Monthly Archives: October 2015

Science Daily 

Caramel apples punctured with dipping sticks and left unrefrigerated over the course of a couple of weeks may harbor a bacterium called Listeria monocytogenes, according to a study published this week in mBio®, an online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

ASM Society

Studying listeria growth on a group of Granny Smith apples dipped in caramel and stored at either room temperature or in the refrigerator, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Food Research Institute found the average population of L. monocytogenes increased 1,000-fold on caramel apples with sticks stored at room temperature for three days. By contrast, listerial growth was delayed on caramel apples without sticks stored at room temperature.

FDA

Nijay International, Inc. of Anaheim, CA is recalling 8 cases of Down to Earth Organic Coriander Powder, 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, endocarditis and arthritis.

Down to Earth Organic Coriander Powder, batch # 1404D25 with a best before date of 05/24/2015 was distributed to retail stores in Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio, TX. The product is packaged in 7 oz. transparent, green plastic bags.

To date, Nijay International, Inc. has not received any reports of illness related to this recalled product.

The recall was a result of routine sampling by an FDA contract lab, which revealed the presence of Salmonella.

Consumers who have purchased Down to Earth Organic Coriander Powder are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1 (714) 602-6123 Mondays through Fridays, between 9.00am to 5.00pm PST.

The UPC for this product is 40074 13813. This code is located above the ingredient list.

FDA

Dole Fresh Vegetables is voluntarily recalling a limited number of cases of bagged salad. The product being recalled is Dole Spinach coded A27409B & A27409A, with an Enjoy By date of October 15 and UPC 7143000976 due to a possible health risk from Salmonella. Dole Fresh Vegetables is coordinating closely with regulatory officials. No illnesses have been reported in association with the recall.

The product code and Enjoy By date are in the upper right-hand corner of the package; the UPC code is on the back of the package, below the barcode. The salads were distributed in 13 U.S. states (Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin).

No illnesses have been reported in association with the recall. This precautionary recall notification is being issued due to an isolated instance in which a sample of Dole Spinach salad yielded a positive result for Salmonella in a random sample test conducted by the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development; Laboratory Division.

Neither Baby Spinach nor any other salads, are included in the recall. Only the specific Product Codes, UPC codes and October 15, 2015 Enjoy By date identified above are included in the recall. Consumers who have any remaining product with these Product Codes should not consume it, but rather discard it. Retailers and consumers with questions may call the Dole Food Company Consumer Response Center at (800) 356-3111, which is open 8:00 am to 3:00 pm (PT) Monday – Friday.

Dole Fresh Vegetables customer service representatives are already contacting retailers and are in the process of confirming that the recalled product is being removed from the stream of commerce.

Salmonella is an organism that can cause foodborne illness in a person who eats a food item contaminated with it. Symptoms of infection may include fever and gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea, vomiting or abnormal pain. The illness primarily impacts young children, frail and elderly people and those with weakened immune systems. Most healthy adults and children rarely become seriously ill.

CFIA

Kiskadee Ventures Limited is recalling freshKIS brand finger mint from the marketplace due to possible Salmonella contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled product described below.

The following product was sold at Real Canadian Superstore, 3050 Argentina Road, Mississauga, Ontario.

HPS

Further to Current note 49/4001 (at http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/ewr/redirect.aspx?id=65483), as at 12 October 2015, all cases had either consumed products (steaks, grillsteaks, sausages and meatballs) which had been purchased raw from a wide range of outlets and cooked at home or were fellow household members and likely to be secondary cases. The products had been produced by the company Highland Game and had use-by dates ranging from 4 September to 1 October.

As these use-by dates have passed, products will no longer be on sale, but consumers may have products in their freezers at home. These products should not present a risk to health if they are handled and cooked properly. For advice on handling and cooking of meat and meat products, please refer to the FSS website at http://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/food-safety-standards/food-safety-hygiene.

Food Safety News

The safety of breast milk purchased online throughout the United Kingdom from websites such as “Only The Breast” has been called into question by the BBC’s Inside Out investigative program. “Only the Breast” is a web-based system of classified ads that connects people buying and selling breast milk.

The BBC reported Monday that some of the breast milk being sold online by British mothers contains potentially deadline pathogens. That conclusion was reached after the program sent out a reporter claiming to be the father of a six-month-old baby to purchase milk from a dozen mothers throughout the U.K.

