Posts Tagged ‘ Turtles ’

Pet Turtles, Salmonella and the Ban No One Knows About

October 30th, 2009. By Hunter West

turtlechia2 Pet Turtles, Salmonella and the Ban No One Knows About There’s a ban on small pet turtles?

Really?

Okay, so the ban is only on pet turtles less than four inches in diameter. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enacted the ban after reports surfaced that children were putting the cute little things in their mouths. However, it wasn’t a choking hazard that seemed to drive the ban.

No, it was the fact that children became sick after coming into contact with their pet turtle in such an intimate fashion.

Sick with salmonella from turtles.

Turtles carry salmonella, it seems—originating in their feces, according to a recent MSNBC report. So children, by placing the baby turtles in their mouths, were coming into direct contact with salmonella.

So they were banned 34 years ago.

Just the small ones, mind you. In 1975.

Oh, you didn’t know either? Join the club. Few consumers know about the ban—and fewer vendors appear to be enforcing the ban, or complying with it. According to MSNBC small turtles Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: FDA, Salmonella, Turtles
Posted in Food Illness, Personal Injury | 17221 Comment »2009-10-30+14%3A20%3A38Hunter+West