Monthly Archives: January 2018

CFIA

Recall details

Ottawa, January 11, 2018 – The food recall warning issued on January 10, 2018 has been updated to include additional product information. This additional information was identified during the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) food safety investigation.

Imperial Caviar & Seafood is recalling Imperial Caviar & Seafood brand Whitefish Roe from the marketplace because it may permit the growth of Clostridium botulinum. Consumers should not consume the recalled product described below.

Brisbane Times 

Gastro has hit about 200 passengers on board a cruise ship docking in Brisbane on Thursday morning.

The Sea Princess was returning from a two-week trip to New Zealand, which saw as much as seven per cent of those on board struck down with Norovirus.

Efforts were made to contain the outbreak, with further cleaning expected once passengers departed the 260-metre cruise ship at Hamilton’s Portside Wharf.

A Princess Cruises spokesman said the cleaning measures would delay the ship’s departure with a fresh crew of passengers on the same route later on Thursday.

The cruise saw an “elevated number” of guests suffering norovirus-induced gastro, he said.

WIley Online Library 

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Abstract

Food Poison Journal 

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The Health Department has more reports of ill customers from the suspected norovirus outbreaks at two El Toro restaurants. We have received reports of 232 ill customers at the Tacoma location and four at the one in University Place. We continue to receive more reports and interview more customers.

If you ate at El Toro Restaurant and became ill, contact the Health Department at food@tpchd.org, report online at www.tpchd.org/reportfoodborneillness, or call (253) 798-4712.

Columbia Tribune Today 

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The following question, “What is the most poisonous toxin?”, comes from Allison in Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s class.

The most poisonous toxin is botulinum toxin. The toxin was discovered in Germany in the late 18th century when it caused food poisoning from a bad sausage.

Botulinum toxin is created by bacteria called clostridium botulinum under anaerobic (low oxygen) conditions. Exposure to botulinum toxin usually occurs from improperly canned food. When ingested it causes a potentially fatal illness called botulism. It doesn’t take much to be lethal — less than one nanogram. However, it is very rare, with less than one in 10 million people affected each year because high pressure and temperatures reached through boiling can kill the bacteria.

NBC News 

It’s still too early to blame romaine lettuce for an outbreak of E. coli sickness that’s affected at least 24 people in the U.S. and more than 40 in Canada, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.No new cases have been diagnosed since December 12, but that doesn’t mean the outbreak is over, said Ian Williams, chief of the CDC’s Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch.

CNN News 

Health officials in Salt Lake County, Utah, are warning residents that an estimated 2,000 of them could have been exposed to hepatitis A at a local 7-Eleven convenience store.

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Food Poison Journal 

The Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) is investigating two cases of hepatitis A in Kauai residents. Symptoms began from November 2017, and investigation is ongoing. The strain of the virus in both cases appears to be the same one currently circulating in California.“As our investigators continue their work, we want to remind Hawaii residents that hepatitis A vaccination is highly effective in preventing infection,” said Dr. Sarah Park, state epidemiologist. “With large, multi-state outbreaks occurring across the country, it is important that we all take precautions to prevent hepatitis A infection whether at home, work, recreating, or traveling.”