The Kevin Trudeau Show: 6-9-12
Today, the director of Farmageddon, Kristin Canty, stops by to give you the inside story on what really happened during the Rawesome Foods raid and why her documentary is so important for every American to see! Plus, Thomas James of HempUSA.org stops by to discuss the amazing health benefits you could receive just by consuming hemp products on a regular basis.
Self Help:
Detoxify Your Body
Weight Loss Cure
Protect Yourself & Your Family
Health:
How Safe Are the Drugs in Your Medicine Cabinet?
Diet Sabotage: Nearly 1 In 5 Calorie Counts Wrong
Cargill Recalls Potentially Tainted Turkey
Study Shows That Hospitals Are More Dangerous Than Flying
Why ’100% Orange Juice’ Is Still Artificial
Prince Charles Branded a ‘Snake Oil Salesman’
Government:
Congress To Form The Debt “Super Committee”
Wealth:
Food Stamp Use Rises to Record 45.8 Million
Dow Plunges 500 Points
Global Stocks Tumble After U.S. Selloff
How to Survive the Stock Market’s Wild Ride
10 Signs The Double-Dip Recession Has Begun
Everything Kevin:
Become An Insider!
Stand with KT!
Kevin is on YouTube!
Sign Up For Kevin’s FREE Podcast
Follow Kevin on Twitter
Become A Fan of Kevin on Facebook
Kevin’s Film Club
Kevin’s Book Club
Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!
Click below to watch the Kevin Trudeau Show!
Hard-Boiled Egg Recall Hits 34 States
February 7, 2012 by admin
Filed under News Stories
February 6, 2012
By Daniel J DeNoon
Listeria contamination of hard-cooked eggs has led to recalls of prepared salads, sandwiches, and other products in 34 states.
So far, no illnesses have been reported. The listeria contamination was detected in lab tests run on hard-cooked eggs from Michael Foods’ Wakefield, Neb., plant. The firm says the contamination was linked to a “specific repair project that took place in the processing room.”
Michael Foods, based in Minnesota, does not sell the foods directly to retail customers. But the recalled 10- and 25-pound pails of cooked, peeled eggs were widely distributed to many types of food service companies in 34 states.
An initial lot of the eggs was recalled on Jan. 26. The recall expanded to eggs sold under six brand names — Columbia Valley Farms, GFS, Glenview Farms, Papetti’s, Silverbrook, and Wholesome Farms — bearing lot codes of 1 LOT 1350W through 1 LOT 2025W and expiration dates ranging from 1/30/2012 to 3/10/2012.
The eggs were sold to food distributors and manufacturers in 34 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. It’s not yet clear whether any of these distributors sold the products beyond these states.
Click here for the full report from WebMD
FDA Auditor Rates Farm ‘Superior’ Two Months Before Listeria Outbreak
January 11, 2012 by admin
Filed under News Stories
January 11, 2012
Huffington Post
By Marie Claire Jalonick
Congressional investigators looking into an outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe linked to 30 deaths last year found that third-party auditors who gave Colorado’s Jensen Farms a “superior” rating just before the outbreak largely ignored government guidance on food safety.
A bipartisan report released Tuesday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee quotes a representative of an auditing company that graded the facility two months before the outbreak as saying audits are not intended to help clients improve food safety standards. Retailers often rely on such audits to make sure food they buy is safe.
Democrats on the panel asked the Food and Drug Administration to crack down on such third-party auditors, who often are the only outside entities to inspect food facilities. A food safety law signed last year will boost FDA inspections of such facilities, but money to carry out those inspections is not guaranteed from Congress.
“Weaknesses in third-party auditors represent a significant gap in the food safety system,” the Democrats said. Republicans on the committee signed the report but did not echo the Democratic call for more oversight.
The FDA currently does not regulate third-party auditors. The food safety law requires the agency to improve third-party audits of food facilities abroad that export to the United States, but does not address domestic audits.
Click here for the full report from the Huffington Post.
Cites Dirty Equipment In Deadly Cantaloupe Outbreak
October 20, 2011 by admin
Filed under News Stories
October 20, 2011
USA Today Your Life
By: Elizabeth Weise
Federal health officials say they found listeria throughout the packing facility of the Colorado farm whose cantaloupe have so far caused 25 deaths and more than 125 illnesses.
In a report released Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration cited multiple problems at the Jensen Farms facility in Holly, Colo., some of which could suggest how listeria came to enter the farm’s packing shed.
For instance, FDA officials said, a truck used to take waste cantaloupes to a nearby cattle farm was parked next to the open-air packing shed. Because cattle are known carriers of the listeria bacteria, manure carried on the truck’s wheels could have contaminated the area around the packing facility.
