Monthly Archives: April 2014

Food Poisoing Bulletin 

The County of Rockland Department of Health is recommending that everyone who ate at the restaurant on March 29, March 30, or April 1, 2014 receive a vaccination. The vaccination is about 80% to 90% effective. The Rockland County Department of Health is offering free vaccines to patrons and employees of the restaurant on Sunday, April 13, 2014 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm and Monday, April 14, 2014 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Rockland County Fire Training Center at 35 Firemens Memorial Drive in Pomona.

Unfortunately, for anyone who ate there March 29, 2014, today is the very last day a hepatitis A or immune globulin vaccination would be effective

Food Poisoning Bulletin

A hepatitis A alert has been issued by the Cabarrus Health Alliance, after a manager at the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant at 8016 Cambridge Commons Drive, Suite B in Charlotte, North Carolina, was diagnosed with the illness. Anyone who ate at the restaurant between March 24 and April 7, 2014 should be vaccinated against the virus.

The vaccine is only effective if given within 14 days of exposure. If you ate there before March 29, 2014 and have not been vaccinated, you must monitor yourself for the symptoms of hepatitis A and go to a doctor if you get sick

Food Poisoning Journal

Charlotte, NC, Papa John’s outlet is to blame for a Hepatitis A scare, according to the Mecklenburg County Health Department.

Anyone who ate food from the location on March 28 and 29 should get the Hepatitis A vaccine immediately.

Officials are looking into a potential Hepatitis A outbreak from the Papa John’s location in the 8000 block of Cambridge Commons in Charlotte, near Harrisburg Road and I-485.

According to the health department, a manager at that restaurant, who recently traveled out of the country, contracted Hepatitis A and may have infected Papa John’s patrons.

EFSA – Hepatitis A Data

Since 1 January 2013, 1 315 cases of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection have been reported by 11 Member States as potentially linked to the ongoing HAV outbreak. Of these, 240 were confirmed outbreak cases, sharing the same sequence KF182323 at the junction VP1-2a of the viral genome. When first declared, the outbreak was associated with travel to Italy. In addition to Italy, seven other Member States have now reported cases with no travel history: France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. Epidemiological, microbiological and environmental investigations indicate frozen berries as the vehicle of infection for this outbreak and suggest that it could be a single outbreak, linked to a common, continuous source in the EU/EEA. However other hypotheses cannot be excluded, such as cross contamination in a food production environment or an outbreak strain that is already widespread but has, to date, gone undetected. Due to the characteristics of the pathogen (i.e. low infectivity dose and long incubation period) and of the food vehicle (i.e. long shelf-life and complex processing and distribution chain), it is expected that more cases will be reported and other Member States may become involved. In accordance with their national guidelines, Member States may consider active or passive immunisation of those in close contact with cases in order to prevent secondary transmission. Despite coordinated efforts from EFSA, ECDC, affected Member States and the European Commission (HAV-Trace Working Group), the ongoing trace-back investigation has not yet identified a likely source of contamination. The Working Group will continue the trace-back exercise and extend participation, on voluntary basis, to countries that have recently become involved, namely France, Norway and Sweden. All relevant information on national trace-back investigations shall be gathered and integrated into the HAV-Trace exercise via the RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) platform. Given the epidemiological and laboratory evidence of contaminated frozen berries, the risk to human health, and ongoing transmission with increasing geographical spread, affected Member States could consider implementing mitigating measures at national level. In particular, Member States could consider promoting risk communication, recommending heat treatment of frozen berries before consumption and encouraging HAV vaccination of those in contact with cases and throughout the larger community. Implementation of an enhanced sampling scheme for frozen berries at the processing and distribution level could also be considered. Enhanced epidemiological and microbiological surveillance for HAV in the EU/EEA should also be encouraged. A whole genome sequencing approach needs to be considered to examine viral isolates from different points in time during the outbreak in order to confirm the hypothesis of a single outbreak. ECDC, EFSA and the European Commission, in cooperation with the affected Member States, will continue to their efforts to identify the vehicle and source of infection and closely monitor this event. The risk assessment will be updated as soon as any new relevant information becomes available.

HACCP Europa

GREECE – Greek Food Safety Authority (EFET) has initiated, following a consumer complaint, the recall of Croissant Panini dolce because the presence of green mould has been found on the surface of the product.

The recalled product is Croissant Panini dolce with hazelnut praline filling, in package of 150 g, and best before date 22/03/2014.

Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) and more specifically its Regional Directorate in Attica, following consumer complaint, found out the presence of green colored moulds in the interior layer of a cake product as well as the presence of an unacceptable odour.

The implicated product has the trade name “strawberry flavoured cake – MIDI FARCI FRAGOLA, DO-RA SNACS Srl” (in Greek: «κέικ με γεύση φράουλας- MIDI FARCI FRAGOLA, DO-RA SNACS Srl») in multi-package of 10 pieces of 28 gr each, with lot number L30213A and best before date 28/7/2014.

EFET