Rodents, other violations found at 2 egg farms

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Food and Drug Administration investigators have found rodents, seeping manure and even maggots at the Iowa egg farms believed to be responsible for as many as 1,500 cases of salmonella poisoning.
   FDA officials released their initial observations of the ongoing investigations at Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms on Monday. The two farms recalled more than half a billion eggs after salmonella illnesses were linked to their products earlier this month.
   Reports released by the FDA show numerous violations at both farms, including rodent, bug and wild bird infestation, uncontained manure, holes in walls and other problems that could have caused the outbreak.
   Several positive samples of salmonella have been found at both farms.
   (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Posted 3:15 PM EDT on August 30, 2010

NY legislators want chickens vaccinated

NEW YORK (AP) -- Two state legislators want to require farmers in New York to vaccinate their chickens against salmonella.
   Sen. Daniel Squadron and Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh announced their proposal Sunday in front of a supermarket in New York City. Their idea comes after a nationwide recall of hundreds of millions of eggs. None of the recalled eggs came from New York.
   The legislators say vaccinations costing one penny per dozen eggs could nearly eliminate the more than 100,000 salmonella cases each year in the U.S. if all states had such a law.
   They plan to formally introduce the legislation this week.
   (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Posted 9:55 PM EDT on August 28, 2010

CEO: J&J let down public, must work to build trust

 TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- With Johnson & Johnson's once-golden reputation tarnished by 11 recalls of medicines, contact lenses and hip implants in as many months, its chief executive says he knows the company let consumers down.
   J&J plans a public campaign to help rebuild their trust, but not until after about 40 recalled nonprescription medicines are back on store shelves sometime early next year. In the meantime, the company is also doing everything possible to make sure the incidents are not repeated, CEO Bill Weldon told The Associated Press Friday.
   The maker of trusted brands including Johnson's No More Tears baby shampoo and Tylenol pain reliever, has announced repeated recalls since late last September. Nine involved nonprescription medicines made by its McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Posted 3:40 PM EDT on August 27, 2010

Ford recalls 575K Windstar vans

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ford says it is recalling 575,000 older model Windstar vans in the United States and Canada over concerns that the rear axles can corrode and potentially break.
   The recall covers vehicles in the model years 1998 to 2003 sold in states where the heavy use of road salt can cause more corrosion. That includes Canada, New England, the Mid-Atlantic states and the Great Lakes region.
   Ford Motor Co. says it plans to start notifying owners beginning on Sept. 27. The company says the axle breaks have occurred in only a small number of cases.
   Ford shares are up 18 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $11.35 in morning trading.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Posted 10:50 AM EDT on August 27, 2010

Frozen fruit bars recalled after typhoid outbreak

SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) -- Fruiti Pops, Inc. of Santa Fe Springs has recalled its mamey (mah-MAY') frozen fruit bars because of a possible link to a rare U.S. outbreak of typhoid fever.
   The company said Thursday that the fruit bars were distributed in California, Arizona and Texas since May 2009.
   Fruiti Pops says retail stores, ice cream trucks and vending machines sold the frozen fruit bars, which have the UPC number 763734000097.
   The company says the frozen fruit bars were made from contaminated mamey pulp that Goya Foods, Inc. voluntarily recalled on Aug. 12, after it was linked to a typhoid fever outbreak in California and Nevada. So far no illnesses have been reported from the mamey fruit bars.
   Mamey or zapote (zah-POH'-teh), is a fruit popular in Latin America and the Carribean.
   (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Posted 7:40 PM EDT on August 26, 2010