Food Poisoning Bulletin

At least 28 children and 2 adults were sickened after eating a catered lunch at the middle school Science Olympiad at Florida Gateway College in Lake City. The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office had a notice posted on its Facebook page that those sickened were taken to hospitals for suspected food poisoning. The event was held on Saturday, February 4, 2017.

FSAI

Message:

As a precautionary measure, Avoca is recalling the above batches of two additional hummus products that were made on the same day as the hummus and colcannon that were found to contain Listeria monocytogenes (see Food alert 2017.02).  It is not yet known whether these products also contain Listeria monocytogenes, but testing is underway. These products were only sold in Avoca stores where they have been withdrawn from sale and a point of sale recall notice has been displayed. Consumers are instructed not to eat the above batches and to return them to an Avoca store.

The table below shows details of all the hummus products recalled by Avoca this week.

HPS 

On 27 January, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) issued an updated rapid risk assessment giving an overview of an increase in the number of Salmonella Stourbridge cases in Germany during the second half of 2016, with other EU member states also reporting cases. Whole genome sequencing was carried out in a number of countries to try and establish the source of the outbreak.

Based on the microbiological evidence, ECDC does not consider this a multi-country ongoing event so the investigation of the event itself is being closed at the EU/EEA level while routine monitoring of S. Stourbridge strains occurrence in humans will continue.

The update can be accessed in full at http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications/_layouts/forms/Publication_DispForm.a….

No cases of Salmonella Stourbridge were identified in Scotland during the outbreak.

HPS

Salmonella

In 2016, HPS received reports of 836 isolates of non-typhoidal Salmonella from people in Scotland – an increase of around 4% on the 803 reported in 2015. This further compares to 717 and 814 reports in 2014 and 2013 respectively

Campylobacter

During 2016, 5296 laboratory reports of Campylobacter were received by HPS. This was a decrease of 968 (15.5%) compared to 2015 when 6262 isolates were reported (Figure 2). This is the second consecutive year in which there has been a decline in reports of Campylobacter, with the reports in 2016 representing a decline of 1340 (20.2%) on the peak of 6636 reports in 2014.

Food Quality News 

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) in New Zealand has warned people not to eat certain brands of chilled oysters as they may be contaminated with Norovirus.

Travellers told drinking alcohol could help them avoid food poisoning during holidays

The Sun

Richard Conroy, world-leading food scientist and founder of vacation illness compensation firm SickHoliday.com, told The Sun Online: “Whenever you go on holiday abroad, particularly on all-inclusive trips, you run the gauntlet of the restaurants and buffet bars.

“They can often be breeding grounds for food-borne pathogens like salmonella, E.Coli, Listeria, and even Cholera.

“But the good news is that wine, beer, gin and other alcohols have been found to be great at pathogen prevention.”

Seafood Source 

Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety (CFS), part of the country’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, has announced an import ban of raw oysters from Loch Fyne Oysters Ltd. of Scotland.

The ban was put into place on 25 January and local distributors have been asked to stop using or selling the product due to the potential presence of pathogens, including norovirus, which can cause stomach upset in humans.

“The CFS was notified by the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health of a number of food poisoning cases which involved consumption of raw oysters at a restaurant in Causeway Bay. The CFS conducted investigations at the restaurant concerned which claimed that it had sold raw oysters produced in Scotland supplied by a local supplier. Follow-up investigations found that the restaurant and the supplier concerned did not have any remaining stock of the affected raw oysters,” the CFS said in a statement. “According to the information provided by the supplier concerned, the affected raw oysters came from Loch Fyne Oysters Ltd of Scotland. For the sake of prudence, the CFS has immediately banned the import into and sale within Hong Kong of all raw oysters produced by the company.”

FSAI

Message:

Avoca is recalling a single batch each of its Avoca Hummus and Avoca Colcannon because of the presence of Listeria monocytogenes

Nature Of Danger:

Detection of Listeria Monocytogenes – Listeriosis is a serious disease which can be life threatening, particularly for pregnant women, the elderly and other people with a weakened immune system.

CFIA

Recall details

ECDC