E coli

Toxic water flooded Houston homes after Harvey, tests show

Floodwaters in two neighborhoods contained unsafe levels of E. coli and heavy metals.

The man who blew the whistle on ‘pink slime’

Glad to see so many people talking about getting ammonia-treated beef trimmings out of school lunch? You have this former Beef Products Inc. employee to thank.

Your mom was right: Don’t eat raw cookie dough

I know, I know, it's so good. But a study of a 2009 E. coli outbreak, led by CDC researchers and state health officials, has traced the contamination back to prepackaged raw cookie dough. Turns out ready-to-bake is not the same as ready-to-not-bake-and-get-right-to-the-eating. Ugh, god, what are we supposed to scarf when we get dumped […]

Food safety breakthrough: USDA declares 'Big Six' E. coli strains illegal

Until today, six strains of the pathogen -- known to cause almost 40,000 illnesses, 1,100 hospitalizations, and 30 deaths annually -- were legal in meat.

GOP votes against food safety — again

The House voted to kill the USDA's Microbiological Data Program, which tests produce for pathogens like E. coli.

Deadliest E. coli outbreak ever

The E. coli outbreak in Europe has sickened more than 1,800 people, according the World Health Organization. But that's just cases drawn from hospital records. More people could be sick. And 18 have died, making this the deadliest recorded E. coli outbreak. If that's not unnerving enough, only two antibiotics have a real chance at […]

Jack in the Box surprise: How E. coli became a household word

Double your trouble.Photo: theimpulsivebuyFor most of us working in food policy, it’s hard to remember a time when food outbreaks of bugs like E. coli didn’t happen pretty much weekly. But reading the new book Poisoned by Jeff Benedict made me realize that bacteria-contaminated hamburgers are a relatively recent phenomenon. It’s a striking reminder of […]

Crazy idea from the feds: Maybe companies should stop shipping contaminated meat

Here's a good way to prevent a food recall: Don’t ship contaminated food in the first place. Companies that process meat have to test it for salmonella, E. coli, and other buggies, but they can send it off to stores before they get results. The Department of Agriculture has recently caught on to the fact […]

Will the Food Safety Modernization Act better protect us from contaminated food?

Our invited panel of experts -- and two scrappy Grist readers -- debate whether the bill now before the Senate will decrease large-scale food-borne illness outbreaks of the type we've recently seen in eggs and peanut butter.