Monthly Archives: March 2019

USA – Hepatitis A In Food Handler At Frisch’s Restaurant in Ohio

Posted on March 27, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin

A case of hepatitis A has been identified in a Frisch’s employee who worked in two of the restaurant’s locations: at 1228 Scioto Street in Urbana, Ohio, and at 1830 Bechtle Avenue in Springfield, Ohio. The Champaign Health District and the Clark County Combined Health District are working to vaccinate all restaurant employees.

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Posted in food handler, Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Virus, Hepatitis A, Uncategorized, Virus

Croatia -Croatia’s prime oyster farmers in alarm after Norovirus discovered

Posted on March 27, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Infosurhoy

Oyster farming is the pride of this small town in the south of Croatia’s Adriatic Sea coast. But tasting the famed local delicacy may not be a good idea at the moment.

Authorities have detected norovirus, which causes diarrhea and vomiting, in parts of the Mali Ston bay—triggering shock and alarm among the breeders.

The traditional oyster-tasting feast in March has been canceled and fears are mounting of huge financial losses to the local community that harvests about 3 million oysters each year.

Experts are pointing their fingers at the outdated sewage system in the area that has seen a rise in the numbers of tourists flocking to Croatia’s stunning Adriatic coast.

“I am really sorry but people themselves are to blame that something like this happened,” explained Vlado Onofri from the Institute for Marine and Coastal Research in nearby Dubrovnik. “It’s something that has to be solved in the future.”

While some stomach bugs can be eliminated with cooking, norovirus survives at relatively high temperatures.

“The problem with oysters is that they are eaten raw,” Onofri said.

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Virus, Norovirus, Uncategorized, Virus

Australia – Ash and Sons Eggs – Salmonella

Posted on March 27, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Food Authority NSW

Recalls and advisories

27 March 2019

The NSW Food Authority advises:

CR and M Ash and Sons is conducting a recall of various cartons of 12 eggs. The products have been available for sale at IGA’s, independent stores, bakeries and butchers in NSW.

Product details:

  • Blue Mountains Free Range Eggs 700g
  • Blue Mountains Cage Free Eggs 700g
  • Fresh Eggs From My Farm 800g
  • Farm Fresh Eggs 600g, 700g, 800g
  • Single sticker with best before date 26/April/19 AND 3/May/19

Problem: The recall is due to potential microbial (Salmonella Enteritidis) contamination.

Food safety hazard: Food products contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis may cause illness if consumed.

Country of origin: Australia

What to do: Any consumers concerned about their health should seek medical advice and should return the products to the place of purchase for a full refund.

For further information please contact CR and M Ash and Sons on 0473 034 959 or visit www.ashandsons.com.au

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Salmonella, Uncategorized

USA – Henry Avocado Recalls Whole Avocados Because Of Possible Health Risk – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on March 27, 2019 by | Leave a comment

FDA

Henry Avocado Corporation is voluntarily recalling California-grown whole avocados sold in bulk at retail stores because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Henry Avocado is issuing this voluntary recall out of an abundance of caution due to positive test results on environmental samples taken during a routine government inspection at its California packing facility. There are no reported illnesses associated with this recall.

Product image of Organic California avocado with bar code stickerProduct image of Organic California avocado with bar code sticker

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Uncategorized

USA – Oskri Sells Nut Butter Plant After Listeria Monocytogenes Recall

Posted on March 27, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin

Oskri Organics Corporation at 528 Tyranena Park Road in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, sold the building where they made nut butters and snacks after all of their products were recalled in January 2019. In addition, the brands Inspired Organics and Thrive Market nut butters were recalled in December 2018 and January 2019 for possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Oskri made the nut butters for those companies.

