What to know: An outbreak of Salmonella infections traced to cucumbers from Florida is growing.

As of May 30, 45 people across 18 states had been infected. Sixteen people have been hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The patients range in age from 2 to 84 years old.

OPINION — by Timothy D. Lytton

“Leafy greens contaminated with deadly microbial pathogens pose a serious threat to U.S. consumers. Lawsuits against growers and processors over the past two decades have forced the industry to pay tens of millions of dollars in compensation to outbreak victims and to implement extensive food safety measures.”

“Unfortunately, these efforts have fallen short because they fail to address an important root cause of the problem.”

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The FDA has issued warning letters to three food processing companies — Chongqing Tianrun Food Development Co. Ltd. in China, Baldwin Richardson Foods Pennsauken LLC in New Jersey, and Dalai Biotech Company Ltd. in Taiwan — for significant violations of federal food safety regulations.

These violations, identified during inspections in 2024, raise concerns about potential health hazards, including botulism and microbial contamination in low-acid canned foods (LACF) and acidified food products.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) has welcomed the conviction of a man who made fraudulent claims about tea.

Thomas Robinson, 52, was found guilty on two counts of fraud amounting to nearly £600,000 ($808,300). He will be sentenced at a later date.

A multistate Salmonella outbreak traced to backyard chickens has grown in just three weeks from 7 to 104 cases, with one death now recorded.

Since its most recent update on May 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 97 new patients, and the number of affected states rose from 6 to 35. Twenty-five of the outbreak patients have required hospitalization. The death was in Illinois.