Food Poisoning Outbreaks and Litigation: Surveillance and Analysis Sundsvall and Oranienburg infections are under investigation and more illnesses associated with this outbreak may be confirmed 99 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Sundsvall have been reported from 32 states. Arkansas (1) Illnesses started on dates ranging from October 17 Two deaths have been reported from Minnesota. Age of ill ranges from less than 1 to 100 years of age. there have been 63 laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella Soahanina Sundsvall and Oranienburg illness linked to this outbreak in the following provinces: British Columbia (12) Prince Edward Island (2) and Newfoundland and Labrador (2) Individuals became sick between mid-October and mid-November 2023 Seventeen individuals have been hospitalized Individuals who became ill are between 0 to 100 years of age The nation’s foremost law firm with a practice dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Japan-based drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Company has inaugurated a pharmaceutical production facility at its existing site in Oranienburg commercial operations at the facility are expected to begin by the end of 2017 the company aims to increase the Oranienburg site’s production capacity from 6.2 billion to around 10 billion tablets and capsules a year The plant will also allow Takeda to advance its technologies and ensure the timely delivery of its pharmaceutical products to patients and healthcare providers worldwide Takeda unveiled its plans to build a pharmaceutical production facility at the Oranienburg site in April 2014 The plant is being developed as part of the company’s plan to transfer the production of solid products from its plant in Osaka to its facilities in Oranienburg and Hikari Construction of the facility at Oranienburg began in August 2014 costing $114.6m and increasing the number of employees at the plant from 600 to around 780 The German Federal Government and the state of Brandenburg each provided $26.3m in subsidies to Takeda for its expansion Takeda’s manufacturing plant has a 21,400m² total floor space It incorporates a production line for the development and manufacture of high-quality drugs in solid dosage formulations The plant also features new technological and storage facilities Medicines to be produced at the new building will be used to treat a range of diseases in different therapeutic areas the central nervous system and cardiovascular segments The Oranienburg production facility was opened in 1885 Takeda took ownership of the site by acquiring Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company Nycomed The site houses two state-of-the-art production plants Takeda made significant investments at the site to expand its global manufacturing network and strengthen its presence in the German pharmaceutical market packaging and sales for 145 different solid dosage drugs An estimated 6.2 billion tablets and capsules are produced at the facility for export to end markets in more than 100 countries Takeda also develops and manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) at the Oranienburg plant Takeda is engaged in research and development (R&D) focused on drugs for oncology gastroenterology and the central nervous system the company has a presence in more than 70 countries and regions worldwide It owns 23 production sites across 16 countries and employs 30,000 people in total Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network. Recovered ammunition found in Berlin's Grunewald forest in Germany (Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters)July 24 2016 ShareSave Just over a mile from where a stretch of the Berlin Wall once stood in Germany’s capital city the neighborhood of Rummelsburg was evacuated earlier this week after construction workers uncovered a 550-pound American bomb had sat dormant for more than 70 years since the Allies dropped it during World War II This one had failed to detonate, and now, decades later, its corroding fuse could set it off at any time. Every year, at least one or two such bombs explode in Germany without warning, according to the 2015 film The Bomb Hunters which documents the work of the KMBD—the bomb squad for the state of Brandenburg “They have it so well figured out that the city has a very specific routine [to find and defuse bombs] and it’s coordinated very well through their website,” says Berlin-based filmmaker Rick Minnich who spent a year and a half filming The Bomb Hunters in Oranienburg getting evacuated again.’ And when schools get evacuated sometimes kids get upset that their school is just outside the evacuation area and its allies showered Europe with 2.7 million tons of bombs some of which had a delayed fuse so that they would detonate hours or even days after they landed and what’s left today buried in German soil makes up the roughly 10 percent of bombs that never went off they were left scattered as the country pursued aggressive post-war reconstruction efforts No one knows exactly where these bombs are lurking and in the past they’ve turned up in a multitude of places: in people’s backyards the German carmaker Volkswagen discovered a 550-pound bomb under its headquarters in the city of Wolfsburg and the city’s main train stations all had to be emptied and authorities shut down a busy stretch of the highway Temporary shelters were set up for the elderly and other vulnerable people Accidental discoveries have led to casualties the consequences for the owner are sometimes devastating Minnich turned his camera on Gunthard ‘Paule’ Dietrich a retired taxi driver who discovered a bomb in his back yard they ended up having to detonate it instead The explosion blew up his house and destroyed everything he owned Paule’s efforts to rebuild had to be put on hold because authorities suspected two more bombs were lurking in his neighbor’s yard one of the heaviest-shelled towns in Germany during the war: 5,690 bombs were once dropped over just 45 minutes The Allies had targeted the city’s military infrastructure—an airplane-manufacturing plant which served as a transit hub for German soldiers heading toward the Eastern Front making Oranienburg the German city with the highest concentration of unexploded World War II bombs “It’s really extreme at the moment; they've been having a defusing about once a month this year because they found several bombs in one spot,” says Minnich “They've been defusing them one at a time in full hazmat suits because the soil is radioactive where the Nazis were doing their nuclear research.” City officials began aggressively searching for them in 2008 launching systematic searches that involve drilling holes as deep as 30 feet all around town researchers analyze hundreds of archival aerial photos taken shortly after the bombings The price: “A six-figure sum,” local expert Frank Ritter says in the video Laos still feels the effects of the 2 million tons of bombs dropped on its provinces in the 1960s and 1970s with at least 20,000 bomb-related casualties since the Vietnam War Meanwhile, civil war has left Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia and African nations like Angola and Mozambique with millions of landmines scattered throughout. Where the government hasn’t taken the initiative to clean up the land, nonprofits like APOPO, which trains rats to find landmines “If it’s still such a problem from [World War II] what about all the wars that have been fought since then?” asks Minnich The sobering truth is that finding these bombs will go on for generations—and yet it’s still a race against the clock the more corroded and unstable the bombs become Minnich recalls visiting the temporary shelters when German cities had to be evacuated because that’s where you sometimes find people who were little kids when the bombings took place,” Minnich recalls This post appears courtesy of CityLab. Volume 12 - 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.576337 Cocoa roasting produces and enhances distinct flavor of chocolate and acts as a critical control point for inactivation of foodborne pathogens in chocolate production the inactivation kinetics of Salmonella enterica subsp enterica serotype Oranienburg strain was assessed on whole cocoa beans using roasting protocols relevant to the fine chocolate industry Beans were inoculated with 107–108 log10 CFU/bean of Salmonella Oranienburg and roasted at 100–150°C for 2–100 min Oranienburg was experimentally achieved after 10-min roasting at 150°C Data were fitted using log-linear and Weibull models The log-linear models indicated that the roasting times (D) needed to achieve a decimal reduction of Salmonella at 100 A Weibull model indicated a decrease in the Salmonella inactivation rate over time (β < 1) Statistical analysis indicated that the Weibull model fitted the data better compared to a log-linear model These data demonstrate the efficacy of cocoa roasting in inactivation of Salmonella and may be used to guide food safety decision-making which alter the food microenvironment and may provide a protective effect against heat treatment When generating data to support food safety decision-making it is therefore important to evaluate the thermal inactivation kinetics using relevant pathogen strains at relevant conditions and food matrices that mimic real-life scenarios as closely as possible Although the log-linear model is widely used due to the simplicity and intuitive nature of the first-order kinetics the Weibull model can more accurately model thermal inactivation and therefore provide more realistic and valuable data to support food safety decision-making the efficacy of roasting in terms of enteric foodborne pathogen inactivation is yet to be evaluated we aimed to evaluate Salmonella inactivation at a range of temperatures that may be relevant to fine chocolate producers to assist in the selection of cocoa roasting condition from a food safety perspective To date, only two studies have assessed thermal inactivation kinetics of Salmonella during cocoa roasting (Izurieta and Komitopoulou, 2012; Nascimento et al., 2012) there is a lack of available data characterizing the thermal inactivation of Salmonella at lower temperatures (below 160°C) and shorter roasting times which are relevant to the fine chocolate industry which utilizes cocoa roasting also as a critical flavor compound generating step We therefore investigated the thermal inactivation of Salmonella Oranienburg strain on cocoa beans roasted at temperatures below 160°C to generate data that may guide food safety decision-making in the fine chocolate industry We applied log-linear and Weibull models to model the thermal inactivation of S Oranienburg strain at different cocoa roasting conditions tested The main objectives of this study were to (1) assess the effectiveness of the selected roasting treatments in inactivation of the selected model S and (2) compare the performance of log-linear and Weibull models in modeling the thermal inactivation of the selected Salmonella strain during cocoa roasting A strain of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serotype Oranienburg (FSL R9-6137) was obtained from the Food Microbe Tracker isolate collection (Vangay et al., 2013) The strain FSL R9-6137 originates from a human and was provided to the Food Microbe Tracker isolate collection by the New York Department of Health Culture of the isolate was preserved and stored at −80°C in a brain heart infusion broth (BHI broth BD Difco) supplemented with 25% (v/v) glycerol Cocoa beans imported from Bolivia (Nwanosike et al., 2019) were obtained from Dandelion Inc Cocoa beans were autoclaved twice at 121°C for 30 min to inactivate natural contaminants present on the cocoa beans Autoclaved beans were then air-dried in a BSL-2 cabinet for up to 2 h The water activity of beans (N = 10) was measured before autoclaving and after autoclaving followed by a 2-h drying in a biosafety cabinet at a room temperature Water activity was measured using a bench top water activity meter AquaLab Series 4TE (Decagon Devices Inc. WA) with a ±0.003 precision at 25°C Autoclaved and dried beans were used in all experiments reported in this study A negative control consisting of uninoculated autoclaved dried beans was included in each experiment to ensure absence