Science Daily 

Invasive Salmonella infections in sub-Saharan Africa are a major cause of child illness and deaths, a new body of research into this usually overlooked infectious disease has revealed. In the West, Salmonella is commonly thought of as a bacterium responsible for relatively benign cases of food poisoning. However, new research exposes the unacceptable toll of sickness and death caused by invasive Salmonella infections in sub-Saharan Africa.

Coventry Telegraph

The owner of an Indian takeaway was fined £2,000 by magistrates after pleading guilty to a string of food safety offences.

Tufail Khan, owner of Barakah Indian in Railway Terrace, Rugby, was first warned about the state of the kitchen in February when a council food safety officer carried out a routine inspection.

The Guardian

A tenth person has been diagnosed with E coli in an outbreak linked to venison produced by a Scottish game company.

Nine people had been struck down with the same strain of the bug in Scotland – E coli O157 PT32 – after eating venison products including sausages, steaks and meatballs which were raw when purchased and cooked at home.

Inspectors linked the products to Dundee-based Highland Game, which sells venison in supermarkets and also supplies meat to Scottish Slimmers.

The products – Scottish Slimmers venison sausages, Scottish Slimmers venison meatballs, Highland Game grill steaks and venison steaks with pepper sauce – have use-by dates from 4 September 1 October.

A Health Protection Scotland spokeswoman said: “HPS can confirm that a further case of E coli O157 PT32 has been linked with the recent outbreak, bringing the total to 10.

Ingenta Connect

The emergence of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in food-producing animals is of increasing interest, raising questions about the presence of MRSA in food of animal origin and potential sources of transmission to humans via the food chain. In this study, the prevalence, molecular characterization, virulence factors, and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of MRSA isolates from 200 retail raw chicken samples in Egypt were determined. MRSA was detected by positive amplification of the mecA gene in 38% (76 of 200) of chicken samples analyzed. This represents a potential public health threat in Egypt, as this contamination rate seems to be the highest among other studies reported worldwide. Furthermore, genes encoding α-hemolysin (hla) and staphylococcal enterotoxins (sea, seb, and sec) were detected in all of the 288 MRSA isolates. Nonetheless, none of the strains tested carried tst, the gene encoding toxic shock syndrome toxin 1. Antimicrobial resistance of MRSA isolates was most frequently detected against penicillin (93.4%), ampicillin (88.9%), and cloxacillin (83.3%). These results suggest that retail chicken might be a significant potential source for transmission of multidrug-resistant and toxigenic S. aureus in Egypt. This underlines the need for stricter hygienic measures in chicken production in Egypt to minimize the risk of transmission of these strains to consumers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reports the isolation and molecular characterization of MRSA in retail chicken samples in Egypt.

Ingenta Connect

The objective of this research was to determine the behavior of Listeria monocytogenes in three types of sliced ready-to-eat meat products packaged under vacuum or modified atmosphere conditions and stored at three temperatures. Slices of about 25 g of chorizo (a fermented dry pork sausage), jamón (cured ham), and cecina (a salted, dried beef product) were inoculated with L. monocytogenes NCTC 11994. Slices were packaged in a vacuum or in a modified atmosphere (20% CO₂, 80% N₂). After packaging, samples were stored for 6 months at three temperatures: 3, 11, or 20°C. Microbiological analyses were performed after 0, 1, 7, 15, 30, 45, 90, and 180 days of storage. The type of meat product, the type of packaging, the temperature, and the day of storage all influenced microbial levels (P < 0.001). L. monocytogenes counts decreased throughout the course of storage in samples of chorizo (quick decrease) and jamón (gradual decrease). In cecina samples, counts of L. monocytogenes increased from day 0 to day 1 of storage and then remained constant until day 90 of the study. These results may be of use for enhancing the safety of these ready-to-eat meat product types. Additional evaluation of the behavior of L. monocytogenes in cecina is needed.

Barfblog

A Salmonella outbreak which infected 54 people, putting two in intensive care, was traced to a Kirkby takeaway.

Poor hygiene procedures at Wok’s Cooking, in Richard Hesketh Drive, Westvale, are believed to have allowed the potentially deadly bacteria to pass from eggs sourced from a European supplier to other food in July last year.

Hidayet Tayar, who has owned the business for nine years, was ordered to pay £12,000 in fines and costs at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court today.

Tayar, 54, of Ness Grove, Kirkby, pleaded guilty to four counts of failing to comply with EU provisions concerning food safety and hygiene, under the Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations 2013.