ATLANTA – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating a salmonella outbreak that has sickened people in 42 states, media reports said Thursday.

The CDC has reportedly said that at least 388 people have been infected with the strain since Sept.3 with 69 hospitalized.

The agency has not found out what food is causing the outbreak and has not released a list if what states are involved in the investigation.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are reportedly in contact with the CDC, but can’t participate fully until a cause is found.

Media reports said that CDC officials and state public health workers are conducting case control studies to find a common cause.

Source: CNN.com

CARPINTERIA – CKE Restaurants Inc. announced Thursday that E. Michael Murphy has been promoted to president and chief legal officer of the company.

The promotion becomes effective on Jan. 27. Murphy currently serves as CKE’s chief administrative officer and general counsel. Andrew Puzder will remain as chief executive officer.

“Over the past ten years, our Board has watched Mr. Murphy assume increasing responsibility as our company stabilized financially and then began to grow,” stated Byron Allumbaugh, the chairman of the company’s board of directors. “He has earned this position, and is a very strong and capable second in command behind Mr. Puzder.”

The company also announced that Frank P. Willey has been named vice chairman of the board, effective Dec. 10, 2008. Willey has reportedly served as a member of the board of directors since 1994.

“Mr. Willey’s long tenure on this board as well as his financial and business experience made him the ideal person to fill the vice-chairman role, and we welcome his expanded involvement in board matters,” said Allumbaugh.

CKE owns the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. chains.

Source: CKE Restaurants Inc.

WASHINGTON – The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) this week issued Notice 05-09 on raw beef products.

The notice reportedly instructs inspection personnel on how to determine whether establishments that receive, grind, or otherwise process raw beef products are employing adequate measures to address E. coli O157:H7. FSIS contends that this notice is necessary because of the rate at which the FSIS is finding E. coli in products.

The notice reportedly provides Enforcement, Investigations and Analysis Officers with specific criteria that they are to consider when they assess whether establishments have adequate support for how, based on their hazard analysis, they address E. coli in their HACCP systems.

The notice provides Consumer Safety Inspectors with instructions on how to conduct verification activities at establishments that use critical control points to prevent, eliminate, or reduce E. coli in raw beef products or that use their Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures or another prerequisite program to prevent occurrence of this pathogen.

To view this notice, go to www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNotices/05-09.pdf.

Source: American Meat Institute

MINNEAPOLIS – An Austin, Minn. man is suing Hormel Foods Corp. and Quality Pork Processors Inc., alleging harm from a machine used to extract pig brains.

The lawsuit was reportedly filed in Mower County, Minn. district court in November. It seeks more than $50,000 from each company.

Quality Pork is a privately owned supplier to Hormel. At least 18 workers at Quality Pork's Austin plant have reportedly suffered symptoms of a neurological illness, which was announced by health officials in December 2007. Many of them have filed workers compensation claims.

The complaint is reportedly vague on several points, which prompted Hormel's attorneys to ask the court last month to order Dale Kinney and his attorney to file a more definitive statement of their claims.

It's not clear, Hormel's lawyers argued, what Kinney was doing at the plant around the time he says he was harmed. In a court filing, they reportedly said Kinney is not a current or former Hormel or Quality Pork employee.

"Absent a more definitive statement explaining the grounds on which plaintiff's claims allegedly rest, Hormel cannot reasonably be required to frame a responsive pleading denying or admitting plaintiff's allegations," they reportedly wrote in a motion filed on Dec. 11.

Source: Associated Press