of background microbiota and cross-contamination Only cocoa beans with a weight of 1.0 ± 0.2 g were used in the experiments to minimize the potential variability in results caused by the non-uniformity of water migration from the core to the shell of the bean during roasting The concentration of the diluted culture suspension was determined by measuring optical density at 600 nm using a Bio Photometer (Eppendorf The culture concentration in CFU/ml was determined based on a previously determined OD-CFU/ml standard curve developed for Salmonella Each time-temperature condition was tested in a minimum of three biological test replicates with corresponding three biological positive control replicates where each cocoa bean represented one biological replicate Each biological replicate was quantified in three technical replicates Individual beans were inoculated at 107–108 Salmonella cells per bean Each sterilized cocoa bean was spot inoculated with 3–9 μl of Salmonella inoculum depending on the concentration of inoculum collected from lawn plates The water activity (aw) of whole beans both before and after inoculation of 3 and 9 μl of PBS was determined using the bench top water activity meter (AquaLab) to assess the effect of inoculation and stabilization procedures on aw To minimize the effect of inoculation volume on the water activity of the beans and to stabilize the inoculum each inoculated cocoa bean was stored in a covered sterile Petri dish in an air incubator at 20°C for 16 h Stacking of plates was avoided to allow for a uniform air circulation and to prevent the accumulation of a condensate during the inoculum stabilization an uninoculated bean was included as a negative control to confirm the absence of natural contaminants and of cross-contamination Sterile cocoa beans were inoculated and inoculum stabilized as described above Cocoa beans were then individually transferred into aluminum weighing dishes using sterile forceps The aluminum weighing dishes containing cocoa beans were then transferred into a pre-heated convection oven (Binder FD 53-UL or VWR 1330FMS) and were heated at different time-temperature combinations The temperature of air flowing above the cocoa beans was monitored by a thermometer (Fluke corporation The treatment started when the air temperature above the beans reached the target temperature The measured temperature variation was within ±1°C of the target treatment temperature The relative humidity within the oven during roasting was 0.0% as determined using VAIS-Indigo 201 Vaisala humidity probe after reaching a target temperature incubation at a target temperature for a target period of time) the aluminum weighing dishes with beans were removed from the oven and each bean was immediately transferred into a 7-oz sterile homogenization bag (Weber Scientific NJ) pre-filled with 9 ml of cold sterile PBS The beans were then homogenized at 230 rpm for 1 min using a paddle blender (Seward Ltd. followed by hand massaging the homogenate to enhance the recovery of Salmonella cells from bean debris to the buffer The homogenized suspensions were then immediately serially diluted in PBS and plated onto BHI agar plates in triplicates to minimize the exposure to cocoa phenolic compounds that could potentially inhibit heat-injured Salmonella cells Inoculated BHI plates were incubated at 35°C for 24 ± 2 h Three positive controls were prepared following the same inoculation and enumeration protocol and were quantified to determine the initial Salmonella load before roasting One negative control was roasted and enumerated in each experiment The average Salmonella reduction for each treatment condition was calculated by subtracting the average quantities of Salmonella on roasted beans from the average quantities of Salmonella on positive controls The log-linear (Bigelow, 1921) and the Weibull (Boekel, 2002; Mafart et al., 2002) models were used to describe the inactivation of Salmonella during cocoa roasting procedures. The most widely accepted log-linear model (Bigelow, 1921) assumes that the inactivation of bacterial vegetative cells follows the first-order kinetics: where Nt represents the Salmonella load (CFU/bean) after thermal treatment for time t, N0 represents the initial Salmonella load (CFU/bean) at time 0, and D is the decimal reduction time (D value). To describe the temperature dependence of D values, a secondary log-linear model was applied, where the zT is defined as the increase of temperature that results in a reduction of a D value by a factor of 10 (Bigelow, 1921) The zT was calculated using the following equation: where DT1 and DT2 indicate the D values at temperature T1 and T2 determined using the log-linear model To account for cases where the thermal death curves of bacteria do not follow the first-order kinetics, the Weibull regression model (Boekel, 2002; Mafart et al., 2002) was used as an alternative approach to evaluate the inactivation of Salmonella during the roasting procedure where δ is defined as the time required for the first decimal reduction in a process and the fitting parameter β defines the shape of the curve The shape parameter β describes whether the response curve is linear (β = 1) or nonlinear (β ≠ 1) with a decreasing (β < 1) or increasing (β > 1) inactivation rate with time Parameters δ and β were estimated for individual roasting temperature Similar to the D value described before, the temperature dependence of the scale parameter δ was modeled via an exponential relationship, and thus was considered as an alternative to the D value (Boekel, 2002). The z' value for the Weibull model, which is analogous to the zT obtained using a log-linear model, was defined using the following equation (Boekel, 2002): where δT1 and δT2 are the time required to achieve the first-log reduction at temperature T1 and T2 determined using the Weibull model the time required for a desired amount of microbial reduction was calculated using the shape and scale parameters as shown below: where D represents the desired decimal reduction of a given microbial population the calculated tD would be the required roasting time for a 1-log10 Salmonella reduction predicted by the Weibull model the calculated tD would then be the roasting time required to achieve a 5-log10 reduction The difference in Salmonella reduction caused by temperature was considered significant if the p value was equal or lower than 0.05. Thermal inactivation kinetics during cocoa roasting was analyzed using log-linear and Weibull models using the “nls” function from package “nlstools” (Baty et al., 2015) by nonlinear least squares methodology using Gauss-Newton algorithm in R (R Core Team, 2019) Model’s goodness-of-fit was evaluated based on relative standard error (RSE) of estimated parameters and the root mean square of residuals (RMSE) of the model The relative quality of both log-linear and Weibull model was evaluated based on the out-of-sample prediction error by calculating two estimators: Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC) values A better model fit is indicated by a smaller AIC or BIC value A significantly higher goodness-of-fit was determined using ANOVA when a p value was smaller than 0.05 Due to the fact that a serotype S. Oranienburg, albeit not this specific strain of S. Oranienburg, has been associated with an international outbreak linked with chocolate products in 2005 (Werber et al., 2005) we selected a strain FSL R9-6137 of this serotype for cocoa roasting experiments we chose to use a convection oven and intact cocoa beans to better mimic the conditions in an industrial roaster and produce the results that are more directly relevant to the fine chocolate producers compared to experiments in which water activity is controlled throughout roasting experiments Oranienburg during cocoa roasting was evaluated at the following temperatures: 100 The hold times at these temperatures varied from 2 to 100 min time from placement of the beans into the oven until the temperature rose back to the target temperature) in the oven ranged from 45 to 100 s (data not shown) The average aw of beans prior to autoclaving to inactivate background microbiota was 0.4607 ± 0.0188 (N = 10) the average aw of beans was 0.474 ± 0.007 (N = 10) which was not significantly different compared to aw before autoclaving (p = 0.5621) Eliminating background microbiota from cocoa beans could potentially result in underestimated decimal reduction times if the background microbiota would have significantly increased the heat resistance of Salmonella there is insufficient scientific evidence to substantiate this concern The maximum average reductions of Salmonella at each roasting temperature were achieved after longest roasting times the maximum reductions achieved were 2.80 ± 0.09 an average reduction above 5 log10 CFU/bean was experimentally achieved only when beans were roasted at 150°C for 10 min (N = 3) The limit of detection of the method used in this study was 1.3 log10 CFU/bean and the Salmonella log10 CFU/bean after 10-min roasting at 150°C was below this limit of detection After a shorter roasting for 2 and 5 min at 150°C Oranienburg strain was 1.42 ± 0.15 and 3.07 ± 0.29 log10 CFU/bean (N = 3) respectively.We initially compared the recovery of heat-treated Salmonella colonies on a selective (XLD) and non-selective (BHI) agars and found that approximately 0.5 log higher quantity of cells was recovered on a BHI agar suggesting possible inhibition of heat-injured cells by selective ingredients of XLD We therefore used BHI to recover Salmonella cells in all experiments reported in this study Salmonella was recovered by incubating inoculated BHI plates without prolonged incubation (beyond 24-h) The experimentally obtained inactivation data were modeled using log-linear model and the Weibull model (Figure 1). As shown in Table 1 the residual mean standard error (RMSE) of the log-linear model ranged from 0.20 to 0.52 log10 CFU/bean and the RSE (%) parameter ranged from 1.74 to 5.04 which indicated the time needed to achieve a 1 log10 reduction in S the D values were lower when the cocoa beans were roasted at higher temperatures Oranienburg inactivation was more effective at higher roasting temperatures Since the inactivation data at 150°C were only determined at two roasting time intervals (due to reduction below the limit of detection at longer roasting times) it was not possible to model the D value at this temperature we determined the zT value of 32.0 ± 4.7°C which indicated that an average increase in temperature of 32°C is required to achieve a 90% decrease in a D value Inactivation kinetics of Salmonella Oranienburg strain FSL R9-6137 during cocoa roasting at different temperatures (A–F) fitted using a log-linear (dashed pink line) and a Weibull model (solid blue line) Each datum point represents the calculated reduction of S Oranienburg calculated based on one biological replicate tested in three technical replicates The plotted data points were jittered to avoid plotting them directly on top of each other A minimum of three biological replicates were tested at each roasting condition Comparison of the quality of log-linear and Weibull models developed to model inactivation of S Oranienburg strain FSL R9-6137 at different cocoa roasting temperatures Our experimental procedure was designed to mimic not only the real-life but also worst-case scenario where Salmonella is stabilized on cocoa beans during cocoa bean storage prior to roasting Parameters of a log-linear model and a Weibull model describing the inactivation of S Oranienburg strain FSL R9-6137 at different cocoa bean roasting temperatures the deviation from a linear trend was observed when beans were roasted at 100 Unlike the first-order kinetics where a constant rate of inactivation is assumed in the log-linear model a decrease in the inactivation rate during roasting is indicated by the observed tailing phenomenon It should be noted that the tailing phenomenon would likely be overlooked if roasting was conducted only within a narrow time range at these lower temperatures likely be overestimated if the model would have been extrapolated out of the experimentally tested range we experimentally tested a relatively wide range of roasting times (i.e. The resulting observed tails could be attributed to the uneven heat