Other problems found included:
•Equipment used to wash and dry the cantaloupe was impossible to clean thoroughly and had built-up dirt on it.
•A refrigerator drain line allowed water to pool on the floor next to the packing equipment.
•The floor of the packing shed was constructed such that it was very difficult to clean.
•The company had purchased a used potato-washing machine to clean its cantaloupes, which may have been another way that listeria was introduced to the facility.
•The cantaloupe, which typically come in from the fields at 80 degrees, were not pre-cooled to inhibit bacteria growth before being placed in cold storage. This could have created conditions that allowed for condensation, an environment ideal for growth of listeria.
The outbreak is now one of deadliest of listeria in the USA. The deadliest known was in 1985 when a Mexican-style soft cheese contaminated with listeria from Jalisco Products killed 18 adults and 10 newborns, as well as caused 20 miscarriages, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It sickened 142 others.
This outbreak has been linked to Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes sold by Jensen Farms. The cantaloupes were recalled Sept. 14, and no melons under the recall should still be on store shelves. Most of the contaminated melons should be out of the food supply by now. The CDC and the FDA said any cantaloupes not from Jensen Farms are safe to eat.
Symptoms of listeriosis can take up to two months to develop in someone who has eaten contaminated food, so illnesses could continue to show up into November, the CDC said.
FDA officials announced the results of their findings today at a news conference in Washington D.C. The inspections at the farm, which included staff from FDA and Colorado state officials, took place on Sept. 10.
They took 39 environmental samples from the facility, mostly swabs of surfaces. No samples from the fields were positive for the outbreak strains, but 12 from the packing facility were.
Armed with those findings, FDA inspectors returned to the farm on Sept. 22 and 23 and conducted further inspections, where they found the problems listed above. The firm cooperated with the inspections.
Consumers shouldn’t be concerned about cantaloupe in general, says Sherri McGarry, an adviser to FDA’s Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation team.
“We want to emphasize that there’s no reason to believe that these factors are indicative of practices through the industry,” McGarry said. “I’d say that they were fairly unique.”
Jim Gorny, FDA’s senior adviser for produce safety, said that the conditions found at Jensens Farms were not normal for other cantaloupe facilities.
Click here for the full report from USA Today Your Life
How You Really Need To Wash Your Food And Your Hands
October 17, 2011 by admin
Filed under News Stories
October 17, 2011
The Huffington Post
We make thousands of choices every day about what to eat, what to wear, where to shop. We are so busy making these choices that sometimes we forget to make some basic choices that can save our lives and help us feel better.
For example, washing our hands. For another example, washing our fruits and vegetables.
We live in a global world, and our food comes from all over. Just because we all aspire to eat better, (which usually also means eating more locally grown food) doesn’t mean this always happens.
Earlier this month, the CDC documented a nationwide food contamination with an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes that affected cantaloupes. Unfortunately, many people were infected. Those infected were from all over the United States; in fact, at least twenty states reported cases.
This unfortunate outbreak is a great reminder to us all about the choices that we make individually, every day, to be healthy.
It’s not always the big three: eating well, exercising and exhaling (stress management).
Sometimes it’s as simple as washing our hands, making sure that we wash our fruits and vegetables, and being mindful of other healthy kitchen safety tips.
These include handling raw meat and eggs safely (think, for example: using a separate cutting board and utensils to handle raw meat; washing the counter with soapy water; and of course washing your hands!); cooking meat thoroughly; and checking your refrigerator to make sure that it is below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and that your freezer is set to 0 or below degrees Fahrenheit.
While I’m at it, let’s talk for a moment about hand washing.
It’s something we are all supposed to do, and we all think that we know how to wash our hands. Right? Come on? We’ve been doing this simple act all of our lives. But do you really wash your hands long enough? Most of us don’t, and hand washing is perhaps one of the easiest ways to keep ourselves and those around us healthy. (And in addition to food safety, flu season is just around the corner…) So, what to do: turn on the water, make it comfortable (you’re going to be here for a few minutes, after all), put some soap on your hands and start to sing your favorite song (the ABC song, sung twice, works nicely in a pinch) and scrub your hands — back and front, past your wrists — under the water.
When you think you’re done, scrub a bit longer.
Once your hands are rinsed, before turning off the water, grab a towel to both dry your hands and turn off the faucet. This last step is good practice for when you are in a public restroom, especially! Et voila, clean hands.
So, what five servings of fruits and vegetables today are you going to enjoy today? Of course, after you’ve washed them thoroughly first!
