The staff of Industrial Safety & Hygiene News wishes you a happy 4th of July. Although many people will get today off work others – especially public service personnel who perform vital services – will be on the job. Whatever your work status, we hope you get a chance to enjoy the festivities and fireworks, grilling and sunshine, friends and family.
There’s still plenty of summer left, so we thought we’d provide you with some reminders about how to enjoy the season safely.
An OSHA regulation gets finalized – after dropping a controversial requirement; workplace violence claims four employees of a Florida bank and oil pipeline explosions kill dozens in Nigeria and Mexico. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
A new report says that “systemic failures” in the U.S. food safety system have led to a sharp increase in recalls of contaminated foods since 2013.
How Safe is Our Food?, from U.S. Public Interest Research Groups’ (PIRG) Education Fund, found that many types of food recalls have increased since the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in 2011.
ISHN hopes that all of our readers and website visitors have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Many of you will be enjoying holiday dinners with family and friends. Here are some tips for how to safely enjoy those leftovers later (courtesy of FoodSafety.gov):
The CDC is warning of a multistate outbreak of Salmonella linked to kosher chicken that has hospitalized eight people and resulted in one death. The illness – which may be linked to Empire Kosher brand chicken – has sickened 17 people in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia – so far.
According to a 2009 study by the Rutgers University Food Policy Institute, fewer than 60% of Americans have ever checked their homes for a recalled food item. This suggests that, while many Americans view food recalls as important, they don’t believe they’re particularly relevant. With food product and ingredient recalls becoming increasingly present in our daily lives, Stop Foodborne Illness presents a basic guide to orient consumers on food recalls.
The Trump administration wants to merge the Departments of Labor and Education into one entity that would be called the Department of Education and the Workforce, according to news sources.
The proposal was announced at a cabinet meeting yesterday.
Although most delis keep food cold enough to reduce growth of Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) and other germs that cause foodborne illness and outbreaks, but one in six delis do not. That finding by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study matters because Lm causes the third highest number of foodborne illness deaths in the United States each year.
In the food service business, gloves are good at spreading pathogens. Take Chipotle, for example. It turns out that the company requires all employees wear gloves while working. And that means that the employee (or employees) who contributed to the norovirus outbreak must have been wearing gloves while they were preparing food.
Food allergies are a growing public health issue. About 15 million Americans have food allergies; one in 13 children and one in 25 adults.
In some cases, symptoms from ingesting allergens can be severe enough to require medical treatment. Food allergic reactions are responsible for about 30,000 emergency room visits and 150-200 deaths a year.
