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Soaking beans in a horse trough -- even if it was plastic lined -- is definitely not a good idea.

(The Associated Press)

Talk about a bad idea: Someone soaked beans in a plastic-lined horse trough, ran water from a hose through the trough, covered the trough plywood, then cooked the beans for a meal fed to hundreds at a annual fundraiser for a senior citizens group in Alabama in October.

In the end at least 50 people were poisoned by salmonella, including 47 who rushed to the emergency with a range of gastrointestinal symptoms,

.

The Alabama Department of Public Health identified the bean soaking as one of the unsanitary practices that could have contributed to the outbreak, according to a report obtained by the Courier. The report also cited:

Handling food without gloves;

Turning off the heat source for the beans and disconnecting gas lines for burners without monitoring the temperature of the food;

Transferring the beans in outside cooking pots to a smaller iron pot on wheels to take large quantities of the beans inside the church;

Using one sterno can per 6-inch-deep chaffing pan to maintain the holding temperature of the beans;

Re-using chaffing pans and adding new beans to existing beans throughout the serving time.

In South Dakota, raw milk proponents say the state Ag Department tainted their product with a listeria warning. The bacteria was found in a sample of raw milk but it turns out the strain detected is not usually harmful to humans, according to a report in the

.

There are several strains of Listeria. One --

Listeria monocytogenes --

causes serious and even fatal infections in those with compromised immune systems. The strain can cause miscarriages and still births as well.

But the species in the milk was Listeria innocua, the journal reported.

“If you look at everything that has been published on Listera innocua, it is not a significant pathogen at all,” Daly, a state public health veterinarian at South Dakota State University told the journal.

U.S. law bans interstate commerce in raw milk, considered a high risk food by health professionals. But advocates are passionate about the product. In Oregon, direct sales on farms are allowed but retail sales are banned and advertising is illegal.

One raw milk producer, Christine Anderson, owner of

, is fighting the advertising ban. In November, she filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Agriculture, asking for a judgment that declares the ban a violation of free speech rights.

Read our story here.

-- Lynne Terry