distribution or changing water activity over time; however factors related to cell physiology may likewise explain the presence of tails Although being generally a better fit, the application of Weibull models obtained in the present study is limited to the experimentally tested temperatures. This is due to the inability to predict the Weibull model shape parameter β at temperatures that had not been experimentally tested, whereas the calculation of the log-linear model D value allows for the inference of the zT value. As suggested by the low RMSEs (Table 2) the log-linear models were also a reasonably good fit to the S Oranienburg inactivation data obtained in the present study We therefore conclude that the log linear model is still useful for prediction of the inactivation kinetics of S Oranienburg at temperatures that were not tested in the present study are recommended to be used only as a guide for experimental validation the limitations of this study include performing experiments on a single isolate of S recovering Salmonella colonies for just 24 h performing experiments in conditions that did not allow for control of water activity and using a non-full-factorial experimental design We investigated the inactivation of Salmonella during cocoa roasting at a range of temperatures that are relevant to the production of fine chocolate Our experimental results suggest that a reduction of >5 log10 CFU/bean can be achieved with 10-min roasting at 150°C Our data analyses results suggested that a Weibull model more accurately models the thermal inactivation kinetics of S the predicted times needed to achieve a 5-log10 reduction of Salmonella at temperatures of 100 The experimental results and models reported in this study may be used as a guide for the industry in-house validation of roasting processes using nonpathogenic surrogates of Salmonella The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors RY conducted experiments and data analyses GP conducted experiments and revised the manuscript and JK conceived the study and revised the manuscript JK supervised the study and co-wrote the manuscript All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch Appropriations and GD’A were employed by the company Dandelion Chocolate Inc The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest We would like to thank undergraduate students Aimee Koestler and Hephzibah Nwanosike (supported by the USDA-NIFA Extension Experiences for Undergraduates project grant 2017-67032-26022) Caitlin Luyster (supported by a Penn State College of Agricultural Science Undergraduate Research Grant) as well as a graduate student Taejung Chung for assisting with experiments Helene Hopfer and Gregory Ziegler for generously lending a convection oven that was utilized in this study Oranienburg isolate deposited in the Cornell Food Safety Laboratory’s Food Microbe Tracker culture collection The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.576337/full#supplementary-material Microbiological contamination of food: the mechanisms Google Scholar Quantifying the responses of three Bacillus cereus strains in isothermal conditions and during spray drying of 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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Jasna Kovac, anprMzAzQHBzdS5lZHU= Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish 2020 shows an entrance gate bearing the words "Work makes (you) free" at the Sachsenhausen memorial in Oranienburg The Sachsenhausen concentration camp was built by the Nazis in Oranienburg in 1936 More than 200,000 people were interned at the facility between 1936 and 1945 the Sachsenhausen memorial attracts about 700,000 visitors every year to witness the crimes of the Nazis 2020 shows the Soviet Liberation Memorial at the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp site of the Sachsenhausen memorial in Oranienburg Visitors walk between cells at the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp site of the Sachsenhausen memorial in Oranienburg Visitors view an exhibition at the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp site of the Sachsenhausen memorial in Oranienburg 2020 shows a cell at the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp site of the Sachsenhausen memorial in Oranienburg 2020 shows wire fences at the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp site of the Sachsenhausen memorial in Oranienburg Providing Insight on Food Poisoning Outbreaks & Litigation FDA: If you cannot tell if your cantaloupe including pre-cut cantaloupe or products containing pre-cut cantaloupe is part of the recall Total Illnesses: 117Hospitalizations: 61 Deaths: 2Last Illness Onset: 11/14/2023 States with Cases: AK WI Product Distribution: Nationwide and Canada Recalled whole cantaloupe from the following brands: Recalled pre-cut cantaloupe and products containing pre-cut cantaloupes (these products are made from recalled whole cantaloupes): FDA has compiled a list of recalls being conducted by companies that received and used recalled melons to make pre-cut cantaloupe or products containing pre-cut cantaloupes This list will be updated as the agency receives notifications of new recalls Bill Marler is an accomplished personal injury lawyer and national expert on foodborne illness litigation He began representing victims of foodborne illness in 1993 the most seriously injured survivor of the Jack in the Box E Bill Marler is an accomplished personal injury lawyer and national expert on foodborne illness litigation. He began representing victims of foodborne illness in 1993, when he represented Brianne Kiner, the most seriously injured survivor of the Jack in the Box E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, resulting in her landmark $15.6 million settlement. Marler founded Food Safety News in 2009. Bill Marler is an accomplished personal injury and products liability attorney He began litigating foodborne illness cases in 1993 A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website Share sensitive information only on official Lyndsay Bottichio, MPH1; Lindsey Martin Webb, MPH2; Greg Leos, MPH3; Beth Tolar, MS1; Natasha Dowell, MPH1; Colin Basler, DVM1 (View author affiliations) Views equals page views plus PDF downloads as part of a salmonellosis illness investigation the Texas Department of State Health Services collected a bottle of rattlesnake pills from a patient’s home The Texas Department of State Health Services then contacted CDC to report that a sample of these rattlesnake pills yielded Salmonella Oranienburg The Salmonella serotype isolated from the patient was not related by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to that isolated from the rattlesnake pills the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance identified numerous isolates with a PFGE pattern indistinguishable from that of the rattlesnake pill isolate.* Whole genome sequencing (WGS) indicated that the Salmonella found in the sample of rattlesnake pills was closely related genetically to an isolate from a patient in Kansas.† This close genetic relationship makes it likely that the Kansas patient became ill from consumption of rattlesnake pills Because the Salmonella serotype isolated from the patient was not related by PFGE to that isolated from the rattlesnake pills the definitive cause of the Texas patient’s illness was not ascertained; this patient was unable to be reinterviewed and no additional samples were able to be collected which contain encapsulated dehydrated and pulverized rattlesnake meat are marketed as remedies for various conditions Rattlesnake pills are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and are sometimes labeled by the manufacturer as “natural.” Rattlesnake pills can be found in alternative medicine and health food stores and roadside markets and can be purchased through Internet retailers.§ The Kansas patient was initially interviewed using a standard enteric illness questionnaire which included a question about vitamins and supplements This patient indicated taking other supplements but did not report taking rattlesnake pills After learning the patient’s isolate was closely related to the rattlesnake pill isolate by WGS the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reinterviewed the patient on December 17 specifically asking about less common supplements including rattlesnake pills the patient reported having traveled to the State of Chihuahua and purchasing “pastillas de víbora de cascabel” (rattlesnake pills) The patient believed the pills to be homemade and consumed five pills; the patient had no remaining pills so it could not be determined whether the source was the same as for the Texas patient’s pills no additional infections of Salmonella related to the Kansas patient or Texas pill sample have been identified; no other isolates were related to rattlesnake pills by WGS Reptiles and their meat can carry Salmonella species that cause illness Previous outbreak investigations have identified rattlesnake pills as a source of human Salmonella infections; a majority of illnesses occurred in persons with cancer (1–4) who were taking the rattlesnake pills for medicinal purposes and most of those infections were associated with S Oranienburg infection associated with consumption of rattlesnake pills including those with human immunodeficiency virus infection or who are receiving chemotherapy and adults aged >60 years are more likely to develop a severe Salmonella infection that can result in hospitalization or even death from consuming a contaminated food or supplement.¶ The Food and Drug Administration does not review rattlesnake pills for safety or effectiveness.** Persons choosing to take rattlesnake pills especially persons at higher risk for severe Salmonella infections should be aware of the risk for salmonellosis associated with their consumption Consultation with a licensed health care provider to discuss potential risks and benefits is recommended before taking any supplements Corresponding author: Lyndsay Bottichio, lbottichio@cdc.gov 1Division of Foodborne National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases CDC; 2Kansas Department of Health and Environment; 3Texas Department of State Health Services * https://www.cdc.gov/pulsenet † https://www.cdc.gov/pulsenet/pathogens/wgs.html § https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm466588.htm ¶ https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/general/index.html#two ** https://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/UsingDietarySupplements/ucm109760.htm Suggested citation for this article: Bottichio L, Webb LM, Leos G, Tolar B, Dowell N, Basler C. Notes from the Field: Salmonella Oranienburg Infection Linked to Consumption of Rattlesnake Pills — Kansas and Texas, 2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2018;67:502–503. