Monthly Archives: September 2011

The FDA and CDC have announced that they are investigating a multistate outbreak of Listeriosis, so far 15 people have been affected. The outbreak is tentatively being linked to fresh cantaloupes from a region in Colorado and the investigation is on going. See the full report through the link below.

FDA Link

The UK Food Standards Agency are looking for specialists in several areas

• official veterinarian and meat hygiene inspection services
• shellfish sampling, analyses and support services
• dairy hygiene inspections and raw cows’ drinking milk sampling
• trichinella testing
• egg hygiene inspections
• wine sampling and analysis

Applications by October 10th

FSA Link

Scientists from around the world have been collaborating on trying to unlock the ‘secrets’ of the E. coli O104 strain that caused the outbreak in Germany and France this year which claimed 50 deaths and over 4000 illnesses.

The researchers have now found ten variants by DNA sequencing, this information should make plotting and tracing any future outbreaks easier and quicker. It may also lead to ways to control the organism more effectively. Full story below

Food Production Daily

The ongoing botulinum scare originating from tapenade (spreadable tomato paste)from France has now spread to the USA. The products seem to have come from a tapenade from a company called Le Ruche, similar warnings have been issued in the UK and France.

Eight adults are suffering from respiratory failure after consuming neurotoxin from Clostridium botulinum that had contaminated the food.

Cargill has also recently recalled ground turkey meat after risk of contamination by Salmonella was found.

Food Production Daily.com

The UK are investing £4M in projects aimed at cutting the 300,000 + cases of Campylobacter poisoning case in the UK. The organism accounts for thousands of lost man hours and is estimated to cost the country £600 million every year.

Some projects will look at the poultry industry where it is estimated two-thirds of fresh poultry is thought to contain Campylobacter. Later stages of the projects will look at the organism through the food chain.

Different groups will be looking at bacteriophages specifically developed against Campylobacter and another at a vaccine for poultry flocks.

The full story can be found at Food Production Daily.com