Mice Direct is an on-line provider of reptile food including frozen rats, mice and chicks with the motto, ‘direct to your door, cheaper than the store.’

Mice Direct may have to modify its other motto, ‘Frozen means added animal safety’ because the human lizard owners are possibly getting sick from handling the frozen critters, like mice hoppers, left, at $28 a bag.

The company announced a recall of the frozen rats, mice and chicks Tuesday, saying that human illnesses possibly related to the frozen reptile feed have been reported in 17 states.

The company says the recall is based on Food and Drug Administration sampling of the frozen mice.

Check out the Mice Direct experience through the video below.
 

In the interest of open and transparent discussion, Ontario public health types are asking the public to sit quietly and obey food safety rules because they are the critical control point when it comes to raw, frozen chicken thingies.

Dr. Vera Etches, associate medical officer of health with.Ottawa Public Health (OPH, that’s in Canada) said,

"Since the first of June, 23 cases of salmonella have been reported to OPH, almost double the number of cases typically seen this time of year. A significant number of these cases appear to be related to undercooked or inappropriately stored processed chicken products."

OPH is reminding residents to use safe food handling and cooking practices when preparing all food, and specifically, processed chicken products such as chicken strips, nuggets and burgers.

I’m waiting for the day when a public health type will stop blaming consumers and ask the industry, why is their salmonella in your frozen, cooked product, and stop selling raw and cooked product side-by-side because they look the same.

Whenever I hear ‘Tahini’ I somehow superimpose in my brain the last line from the 1978 seminal hit from the B-52s, Rock Lobster,

"There goes a dog-fish
chased by a cat-fish
in flew a sea robin
watch out for that piranha
there goes a narwhal
here comes a bikini whale!”

Bikini whales may or may not carry salmonella, but Tahini keeps appearing with salmonella, probably from the sesame seeds.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Produits Phoenicia Inc. are warning the public not to consume the Cedar brand Tahini described below because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

The affected product, Cedar brand Tahini is sold in 450 mL jars, bearing UPC 0 62356 50178 5. There is no lot code on the packages.

This product has been distributed nationally.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.
 

I think I was first introduced to Kenosha, Wisconsin from Weezer's Happy Days-themed Buddy Holly video. It then resurfaced in That 70s Show as a big town where Eric and friends went to see my favorite movie of all time, Star Wars. I figured it was the burbs-heavy halfway stop between Chicago and Milwaukee that looked a lot like Shermer, Illinois.

Kenosha is home to a growing Salmonella outbreak where additional 16 cases have been confirmed over the past couple of days. According to Fox6, although a business has been temporarily closed as a precaution, health officials do not believe that it is the only source of the outbreak. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also reports:

The health department has not pinpointed a single source of the outbreak, although the department has closed Baker Street Restaurant and Pub on Green Bay Road in Kenosha and is testing employees, Bosovich said.

"We have not found anything there. We did it as a precaution to make sure the employees are negative before returning to work," she said.

The hospital emergency room doctor in the below video has a few gems on Salmonella that aren't quite correct:

You will be vomiting within 6 hours after eating that food" (more like 12-72 hours -ben)

Mostly it's because a restaurant has recieved a shipment of food that sits out with no refrigeration (food handler hygiene, common supplier of a ready-to-eat food or cooking temps are probably more likely -ben).