Quiznos Salmonella Came from Raw Tomatoes

Salmonella bacteria cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 72 hours of exposure. Children, the elderly or people with weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable to complications from Salmonella poisoning. In rare cases, extreme instances of Salmonella poisoning can lead to a disease called Reiter’s Syndrome, which is associated with chronic arthritis. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Salmonella bacteria sicken 40,000 people every year. Although the true number could be much higher, because it is estimated that for every case of Salmonella poisoning reported, two others are unreported.

Minnesota health officials first traced the October Salmonella outbreak to the Quiznos Restaurant at 3499 22nd Avenue NW in Rochester. However, it took time to determine if the Salmonella outbreak originated with contaminated food, or if a worker spread the illness from an outside source. Because three sickened workers fell ill around the same time that Quiznos customers were stricken with Salmonella poisoning, early on investigators suspected that the outbreak originated with contaminated foods.

The E.coli Loophole or the Poison Food Supply

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The "E. coli loophole" affects millions of pounds of beef each year that tests positive for the presence of E. coli O157:H7, a particularly virulent strain of the bacterium.
The agency allows companies to put this E. coli-positive meat in a special category—"cook only." Cooking the meat, the USDA and producers say, destroys the bacteria and makes it safe to eat as precooked hamburgers, meat loaf, crumbled taco meat and other products.

But some USDA inspectors say the "cook only" practice means that higher-than-appropriate levels of E. coli are tolerated in packing plants, raising the chance that clean meat will become contaminated. They say the "cook only" practice is part of the reason for this year's sudden rise in incidents of E. coli contamination.

"All the product that is E. coli positive, they put a 'cooking only' tag on it," said one inspector, who like other federal inspectors interviewed asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing their jobs. "They [companies] will test, and everything that's positive, they slap that label on.
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This is the kind of shit that happens when the right wing has decades to chip away at the federal government and destroy all the regulatory agencies as part of a package of socialism for corporations.