Latest news with #Salmonella
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- Scottish Sun
Aldi's £2.49 buy will protect your garden and home from swarms of ants and insects this summer
Annoying bugs can ruin the perfect summer's day or evening PEST FREE Aldi's £2.49 buy will protect your garden and home from swarms of ants and insects this summer Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SUMMER might mean warmer weather and backyard parties, but it also brings the onslaught of annoying bugs. As we start spending more time outdoors and in our gardens, it is essential to have the best protection to keep pesky insects at bay. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Aldi's budget friendly insect and ant repellent spray Now, Aldi has the perfect solution thanks to its £2.49 insect spray. The budget friendly spray kills ants and crawling insects on contact, but also works to help against repeat infestations. The German supermarket has had plenty of gadgets on offer this summer to keep yards bug-free. It also recently sold a £7.49 Adventuridge Bug Zapper that can kill insects in an instant. Its UV light lures in bugs before killing them instantly. The lantern comes in two colours - blue or black - so it will match any garden furniture you already have. Plus its built-in carabiner means you can attach it to a garden shed or gazebo. While the bug zapper was only around while stocks lasted, there are plenty of garden hacks people can employ in order to keep ants and insects away. One woman recently took to her TikTok page to shared her clever way to stop the pests ruining outdoor feasts this summer, and it's entirely chemical free. The clip showed a cup sitting on the table, with smoke coming off it, as Dil explained she was shown the clever trick when she went to a restaurant in Cyprus. 6 ways to get rid of slugs and snails "Little hack for you, a little bit of Turkish coffee and coal when you've got the barbecue on stops the flies coming around your food," she said in the video. And while Dil used Turkish coffee - a finely ground coffee known for its texture - for the hack, you can use any ground coffee for it to work. Why do Aldi and Lidl have such fast checkouts IF you've ever shopped in Aldi or Lidl then you'll probably have experienced its ultra-fast checkout staff. Aldi's speedy reputation is no mistake, in fact, the supermarket claims that its tills are 40 per cent quicker than rivals. It's all part of Aldi's plan to be as efficient as possible - and this, the budget shop claims, helps keep costs low for shoppers. Efficient barcodes on packaging means staff are able to scan items as quickly as possible, with the majority of products having multiple barcodes to speed up the process. It also uses 'shelf-ready' packaging which keeps costs low when it comes to replenishing stock. Meanwhile, another expert has explained that as well as being annoying, flies can pose a serious health risk - as they can transfer bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli onto food and preparation surfaces. According to Pest-Stop's technical training manager Sophie Thorogood, there are some tips to follow to keep the unwelcome guests at bay. Firstly, it's important to keep your home - and your garden - clean.
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- The Irish Sun
Aldi's £2.49 buy will protect your garden and home from swarms of ants and insects this summer
SUMMER might mean warmer weather and backyard parties, but it also brings the onslaught of annoying bugs. As we start spending more time outdoors and in our gardens, it is essential to have the best protection to keep pesky insects at bay. Advertisement 2 Aldi's budget friendly insect and ant repellent spray Now, Aldi has the perfect solution thanks to its £2.49 insect spray. The budget friendly spray kills ants and crawling insects on contact, but also works to help against repeat infestations. The German supermarket has had plenty of gadgets on offer this summer to keep yards bug-free. It also recently sold a £7.49 Adventuridge Bug Zapper that can kill insects in an instant. Advertisement aldi Its UV light lures in bugs before killing them instantly. The lantern comes in two colours - blue or black - so it will match any garden furniture you already have. Plus its built-in carabiner means you can attach it to a garden shed or gazebo. While the bug zapper was only around while stocks lasted, there are plenty of garden hacks people can employ in order to keep ants and insects away. Advertisement Most read in Fabulous Exclusive One woman recently shared her clever way to stop the pests ruining outdoor feasts this summer , and it's entirely chemical free. The clip showed a cup sitting on the table, with smoke coming off it, as Dil explained she was shown the clever trick when she went to a restaurant in Cyprus. 6 ways to get rid of slugs and snails "Little hack for you, a little bit of Turkish coffee and coal when you've got the barbecue on stops the flies coming around your food," she said in the video. And while Dil used Turkish coffee - a finely ground coffee known for its texture - for the hack, you can use any ground coffee for it to work. Advertisement Why do Aldi and Lidl have such fast checkouts IF you've ever shopped in Aldi or Lidl then you'll probably have experienced its ultra-fast checkout staff. Aldi's speedy reputation is no mistake, in fact, the supermarket claims that its tills are 40 per cent quicker than rivals. It's all part of Aldi's plan to be as efficient as possible - and this, the budget shop claims, helps keep costs low for shoppers. Efficient barcodes on packaging means staff are able to scan items as quickly as possible, with the majority of products having multiple barcodes to speed up the process. It also uses 'shelf-ready' packaging which keeps costs low when it comes to replenishing stock. Meanwhile, another expert has explained that as well as being annoying, flies can pose a serious health risk - as they can transfer bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli onto food and preparation surfaces. According to Firstly, it's important to keep your home - and your garden - clean. 2 Aldi is a German-owned budget supermarket Credit: Getty Advertisement