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6717a4 Man deemed fit to stand trial in Germany and is accused of complicity in murder of more than 3,500 people A 100-year-old former concentration camp guard will stand trial in Germany in October accused of complicity in 3,518 murders, public prosecutors have announced. The prosecutor’s office in Neuruppin, which first brought the charges in February, received a medical assessment that confirmed the man was “fit to stand trial” despite his advanced age. Hearings will be limited to two and a half hours a day, according to prosecutors. The suspect is accused of “knowingly and willingly” assisting in the murder of prisoners at the Sachsenhausen camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, between 1942 and 1945. He is accused notably of complicity in the “execution by firing squad of Soviet prisoners of war in 1942” and the murder of prisoners “using the poisonous gas Zyklon B”. The defendant, who was not named in line with German privacy laws, is said to live in the state of Brandenburg outside Berlin, local media reported. Thomas Walther, a lawyer representing a number of the victims in the case, told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag: “Several of the co-complainants are just as old as the accused and expect justice to be done.” Sachsenhausen was established in 1936 as the first new camp after Adolf Hitler gave the SS full control of the Nazi concentration camp system. It was intended to be a model facility and training camp for the network the Nazis built across Germany, Austria and occupied territories. More than 200,000 people were held there between 1936 and 1945. Tens of thousands of inmates there died of starvation, disease, forced labour and other causes, as well as through medical experiments and systematic SS murder operations including shooting, hanging and gassing. Exact numbers on those killed vary, with upper estimates of about 100,000, although scholars suggest figures of 40,000 to 50,000 are probably more accurate. In its early years, most prisoners were either political prisoners or criminal prisoners, but also included some Jehovah’s Witnesses and gay people. The first large group of Jewish prisoners was brought there in 1938 after the Night of Broken Glass, or Kristallnacht, an antisemitic pogrom. During the war, Sachsenhausen was expanded to include Soviet prisoners of war – who were shot by the thousands – as well as others. Like in other camps, Jewish prisoners were singled out for particularly harsh treatment, and most who remained alive by 1942 were sent to the Auschwitz death camp. Germany has been hunting down former Nazi staff since the conviction of John Demjanjuk in 2011, on the basis that camp guards served as part of the Nazi killing machine, set a legal precedent. Since then courts have handed down several guilty verdicts on those grounds rather than for murders or atrocities directly linked to the individual accused. Read moreIn July, German authorities confirmed they were investigating a 95-year-old man for his role as a Nazi guard at a prisoner of war camp where many Soviet soldiers died. A 96-year-old woman will go on trial in late September in the northern German town of Itzehoe. The woman, who allegedly worked during the war as the secretary for the SS commandant of the Stutthof concentration camp, has been charged with more than 10,000 counts of accessory to murder earlier this year. Her case and the charges against the 100-year-old suspect both rely on recent legal precedent in Germany establishing that anyone who helped a Nazi camp function can be prosecuted for accessory to the murders committed there. My NewsSign Out Sign InCreate your free profileSections news Alerts NBC NewsA smoke column rises over the roofs of Oranienburg following a controlled blasting of a World War II bomb near the Oranienburg train station.Nestor Bachmann / EPA Germany -- Another bomb scare hit Germany Thursday with the discovery of two unexploded devices dropped by U.S Bomb-disposal experts have begun to disarm a 550-pound bomb in the city of Oranienburg a controlled explosion of a second bomb was carried out near the city’s main train station Thursday’s bombs will be number 137 and 138 in a long list of unexploded ordinances that have been found since officials started searching for them in 1990 more than 22,000 bombs were dropped on Oranienburg by allied forces at the end of the war Such incidents are routine for the bomb experts in Brandenburg state after a large controlled explosion of a bomb in the city center of Munich on Tuesday caused a bright fireball smashed shop windows and set nearby buildings alight media attention and public interest are higher than usual PhotoBlog: Controlled explosion of WWII bomb ignites Munich fires Two days after they were evacuated from their homes many residents in the southern German city still cannot return as at least 16 buildings are at risk to collapse and need to be inspected by local engineers a debate about compensation for the damages has started In the aftermath of the supposedly controlled explosion in Munich “This is an exceptional and difficult situation,” city spokesman Bjoern Luettmann told NBC News “The many undetonated bombs are a burden for the city and its residents especially on days like this,” Luettmann added Nearly 6,000 residents were due to be evacuated Thursday Public transportation has come to a near standstill and the majority of train connections in and out of Oranienburg have been cancelled “The explosive devices in Oranienburg are a ticking time bomb because many were equipped with so called long-period delay detonators,” Luettmann said “These are detonators that do not trigger an explosion upon impact to the ground and those that did not explode at all can go off at any time now,” he added Designed to 'create chaos' The delayed-action bombs were designed to explode between 2 and 150 hours after impact “They were designed to create chaos on enemy territory,” Luettmann said Oranienburg is the only city in Germany that has been systematically searching for unexploded World War II bombs mostly with the help of old aerial photos that were released by Britain and the United States in the 1990s Unexploded WWII bomb disrupts Amsterdam Schiphol airport Allied forces suspected there was a nuclear bomb research site in Oranienburg The city also hosted an aircraft factory and had other strategically important manufacturing facilities Several years ago, the local state had a professional assessment done that offered short- and long-term plans on handling the threat Officials stated in their report that an unusually high number -- more than 4,000 -- of the delay-action bombs were dropped on Oranienburg While the detonators are decaying underground the explosives within – mostly TNT -- are not Several construction workers in Germany have been injured or killed in the past when their heavy maintenance vehicles accidentally ran over such bombs "We wish that we could get more financial support from the German government the search and subsequent measures are costly," Luettmann said City officials say that on average nearly 3 million euros -- the equivalent of $5 million -- are spent on the search for explosive devices Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker a total of 1,040 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg were reported from 39 states Sick people ranged in age from less than 1 year to 101 years Illnesses started on dates ranging from May 31 State and local public health officials interviewed people about the foods they ate in the week before they got sick 294 (72%) reported eating or maybe eating raw onions or dishes likely containing raw onion before they became sick If you or a family member became ill with a Salmonella infection, including Reactive Arthritis or Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), after consuming food and you’re interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark Salmonella attorneys for a free case evaluation bombs are still buried under German towns and cities On March 15, 1945, the first of more than 1,300 bombers crossed the Channel coast north of Amsterdam at an altitude of almost five miles. They flew on into Germany the city of Oranienburg appeared beneath them the bombardier stared through his bombsight into the haze below Between 1940 and 1945, U.S. and British air forces dropped 2.7 million tons of bombs on Europe By the time the Nazi government surrendered the industrial infrastructure of the Third Reich — railheads and oil refineries — had been crippled and dozens of cities across Germany had been reduced to moonscapes of cinder and ash Yet as many as 10 percent of the bombs dropped by Allied aircraft had failed to explode and as East and West Germany rose from the ruins of the Reich thousands of tons of unexploded airborne ordnance lay beneath them responsibility for defusing these bombs — and for removing the innumerable hand grenades and mortar and artillery shells left behind — fell to police bomb-disposal technicians and firefighters From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox German bomb-disposal squads are among the busiest in the world Eleven bomb technicians have been killed in Germany since 2000 including three in 2010 who died in a single explosion while trying to defuse a 1,000-pound bomb on the site of a popular flea market in Göttingen told me that when he started in bomb disposal in 1986 he never believed he would still be at it almost 30 years later Yet his men discover more than 500 tons of unexploded munitions every year and defuse an aerial bomb every two weeks or so "People simply don't know that there's still that many bombs under the ground," he said the events of 70 years ago ensure that unexploded bombs remain a daily menace The place looks ordinary enough: a drab main street Oranienburg is the most dangerous city in Germany A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com more than 600 aircraft of the Eighth Air Force dropped 1,500 tons of high explosives over Oranienburg a cluster of strategic targets including rail yards and two factories run by the chemical conglomerate Auergesellschaft almost 5,000 500- and 1,000-pound bombs fell across the rail yards These bomb loads were unlike almost any others the Air Force dropped over Germany during the war The majority of the bombs were armed not with percussion fuses chemical-based fuses were intended to be used sparingly; U.S Air Force guidelines recommended fitting them in no more than 10 percent of bombs in any given attack But for reasons that have never become clear almost every bomb dropped during the March 15 raid on Oranienburg was armed with one Screwed into a bomb's tail beneath its stabilizing fins the fuse contained a small glass capsule of corrosive acetone mounted above a stack of paper-thin celluloid disks The disks held back a spring-loaded firing pin and a windmill in the tail stabilizer began spinning in the slipstream turning a crank that broke the glass capsule The bomb was designed to hit the ground nose-down so the acetone would drip toward the disks and begin eating through them depending on the concentration of acetone and the number of disks a B-17 released a 1,000-pound bomb some 20,000 feet above the rail yards hurtling instead toward the canal and the two bridges connecting Oranienburg and the suburb of Lehnitz Before the war this had been a quiet spot beside the water But now it was occupied by anti-aircraft guns and a pair of narrow This was where the bomb finally found the earth — plunging into the sandy soil at more than 150 miles per hour before coming to rest deep underground As the shadows of the trees on Lehnitzstrasse lengthened in the low winter sun acetone dripped slowly from the shattered glass capsule within the bomb's fuse away from the celluloid disks it was supposed to weaken a woman who had been bombed out of her home found her way The town was a constellation of yawning craters and gutted factories she found a small wooden barracks empty and intact She moved in with her boyfriend and her son Paule Dietrich bought the house on the cul-de-sac in Oranienburg in 1993 He and the German Democratic Republic had been born on the same day and for a while the coincidence seemed auspicious he and a dozen or so other children who shared the birthday were taken to tea with President Wilhelm Pieck he and the others were guests at the opening of the Berlin TV tower He drove buses and subway trains for the Berlin transit authority where his mother had lived since the 1960s Dietrich met an elderly lady who was trying to sell a small wooden house down by the canal — an old Wehrmacht barracks she'd lived in since the war Dietrich sold his car and mobile home to buy it and began working on it whenever he could Dietrich began living there full-time from May to December and planned to move in permanently when he retired he knew the city had been bombed during the war And parts of Oranienburg were evacuated so frequently that it was easy to believe there couldn't be many bombs left Most people simply preferred not to think about it knew Oranienburg presented a unique problem the local government spent nearly $50 million on bomb disposal — more than any other town in Germany the state's ministry of the interior commissioned Wolfgang Spyra of the Brandenburg University of Technology to determine how many unexploded bombs might remain in the city Spyra calculated that 326 bombs — 57 tons of high-explosive ordnance — remained hidden beneath the city's streets and yards The celluloid disks in the timing mechanisms had become brittle with age and acutely sensitive to vibration and shock and the bombs had begun to go off spontaneously A decayed fuse of this