Click here for the full report from The Huffington Post
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 8-13-11
Today, the director of Farmageddon, Kristin Canty, stops by to give you the inside story on what really happened during the Rawesome Foods raid and why her documentary is so important for every American to see! Plus, Thomas James of HempUSA.org stops by to discuss the amazing health benefits you could receive just by consuming hemp products on a regular basis.
Self Help:
Detoxify Your Body
Weight Loss Cure
Protect Yourself & Your Family
Health:
How Safe Are the Drugs in Your Medicine Cabinet?
Diet Sabotage: Nearly 1 In 5 Calorie Counts Wrong
Cargill Recalls Potentially Tainted Turkey
Study Shows That Hospitals Are More Dangerous Than Flying
Why ’100% Orange Juice’ Is Still Artificial
Prince Charles Branded a ‘Snake Oil Salesman’
Government:
Congress To Form The Debt “Super Committee”
Wealth:
Food Stamp Use Rises to Record 45.8 Million
Dow Plunges 500 Points
Global Stocks Tumble After U.S. Selloff
How to Survive the Stock Market’s Wild Ride
10 Signs The Double-Dip Recession Has Begun
Everything Kevin:
Become An Insider!
Stand with KT!
Kevin is on YouTube!
Sign Up For Kevin’s FREE Podcast
Follow Kevin on Twitter
Become A Fan of Kevin on Facebook
Kevin’s Film Club
Kevin’s Book Club
Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!
Click below to watch the Kevin Trudeau Show!
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 8-5-11
Today, Kevin delves deep into how scary America really is and why doing your homework before believing complete nonsense is so essential if you want to be successful. Plus, the director of Farmageddon, Kristin Canty, stops by to give you the inside story on what really happened during the Rawesome Foods raid and why her documentary is so important for every American to see!
Health:
Cargill Recalls Potentially Tainted Turkey
Study Shows That Hospitals Are More Dangerous Than Flying
Update:
A Small Rawesome Foods Victory
Wealth:
Food Stamp Use Rises to Record 45.8 Million
Dow Plunges 500 Points
Global Stocks Tumble After U.S. Selloff
How to Survive the Stock Market’s Wild Ride
Everything Kevin:
Become An Insider!
Stand with KT!
Kevin is on YouTube!
Sign Up For Kevin’s FREE Podcast
Follow Kevin on Twitter
Become A Fan of Kevin on Facebook
Kevin’s Film Club
Kevin’s Book Club
Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!
Click below to watch the Kevin Trudeau Show!
Pierre Foods Recalls ‘PB Jamwiches’ Over Possible Listeria Contamination
March 16, 2011 by admin
Filed under News Stories
March 16th, 2011
WalletPop.com
By: Linda Doell
Pierre Foods recalled 320 cases of its “pb jamwich” crustless peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches because of possible listeria monocytogenes contamination, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
So far, no one has gotten sick from eating the ready-made sandwiches, which were sold at Giant Food stores in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
Listeria can cause a potentially fatal infection in young children, the elderly or those with weakened immune systems. In pregnant women, it can cause miscarriages and stillbirths and expectant moms are 20 times more likely to get listeriosis than other healthy adults, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Even normally healthy people can suffer from a high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Each year, an estimated 1,600 people become seriously ill with listeriosis — with 260 dying.
Included in the recall is one lot of Pierre pb jamwiches in a 12-count red carton with a UPC code of 7599921368 and a “best if purchased by 03-11-2011,” the FDA said. The sandwiches were sold in the grocers’ freezer section. The recall was prompted after a product sample test detected listeria.
Consumers who have the sandwiches can return them to the store for a refund. Call the company at (800) 982-7091 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time.
Earlier this month Taylor Farms Pacific recalled broccoli that was used in pre-cooked meals and supermarket deli salads because of potential listeria contamination.
Click here for the full report from WalletPop.com
CDC Claims E. Coli Infection Rates Down
April 16, 2010 by admin
Filed under News Stories
April 16, 2010
CNN.com
by Saundra Young
Cases of E. coli 0157, a strain of bacteria in the E. coli family that can cause severe food poisoning, dropped significantly in 2009, according to surveillance data for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
With this drop in infection rates, the strain meets the Department of Health and Human Services’ “Healthy People 2010″ target of fewer than one case per 100,000 people.
Similar targets for pathogens campylobacter, listeria, salmonella and vibrio did not fare as well. Vibrio cases are on the rise, and salmonella fell far short of the goal, the data showed. While campylobacter and listeria did decline significantly, they still did not meet “Healthy People” targets.
