Will "Air-Chilled" Mean Less Campylobacter?

Posted by Campylobacter Lawyer on March 26, 2008

We have to admit, we really don't like doing the grocery shopping.  If we do not read the labels, we're certain to buy something we don't want or need.  And, if you do read the labels, it can take forever.

Reading labels also leaves us feeling stupid.  What do some of these words mean?  That's why we were drawn to reading a story in the San Jose Mercury News about what "air-chilled" is suppose to mean.   Reporter Carolyn Jung writes:

The air-chilling process, common in Western Europe for more than 45 years, is still fairly new in the United States. It refers to a specific method used to cool chickens after slaughtering. Most chickens in this country are processed by being immersed in ice water. By contrast, air-chilling cools chickens by blasting them with cold air.

Air versus water? Is there really such a huge difference? Many retailers think so. Since January, Whole Foods has been steadily converting all of its full-service meat counters to sell only air-chilled chicken. Niman Ranch, known for its sustainable and humanely raised meats, is expected to start selling an air-chilled French heritage chicken called Poulet Rouge Fermiere in April. It will be the company’s first chicken product.

Whether air-chilled chicken is safer is not really clear. A USDA-sponsored study by the University of Nebraska in 2000 found that 350 air-chilled chickens had about 20 percent less bacteria (such as salmonella and campylobacter) than the same number of water-cooled poultry. That study, though, examined only one air-chilling plant and one water-immersion plant.

Less campylobacter and salmonella, that would be good news.  The cartoon with this was kind of what came to our mind when we first heard the term "air chilled chicken."   For the rest of the story, go here.

Outbreak Linked To Feces In The Mud

Posted by Campylobacter Lawyer on March 19, 2008

Now this is interesting, and somewhat ironic. 

Last June, over a quarter of 800 bicyclists in a race in British Columbia became ill from  what public health officials believe is one of the biggest reported outbreaks in this country of Campylobacter jejuni - a diarrhea-causing bacteria that is generally contracted through consumption of contaminated food or water.

But it wasn't the food or water the cyclists consumed that made them sick.  No, it was the mud.  June can be a rainy month in BC and the mud was so thick in places that bikers had to dismount and push their way through it.

So when so many became sick, the mud was suspected from the beginning by both health officials and those involved in the race.

"All you could see were the whites of their eyes from the pictures we saw," Dr. Eleni Galanis said of the riders. "There was a lot of mud flying."

Findings of the investigation into the outbreak were presented Monday  (3/17/08) at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta.  It was the feces in the mud that gave the riders campylobacter.

The Canadian Press Report on the outbreak can be found here.

How High The Campylobacter Papa?!!

Posted by Campylobacter Lawyer on March 09, 2008

There's a trial going on down in federal court in Tulsa that seems to have everything going for it.  Colorful expert testimony, a determined state attorney general, and some of the nation's top food companies who appear determined to come across as just good old boys.

Robert J. Smith, who writes for the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, has been doing an excellent job of covering the proceedings that pit Arkansas' economic interests against Oklahoma's campaign to clean up the Illinois River.  At issue is how high Salmonella and campylobacter bacteria levels  will be allowed in the Illinois River.

And the good old boys?  Oh, they are the defendants and our friends at Tyson Foods of Springdale; Simmons Foods of Siloam Springs; Cargill of Minneapolis; Cobb-Vantress of Siloam Springs; George’s of Springdale; Peterson Farms of Decatur; Willow Brook Foods of Springfield, Mo.; and Cal-Maine Foods of Jackson, Miss.

They've all been sued by Oklahoma's Attorney General Drew Edmondson.  Smith explains:

Oklahoma contends people are at risk in the watershed, which includes portions of eastern Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas, because they spend time in the river and drink from wells. Sections of the 99-mile-long river in Oklahoma are popular for swimming, canoeing and fishing.

Oklahoma blames the poultry companies for bacteria found in water, soil and litter samples, saying the litter threatens human health because it leaches from fields where it’s spread.

Experts have clashed over how high or low the risk to the river from the Arkansas poultry industry.

Smith's weekend wrap up can be found here.