type was responsible for the deaths of the three KMBD technicians in Göttingen in 2010 Dietrich read in the newspaper that the city of Oranienburg was going to start looking for bombs in his neighborhood 2013 — the day Dietrich turned 64 — when a delegation of city officials arrived at his front gate "There's something here," the officials told him "We need to get at it." Nobody used the word "bomb." They marked the spot beside the house with an orange traffic cone and prepared to pump out groundwater from around it the contractors had pumps running round the clock They started digging at 7 every morning and stayed until 8 every night It took them another month to uncover the bomb They shored up the hole with steel plates and chained the bomb so it couldn't move Dietrich stayed in the house with his German shepherd They slept with their heads just a few feet from the hole the contractors were drinking coffee when their boss arrived you need to take your dog and get off the property immediately," he said Dietrich took his TV set and his dog and drove to his girlfriend's house The streets around his house were sealed off he heard on the news that the KMBD said the bomb couldn't be defused; it would have to be detonated He was walking with Rocky in the forest a mile away when he heard the explosion Dietrich drove over to his place with a friend and his son Where his house had once stood was a crater more than 60 feet across The wreckage of Dietrich's front porch leaned precariously at the edge of the crater He said he realized that he and his family had been lucky: Every summer his grandchildren had played in a plastic pool near where the bomb had been lying; at night they slept in a mobile home beside the pool Dietrich had been offered scant financial compensation by the authorities — technically the federal government was required to pay only for damage caused by German-made munitions But he had a rendering of the new home he wanted to build on the site It had once been the best prefabricated bungalow available in East Germany and a contractor in Falkensee had given him all the components of one In the grass at the bottom of an embankment was a patch of sandy ground Men from the city had recently marked it with two painted stakes They had told him only that it was a "double anomaly," but he knew precisely what they meant Paule Dietrich had two more unexploded American bombs at the end of his yard Excerpted from an article that originally appeared in Smithsonian An undisclosed amount of fresh onions, believed to be linked to a growing salmonella outbreak In a recall notice posted to the Food and Drug Administration website Thursday ProSource Produce said the whole raw onions (red white and yellow) are potentially contaminated with salmonella The recall comes a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the link between the onions A second onion recall was issued Friday by Keeler Family Farms of Deming The CDC said in a food safety alert Wednesday that 652 people have been infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg from 37 states as of Oct The number of cases is expected to grow as more illnesses are reported ►Recalls you need to know about: Check out USA TODAY's curated database of consumer product recalls for the latest information ►Walmart recall: Aromatherapy room spray pulled after 2 deaths, 4 illnesses reported for rare bacteria risk The FDA said Wednesday ProSource had agreed to recall the affected onions that were shipped from Mexico between early July and late August Details of the recall were not available until Thursday. ProSource said in the recall that the onions were "distributed to wholesalers and retail stores" in mesh sacks ranging from 2 to 50 pounds and cartons ranging from 5 to 50 pounds "by the following distributors and/or under the following brands: Big Bull A list of retailers who sold the onions was not included in the recall but the recall says the onions were distributed in 35 states. Recall notices often don't initially include a list of where the affected products were sold Target and Walmart both posted recall notices for onions on their websites Target's recall was for onions sold in five stores while Walmart's recall was for select onions sold at 10 Texas stores Keeler Family Farms of Deming, New Mexico recalled red, yellow and white onions imported from Chihuahua and sold under the brand name MVP, according to a notice on the FDA website which were in 25 and 50-pound mesh sacks, were distributed to wholesalers restaurants and retail stores in all 50 states and the District of Columbia They contain a "label that is marked as MVP (product of MX) but were processed at Keeler Family Farms," the recall notice said vendors with questions can call 575-652-5405 The CDC said the imported onions can last up to three months in storage The agency says consumers should not buy or eat the affected onions or onions that you don't know where they are from. or yellow onions you have at home that do not have a sticker or packaging," the CDC said "If you can’t tell where the onions are from ProSource said no fresh onions that have originated in Chihuahua Mexico have been shipped by the company since the end of August ProSource said consumers who have purchased onions that originated in Chihuahua are "urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund or throw them out." For questions contact the company at 208-928-4959 on weekdays from 8 a.m ►Lowe's first responder discount: Nurses, firefighters, police and doctors save 10% ahead of First Responders Day ►Walmart holiday shopping: Walmart extends delivery hours for orders coming from stores, including Black Friday deals The salmonella outbreak was first reported in mid-September but health officials had not identified a food linked to the illnesses which can begin six hours to six days after being exposed to the bacteria, according to the CDC. Most people recover without treatment after four to seven days "While investigations into various potential sources of Salmonella remain ongoing to date no onions marketed through ProSource have tested positive for Salmonella," ProSource said "This voluntary recall is being conducted out of an abundance of caution based on reported illnesses which have been associated with the possible consumption of fresh onions that originated in Chihuahua." Keeler Family Farms had the same statement in its recall notice consumer watchdog associate with the PIRG Education Fund said in a statement that the latest outbreak "points to the need for better tracing of imported foods so that when an outbreak occurs "We’ve known for a long time there’s an urgent need to better track all food through the supply chain so we can identify infections more quickly and recall contaminated food immediately," Brown said said COVID-19 has reemphasized the importance of cleanliness in food production environments “Proper cleaning is one of the many critical actions you can take to ensure hygienic conditions to prepare safe food,” she said ►Save better, spend better: Money tips and advice delivered right to your inbox. Sign up here ►Remember Fisher-Price's classic toy telephone?: It's now a real working phone, and you can buy one Salmonella outbreak spread to 37 statesAccording to the CDC, Texas has the most cases in the ongoing outbreak with 158 Other states with cases have 14 or fewer cases are: Kansas "The true number of sick people in an outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses," the CDC said "This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella." ProSource said the onions were distributed to the following states: Alabama Four states not listed in the ProSource's list that the CDC map shows illnesses in are: North Dakota The CDC has not reported cases in Arizona and Rhode Island ►Christmas shipping deadlines 2021: FedEx, UPS and USPS say these are the last days to ship gifts ►Target's new Apple stores: Target to open more 'mini Apple shops' in time for holiday shopping. Will your store get an upgrade? Contributing: Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY Follow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko. For shopping news, tips and deals, join us on our Shopping Ninjas Facebook group. either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content A salmonella outbreak described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as having an "unknown food source" Public health officials have continued investigating a multi-state outbreak of the mystery Salmonella Oranienburg infections This means the salmonella outbreak has more than doubled in infections in more than a week no deaths have been attributed to the potentially deadly bacteria The CDC, which has been approached by Newsweek for an update, has produced a map detailing the 29 states where people hit by this salmonella outbreak lived with 81 confirmed sick people and Oklahoma (40) are the states worst affected by the outbreak followed by Illinois and Virginia (23 and 22 a statement on the CDC site warns this outbreak may not be limited to the states listed writing in a statement on the site: "this is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella." The CDC's most recent update states the outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg was discovered in sample from a takeout condiment cup This contained elements of cilantro and limes officials are yet to confirm which of the cup's ingredients could have been responsible for the outbreak The agency stated: "Because multiple food items were present in the container and in the sample that was tested it is not possible to know which food item was contaminated "We are using this information in conjunction with other available information to help narrow the list of possible foods linked to illness." Salmonella bacteria are believed to be responsible for approximately 1.35 million infections with toxic food the source for the majority of these illnesses A statement on the CDC site states: "Most people who get ill from Salmonella have diarrhea Symptoms usually begin 6 hours to 6 days after infection and last four to seven days "Most people recover without specific treatment and should not take antibiotics Antibiotics are typically used only to treat people who have severe illness or who are at risk for it." The latest multi-state outbreak of food poisoning arrives roughly one month after another linked to Italian-style meats People in that incident reportedly became ill after consuming meats found in antipasto or charcuterie assortments, such as salami and prosciutto Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Breaking news for everyone's consumption A month into an investigation of a Salmonella Oranienburg outbreak investigators have a lead and it’s pointing to cilantro as a possible cause behind the illnesses there were 279 confirmed patients across 29 states according to the Centers For Disease and Prevention The agency first identified the outbreak on Sept 2 when there were 20 sick people The source of the outbreak has remained a mystery as more and more people across the country have become infected Testing has finally found the outbreak strain in a food container “The outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg was found in a sample taken from a takeout condiment cup containing cilantro and lime The sick person reported that the condiment container also contained onions but none were left in the cup when it was tested,” according to the CDC “Because multiple food items were present in the container and in the sample that was tested We are using this information in conjunction with other available information to help narrow the list of possible foods linked to illness.” Illnesses started on dates ranging from Aug Sick people range in age from less than 1 year to 89 years 26 have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported State and local public health officials are interviewing people about the foods they ate in the week before they got sick CDC is analyzing the data and has not identified a specific food item as a potential source of this outbreak. Several groups of people in “subclusters” at restaurants in multiple states have been identified These subclusters are groups of people who do not know one another who ate at the same restaurant and got sick Investigating