Eideard

State health officials Wednesday ordered a San Antonio produce company to halt production and ordered a recall of all products shipped from the plant since January after five people — three of them in Bexar County — died from a foodborne illness.

Over the past nine months, 10 people in Bexar, Travis and Hidalgo counties were infected with the same strain of listeria, including the five who died. Six of the 10 were conclusively linked to chopped celery sold by Sangar Fresh Cut Produce at 1500 S. Zarzamora St., health officials said.

They said most of the listeriosis patients were elderly with serious underlying health problems, and many were hospitalized before and during the onset of their infection.

As of Wednesday night, health officials weren’t releasing any further information about the patients…

Of the shutdown, Texas Department of State Health Services spokeswoman Carrie Williams said: “This is a rare action that we took. … We closed the plant, we ordered a recall, but we’re not at the end. We’re still investigating the situation.”

The emergency order prohibits the plant from resuming operations without permission.

The recalled products were cut produce in sealed packages, and were not believed to have been sold in grocery stores, but rather used in restaurants and institutions such as schools and hospitals…Oh!

Inspectors found sanitation problems at the plant, including a condensation leak above a food product area, soil on a preparation table and improper hand washing by employees.

Officials said the bacteria found in the celery may have contaminated other food processed at the plant…

The long investigation was made more difficult by the fact most of the victims were frail with poor memories or had died.

Getting medical history from dead people is always difficult.

Public rally – probably paid for by Los Zetas

Mexican federal authorities have arrested 124 law enforcement officials in Hidalgo state on suspicion of being linked to the Zetas drug cartel, considered the nation’s most ruthless and dangerous crime syndicate.

Most of those arrested were municipal police officers, but there also were some high-level state and federal officials, according to the Mexico attorney general’s office…

Hidalgo is in central Mexico. Los Zetas was formed about 10 years ago by Mexican army commandos but now consists mainly of former local, state and federal police.

“The Zetas have obviously assumed the role of being the No. 1 organization responsible for the majority of the homicides, the narcotic-related homicides, the beheadings, the kidnappings, the extortions that take place in Mexico,” said Ralph Reyes, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s chief for Mexico and Central America.

Mexican society, Mexican politics has been corrupt for so long – you almost need a revolution to throw everyone out of office and hire a new army to oversee the country while everything starts up from scratch.