Huxtable's Kitchen Voluntarily Recalls Trader Joe's brand Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Quinoa and Wheatberry Salad Because of Possible Health Risk

By FDA.gov

Huxtable's Kitchen is initiating a voluntary recall of Trader Joe's Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Quinoa and Wheatberry Salad because the onions used as an ingredient have the potential to be contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Trader Joe's Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Quinoa & Wheatberry Salad with "use by date" of 7/28/2012 and 7/30/2012 comes in a 9.5 oz clear plastic container. The "use by date" is marked on a sticker on the front of the package. The recalled product was distributed from 7/23/12 to 7/26/12 to Trader Joe's stores in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington. No other Trader Joe's stores are affected by this recall.

The onions are a product of Gill Onions, Oxnard, CA, which initiated a recall of the onions on July 18, 2012, and were supplied to Huxtable's Kitchen, Inc. Immediately following notification from Huxtable's Kitchen, Inc., Trader Joe's removed affected product from store shelves and destroyed them.

No illnesses have been linked to this recall. Anyone who has the recalled product in their possession should not consume it and should destroy or discard it. Consumers with questions may contact Huxtable’s Kitchen: at 323-923-2885, M-F 8am-5pm PDT.

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FDA warns consumers not to eat shellfish from Oyster Bay Harbor, Nassau County, NY

By FDA.gov

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat raw or partially cooked oysters and clams (shellfish) with tags listing Oyster Bay Harbor, in Nassau County, N.Y., as the harvest area, following illnesses reported in several states caused by vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria.

Shellfish harvested from Oyster Bay Harbor have been linked to confirmed and possible cases of vibrio parahaemolyticus illness.

Ill persons reported consumption of raw or partially cooked shellfish from the affected area.

The New York state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) closed Oyster Bay Harbor, on July 13 to shellfish harvesting.

All shellfish harvesters, shippers, re-shippers, processors, restaurants, and retail food establishments are advised to check the identity tags on all containers of shellfish in their inventories. If the tag indicates the harvest area was Oyster Bay Harbor and a harvest date on or after June 1, 2012, the product should be disposed of and not be sold or served.

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Blood Pressure Medicine Linked To Severe Gastric Distress

Mayo Clinic doctors find olmesartan can cause nausea, vomiting and weight loss

By Mark Huffman, ConsumerAffairs.com

Olmesartan is a commonly prescribed medication that helps patients control their blood pressure. But Mayo Clinic researchers say it can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss and electrolyte abnormalities -- symptoms common among those who have celiac disease.

The findings are published online in the medical journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Their discovery took shape over a three year period, from 2008 to 2011. Doctors at Mayo Clinic treated 22 patients with symptoms similar to celiac disease who suffered symptoms like chronic diarrhea and weight loss. The median weight loss was 39 pounds, and one patient lost 125 pounds. Fourteen of the 22 were hospitalized because of the severity of their symptoms.

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Seeking Lessons in Swine Flu Fight

By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, M.D., The New York Times

As the three-month-old outbreak of swine flu raises havoc during the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere, officials in the United States are carefully seeking clues from there to deal with its likely return in this country in the fall, before a vaccine can protect large numbers of people.

Although much about the swine flu pandemic and the virus remains unknown, experts say this outbreak has exposed several weaknesses in the world’s ability to respond to the sudden emergence of a widespread illness.

Over all, the pandemic’s severity has been “moderate” compared with past influenza pandemics, the World Health Organization says, although it has spread with “unprecedented speed” to at least 168 countries. And although influenza typically strikes in colder months, the swine flu virus, A(H1N1), has swept through summer camps in the United States and Canada. That pattern has led to the prevailing belief that many more people will get swine flu than seasonal influenza this fall and winter, but that the country could face outbreaks of both strains, perhaps at different times.

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