Tyson recalls chicken products over Salmonella outbreak

Tyson Foods has recalled 33,840 pounds of chicken products over a Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak in a Tennessee prison, the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced late last week. 

Tennessee health officials notified the FSIS of a seven-case Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak at a correctional facility on Dec 12, 2013. Working with Tennessee health officials, the FSIS established a link between Tyson's mechanically separated chicken and the outbreak. Illness-onset dates range from Nov 29 to Dec 5, 2013.

Tyson Foods, of Sedalia, Mo., recalled mechanically separated chicken that was produced on Oct 11, 2013, according to the Jan 10 FSIS notice.

The products subject to recall bear the establishment number "P-13556" inside the USDA mark of inspection, with case code 2843SDL1412—18. These products were shipped nationwide for institutional use only and are not available to consumers, the FSIS said.
Jan 10 FSIS recall notice

Israeli soldiers to be compensated for anthrax vaccine side effects

Israeli soldiers and officers who claim they were forced into an anthrax vaccine trial that ended in 2005 will be compensated by the Israeli government for subsequent health problems to the tune of thousands of dollars each, according to media reports yesterday and today.

Payments will be given to 716 Israel Defense Force (IDF) members who purportedly volunteered for the experiment, which was undertaken in the late 1990s when the country's defense establishment felt they were under grave threat of an anthrax attack.

Ninety-two of the vaccine recipients, calling themselves the Victims of Anthrax Experimentation committee, lodged a court battle, saying they were pressured into participating, were not adequately informed of potential risks, and suffered side effects such as Crohn's disease, epilepsy, thyroid inflammation, pneumonia, allergic dermatitis, and kidney failure, according to an item today on the Russia-based RT news network.

The plaintiffs will each receive the equivalent of $10,000 and the remainder of the soldiers $7,500. The estimated $200 million cost of the vaccine trial, called Omer-2, was largely funded by US forces, says the RT item. One quarter of the subjects were given an American anthrax vaccine and the remainder an Israel vaccine that had not been tested previously. Adverse side effects were experienced by subjects in both groups, according to a story in the Jerusalem Post.

In spite of the payments, the Israeli government has not accepted legal responsibility for the soldiers' health problems, says the RT item, and claims it acted in good faith.
Jan 13 RT story
Jan 12 Jerusalem Post article