Monthly Archives: April 2015

FDA 

Blue Bell Creameries is expanding its recall of products that were produced in the Broken Arrow, Okla., plant to include Banana Pudding Ice Cream pints which tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, and additional products manufactured on the same line. These items have the potential to be young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria monocytogenes infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

The products being recalled are distributed to retail outlets, including food service accounts, convenience stores and supermarkets in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming.

No illnesses have been confirmed to date.

CFS 

Food Alert – Smoked salmon manufactured by Polyfood Food

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Mary Ann Leibert 

Antimicrobial resistance, including multidrug resistance (MDR), is an increasing problem globally. MDR bacteria are frequently detected in humans and animals from both more- and less-developed countries and pose a serious concern for human health. Infections caused by MDR microbes may increase morbidity and mortality and require use of expensive drugs and prolonged hospitalization. Humans may be exposed to MDR pathogens through exposure to environments at health-care facilities and farms, livestock and companion animals, human food, and exposure to other individuals carrying MDR microbes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies drug-resistant foodborne bacteria, including Campylobacter, Salmonella Typhi, nontyphoidal salmonellae, and Shigella, as serious threats. MDR bacteria have been detected in both meat and fresh produce. Salmonellae carrying genes coding for resistance to multiple antibiotics have caused numerous foodborne MDR outbreaks. While there is some level of resistance to antimicrobials in environmental bacteria, the widespread use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture has driven the selection of a great variety of microbes with resistance to multiple antimicrobials. MDR bacteria on meat may have originated in veterinary health-care settings or on farms where animals are given antibiotics in feed or to treat infections. Fresh produce may be contaminated by irrigation or wash water containing MDR bacteria. Livestock, fruits, and vegetables may also be contaminated by food handlers, farmers, and animal caretakers who carry MDR bacteria. All potential sources of MDR bacteria should be considered and strategies devised to reduce their presence in foods. Surveillance studies have documented increasing trends in MDR in many pathogens, although there are a few reports of the decline of certain multidrug pathogens. Better coordination of surveillance programs and strategies for controlling use of antimicrobials need to be implemented in both human and animal medicine and agriculture and in countries around the world.

Food Poisoning Bulletin 

Pinal County has temporarily suspended the food license permit of Windmill Winery in Florence, Arizona after a Salmonella outbreak. The illnesses are linked to a wedding that took place there on March 19, 2015.

Some members of the wedding called the county and told them that several people were sickened after the event, and that at least four people were hospitalized. An investigation by the Pinal County Public Health Services District (PCPHSD) found that the operators at Windmill Winery had exceeded their “legally allowable level of food preparation and used a non-permitted caterer.”