Another day, another twist in the ongoing deadly E. coli outbreak across Europe: first, everyone blamed Spain and their dirty cucumbers, but then, it looked like German bean sprouts were going to be culprit. Until today, when the test results came back and cleared the bean sprouts from wrongdoing. more ›

Deadly E. coli bacteria linked to contaminated cucumbers is claiming lives in Europe, where today a 16th victim was reported dead, including the first person outside of Germany. Over a thousand other patients across Europe are also reeling from the outbreak, which is one of the largest to ever hit the continent. more ›

Oh, how we love Inside Edition's I-Squad and their muckraking reportage. And the segment they've cooked up for this Friday night's episode cuts us right to the quick, because it's about our other true love: the magical three dimensional picture shows! more ›

It's the summer of the recall! First eggs and alfalfa sprouts, and now cheese. A Williamsburg cheese manufacturer—who says, “If you’ve eaten Mexican food here, you’ve eaten our cheese"—recalled two products after bacteria was found in them, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The bacteria was discovered by the Rhode Island Health Department, who believed it could grow into “Listeria monocytogene," which can be serious, or even fatal for the very young and old. more ›

Do you still use plastic bags? If not, chances are you're carrying around a reusable bag for groceries... and like any other good deed, this one's not going unpunished either. So a little heads up: you may want to make sure you're regularly washing your reusables, because it's now been found that they're most likely carrying around large amounts of bacteria! more ›

It probably doesn't take a scientist to figure out that objects handled by hundreds of people every day will most likely be covered in some germs, but Apple customers were apparently shocked to find out that those filthy objects were their beloved iPads! The Daily News took some samples off the floor samples at three different Apple stores around the city, and found they were covered in dangerous bacteria. In the words of Canarsie resident Brittany Smith, "Eww. Now I need some hand sanitizer." more ›

Because fighting crime is a dirty job, beat cops and school safety officers are now being equipped with cute little bottles of liquid-sanitizer that clip onto their belts. "A police precinct is like a petri dish, with all the cops coming from the street with every bacteria," said a cop in lower Manhattan. The carrying cases (which look suspiciously like Sigg bottles) are stamped with “NYPD” in blue and can be refilled at precincts. A memo says it’s the commanding officers’ job to "ensure an adequate supply of sanitizer is maintained to refill." According to the Post, it also warned cops not to hook the hand sanitizer onto their firearm trigger guards, radio antennas and expandable batons. It’s good news for preventing sickness (swine flu in particular), but bad news for back pain: even with the “optional” hand sanitizer bottle, the average police belt—which contains handcuffs, keys, radio, bullets, pistol, pepper spray, flashlight and baton—weighs 16 pounds. more ›

Sure, Lonely Island may have made flip flops the height of summer fashion fun (they didn't) with their catchy lyric: "I got my swim trunks, and my flippie-floppies"—but whether you're on or off a boat, this staple is the latest subject of a slow news summer scaremonger report! The Daily News warns that many New Yorkers just love their flip floppy footwear, but make no mistake: THEY WILL KILL YOU. Are you wearing open toe shoes right now? Read on. more ›

The F.D.A. has filed a complaint seeking an injunction against Williamsburg-based Peregrina Cheese in an attempt to stop the company from manufacturing and distributing food until further action is taken by the court. During visits this year, investigators reported filthy conditions at the factory, including standing water in food processing equipment and a dead rodent. More troubling was the the detection of Listeria bacteria in a sample of the cheese products and throughout the factory. According to the Listeria Blog, Listeria monocytogenes is a potentially fatal foodborne pathogen that can cause meningitis, septicemia, and other serious illnesses. The F.D.A. says the company's owners, Javier Peregrina and his wife Isabel, have failed to correct numerous violations cited as far back as 2004. (In March the F.D.A. ordered a recall on Peregrina's Queso Fresco Fresh Cheese after contaminants were found.) No illnesses have been documented from consumers who ate Peregrina cheese, which produces several Mexican-style cheeses. But according to the F.D.A., the bacteria collected by inspectors in 2004 is the same strain of Listeria found this year, which suggests "that the strain has formed a niche at Peregrina Cheese's facility...for at least five years." more ›

You'll probably want to avoid eating dinner during tomorrow night's episode of Inside Edition, which promises some pretty revolting video of street vendors doing all sorts of unsavory things with their hands while on the job. According to the press release, the show's "Investigative Unit" caught a number of New York food vendors on tape exhibiting some "unsafe food handling practices." These include:
• One food vendor touching his bare feet with his fingers between his toes before going right back to serving customers.
• Another vendor near Times Square, who while wearing gloves picked his nose, handled money, scratched himself and touched raw chicken right before preparing food and serving customers.
• A vendor outside the Museum of Natural History who licked his gloved hand and counted money. Then he left his cart to use a bathroom in the museum and returned to serve customers without washing his hands.

Just in time for summer, the Times has brought the fear to the park, where an army of infectious organisms await anyone reckless enough to let the grass touch their bare feet. According to a number of very uptight dermatologists, taking off your shoes in the park is pretty much akin to soaking them in a bucket of bacteria. more ›

Not only are New York gyms poorly run, but the establishments that are supposed to make you healthier are doing the opposite. The Daily News reports on the germ-ridden gyms of the city in a fairly unsurprising article. more ›

A study to be published later this year in the Journal of Food Safety proves that George Costanza’s cavalier method of double dipping his chip is, in fact, “like putting your whole mouth right in the dip.” For those who may have missed the Seinfeld episode or somehow not seen it reenacted at every party serving dip since it aired in 1993, we’ve posted the scene below. Suffice it to say that Costanza’s preferred dipping style involves dipping his chip in dip, taking a bite, and then going back for more dip with the half-eaten chip. more ›