To meet these targets, health officials say, new prevention measures will be needed.
Health officials think more than 70,000 Americans come down with E. coli 0157 each year. Stool samples must be sent to a lab to identify the exact strain.
Symptoms vary but can include severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Most patients get better within a week, but some infections can be life-threatening.
According to the CDC, the main source of human contamination is cattle.
E. coli germs can get into food through manure, tainted water used during growing or harvesting, or improper food handling at a store, restaurant or home.
E. coli 0157 infections can result in a serious complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome, in which toxins destroy red blood cells. It can lead to kidney failure, neurological damage and, in 5 to 10 percent of cases, death.
In 2006, fresh spinach contaminated with E. coli 0157 caused one of the biggest foodborne illness outbreaks in years. More than 200 people got sick. More than 100 hospitalizations, 31 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome and three deaths were reported in 26 states and in Ontario, Canada. The CDC estimates that thousands more fell ill but did not report it.
The preliminary report on foodborne illnesses released Thursday is from FoodNet, part of the CDC’s Emerging Infections Program. FoodNet has been tracking trends in foodborne illness in the United States since 1966.
The surveillance data came from 10 states and charted laboratory-confirmed cases of food-borne illness caused by nine pathogens, or disease causing organisms, such as bacteria and viruses. Although the report is from only 10 states, health officials believe the data reflect what’s going on across the country.
The data suggest that although most cases were among children under 4 years of age, the highest number of hospitalizations and deaths were among those 50 years and older.
“Tracking these illnesses over time, as exemplified in this FoodNet report, is important to monitor our progress in food safety,” said Dr. Christopher Braden, the acting director of the CDC’s Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases. “We can also use similar surveillance systems to detect and investigation outbreaks of foodborne illness.”
Braden says this is important to not only to identify contaminated foods and remove them from store shelves but to help in identifying foods or pathogens that were not known risks before.
“With this information, industry, government agencies and consumers can work to prevent additional outbreaks and illnesses due to that food or pathogen. The most dramatic recent example of this was the identification and investigation of the Salmonella outbreak due to contaminated peanut butter-containing products in 2008. Before that outbreak, peanut butter was not known to be a vehicle for foodborne illness.”
Like E. coli 0157, most of the pathogens under surveillance were from the bacteria family: salmonella, campylobacter, listeria and vibrio.
Salmonella can contaminate almost any type of food and most often occurs after eating undercooked foods like poultry and eggs. In younger children, handling pets such as reptiles and not washing hands properly can cause infections.
Salmonella is spread when animal or human feces comes into contact with food during processing or harvesting. It can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Campylobacter is one of the most common causes of diarrheal illness. The CDC says cases are more isolated, and many are undiagnosed or unreported. Symptoms include fever and cramps.
According to the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention, it’s responsible for more than 2 million illnesses a year, mostly in children under 10. Death is rare.
Listeria tends to strike those with weakened immune systems and pregnant women; they are 20 times more likely to get sick and make up about a third of all reported cases. It’s often found in pre-cooked and ready-to-eat foods like hot dogs or lunch meats and even fruits and vegetables. It even grows in refrigerators despite the cold temperature, whereas most food-borne bacteria don’t. Heat is the only way to kill listeria, but if the food cools down, the bacteria can grow again.
Symptoms include fever, muscle ache and diarrhea. But it can spread to the central nervous system, causing headache, a stiff neck and even convulsions.
Vibrio is in the cholera family. Rare and often underreported, it’s most often seen in those who eat raw or undercooked shellfish, mainly oysters. Illness can be severe and life-threatening. If vibrio gets into the bloodstream, it’s fatal nearly 50 percent of the time.
Cryptosporidium is the lone parasite. Most people get it from contaminated food and water, but it can be passed on to humans from farm animals and pets. Gastrointestinal symptoms range from mild to severe, and those with compromised immune systems are most at risk.
According to the CDC, there are approximately 76 million cases of food-borne disease in the United States each year. Most are mild, causing symptoms for only a couple of days. Still, there are nearly 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths annually, usually among the elderly, children or those who are sick or have compromised immune systems.
Braden says consumers can cut their risk of infection by choosing foods that have been processed, like pasteurized milk, juice, eggs and even oysters and by cooking foods properly, especially meats, poultry and eggs. Perishables should also be refrigerated, leftovers should not be left out out, and hands and cooking surfaces should be clean.
Kellogg’s Warned Over Listeria in Eggo Plant
February 17, 2010 by admin
Filed under News Stories
Febuary 17, 2010
Food Safety News
By Dan Flynn
Sometimes you just want to put a problem behind you, but it just sticks around like duct tape.