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Major retailer offering ‘versatile' pizza oven and BBQ for just £50 that will be perfect for garden parties
All tastes can be catered to with this cool gadget SLICE OF THAT Major retailer offering 'versatile' pizza oven and BBQ for just £50 that will be perfect for garden parties Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A MUST-HAVE for the summer months is a BBQ, but a new accessory means you can become a master chef to impress all your family and friends. Hardware chain, Wickes, is selling a pizza oven that attaches to a BBQ so all tastes can be catered for at garden parties all summer long. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 The Charles Bentley Pizza Oven & BBQ Credit: Wickes 4 The gadget attached to any BBQ to cook the perfect pizza every time Credit: Wickes High-tech BBQs and pizza ovens have become all the rage in recent years, but those looking for an affordable option, need look no further than the Charles Bentley Pizza Oven & BBQ. Costing just £62, the versatile BBQ pizza allows you to make delicious homemade or pre-made pizzas without forking out the big bucks to invest in a standalone pizza over. It is designed to attach easily to any BBQ and has a built-in thermometer, which lets you monitor the cooking temperature to make the perfect pizza everytime. By attaching to any BBQ, the pizza oven is also a great way to save space in your backyard. At 6kg, the pizza oven is also lightweight and portable. The retailer also has plenty of BBQs on offer to suit all kinds of budgets, such as the Norfolk Grills Atlas 400 BBQ and grill with side burner. The BBQ costs £565, comes with a five-year guarantee and has plenty of practical features. Some of those include tool and condiment storage, a cabinet for grilling equipment, warming rack, thermometer, bottle opener and a stainless steel side burner. With summer now in full swing, experts have dispelled barbecuing myths that pose dangerous health risks. Professor Christopher Elliott, founder of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's University Belfast, revealed such notions pose a serious health risk. The 2C method which stops flies plaguing your home and ruining your BBQ Some of the myths debunked by the prof include not checking the internal temperature of meat before servin or simply scraping a grill 'clean', rather than giving it a proper wash. 'A dirty grill is not a badge of honour – it's a serious health risk," he told The Sun in May. 'The belief that fire sterilises everything is a dangerous myth. 'Some bacteria – like E. coli and Salmonella – can survive if the grill isn't properly cleaned.' 4 Wickes has plenty of high-tech BBQs for sale Credit: Wickes
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Salmonella outbreak tied to pistachio cream imported from Turkey
Tubs of pistachio cream are being recalled after nearly half a dozen people reported becoming ill with salmonella infections, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Emek-brand Pistachio Cream — a product sold online for wholesale distributors, restaurants, and food service locations across the country — has been linked to a salmonella outbreak in at least two states, the FDA said. The product, a nut butter spread used in desserts, including ice cream, is manufactured by Emek Dogal Saglik Urunleri Iklim Gida Insaat San Tic Ltd Sti in Turkey and imported into the United States. The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with state and local partners, are investigating the multistate outbreak. As of May 19, four people, three of them in one north central state, reported becoming ill after eating the affected product, the FDA wrote in its updated June 13 post. The FDA said it is also working to determine whether "other lots or products from this firm may be impacted." Here's what to know about the cream recall: Tomato recall: Vegetable sold in 3 states now labeled deadly by FDA So far, people in two states have reported being sickened from the product, according to the FDA and the CDA. Minnesota (three people) New Jersey (one person) The FDA is recalling some Emek-brand Pistachio Cream packaged in a 5-kilogram white tub. The recalled cream has a use-by date of Oct. 9, 2026, and the production code (PNO:) of 241019. According to its online post, the FDA was notified by the Minnesota Department of Health about "a cluster of Salmonella illnesses and two Salmonella positive samples of Emek-brand Pistachio Cream product that matched clinical cases by whole genome sequencing (WGS) in this outbreak." As of June 13, four cases of salmonella infection had been reported from two states. Of those cases, all four reported eating pistachio cream, the FDA said, and three of the four cases reported eating pistachio cream at the same restaurant. One of the individuals who consumed the affected cream had to be hospitalized, the FDA said. Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and fatal infections in children, the elderly and others with weakened immune systems, according to the CDC. Most people infected with salmonella start developing symptoms 12 to 72 hours after eating the contaminated product. Diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps are the main symptoms. Most people recover without treatment, but in rare circumstances, the infection can require hospitalization, according to the CDC. Pregnant women are also at higher risk of developing an infection from it and should seek medical attention if symptoms arise. Consumers experiencing an illness because of the affected product should contact their health care provider to report their symptoms and for medical care. Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pistachio cream recalled after being linked to salmonella outbreak
