Northern Arizona Gazette

News from around Northern Arizona

Outbreak of Rare Strain of Hepatitis A Spreads to Hawaii

Posted on June 4, 2013 by GCD

By Dan Flynn | June 3, 2013

Another Western state was touched by the outbreak of a rare strain of hepatitis A, adding two more individuals to the list of those sickened nationwide. Hawaii is the sixth state to be added to the growing outbreak.

State health officials in Hawaii say two adults, one from the island of Oahu and the other from Kauai, are among those sickened with the liver disease. Like at least another 30 victims on the mainland, the Hawaii residents are believed to have consumed a frozen organic berry mix purchased at local Costco outlets.

The national warehouse outlet based in Seattle has removed the product from its shelves, and contacted it members who purchased the mixed berry product. But the weekend passed without any official recall by manufacturer of the suspect product, Townsend Farms, based in Oregon.

Townsend Farms Organic Anti-Oxidant Blend contains berries from multiple locations (Argentina, Chile and Turkey) and a pomegranate seed mix from Egypt, according to health officials.

Read more at Food Safety News

SEE ALSO: Case Count Rises to 49 in Hepatitis A Outbreak Linked to Frozen Berries

Horsemeat found in Ikea meatballs in Czech Republic

Posted on February 25, 2013 by GCD

Ikea has withdrawn meatballs from sale in 14 European countries after tests in the Czech Republic found traces of horsemeat in a batch made in Sweden.

Meatballs from the same batch had been sold in many states, including the UK, France and Portugal, the retailer said.

Swiss food giant Nestle meanwhile said it had found horse DNA in meat from the Spanish supplier, Servocar.

The discoveries come as EU agriculture ministers meet for talks expected to focus on the growing horsemeat scandal.

Since the first horsemeat was discovered in frozen meals and burgers in the UK and Ireland last month, traces have been found in meat products across Europe.

Read more at BBC News

We believe in the First Amendment to the Constitution and that it protects speech that we do not want to hear, not speech that we want to hear. However, we do not believe that protects personal slurs, slander or libel.

Please understand that we reserve the right to edit or delete comments which contain what we consider personal attacks rather than specific useful information. Especially since commentators are not obligated to leave their full or even real names. We cannot set a specific set of guidelines, so please feel free to leave a comment with the understanding that we reserve the right to edit what we consider personal attacks.

This does not apply to so-called "hate speech" given in generalized terms. If one or two people do not like what you say, that does not make it hate speech.

We will gladly post e-mails or letters to the editors so long as you give your full name and address so that we can verify it is from a real person. We will not post the address at your request.

While some may consider this "cowardly," we consider it responsible journalism. We are trying to bring you information you need in a responsible manner.

Thank you for your understanding.