More bad news for area burritos: Tyson Fresh Meats is recalling over 40,000 pounds of ground beef in 16 different states, including New York, after the USDA discovered E. coli in a regularly scheduled test of the meat. According to NY1, the company is specifically pulling "10 pound packages of chuck ground beef," so everyone celebrating the 4th of July in December should be extra vigilant. more ›

Much to the chagrin of anyone who's ever been dumped and eaten their feelings, scientists are warning people away from eating raw cookie dough, citing E. Coli concerns that pale in comparison to the devastation of not being able to house a whole tube in your basement rec room in peace. more ›

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 ›

Shredded romaine lettuce from Freshway Foods is believed to have caused 19 confirmed cases of E. coli illnesses in Michigan, Ohio, and New York. 12 people have been hospitalized, and three now have a potentially life threatening complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). With HUS, your body’s blood-clotting mechanisms are altered, causing blocked circulation or bleeding in the brain or kidneys, according to the FDA. more ›

Raw cookie dough is soooo yummy, but some people with weak immune systems have gotten E. coli poisoning from it, and now we all have to suffer because Nestle is recalling their Toll House cookie dough products, even though some 66 reported illnesses haven't been linked directly to Toll House. The voluntary recall includes refrigerated cookie bar dough, cookie dough tub, cookie dough tubes, seasonal cookie dough and—it gets worse—Ultimates cookie bar dough! We don't know what that is, but it's the Ultimates so we want it in our mouth holes. The Toll House products do have warnings on their packaging about the dangers of raw dough, but with the FDA and CDC now investigating the E. coli/cookie dough connection, the company decided it would be best to just take it out of harm's way, like we're irresponsible children who'll eat whatever's in front of us. And in other corporate food product news, Pizza Hut execs would like you to start calling their company "The Hut," which they think "ties in nicely with (today's) texting generation." cu@hut l8r? more ›

An unlikely pairing of food sellers are in the news today for questions surrounding the quality of the products they're serving to New Yorkers. Local Whole Foods Markets joined in the voluntary recall of ground beef that was sold during the last two months by the high end grocer. Almost fifty people have fallen ill from potential E. coli contamination. more ›

When salmonella first ruined the tomatoes, some carnivores laughed at the distraught vegetable lovers; now an E. coli outbreak has prompted a nationwide beef recall, and the only ones left to laugh are the breatharians. 530,000 pounds of beef have been pulled from supermarkets nationwide; over 40 people may have been sickened in Michigan and Ohio by contaminated beef sold by the Kroger chain. Symptoms to watch out for at tomorrow’s barbecues include stomach cramps and diarrhea. more ›

The California based Westland/Hallmark Meat Company is recalling all its raw and frozen beef products distributed since Feb. 1, 2006 – a total of 143 million pounds of ground beef. The largest beef recall in history was announced after an undercover Humane Society video showed workers kicking sick cows, jabbing them in the eyes and using forklifts to force them to walk to slaughter. (See the video here.) more ›

That's the abbreviated version of WABC's recommendations. We suggest reading the whole list, because if you try calling in sick the Tuesday after Memorial Day, your boss probably isn't going to buy it. more ›

You know what's awesome in high definition TV? Seeing images of huge, fat rats run around a fast food restaurant in the Village! WABC, WCBS, and WNBC descended on a Taco Bell-KFC location on Sixth Avenue at 4th Street. The restaurant had been open until 11PM last night, and someone called in a tip when they saw rats running around. While people have seen rats in restaurants, they probably haven't seen something that looked this close to the Rats of NIMH. This story also made the Today Show, in a broader piece about "Is food from your restaurant safe?" Which makes us wonder about the pros and cons of e. coli and rats. more ›

Dusk, by Paulo C. more ›

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Authorities are still trying to track down a source of the infection but have linked 11 of the patients to the town Taco Bell. Strangely, the restaurant passed a health inspection just last week though its now being re-evaluated with its employees being examined for the bacteria. While the responsible strain of e.coli in this incident is normally found in the guts of healthy farm animals, it can become virulent in humans, having been acquired by eating undercooked meats. The infection can then be passed from person to person, usually due to a lack of hand-washing after using the bathroom. Most people present with a fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea - which may be bloody in the setting of HUS. more ›

Since the e. coli scare began, our spinach and leafy green consumption has gone from zero servings a day to, well, zero servings a day. But our more herbivorous readers may be sad to see that officials still haven't found how a bacteria that normally romps around our bowels made its way to our favorite iron-filled flora. The Times reports that the outbreak of the past few weeks, which may have killed as many as three people and poisoned almost 200 others (including plenty of kids and 11 New Yorkers), is currently without a clear source and may always remain without one. This is in spite of the fact that officials have localized the center of the outbreak to the California counties of Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Clara. more ›

Remy Stern, New Yorkish more ›