these subclusters can sometimes help identify a food item eaten by all of the sick people that could be the source of the outbreak (To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.) Australian celebrity chef and conspiracy theorist Pete Evans was ditched by several companies and had his books pulled .. A citizen lays flowers at the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery in St You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience and security 30/04/2025 IFS Ultimo Software Solutions A cobot solution from FANUC and system integrator SKDK is alleviating health and safety issues at a German pharmaceutical manufacturing facility by working collaboratively with human employees to pack and stack packets of tablets onto pallets workers at the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company in Oranienburg Germany were physically moving loads totalling 5.8 tonnes per shift resulting in numerous days lost to sickness Since the introduction of the FANUC CR-15iA with the cobot working 24/7 while meeting all health and safety requirements Japanese bio-pharmaceutical pioneer Takeda Pharmaceutical Company has a presence in over 80 regions As a key part of its global production network its drug manufacturing facility in Oranienburg produces more than six billion tablets and capsules each year This significant number of drugs is required to be order picked at the end of each production line and placed onto pallets ready for shipment – back-breaking work averaging a weight of 5.8 tonnes per shift from which the company was keen to relieve its workers But while Takeda sought to delegate the heavy lifting to a robot counterpart it also wanted to ensure its human workforce did not feel that their roles would be threatened by an automated alternative “We involved the workers as early and intensively as possible,” explains Takeda Project Manager Robert Gundlach who knew from experience in other projects that success depends on acceptance by staff this meant more informational events across shifts in which the technology and planned implementation were explained in detail “It was made clear to people that a robot is nothing more than a stepping stone to make work easier is the fact that it does not need to be ‘hidden’ behind a fence workers’ reservations were reduced. “Staff can go within touching distance of our collaborative robots,” adds Sebastian Steinbach who supported the project on site for FANUC “This made the introduction of new technology more readily acceptable.” Takeda’s human employees now successfully work side-by-side with their cobot colleague letting it take the physical strain of their role Small glass bottles filled with tablets are packaged in multiple cartons which are moved to the packing table by two workers then grabs the box from the conveyor belt and stacks it onto the shipping pallet with the label facing outwards in a configuration of eight boxes per layer and four layers high With a reach of 1,441 mm and a maximum load capacity of 15kg working 24/7 – around 8,000 packages have already been processed since its installation hygiene is also a key factor in any purchasing decision for a pharmaceutical company the FANUC CR-15iA more than meets this demand Its extra smooth surfaces help to minimise dust and dirt build up and with IP67-protection on its arm and wrist axis it is well suited for environments where the highest standards of hygiene are required installed by Berlin-based system integrator and FANUC partner SKDK is now serving as a template for all packing stations in the facility and has inspired other Takeda sites to examine the use of robots “There is already a wish-list for further robot projects,” enthuses Robert Gundlach Request information on the products Print this article For more information, please contact:Lydia-Pearl MorrisseyFANUC UK LtdSapphire WayAnsty ParkCoventryCV7 9DRTel: +44 (0)2476 053000Email: marketing@fanuc.co.ukWeb: https://www.fanuc.eu Visit company profile page igus develops new PTFE-free, lubrication-free plain bearing material Login or Register Process and Control Today are not responsible for the content of submitted or externally produced articles and images. Click here to email us about any errors or omissions contained within this article View our eNewsletter Archive Sign-up for our weekly eNewsletter Advertise with us | Media pack © Copyright 1999-2025 Process and Control Today LtdRegistered in England No. 3733110 - studio44 Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Oranienburg was reportedly the location of Adolf Hitler’s secret uranium enrichment facility I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice An amateur treasure hunter in Germany has stumbled upon what could be radioactive material from a secret research facility dating back to World War II 64-year-old Bernd Thälmann was exploring the ground in Oranienburg with his metal detector when it gave an unusual ‘bleep’ the pensioner alerted the authorities about his discovery of a shiny lump of metal Police discovered the find was radioactive leading to the evacuation of 15 residents from several houses by emergency services Specialists in hazmat suits searched Mr Thälmann’s home and removed the suspicious object in a lead-lined container which was then placed inside a protective suitcase Mr Thälmann is now being investigated for being in possession of “unauthorised radioactive substances”, according to the Berlin Courier German authorities have revealed that the area of Oranienburg was the location of Adolf Hitler’s secret uranium enrichment facility The research centre was tasked with enriching uranium oxide imported from South America The ultimate aim was to create a Nazi atomic bomb Mr Thälmann was intent on retracing his steps to find more hard evidence of the mysterious Nazi-era site The amateur archaeologist was proving uncooperative A police statement revealed that “the finder refuses to provide information on the exact location.” An investigation was launched with the radioactive find part of a criminal investigation Britain and the United States have long possessed information regarding the Nazi’s plans to make atomic bombs The US National Archives released documents this year about the National Socialist Party developing nuclear weapons a German test pilot read: “In early October 1944 I flew away 12-15km from a nuclear test station near Ludwigslust (South of Lübeck) “A cloud shaped like a mushroom with turbulent billowing sections (at about 7000 metres) stood without any seeming connections over the spot where the explosion took place Strong electrical disturbances and the impossibility to continue radio communication as by lighting turned up.” According to Berlin historian Rainer Karlsch in his book Hitler’s Bomb German scientists carried out three nuclear weapons tests just before the end of the Second World War Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Federal officials are continuing to investigate an outbreak of Salmonella Oranienburg infections traced to whole but the outbreak has been declared over with more than 1,000 people sickened In an update today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had been infected but of 778 people with information available there were 260 so sick they had to be admitted to hospitals That is a higher hospitalization rate than is usually seen in Salmonella outbreaks Sick people ranged in age from less than 1 year to 101 years old Prior to today’s update the CDC had not released any outbreak information since Nov when it reported 892 people had been infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg The Food and Drug Administration is continuing to work with the U.S importing forms of ProSource Produce LLC and Keeler Family Farms to determine whether proper foreign supplier precautions were undertaken Some of the onions were sold in unmarked bulk bins at retailers as part of the ongoing investigation to determine the product causing illnesses the FDA import operations implemented enhanced screening for Salmonella for onions imported into the United States but no samples were collected because the growing season had ended and onions were no longer being imported from the State of Chihuahua Mexico,” according to an FDA statement today FDA can determine if they are in compliance with applicable FSVP requirements including performing certain risk-based activities to verify that imported foods meet U.S The goal is to implement prevention strategies before the next growing season FDA also intends to consider using additional tools for onions grown and harvested in the State of Chihuahua The CDC reports that more people than were reported were likely sickened in the outbreak because many people infected with foodborne pathogens do not seek medical treatment or the specific laboratory tests required to diagnose such infections. additional sick people could be identified because it can take more than four weeks for patients to be tested confirmed and reported to federal officials Public health officials from state and local levels interviewed some of the sick people and of the 407 people with information available three-fourths reported eating dishes with raw onions before becoming ill Additional recalls of onions packaged under different brands and used as ingredients on other foods were issued by multiple companies Because the most recent person to become ill had illness onset in January the CDC urges anyone who has eaten raw onions or dishes containing them to be aware of the symptoms of Salmonella and seek medical attention if they develop symptoms Anyone who has eaten any fresh onions and developed symptoms of Salmonella infection should seek medical attention Sick people should tell their doctors about the possible exposure to Salmonella bacteria because special tests are necessary to diagnose salmonellosis Salmonella infection symptoms can mimic other illnesses Symptoms of Salmonella infection can include diarrhea and fever within 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food healthy adults are usually sick for four to seven days diarrhea may be so severe that patients require hospitalization are more likely to develop a severe illness and serious Some people get infected without getting sick or showing any symptoms they may still spread the infections to others The aircraft manufacturing company Heinkel used the airport to design and build planes for Germany's air force a section of Germany's B96 highway was built over the abandoned runway The airport was built in the 1960s but fell into disuse after it was damaged in a war with Georgia The airport was full of landmines until 2003 when the HALO Trust declared that they had all been removed. The airport cost $17 million to build and was supposed to open in 2013 According to Reuters Jaisalmer was one of more than 200 no-frills airports planned by India's previous government that were meant to encourage travel and commerce in more remote parts of the Indian subcontinent Hellenikon International Airport started as a military airbase in 1938 Hellenikon was replaced by Athens International Airport It shut down when it became the center of fighting in a military coup by Greek nationalists Two new airports have since opened in the Republic of Cyprus The airport's owner sold it to property developers The airport remained intact during World War II because the Allied forces wanted to use it after the war when they handed it back over to the Berliner Flughafengesellschaft It has appeared in films such as "The Hunger Games," "The Bourne Supremacy," and "Bridge of Spies." Landing there was tricky, and approaching Runway 13/31 in Victoria Harbor was referred to as the "Kai Tak Heart Attack." The airport was replaced by Chek Lap Kok on Lantau Island but went bankrupt shortly after and closed in 2012. The airport sold for 100,000 times less than it cost to build The airport was seen as a step towards peace in the conflict in the Middle East Israeli forces bombed the airport in 2001 in response to Palestinian militant attacks on Israelis in the Al Aqsa intifada The model of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem remains somewhat intact A German far-right local politician has been given a suspended sentence over a tattoo bearing a notorious Nazi concentration camp slogan and a rendering