Tracking salmonella and Tesco's faulty research

Inconsistent state tracking contributed to salmonella outbreaks was the headline of the newsinferno.com story, and reference to last summer's tomato and salmonella outbreak was crafted this way:

Unified detection protocols would have also been helpful last summer when the massive Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak—first blamed on tomatoes and later on Mexican peppers—caused 1,400 illnesses, about 300 hospitalizations, and was linked to two fatalities. Testing was partly to blame in that case in which Texas—a state with over 550 confirmed cases—did not require mandatory isolate testing, said Dr. Tim F. Jones, Tennessee’s state epidemiologist and an international food illness expert, saying that “It led to a delay,” quoted MSNBC.

Salmonella causes 40,000 confirmed cases each year, but, says the CDC, is probably responsible for close to 40 times that—a stunning 1,600,000—noting that 2,500 subtypes of salmonella exist, said MSNBC. PFGE costs about $100 per test, reported MSNBC. Given the cost of some of the recent outbreaks—last year’s salmonella outbreak had early estimates at $100 million; however, that number is likely a “gross underestimate,” said Julia Stewart, spokeswoman for the Produce Marketing Association—perhaps testing is a fiscally responsible course of action.

Tesco research flaws Fresh & Easy Retail Bulletin

It also looks like an admission that Tesco will no longer be able to deliver on its big plan to revolutionise the way US consumers buy their groceries. It looks like it will have to let go of some of its earlier aims of which one was to avoid the weekly promotional game that plays a big part in the country's food industry.

Fresh & Easy had initially only used fliers to raise awareness of its stores but it now realises that they have to be distributed every week to local homes in order to continue to attract customers.

The grocer has found out the hard way that the US is the land-of-little-loyalty and this will make it much more difficult for Tesco to carve out a share of the market because much of its success in the home market is based on engendering loyalty among its customers - helped massively through its highly effective Clubcard programme.


Resolve to raise healthier kids Southtown Star

This fatty buildup of plaque within arteries feeding the brain can lead to heart attack and stroke. Considering that one in three kids in the United States is overweight or obese, this is an issue we all need to be concerned about.

Learn how to join the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's fight against childhood obesity at www.healthiergeneration.org. Here are five tips on getting your kids to play a part in a healthy family.

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