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Uncategorized

Research – Estimate of the annual burden of foodborne illness in nondeployed active duty US Army Service Members: five major pathogens, 2010–2015

Posted on March 25, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Cambridge.org

In this study, we estimate the burden of foodborne illness (FBI) caused by five major pathogens among nondeployed US Army service members. The US Army is a unique population that is globally distributed, has its own food procurement system and a food protection system dedicated to the prevention of both unintentional and intentional contamination of food. To our knowledge, the burden of FBI caused by specific pathogens among the US Army population has not been determined. We used data from a 2015 US Army population survey, a 2015 US Army laboratory survey and data from FoodNet to create inputs for two model structures. Model type 1 scaled up case counts of Campylobacter jejuni, Shigella spp., Salmonella enterica non-typhoidal and STEC non-O157 ascertained from the Disease Reporting System internet database from 2010 to 2015. Model type 2 scaled down cases of self-reported acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) to estimate the annual burden of Norovirus illness. We estimate that these five pathogens caused 45 600 (5%–95% range, 30 300–64 000) annual illnesses among nondeployed active duty US Army Service members. Of these pathogens, Norovirus, Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella enterica non-typhoidal were responsible for the most illness. There is a tremendous burden of AGI and FBI caused by five major pathogens among US Army Soldiers, which can have a tremendous impact on readiness of the force. The US Army has a robust food protection program in place, but without a specific active FBI surveillance system across the Department of Defence, we will never have the ability to measure the effectiveness of modern, targeted, interventions aimed at the reduction of specific foodborne pathogens.

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Posted in Campylobacter, E.coli, E.coli O157, E.coli O157:H7, Food Poisoning, Food Testing, Food Toxin, foodborne disease, Foodborne Illness, Norovirus, Salmonella, Shigella, STEC, Uncategorized

Information – NEW TOOL LAUNCHED TO IMPROVE CONSUMER FOOD SAFETY AT HOME Safe Recipe Style Guide to Provide Food Safety Instructions in Recipes

Posted on March 25, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Safe Recipe Guide

(Orlando, FL – March 7, 2019) – At one of our nation’s largest gatherings of food safety professionals today, the Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE) launched a new tool that is expected to dramatically improve consumers’ food safety behaviors at home. PFSE announced the release of a new Safe Recipe Style Guide at the 2019 Consumer Food Safety Education Conference where more than 400 public and private sector experts are convened to address how to improve food safety behaviors.

The Safe Recipe Style Guide is designed for use by any recipe writer – professional recipe developers and food journalists – who writes and publicizes recipes for distribution to the public. It provides specific, concise recipe text to address the four major areas of most food safety violations in home kitchens: temperature, handwashing, cross contamination and produce handling. It can be found online at www.saferecipeguide.org.

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Posted in Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Safety, Food Technology, Uncategorized

Research – Ejecting flagella could help microbes save energy during nutrient depletion

Posted on March 24, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Science Daily

In favorable conditions, many bacteria propel themselves to food sources and other sites of interest using whip-like molecular propellers known as flagella. However, according to new research, members of the bacterial class Gammaproteobacteria eject their flagella when nutrients are scarce.

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Posted in Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, microbial contamination, Microbiology, Uncategorized

Research – Food safety: Dung beetles and soil bacteria reduce risk of human pathogens

Posted on March 23, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Science Daily

Food safety regulations increasingly pressure growers to remove hedgerows, ponds and other natural habitats from farms to keep out pathogen-carrying wildlife and livestock. Yet, this could come at the cost of biodiversity. New research encourages the presence of dung beetles and soil bacteria at farms as they naturally suppress E. coli and other harmful pathogens before spreading to humans.

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Uncategorized

USA – Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak Linked to Christmas Mountain Resort

Posted on March 22, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Outbreak News Today Legionella_Plate_01

Three people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease and one person has died following stays at the Christmas Mountain Resort in Wisconsin Dell. At this time, the local health authorities are investigating the outbreak.

As the investigation unfolds, a representative for the resort told the local media that some of their accommodations did indeed have Legionella present. “After testing, we found that the water supply in certain units had been affected and, subsequently, tested positive for the bacteria,” the spokeswoman said. The resort claims to be telling prospective guests about the disease, but thus far denies that the confirmed illnesses occurred on their property – despite the fact that all of those who are ill stayed at the resort within 2 weeks of their illnesses.

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Posted in Contaminated water, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology Blog, Legionella, microbial contamination, Microbiology, Uncategorized, Water, water microbiology, Water Safety