of Auschwitz Marcel Zech, 27, a a town council member of the National Democratic party (NPD), had faced up to five years in jail for inciting racial hatred. Wilfried Lehmann, prosecuting, said the suspended sentence was too lenient. “We requested 10 months in prison and the court sentenced him to a six-month suspended sentence,” he said after the hearing. “Hence we are considering an appeal.” Zech’s tattoo was photographed in November when he took his shirt off at a public swimming pool in Oranienburg, in the eastern state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin. Read moreIt features the German words “Jedem das Seine” – meaning “to each his own” – which was the message at the front gate of the Buchenwald concentration camp and a picture of the former Auschwitz death camp in occupied Poland with its barbed wire fences Oranienburg is the site of Sachsenhausen, a Nazi concentration camp, where tens of thousands of prisoners died. Zech has been told he may keep the tattoo but must hide it in public. The case has raised questions in Germany as to whether it represents a new brazenness on the part of the far-right as the country faces a record refugee influx The reporter who took the picture of the tattoo and posted it on Facebook said on social media that no one at the pool complained when Zech removed his shirt Angela Merkel’s government has labelled the NPD, which is most popular in former communist east Germany The country’s highest court is scheduled to hear a case to ban the NPD in March The group scored just over 1% in 2013’s national elections and has never entered the national parliament but is represented in the legislatures of two eastern states and some town councils More than 650 people have been infected in a Salmonella Oranienburg outbreak that federal officials say has been traced to fresh onions from Mexico The implicated onions are from ProSource Produce Inc according to an update tonight from the Food and Drug Administration. ProSource owners have agreed to recall red yellow and white onions imported from the state of Chihuahua EDT the company’s recall notice was not yet on the FDA website The outbreak update this afternoon from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that as of Oct.18 there have been 652 patients confirmed up by 60 from the agency’s most recent update on Oct At least 129 people have been hospitalized but no deaths have been associated with the outbreak Officials from the CDC and the Food and Drug Association have been investigating the outbreak for weeks The confirmed sick people live in 37 states “Epidemiologic and traceback data show that illnesses in this outbreak are linked to whole red white and yellow onions distributed by ProSource Inc Investigators are working to determine if other onions or suppliers are linked to this outbreak,” according to the CDC update today The onions were sold to restaurants and grocery stores throughout the United States but they can last up to three months in storage and may still be in homes and businesses with the most recent being confirmed with a Sept for outbreak illnesses to be added to the CDC’s patient count because of the time it takes for initial and confirmation testing followed by the reporting process through local and state agencies Sick people in the outbreak range in age from less than 1 year to 97 years old Of 417 people with information available, 129 That is higher than the normal percentage of hospitalizations for Salmonella outbreaks “Of 193 people with information available 145 (75 percent) reported eating or maybe eating raw onions or dishes likely containing raw onion before they became sick Several ill people reported eating at the same restaurants indicating they may be part of illness clusters,” the CDC reported there have been 20 illness clusters identified at restaurants where onions were served Information from these clusters shows that many ill people ate raw onions “FDA conducted a traceback investigation and identified ProSource Inc as a common supplier of imported onions to many of the restaurants where sick people ate,” the CDC reported “One of these clusters occurred in a restaurant where investigators identified the outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg in a condiment container with leftover lime and cilantro The sick person reported that the condiment cup had also contained onions although none were left when the condiment was tested.” The CDC is recommending that individuals and restaurants not buy or eat any whole fresh red or yellow onions if they were imported from Chihuahua The agency says consumers and restaurants should clean and sanitize any containers or utensils that were used to store or prepare onions Anyone who has eaten any fresh onions and developed symptoms of Salmonella infection should seek medical attention Otherwise healthy adults are usually sick for four to seven days diarrhea may be so severe that patients need to be hospitalized. It is possible for some people to be infected with the bacteria and to not get sick or show any symptoms but to still be able to spread the infection to others Whether you’re looking for a spacious family home or a place with an easy commute here are the best suburbs and cities near Berlin By Victoria Pearce and large family homes are out of the question are some great hidden gems that offer affordable housing and more spacious living options these commuter towns have an easier (albeit slower) pace of life within easy reach of the action Discover the magic of Berlin’s suburbs by reading the following sections: Spotahome takes the hassle out of househunting by doing the hard work for you and book rental properties all from the comfort of your own home Take the stress out of househunting in Berlin with Spotahome Berlin is Germany’s vibrant capital Known for its tumultuous past, the city has since transformed itself into a global hub of creativity Given that the rental market in the capital has exploded in recent years, moving to the outskirts of the city might be a good option for those seeking a suitable home on a budget The small cities and charming villages near Berlin provide a great alternative to the dense inner-city housing offering more space for those seeking a home with a garden or a place for their growing family to enjoy Berlin’s excellent public transport network also makes it possible to commute into the city from dozens or even hundreds of kilometers away living in the suburbs allows residents to enjoy the best of both worlds Although property prices in the suburbs are lower than in the city they have also felt the pinch of an increasingly competitive housing market finding accommodation within budget can be a challenge – but not impossible There are several ways to find a place to live in the suburbs some people use a local estate agent (Makler) online property portals are also popular to find housing some online advertisements are listed as provisionsfreie (i.e. You can find rental accommodation on the following websites: When searching for properties to rent, it is important to keep in mind that scams do exist. Be cautious and vet advertisements and agents carefully, especially when you don’t speak German fluently or are contacting people online One of the big draws of the suburbs is the size of the homes You are much more likely to find houses with gardens or larger apartments in cities near Berlin Population growth has also resulted in the development of more apartment blocks across the region These can offer lower rents with close proximity to parks or nature reserves Similar to the rest of Germany, Berlin’s suburbia has a large percentage of renters. In 2023, more than half of the country’s population (52.4%) lived in rented accommodation This was the highest share in the European Union (EU) Although rental rates have increased as the region’s population grows rentals are still more affordable rentals in cities near Berlin than in the capital itself Rent in the suburbs can be separated into the following categories: If you compare these costs to those in Mitte where rents regularly exceed €1,900 for a similarly sized apartment you can see why many people choose to expand their housing search beyond the city limits For potential buyers in Germany, there’s both good news and bad news. After a decade-long house price boom, real estate prices are in freefall (2024) The housing market is struggling as higher mortgage interest rates and rising inflation have increased affordability constraints Conversely, Berlin is the most affordable city in Germany If you’re employed, you should be able to get a mortgage with no additional requirements – regardless of your nationality. That being said, while there are no restrictions for expats looking to purchase a home there is also no need to jump into it straight away buying property makes more sense if you are already familiar with the area or are moving to be close to family you might want to consider renting when you first arrive so that you can explore the different cities near Berlin you can be sure to buy property in a suburb where you will enjoy living for the long term Real estate guide: buying a house in Germany The German capital is entirely surrounded by the Brandenburg region That means that many villages and commuter cities near Berlin are part of the same government district Fortunately, public transport links are plentiful between Berlin and the suburbs outlined below commute time has a large impact on rental prices with the cheapest housing often being found where commutes are the longest Natural beauty is plentiful outside Berlin these areas tend to attract people who are drawn to nature or those seeking a quieter environment Although nightlife is harder to come by outside of Berlin are well-known for their events and cultural scene Keep reading for a closer look at some of the top cities near Berlin Well known for its many popular attractions, Bernau has several museums and is the host of the annual Hussite Festival (Hussitenfest) which celebrates the town’s medieval history Its fascinating past is still present in its impressive 8-meter-high defense walls that surround the town and its small alleyways that take visitors back in time only one original city gate – the Steintor – still remains and now serves as a local museum Bernau features a mix of modern high-rise housing estates and historic half-timbered buildings from the early 19th century Residents enjoy this scenic town for its quiet streets and pleasant neighborhoods Hohen Neuendorf is not an old town but a pleasant one This city near Berlin was developed as a commuter town in the early 20th century tranquil setting and easy access to the city center making this a popular choice for workers headed to an inner-city office every day Most of the housing in Hohen Neuendorf is relatively new Once home to the world’s first radio station Nauen is a quiet satellite in Berlin’s orbit Said to be one of the most beautiful in Brandenburg the old town is a popular choice for families who seek larger gardens and quiet streets With wind turbines scattered around the town’s edge Nauen is set near many areas of natural beauty Expats looking for social entertainment may want to look elsewhere This village does not have many cultural events or substantial nightlife Oranienburg’s pleasant streets hide the town’s dark past having been a concentration camp for both Nazis and Soviets Now a pretty city near Berlin, locals enjoy a pleasant and relaxed lifestyle. Tourists often visit the area for its memorials and the 350-year-old baroque Oranienburg Palace (Schloss Oranienburg) The former Prussian palace with its large open park is home to a museum and a cultural center Oranienburg is a good choice if you prefer a village setting and don’t blame a place for its historical past The capital of Brandenburg, Potsdam, is a tourist destination in its own right. The city near Berlin is home to several palaces, including Sanssouci Palace (Schloss Sanssouci) which was once the summer home of Frederick the Great (former King of Prussia) Potsdam has many businesses, including a major film studio and 30 research facilities. It is also home to the Berlin Brandenberg International School the historic town center dissolves into fairly typical Berlin suburbs With many cultural offerings