Monthly Archives: April 2015

The New Zealand Herald 

Authorities in Bosnia’s capital have declared a food poisoning epidemic after nearly 200 preschool children became sick at public day care centers in Sarajevo.

Local health minister Emira Tanovic-Mikulec declared the epidemic on Monday.

Lab tests show that the food the children ate last week was infected with salmonella enteridis.

E.coli Blog

Skyline Provisions, Inc., a Harvey, Ill., establishment, is recalling 1,029 pounds of beef products contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

Produced between April 15-25, 2015, the following products are subject to recall:

17 ½ boxes of Aurora Packers Intact Beef Round Flats

FDA 

April 27, 2015 – New Hope, MN – Waymouth Farms, Inc. of New Hope, MN is recalling RAW PINE NUTS in various sizes, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

The product was distributed nationwide through retail stores and mail order under the Good Sense® brand. A list of packaging sizes, UPC codes and expiration dates is found below:

The 4 oz. bags above may have been sold as a floor display, UPC 30243 86683 with a date range of Sep 05, 2015 to Feb 04, 2016.

Product was also sold in a 5 lb. bulk box, UPC 30243 02860, from 06/04/14 to 03/26/15 using the following Julian Codes:

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with the problem.

Botulism Blog 

Based on laboratory tests and interviews with potluck attendees, public health officials have concluded that potato salad made with home-canned potatoes is the likely cause of a foodborne botulism outbreak following a church potluck in Lancaster on April 19.

Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by certain kinds of bacteria.

As of today, there are 21 confirmed cases of botulism associated with this outbreak, including one death. There are 10 suspected cases in which the individuals are exhibiting symptoms consistent with botulism. Patients have been treated with a botulism antitoxin provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and 12 remain hospitalized.

Food Poisoning Bulletin

Public health officials in Ohio have found that potato salad made from home-canned potatoes likely caused the deadly botulism outbreak at the Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church potluck on April 19, 2015. As of today, there are 21 confirmed cases of botulism associated with that event. One woman died.

CFIA

The food recall warning issued on April 15, 2015 has been updated to include additional product information. This additional information was identified during the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) food safety investigation.

Heinz Canada is recalling Heinz brand Sweet Potato & Beef Medley from the marketplace due to potential loss of seal, which could cause spoilage. Consumers should not consume the recalled product described below.

The following product has been sold nationally.

The Independent 

Home cooking may be as popular as ever following the success of celebrity chefs on television. But amateur cooks appear to be less keen on kitchen hygiene.

Food Safety News

A new Consumer Reports (CR) study released Friday found that 60 percent of 342 samples of frozen shrimp it tested contained Salmonella, Vibrio, Listeria, or E. coli, and 2 percent tested positive for the superbug MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

For its new report, “How Safe is Your Shrimp?,” CR researchers bought 284 raw and 58 cooked shrimp samples for testing last March in 27 cities across the country from retailers such as Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Costco, Fry’s Marketplace, Hy-Vee and Sprouts Farmers Market. CR didn’t test fresh, never-frozen shrimp since U.S. consumers don’t buy much of that.

FDA 

Greystone Foods, LLC voluntarily recalls Today’s Harvest Field Peas with Snaps, Silver Queen Corn, and Broccoli Florets with the sell by date 04/21/16 shipped to Publix Supermarkets warehouse in Lakeland, FL warehouse due to possible health risk.

Greystone Foods, LLC of Birmingham, Alabama is recalling any Today’s Harvest frozen Field Peas with Snaps, Broccoli Florets, and Silver Queen Corn with the sell by date of 04/21/16 because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes , an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in 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, headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Greystone Foods, LLC voluntarily recalls Today’s Harvest Field Peas with Snaps, Silver Queen Corn, and Broccoli Florets with the sell by date 04/21/16 shipped to Publix Supermarkets warehouse in Lakeland, FL warehouse due to possible health risk. To the best of our knowledge, none of these items left their warehouse. In an abundance of caution, Publix has decided to remove these items from their stores. No other grocers are involved in this recall.

USDA – http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/data-collection-and-reports/microbiology/quarterly-reports-salmonella/quarterly-progress-reports

FSA 

Young Seafood Ltd is recalling Young’s Jumbo Seafood Sticks with a ‘use by’ date of 23 May 2015, because the packaging on some packs have not been sealed satisfactorily. This may allow for microbiological contamination. The FSA has issued a Product Recall Information Notice

The product being recalled is:

Product: Young’s Jumbo Seafood Sticks
Production ‘Julian’ code:  A5083C
Pack size: 200g
‘Use by’ date: 23 May 2015

If you have bought the above product, do not eat it. Instead, return it to the store from where it was bought for a full refund.

Young’s Seafood Ltd is recalling all affected products on a precautionary basis. Product recall notices have been displayed in the relevant stores and a copy of the notice was placed in national newspapers on 23 April 2015. These notices tell customers what actions to take if they have bought the product. No other Young’s Seafood Ltd products are known to be affected