Guidelines promoting best practice for sprout production are available for UK sprout producers thanks to an industry initiative led by the Fresh Produce Consortium in consultation with the Food Standards Agency.
The guide is free to Fresh Produce Consortium members.
Apex Pet Foods announced today that it is issuing a voluntary recall of all dry dog food formulas manufactured on January 24, 2012.
Although there have been no animal or human illnesses related to Apex Dog Food and the product has not tested positive for Salmonella, the company has voluntarily initiated this recall out of caution to ensure the health and safety of consumers and their pets.
Kirkland Signature products are included in the Diamond Pet Foods recall for possible Salmonella contamination. Cat foods are included in this recall.
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Pet Food, Recall, Salmonella
Tagged animals
Natural Balance Pet Foods announced today that it is issuing a voluntary recall of certain dry pet food formulas manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods at their Gaston, South Carolina facility.
Although there have been no animal illnesses reported and none of the products included in the recall has tested positive for Salmonella, the company has voluntarily initiated this recall as a precautionary measure.
FDA
WellPet LLC announced a voluntary recall of one recipe of Wellness® dry dog food after being notified by Diamond Pet Foods regarding the presence of Salmonellain Diamond’s Gaston, South Carolina facility.
All Wellness products are tested for Salmonella and all lots tested negative prior to shipping to customers. The company is voluntarily recalling the select products below. This voluntary recall is being done out of an abundance of caution as these products were produced at the facility that has been linked to recent recalls of Diamond brand foods due to the threat of Salmonella.
Diamond Pet Foods today announced that it is expanding a voluntary recall to include batches of nine brands of dry pet food formulas manufactured between December 9, 2011 and April 7, 2012 due to potential Salmonella contamination.
In April 2012, Diamond Pet Foods initiated three voluntary recalls of Diamond manufactured dry dog food. Although none of the additional products being recalled have tested positive for Salmonella, the company is pulling them from store shelves as a precaution. Diamond Pet Foods is coordinating efforts with federal and state health and regulatory agencies and decided to independently expand the recall to ensure the safety and well-being of customers and their pets.
The company stated: “We have taken corrective actions at our Gaston, S.C., facility and voluntarily expanded the recall out of concern for our customers and their pets.”
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Microbiology, Pathogen, Pet Food, Recall, Salmonella
FunFresh Foods, Inc. of San Clemente, California in consultation with the FDA is voluntarily recalling a single lot of its 6 ounce packages of FunFresh Foods™ World Berries™ Organic “Cacao Nibs” because they may be contaminated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 bacteria (E. Coli O157:H7). E. coli O157:H7 causes a diarrheal illness often with bloody stools. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure called Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly. The condition can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, HUS, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall
Tagged cacao nibs, environment, health
Eighty three general outbreaks of foodborne infectious disease in England and Wales were reported in 2011 to the HPA’s electronic Foodborne and Non-foodborne Gastrointestinal Outbreak Surveillance System (eFOSS)[§]. In the previous year there were 63 outbreaks of foodborne diseases (figure 1).
The rise in the number of general outbreaks in 2011 could be due to the continued increase in outbreaks caused by Campylobacter spp (20/83 in 2011; 18/63 in 2010) and a rise in the outbreaks caused by Salmonella spp compared to the previous year (18 in 2011; 8 in 2010).
Outbreaks of campylobacter have increased since 2009 and concurrently campylobacter is now the most frequently implicated causative agent in reported outbreaks representing 24% of all outbreaks [1,2 ]. In 2011, as in preceding years, most campylobacter outbreaks were associated with consumption of undercooked poultry liver pâté or parfait f rom food service establishments [3,4]. Salmonella spp. accounted for 22% of the outbreaks, most of which were caused by an increase in S. Enteritidis non PT 4 (44%, 8/18) or S. Typhimurium (33%, 6/18). The next most frequently identified agents included: norovirus (10%, 8/83), VTEC O157 (10%, 8/83) and Clostridium perfringens (8%, 7/83)
Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Foodborne Illness, HPA, Microbiology, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella
Tagged clostridium perfringens, food service establishments, research, science
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Fourteen people in at least nine states have been sickened by salmonella after handling tainted dog food from a South Carolina plant that a few years ago produced food contaminated by toxic mold that killed dozens of dogs, federal officials said Friday.
At least five people were hospitalised because of the dog food, which was made by Diamond Pet Foods at its plant in Gaston, S.C., the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. No pets were sickened, according to the Meta, Mo.-based company.
The Chief Public Health Office began investigating a potential gastrointestinal outbreak Monday after notification that several people became ill after consuming a roast beef dinner prepared by volunteers as part of a fundraiser for Princetown United Church on Saturday, April 28, 2012. The total number of cases of gastrointestinal illness has reached 205.
Information obtained by interviewing persons who purchased the meal indicates that the roast beef was the most likely source of the food-borne illness. Those who picked up their meal early in the afternoon were less likely to have become ill. Food testing is being conducted and it is expected to be several days before all results are known. If symptoms persist, it is advised to seek medical attention.
During the course of the investigation, it was determined that the roast beef was prepared at various sites including the homes of volunteers. This is contrary to the regulations for preparing meals for sale to the public. High-risk foods such as meat, poultry and fish must be cooked and prepared in a licenced facility.
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen
Tagged food, health, restaurants
Maybe it just me but there seems to be quite a few recalls at the moment about pet foods that have been tested and found to contain pathogenic organisms and illness arising from those organisms.
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Microbiology, Pathogen, Pet Food, Recall
A POISONOUS food alert website, created by a local postgraduate student, crashed due to severe overload yesterday as visitors thronged the site to learn about food safety amid an unending stream of food scandals in China.
The website has a record of the latest 2,300 food problems in the country, with detailed reports and victim numbers. It maps different areas with different colors to show the degree of food problems.
The website went down at about 10am yesterday when tens of thousand of people visited it at the same time. The website was back online late last night, after it rented a new server to meet the huge demand.
You can try the website link but it is only in Chinese as far as I can see.
At least 24 people in New Brunswick are sick with symptoms of E. coli infection, including eight who are in hospital, but the source of the outbreak remains unclear.
“While laboratory testing continues, several cases have been confirmed as E. coli O157:H7, a severe strain that can sometimes cause serious illness.”
Authorities do have suspicions of the cause, based on some common food sources, he said. But he doesn’t want to say anything definite yet, he said.
“It is common products at this point that people have eaten. I don’t want to name one versus another one without any good evidence at this stage because it wouldn’t be good for people to, for example, stop eating any of a particular food, just because they might be afraid that they may become sick. We really don’t have good evidence.”
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been involved in testing some food products.
FoodWorld 