Monthly Archives: February 2016

CFS

Food Alert – Four kinds of meal replacement products manufactured in US suspected to be contaminated with salmonella

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Centre for Food Safety
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
2016-02-11

Food Magazine

The recent Australian salmonella outbreak linked to leafy vegetables could spread to Asia via exported produce.

As Adelaide Now reports, the outbreak is thought to have originated from Bacchus Marsh’s Tripod Farms.

As the SMH reports, a Senate Estimates hearing has now been told that 23 consignments of Tripod Farms’ produce which could also be affected by salmonella have been exported to Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand.

FSAI

Message:

The FSAI is informed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that Garden of Life LLC is recalling certain batches of Raw Meal Organic Shake & Meal Replacement products.  These products are linked to an outbreak of Salmonella Virchow infection in the US.  The FDA advises that the implicated batches may have been supplied to businesses in Ireland.  Further information on the outbreak in the US can be found at the following link: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/virchow-02-16/.

Nature Of Danger:

The implicated batches could cause salmonellosis. Symptoms can include diarrhoea, stomach cramps, vomiting and fever.

Action Required:

Inspectors:

Environmental health officers (EHOs) are requested, as part of routine inspections, to check food businesses to determine if the affected products are on sale. If found, EHOs should oversee a recall of the implicated batches listed and ensure point-of-sale notices are displayed.  Please notify the FSAI (rapidalert@fsai.ie) of the name and address of any suppliers of this product.

Manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, caterers & retailers:

Businesses that have sold the implicated batches of these products directly to consumers must place a point of sale notice in store and/or on their website to inform their customers not to consume these batches.  Food business operators should inform their local EHO.

Consumers:

Consumers are advised not to consume the implicated batches of Raw Meal Organic Shake & Meal Replacement Products.  Consumers who may have already consumed these products and are feeling unwell should seek medical advice.

Mary Ann Liebert

Toxoplasma gondii is a widely distributed protozoan parasite. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that T. gondii is one of three pathogens (along with Salmonella and Listeria), that together account for >70% of all deaths due to foodborne illness in the United States. Food animals are reservoirs for T. gondii and act as one of the sources for parasite transmission to humans. Based on limited population-based data, the Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization estimated that approximately 22% of human T. gondii infections are meatborne. The objective of the current study was to conduct a systematic meta-analysis to provide a precise estimation of T. gondii infection prevalence in food animals produced in the United States. Four databases were searched to collect eligible studies. Prevalence was estimated in six animal categories (confinement-raised market pigs, confinement-raised sows, non-confinement-raised pigs, lamb, goats, and non-confinement-raised chickens) by a quality-effects model. A wide variation in prevalence was observed in each animal category. Animals raised outdoors or that have outdoor access had a higher prevalence as compared with animals raised indoors. T. gondii prevalence in non-confinement-raised pigs ranked the highest (31.0%) followed by goats (30.7%), non-confinement-raised chickens (24.1%), lambs (22.0%), confinement-raised sows (16.7%), and confinement-raised market pigs (5.6%). These results indicate that T. gondii-infected animals are a food safety concern. The computed prevalence can be used as an important input in quantitative microbial risk assessment models to further predict public health burden.

Wiley Online Library

In this article we present a model for Salmonella contamination of pig carcasses in the slaughterhouse. This model forms part of a larger QMRA (quantitative microbial risk assessment) on Salmonella in slaughter and breeder pigs, which uses a generic model framework that can be parameterized for European member states, to describe the entire chain from farm-to-consumption and the resultant human illness. We focus on model construction, giving mathematical formulae to describe Salmonella concentrations on individual pigs and slaughter equipment at different stages of the slaughter process. Variability among individual pigs and over slaughterhouses is incorporated using statistical distributions, and simulated by Monte Carlo iteration. We present the results over the various slaughter stages and show that such a framework is especially suitable to investigate the effect of various interventions. In this article we present the results of the slaughterhouse module for two case study member states. The model outcome represents an increase in average prevalence of Salmonella contamination and Salmonella numbers at dehairing and a decrease of Salmonella numbers at scalding. These results show good agreement when compared to several other QMRAs and microbiological studies.

CDPH

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The California Department of Public Health has confirmed to Food Poisoning Bulletin that there is an E. coli O157 outbreak linked to recalled Organic Pastures raw milk. Via email, they said “there is an outbreak, and as of February 8, 2016, six children with a unique strain of shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157 have been identified; of all of these six children, four have reported drinking Organic Pastures raw milk before they got sick.”

Food Poisoning Bulletin – FDA Examining Raw Milk Cheese Criteria

The Times of India

VIJAYAWADA: Thirty two students, in the 8-14 years age group, from a government school at Jammichettu centre in the city were hospitalised on Monday reportedly after consuming mid-day meal in their school.
According to information, they were rushed to the local government hospital immediately after they complained of vomiting and giddiness after having been served with the suspected adulterated food by the school authorities. The hospital authorities said all the victims were out of danger and discharged from the hospital after receiving preliminary treatment. Food samples were collected from the school and sent for lab analysis.

AFN

Tripod lettuce has been associated with 128 cases of salmonella poisoning according to the latest news release from the Victorian Department of Health today, but production has now fully resumed after a government supervised inspection.

The 128 cases includes 10 confirmed and 118 probable cases. The Victorian Department of Health says further laboratory testing is underway as it continues to investigate the cause of the outbreak at Tripod Farms in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria.

The voluntary national recall for a number of salad leaf products from Tripod Farmers is still in place and consumers are advised to be aware of the signs and symptoms of gastroenteritis.

FSA

– See more at: http://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2016/14870/co-operative-recalls-truly-irresistible-camembert#sthash.IWD8hsBP.dpuf

FSA

Asda is recalling its Extra Special Camembert de Pays as a precautionary measure due to the possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that can cause foodborne illness, particularly among vulnerable groups – these are pregnant women, unborn and newborn babies, those over 60 years old and anyone with a weakened immune system

Product: Asda Extra Special Camembert de PaysPack size: 250gBarcode: 5054070292617Use by dates: 14, 21 and 28 February 2016 No other Asda products are known to be affected.