within Potsdam’s borders you don’t necessarily have to head to the capital to socialize and find entertainment so it may not be the best option if you are looking to save money by living outside Berlin with low housing costs and a convivial atmosphere The satellite city was established 800 years ago and now has a population of 27,000 Rathenow is a sleepy area compared to Berlin The area is popular with families who appreciate having more space and access to nearby parks and lakes Strausberg offers authentic small-town German life within easy commuting distance of the capital this city near Berlin is located just 30 kilometers from the Polish border.Sports enthusiasts will particularly enjoy Strausberg because of its many sporting facilities and traditions thin town is a popular option for hybrid workers who want the price and quality of life from the countryside but still need to commute to the big city Teltow is located on the outskirts of Berlin This German suburb has followed the city through its many trials and tribulations and served as a border between West Berlin and East Germany and new developments continue to spring up to provide affordable housing for workers flocking to the German capital Its location provides easy access to higher education institutes in both Berlin and Potsdam Teltow primarily offers apartments and townhouses If you’re hoping for a single-family house the town does boast plenty of parks and outdoor spaces you can visit Developed as a vacation resort in the early 20th century This small town with a little over 21,000 inhabitants is located in a nature reserve between two lakes making it an ideal choice for those who love the outdoors a small compound was built nearby to house high-ranking officials of the East German government away from the rest of the population While the building has been out of use for a long time the natural beauty that drew officials to Wandlitz can still be found today The villages and cities near Berlin are all fairly safe and can be a good choice if you need more space or crave a quieter environment Reported crime rates are also generally lower than in the German capital this does not necessarily mean that these areas are to be avoided Zeuthen is mostly made up of family homes with gardens The town is a short distance away from Berlin Mitte and has easy access to Schönefeld airport Whether you’re renting on a budget or buying a spacious family home you’ll want to be sure you end up in a place that suits you best It is important that you consider your housing requirements and commuting plans before you settle on an area if you know you need to work on-site in central Berlin most days per week moving to a suburb may not make sense at all trading in some of Berlin’s excitement for quieter suburban living could be the perfect fit Here are a few tips to keep in mind when looking for a city near Berlin to call your home: Victoria is an American writer (and mom) living in the UK she focuses on local content for employment law and business culture articles Georgia L Gilholy is a reporter for the Jewish Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter @llggeorgia which has over 450 branches across the country is also being criticised for selling Auschwitz tours alongside trips to Disney theme parks Georgia L Gilholy 1 min readOne of the UK’s biggest travel firms is facing condemnation after advertising tours of former Holocaust death camps using smiley-face is also being criticised for selling trips to Auschwitz alongside other “popular attractions” including Disney theme parks a Grand Canyon helicopter tour and a Dubai jeep safari It is the second time the company has faced concern over inappropriate icons on its Facebook advertisements for trips to the memorial site near Krakow Similar complaints were made two years ago The emojis on a Hays Travel promotion for a trip to Auschwitz Historian Rob Brooks complained the firm was continuing the “appalling practice” said it took “this particular issue very seriously and recognise that this obviously has the potential to prompt concerns” which govern all advertising content in the UK made it clear ads “should not contain anything likely to cause harm or offence” and it would order companies to remove anything that it deemed inappropriate The Auschwitz Memorial and Museum said: “The use of emojis is standard in social media communication yet people should be very careful when they use them in the context of the history of Auschwitz — a symbol of terror genocide and the Holocaust.” Hays Travel said: “We are very sorry to have caused offence especially after we tried to ensure it wouldn’t happen again “As soon as this was brought to our attention we immediately removed these posts from Facebook.” Auschwitz travel Holocaust Holocaust remembrance Social Media By Mike Knowles2011-09-27T11:28:27+01:00 German food retailer Rewe has officially opened a brand new distribution centre in Oranienburg on the outskirts of the country's capital Berlin which covers a total land area equivlaent to 28 football pitches and was constructed at a cost of around €60m will supply approximately 10,000 different product lines to more than 355 outlets in the surrounding region the distribution centre will manage supply to other banners in the group A total of 100 trucks will carry fresh fruiot and vegetables milk and dry goods from the facility to individual stores At an official ceremony to open the centre Rewe board member and logistics director Frank Wiemer said the new DC meant that the grocer's east German division was fully equipped when it came to its store distribution network 'Rewe Ost's logistics are ideally positioned for the future Site powered by Webvision Cloud Paul Drury 1 min readA Scottish solicitor has been fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £100 after he was accused of writing that Auschwitz was a “bit like” the Scottish town of Paisley “but without the social problems” The Law Society of Scotland imposed the penalties following an inquiry into Neil McPherson but the watchdog’s professional conduct committee found it was “more likely than not” that he had associated the concentration camp with the town of Paisley which is often linked to crime and deprivation Posted under another user’s Facebook picture of a visit to the camp the message read: “Bit like Paisley but without the social problems.” The compensation of £100 is to be paid to Arnon Nachmani an Israeli lawyer who came across the comments eight months after they were posted in March 2020 and lodged a complaint a Scot born in Paisley who lost family in the Holocaust said he would be donating the money to Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem Mr McPherson did not respond to requests for comment Antisemitism Scotland By Maura Maxwell2024-01-30T11:46:00+00:00 Germany’s Rewe Group has partnered with intralogistics solutions specialist Cimcorp to implement a project for an automated fulfilment system for fruit and vegetables at its logistics centre in Oranienburg Cimcorp provides reliable order picking for fresh products such as fruit and vegetables in plastic crates The company’s automation expertise provides fast and efficient deliveries of fresh produce without picking errors or delays “Fruit and vegetables are an extremely important commodity group for Rewe customers but characterised by heavy physical labour in the warehouses which makes it difficult to recruit personnel,” said Lars Sibel “Cimcorp offers a unique solution to automate fruit and vegetable picking and alleviate physical labour for warehouse workers and thereby ensure the reliable delivery of fruit and vegetables to stores in the future as well.” Labour availability continues to be a major challenge for warehouses and distribution centres around the world The physical strain that comes with handling heavy items day-in-day-out in manual warehouse operations is a significant workplace hazard This is where the automated solution from Cimcorp comes in to automate the handling of heavy items “Rewe expects a mature technical solution that facilitates the work of employees and offers customers consistently high delivery quality in terms of on-time-in-full deliveries,” said Torsten Prag the retailer’s logistics manager for Region East Rewe said automation in the distribution centre is pivotal to meet the demands of its customers for order accuracy and freshness The retailer is looking to increase automation to ensure rapid delivery in times of increasing labour challenges “We believe that the new fulfilment system will guarantee our customers high delivery quality even in times of labour shortage,” said Prag we also want to examine what other opportunities arise as a result of faster order processing.” With advances in technology and the increasing need for efficiency and productivity automation has become a key driver of growth and innovation in intralogistics commented: “In addition to increased productivity and efficiency our fresh food solution offers a variety of other benefits such as high levels of hygiene and fuller trucks The open-floor design with no racking leads to easier cleaning and maintenance Optimised truck loading results in less traffic and consequently reduces environmental impact.” Cimcorp said its order picking solution will also help make Rewe’s supply chain and intralogistics greener and more sustainable “The service agreement includes maintenance and will extend the lifetime of the system a faster supply chain enables longer shelf-life leading to less food waste,” the company said “As a pioneering innovator in the field of automation that has successfully accelerated the intralogistics of customers around the world Cimcorp is committed to achieving high quality standards while minimising environmental impact.” Tariq Tahir Felix AllenPublished: Invalid Date CHILLING images have been released of a young mum just an hour before she was killed and dumped in a Nazi bunker is feared to have been abducted and stabbed after she was last seen at a train station in Oranienburg Police have now released CCTV images of her pushing her bike along the platform at 1pm last Thursday They said her last words were to a friend she ran into at the station in which she talked about taking a forest route which went by the bunker "Oh, I'll take the detour via the bunker, there is more shade on the route. See you soon," she said, Bild reports. Police spokeswoman Dörte Röhrs: “We hope that witnesses in the forest on the way and along the Lehnitzsee may remember the deceased." She added that cops want to know if she was travelling alone or with another person A friend who saw her at noon said she was on the way to see a doctor but she then failed to show up to a team meeting at work at 2pm She also failed to collect her five-year-old son from daycare that afternoon workmen found her body in a corridor at a former SS radio station at Karo Ass The moss-covered bunker dating from World War Two is hidden deep in the forest and is accessed through a muddy trench under a gap in the concrete wall Early investigations indicate the victim was stabbed Detectives later ruled out rape, according to RTL, and the motive remains a mystery. On Wednesday police found Bianca's bicycle in undergrowth less than 100 yards from the bunker. "We have no direct evidence of another crime scene," said a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office. Investigators said it is likely Bianca was killed in or near the bunker. Police asked the public to report any strange goings-on nearby. The force said: "We have not yet been able to identify a suspect." Bianca's mother stepped in to collect her grandson from daycare after the young mum failed to arrive as usual at 4pm on Thursday. Her family said her disappearance was out of character and she was officially declared missing on Saturday. Police used 14 sniffer dogs to scour the area but found no trace until the grisly discovery in the bunker. became the centre of the Nazis' nuclear project with a uranium enrichment facility nearby The US Air Force destroyed the nuclear plant in 1945 to stop it falling into Stalin's hands Oranienburg also housed arms and aircraft factories and one of the first concentration camps Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. 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