A new “Warning Letter” from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to the Kellogg’s Company raises questions about whether the Listeria problem at its Atlanta Eggo plant is truly resolved.
On a routine inspection of the Kellogg’s frozen food manufacturing facility on Bucknell Road in Atlanta, last Aug. 31st, the Georgia Department of Agriculture found Listeria monocytogenes in a sample of buttermilk Eggo waffles.
Battle Creek, MI-based Kellogg’s shipped none of the product from the contaminated lot, and recalled some of its other Eggo products. No illnesses were associated with the incident, but Kellogg’s shut down the plant for “hygienic restoration.”
Then rains that hit Atlanta last year were so severe that storm and sanitary sewers over-ran in many parts of town. Flooding in the area south of I-20 and west of I-285 near Thornton Road where the Kellogg’s plant is located was significant, and required another clean-up
The result: a nationwide Eggo shortage.
FDA inspected the plant from Oct. 22-29, 2009, taking a variety of samples of both finished and in-process samples and environmental swabs for its own testing. Those results were also positive for Listeria.
FDA inspectors also found “significant deviations” from current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations at the Kellogg’s plant. FDA’s Acting Atlanta District Director LaTonya M. Mitchell, in the Jan. 27 letter, said Kellogg’s violations mean products from the Atlanta plant are “adulterated.”
Mitchell’s letter to Kellogg’s President and CEO, David Mackay, was released Tuesday. The FDA wrote:
“During the FDA inspection, investigators collected environmental samples from various areas in your facility. Five environmental swabs tested positive for L. monocytogenes. Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) testing results determined that three of the environmental swabs had a PFGE pattern that was indistinguishable from the positive sample collected by the GDA. This is significant because these three swabs were taken from three different locations in your facility and the swabs’ indistinguishable PFGE pattern was found in your firm’s finished product, Eggo Buttermilk Waffles. The PFGE results reveal that L. monocylogenes may have been transported throughout your facility and may have established niche areas to colonize. One of the aforementioned environmental swabs was taken from the wheels on a forklift observed in the packaging area. The presence of L. monocylogenes on the wheels of a forklift is a concern as the organism is likely to spread when the forklift moves throughout the facility.
“Two of the positive environmental swabs had PFGE patterns that were distinguishable from the other three environmental swabs and the positive sample collected by the GDA. One of these samples was collected from the floor at the walk-through door to the battery changing room. The other sample was collected from the bottom of a grey tote located at the end of the (b)(4) conveyor,” Mitchell wrote.
“Bacteria may enter and/or be transported through a food plant by a variety of routes that include, but are not limited to: roof leaks; the shoes of employees, contractors, and visitors; the wheels of fork lifts, pallet movers, and movaeble equipment; soiled pallets; soiled raw material packaging; raw ingredients; and by rodent vectors.
“Once established on production area floors, the pathogen may contaminate food and food-contact surfaces through either human or mechanical means. L. monocylogenes differs from most other foodborne pathogens because it is widely distributed, resistant to diverse environmental conditions, including low pH and high NaCl concentrations, and grows under refrigeration conditions,” she added.
FDA went on to document conditions inside the plant that may lead to product contamination.
The agency acknowledged receipt of a letter from Kellogg’s dated Nov. 18, 2009 in response to the positive results for Listeria found during the inspection.
“Although your response lists a number of corrective actions directly associated with the positive test results, including sanitizing certain equipment and limiting employee access to certain processing areas, it is essential to identify all areas of your facility where L. monocytogenes is able to grow and survive (niche areas) and to take such corrective action as necessary to control the organism,” FDA added.
It also said Kellogg’s still needs to address sanitation controls and its deviations from current Good Manufacturing Practices.
“The safety of our foods is of utmost importance to Kellogg Company. While the FDA letter was filed publicly today, the situation described in the letter relates to inspections conducted in October after the plant was closed for enhanced cleaning and the flood in Atlanta that affected our facility,” said Kellogg’s spokeswoman Kris Charles.
“Before opening the facility, we worked cooperatively with both the Agency and the Georgia Department of Agriculture, and we completed comprehensive testing and monitoring. We have made a variety of enhancements in our facility, and have fully addressed all of the observations in the letter. We will be filing our response with the FDA to this effect shortly,” she added.
Kellogg’s Atlanta plant resumed operation in late October, trying to work down that Eggo shortage, which was also impacted by maintenance at another Kellogg’s plant in Rossville, TN.
The company, which reported sales of $13 billion last year, has 15 working days to respond to FDA’s letter.
