Monthly Archives: January 2017

Focus Taiwan

Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) Bacterial contamination of boxed lunches was the cause of a diarrhea outbreak that occurred earlier this month among nearly 500 students at four schools in Taipei, a health official said Monday.

Wang Ming-li (王明理), head of the Food and Drug Division under Taipei City Government’s Department of Health, said the boxed lunches served on Jan. 5 at the four schools was found to contain high levels of bacillus cereus, a type of bacteria that produces toxins and can cause illness in conditions where it multiplies rapidly in food.

The Cambodia Daily

Health centers in Pursat province dealt with more than 200 cases of suspected food poisoning on Friday, after the patients are thought to have fallen ill from eating lunches distributed at a CPP gathering to choose a commune candidate, police said on Sunday.

The morning meeting concluded around noon, and the roughly 600 attendees ate a lunch of rice, pork and soy sauce, said Vorng Savet, Phnom Kravanh district’s police chief.

About 200 leftover meals were also taken to the nearby Bat Romdoul primary school and eaten by children as young as 4, he said.

Through the afternoon, patients were admitted to the commune health center and hospitals in the province with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea, Mr. Savet said.

A total of 213 were admitted, most of them children, he said.

Samples of the food were sent to the Commerce Ministry’s Camcontrol, the country’s consumer goods regulator.

Authorities believe the rice was the cause of the mass illness, and should receive confirmation by the end of the week, Mr. Savet said.

FSA

Food Safety News 

Chocolate covered pretzels and other snacks with long shelf lives are being recalled from hundreds of stores by at least six grocery chains across a dozen states because of possible Salmonella contamination,

The snacks — some in party trays themed for the football playoff season — were produced by Palmer Candy Co. using an ingredient that included powdered milk from Valley Milk Products LLC. Dozens of food companies have recalled products made with the powdered milk, which was recalled after federal officials found Salmonella problems at the milk plant in Strasburg, VA.

Grocery chains recalling the chocolate covered shacks, some packaged under the Palmer brand and some packaged in unbranded containers, include HyVee, Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions, Tom Thumb and Lucky.

Food Safety News

A dozen cases of E. coli O121 have been confirmed in three Canadian provinces, according to matching genetic fingerprint data, but the source of the outbreak has not yet been identified.

The Public Health Agency of Canada reports four of the rare O121 cases were confirmed in British Columbia, four in Saskatchewan and four in Newfoundland and Labrador. The illness onset dates were in November and December of 2016.

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The FDA is distributing a draft guidance, for comment purposes only, on the control of Listeria monocytogenes in ready to eat (RTE) foods. The guidance is for industry.

FDA

Hy-Vee, Inc., based in West Des Moines, Iowa, is voluntarily recalling several candy trays because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. The potential for contamination was brought to Hy-Vee’s attention when Palmer Candy Company announced a limited recall of certain chocolate products after it was informed by its supplier, Valley Milk Products LLC, that a milk powder ingredient used in a compound chocolate coating has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. The voluntary recall includes selected products produced between Oct. 20, 2016, and Dec. 9, 2016, and shipped by Palmer Candy Company to grocery, convenience store and wholesale customers nationwide for repackaging.

RASFF -aflatoxins (B1 = 30.1; Tot. = 37.7 µg/kg – ppb) and ochratoxin A (588 µg/kg – ppb) in dried figs from Turkey in Germany

RASFF -aflatoxins (B1 = 4.3 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from China  in the Netherlands

RASFF- aflatoxins (B1 = 9.58; Tot. = 25.12 µg/kg – ppb) in roasted and chopped hazelnuts from Turkey in Germany

RASFF – aflatoxins (B1 = 30.1; Tot. = 37.7 µg/kg – ppb) and ochratoxin A (588 µg/kg – ppb) in dried figs from Turkey in Germany

RASFF – aflatoxins (B1 = 49.68; Tot. = 56.4 µg/kg – ppb) in roasted pistachios from Turkey in Germany

RASFF -aflatoxins (B1 = 4.9; Tot. = 5.7 µg/kg – ppb) in shelled groundnuts from Nigeria in the UK

RASFF – aflatoxins (B1 = 8.1; Tot. = 9.2 µg/kg – ppb) in peanut kernels from China in Bulgaria

RASFF – aflatoxins (B1 = 16; Tot. = 20 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from the United States, via the United Kingdom in the Netherlands

RASFF – norovirus in live bivalve molluscs from France in France

RASFF – norovirus (genogroup l and ll detected in 2g hepatopancreas) in live oysters from Ireland in Italy

RASFF – norovirus (GII: 1153 /g) in live oysters (C.gigas) from Ireland in Ireland