Canada reports botulism cases connected to carrot juice
Food Inspection Agency joins FDA in warning against Bugs Bunny’s favorite drink; a sad story, but an opportunity to take a second look at two companies trying to help stop outbreaks; focus on anthrax makes botulism poisoning a low priority for federal planners
If the spinach E. coli outbreak was bad for Popeye, now Bugs Bunny has similar problems. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has traced two cases of botulism poisoning to carrot juice manufactured in the United States. The products, by Bolthouse Farms, Earthbound Farm, and President’s Choice Organics, caused two episodes of paralysis — not exactly the reaction advertised on the labels. Earlier this month, U.S. officials found botulism-contaminated carrot juice in Florida.
This is a troubling story, but it presents the opportunity to highlight two companies we reported on earlier this year that are trying to deal with the problem. The first is Canada-based pharmaceutical company Cangene, which received a $363 million contract under the U.S. BioShield program to develop and deliver 200,000 doses to treat individuals who have been exposed to the bacteria or toxin that causes botulism. The other is Berkeley, California-based Xoma, which this year won a $16 million contract with which Xoma will create and produce an innovative injectable product comprised of three anti-type A-botulinum neurotoxin monoclonal antibodies to support entry into phase I safety human clinical trials. The company will be responsible for producing large amounts of these three antibodies in addition to creating a safe and feasible way of administering the treatment as a single injection for humans.
We applaud both these companies for their efforts, while at the same time express concern that, although there are some we have not mentioned, there are not nearly enough. Most U.S. bioterror funding — especially Project BioShield — has been targeted at anthrax vaccination, mainly for political reasons. Yet as the last few months have shown, food-borne illnesses remain an equal if not greater threat, and the anthrax program has been a contracting disaster. We can only hope the threats to spinach and carrot juice prompt a reassessment of priorities in Washington.
-read more at Canada’s Food Inspection Agency Web site