Scientific American
3 days ago
- Health
- Scientific American
How to Grill Meat Safely—According to Science
As the days heat up in the Northern Hemisphere, so do meats at summer barbecues. But the amount of heat you use to cook different meats matters—not only for taste but for health. Each type of protein—beef, pork, poultry and others—has to reach a recommended minimum temperature to be considered safe to eat. A chicken breast, for example, needs to be heated to at least 73.9 degrees Celsius (165 degrees Fahrenheit) throughout, while a steak or pork chop should reach 62.8 degrees C (145 degrees F). Where do these recommendations come from? And why must some meats be cooked to a higher temperature than others? Temperature thresholds exist because raw foods, including meat, eggs, and even vegetables and other kinds of produce, can sometimes harbor illness-causing microbes, says University of Delaware food microbiologist Kalmia Kniel. Just as the human body houses billions of microorganisms, Kniel notes, animals also 'have a naturally occurring community of bacteria that colonizes their gut and skin.' Most of those microbes are harmless to the animals and people, she says, but some bacteria strains can make people sick. Microbes that an animal picks up from its environment or that are introduced during meat processing can also pose health risks, Kniel says. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Food poisoning can be caused by viruses or parasites, but the most common culprits are bacteria such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, Listeria and Clostridium —often found on or inside animals. These microbes flourish at temperatures between 4.4 and 60 degrees C (40 to 140 degrees F), often doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes. People who eat foods contaminated with these bacteria often experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps and fever. Most people recover within a few days, but in rare cases, food poisoning can be fatal. Cooking meat is one way to kill those harmful microbes. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, scientists across multiple U.S. agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, turned laboratories into test kitchens to figure out the meat temperature guidelines we use today, says Donald Schaffner, a food microbiologist at Rutgers University. Researchers inoculated various foods, from roast beef and chicken thighs to eggs and leftover casseroles, with bacteria and then prepared the dishes with different culinary methods—say, grilling versus microwaving or roasting. The final guidelines were based on the time it took for a specific temperature to reduce the bacteria by 90 percent, or to a threshold scientifically considered safe. Recommendations differ based on factors such as the cut of a given type of meat. Steak or pork, for instance, have dense muscle fibers that are relatively difficult for bacteria to penetrate—and searing the meat kills most microbes lingering on the surface. Ground meat, by contrast, is typically made up of lower-quality cuts from multiple animals, and grinding the meat into bits disperses those surface-dwelling bacteria throughout products such as a burger patty or sausage link. This requires an internal temperature that's a few degrees higher: 71.1 degrees C (160 degrees F). Poultry also needs to be cooked to a higher temperature (165 degrees F) because it is more likely to be contaminated internally, particularly with illness-causing Salmonella strains that are part of the animals' natural microbiome. Temperature guidance has mostly remained the same over the years, Schaffner says, only changing once: in 2011 the USDA lowered the temperature recommendation for pork from 71.1 degrees C (160 degrees F) to 62.8 degrees C (145 degrees F), following the farming industry's successful campaign to reduce the prevalence of the nematode Trichinella spiralis in pigs. People who ingest the parasite's larvae through undercooked meat can contract trichinosis, also called trichinellosis, a gastrointestinal disease that causes muscle pain as the larvae migrate into muscle tissue. Beyond safely cooking meats, there are other steps people can take to keep harmful bacteria out of their meals. Using separate cutting boards and utensils for raw and cooked meat, along with washing hands between cooking tasks, minimizes cross-contamination. Avoid leaving foods out in ambient temperatures for long periods to prevent bacteria from proliferating. Kniel also says the spongy absorber (called the 'meat diaper') at the bottom of most meat packages is a major source of bacteria; always use a separate container and throw the meat diaper away with minimal contact. Kniel and Schaffner agree that using a good meat thermometer is among the best ways to prepare food safely. Specifically, look for digital thermometers that measure the temperature at the tip of the probe rather than dial thermometers, which typically average the temperature across the length of the probe. 'You really want to know if the inside of your meat is fully cooked, and so knowing the temperature in the thickest part is most important,' Kniel says. 'Someone may not want to add the extra step to use [a digital thermometer], but it's the easiest way to make sure your product is cooked well.'
