies to all perishable foods, including meat, fish and milk products. Cooked leftovers should be refrigerated. The foods that do not need to be refrigerated according to the two-hour rule are baked goods such as cookies and cakes, dried meat such as jerky, whole fruit that is not chopped, and nuts.

    CNN: What if the food is on a burner or in a slow cooker to keep it warm?

    Wen: The temperature at which bacteria multiples rapidly is between 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. If the food is being kept warm by an appliance such that is over 140 degrees Fahrenheit — or if it’s being kept cooled at below 40 degrees Fahrenheit — this does not count toward the two-hour rule. But within two hours of removing from the warming or cooling apparatus, it needs to be refrigerated.

    CNN: The fridge is my friend, right? Can food go into the fridge so we can enjoy leftovers the next day?

    Wen: Yes, if it is stored in a timely manner in the refrigerator. Leftovers can typically be kept in the fridge for three to four days. They can also be frozen for three to four months.

    CNN: What other safety tips people should keep in mind before gatherings?

    Wen: We’ve talked about thawing and storage of leftovers, and we also need to discuss cooking or reheating to the right temperature. The temperature varies depending on the type of meat or fish. An internal meat thermometer is crucial for monitoring the temperature. Make sure that fish is cooked to 145 degrees Fahrenheit and chicken, turkey and poultry to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

    Be aware of cross-contamination. Do not use containers or utensils you have used with raw meat or fish to touch other products, like vegetables and fruits.

    Also, remember that norovirus is the most common cause of foodborne illness. People who have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps or other symptoms of norovirus should not prepare food. Everyone should wash their hands often and well with soap and water.

    Event hosts should also ask that those who are experiencing signs of respiratory infection to stay home. And those who are especially vulnerable to severe illness due to underlying conditions should take additional precautions that are appropriate for their individual circumstance.

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    Katia Hetter and CNN

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  • Chemical Safety, Cultivated Meat, and Our Health  | NutritionFacts.org

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    More than 95 percent of human exposure to industrial pollutants like dioxins and PCBs comes from fish, other meat, and dairy.

    By cultivating muscle meat directly, without associated organs like intestines, the incidence of foodborne diseases “could be significantly reduced,” as could exposure to antibiotics, “pesticides, arsenic, dioxins, and hormones associated with conventional meat.” Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved seven hormone drugs to bulk up the production of milk and meat. “In the European Union, there exists a total ban on such use,” however. Even without injected hormones, though, animal products naturally have hormones because they come from animals. “Eggs, example given, contribute more to the dietary intake of estradiol [estrogens] than beef, whether the animal is legally treated with hormones or not.” After all, eggs come straight from a hen’s ovaries, so, of course, they’re swimming with hormones. But if you’re directly growing just muscle meat or egg white protein, you don’t need to include reproductive organs, adrenal glands, or any of the associated hormones.

    “Chemical safety is another concern for meat produced under current production systems.” There are chemical toxicants and industrial pollutants that build up in the food chain, such as pesticides, PCBs, heavy metals, and flame retardants, but there is no food chain with cultivated meat. We could produce all the tuna we wanted, with zero mercury.

    When the World Health Organization determined that processed meat was a known human carcinogen and unprocessed meat a probable human carcinogen, it wasn’t even talking about the carcinogenic environmental pollutants. When researchers tested retail meat for the presence of “33 chemicals with calculated carcinogenic potential,” like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organochlorine pesticides like DDT, and dioxin-like PCBs, they concluded that, in order to reduce the risk of cancer, we should limit beef, pork, or chicken consumption to a maximum of five servings a month.

    Why cultivate meat at all when you can just buy organic? Surprisingly, “consumption of organic meat does not diminish the carcinogenic potential associated with the intake of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).” A number of studies have recently compared the presence of environmental contaminants in organic meat versus conventional meat, and the researchers found, surprisingly, that organic meat was sometimes more contaminated. Not only organic beef either. Higher levels were also found in pork and poultry.

    If you look at the micropollutants and chemical residues in both organic and conventional meat, several environmental contaminants, including dioxins, PCBs, lead, and arsenic, were measured at significantly higher levels in the organic samples. As you can see below and at 2:56 in my video, The Human Health Effects of Cultivated Meat: Chemical Safety, the green is organic meat, and the blue is conventional. 

    Cooking helps to draw off some of the fat where the PCBs are concentrated, as shown here and at 3:01.

    Seafood seems to be an exception. Steaming, for example, generally increases contaminant levels, increasing contaminant exposure and concentrating mercury levels as much as 47 percent, as you can see here and at 3:15 in my video. Better not to have toxic buildup in the first place.

    More than 95 percent of human exposure to industrial pollutants like dioxins and PCBs comes from foods like meat, including fatty fish, and dairy, but the pollutants don’t appear magically. The only way the chicken, fish, and other meat lead to human exposure is because the animals themselves built up a lifetime of exposure in our polluted world, from incinerators, power plants, sewer sludge, and on and on, as you can see here and at 3:40 in my video.

    Unlike conventional meat production, a slaughter-free harvest would not only mean no more infected animals, but no more contaminated animals either. In terms of pollutants, it would be like taking a time machine back before the Industrial Revolution.

    Doctor’s Note:

    Cultivated meat means less contamination with fecal residues, toxic pollutants, antibiotics, and hormones; up to 99 percent less environmental impact; and zero pandemic risk. Cultivated meat allows people to have their meat and eat it, too, without affecting the rest of us.

    This is the final video in this cultivated meat series. If you missed the first two, check out the videos on Food Safety and Antibiotic Resistance.

    I previously did a video series on plant-based meats; see the related posts below.

    All videos in the plant-based meat series are also available in a digital download from a webinar I did. SeeThe Human Health Implications of Plant-Based and Cultivated Meat for Pandemic Prevention and Climate Mitigation.

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    Michael Greger M.D. FACLM

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