Over the past 5 days, our health care facility in northwest Wisconsin, USA, has seen 3 women hospitalized with E. coli O157 infection. All presented with significant abdominal pain without fever and watery diarrhea which in 2 progressed to bloody diarrhea. None of the 3 have manifested any evidence of hemolytic-uremic syndrome. Both of the women seen by the Infectious Diseases service stated that their diet contains a lot of salads.
Do you like to eat raw liver? Is liver pâté one of your favorite dishes? You may want to think twice before ingesting such a meal again, as researchers at the Singapore General Hospital have found definite similarities between the virus strains of Hepatitis E virus or (HEV) in pig liver and human liver.
Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc., a Lakewood, Colorado-based natural grocery chain, is recalling Natural Grocers brand 2-pound Organic Soybeans because they have the potential to contain mold. Consumers who may have purchased this product are advised to discontinue use and either throw it away or return it to the store for credit or refund.
The recalled product is packaged in clear plastic bags weighing 2 pounds and bearing the “Natural Grocers” label. Only packages bearing 19-168 and 19-205 as the packed-on dates are subject to recall. The packed-on date can be found in the bottom left-hand corner of the label.
The potential for contamination was noted after routine testing by the company revealed the presence of mold.
Production of the product has been suspended while the Food and Drug Administration and the company continue their investigation into the source of the problem.
| UPC Code | Description | Packed on Dates |
|---|---|---|
| 000080663607 | Organic Soybeans 2 LB | 19-168 & 19-205 |
In this work, infrared (IR) irradiation was used for inactivation of Bacillus cereus in cardamom seeds. The effect of IR power (100, 200, and 300 W), sample distance from radiation source (5, 10, and 15 cm) and holding times (0–11 min) was investigated on B. cereus count, as well as cardamom seeds color and temperature profiles. Inactivation of B. cereus on cardamom seeds during IR processing was demonstrated by experimental models. The highest reduction of B. cereus count (5.11 Log CFU/g) was achieved after 8 min IR irradiation at 300 W power and 15 cm distance. Measurement of temperature profiles revealed that there was a significant difference (p < .05) between surface and center temperatures of the cardamom seeds. The green color (a* value) of cardamom seeds was slightly affected and the highest color change was observed at 200 W IR, 10 cm distance and 10 min irradiation that resulted in an increase of a* from −3.05 ± 0.96 to −0.05 ± 0.44. In conclusion, IR irradiation could be successful for decontamination of cardamom seeds without severe alteration of its quality. Among the experimental models for microbial inactivation during IR processing, the Double Weibull model had the highest coefficient value of determination (R2 = 0.9966).
This study investigated the occurrence of shiga toxin‐producing Escherichia coli (STEC), thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. and Salmonella spp. in Swedish dairy milk. A total of 302 inline milk filters were analyzed. Salmonella was not isolated from any filters. Polymerase chain reaction screening detected thermotolerant Campylobacter in 30.5% of the milk filters analyzed and it was isolated from 12.6% of filters. The stx genes (stx 1, stx 2, or both) were screened from 71% of the filters and STEC was isolated from 14% of these. Of the STEC isolates, 21 contained the stx 1 gene, 19 the stx 2 gene, and five a combination of both stx 1 and stx 2 genes. Whole genome sequence typing on 34 of the 45 STEC showed that they belonged to 21 different serotypes, of which STEC O145:H28 was the most common (2%). STEC O157:H7 was only found from one (0.3%) of the filters. A combination of stx 2 and eae genes was found from 0.7% of the total number of inline milk filters analyzed, while stx 2a was found in 24% of the whole genome‐sequenced isolates. There was a significant positive correlations between number of animals per farm and presence of pathogens on milk filters.
Salmonella persistence in ground black pepper has caused several foodborne outbreaks and created public concern about the safety of low water activity (aw) foods. In this study, radiofrequency (RF) processing was evaluated for pasteurization of ground black pepper. Stability and homogeneity tests were done for both Salmonella spp. and E. faecium during moisture equilibration before RF heating to evaluate the inoculation method. Moisture content of samples were conditioned such that the final moisture content after RF heating reached the optimal storage moisture. RF heating was shown to provide more than 5.98 log CFU/g reduction for Salmonella spp. and the reduction of 3.89 log CFU/g for E. faecium with a 130 s of treatment time. The higher thermal resistance of E. faecium indicated its suitability as surrogate for Salmonella spp. during RF heating of ground black pepper. Piperine, total phenolics, volatile compounds, and antioxidant activity were assessed as quality parameters for ground black pepper. The results demonstrated that the RF processing provided effective inactivation of Salmonella spp. with insignificant (p > 0.05) quality deterioration.
RASFF -too high count of Escherichia coli (1700 /100g) in live oysters from France in France
RASFF -Salmonella enterica ser. Enteritidis (presence /25g) in frozen chicken fillets from Poland in Slovakia
RASFF -Salmonella (presence /25g) in sesame paste from Syria in Germany
RASFF -Salmonella enterica ser. Enteritidis (presence /25g) and Salmonella enterica ser. Infantis (presence /25g) in chilled chicken meat from Poland in Italy
RASFF -Salmonella (presence /25g) in black pepper from Brazil, manufactured in China in Germany
RASFF -Salmonella (presence /25g) in sesame seeds from Sudan in Greece
RASFF -Salmonella (presence /25g) in pork trimmings from Germany in Sweden
RASFF -Salmonella (presence /25g) in frozen halal chicken thighs from Belgium in Italy
RASFF -Salmonella enterica ser. Kentucky (presence /25g) in chilled chicken from Poland in Latvia
RASFF -Salmonella enterica ser. Senftenberg (presence /25g) in chilled chicken leg quarters from Poland in Latvia
RASFF -Salmonella (presence /25g) in black pepper from Vietnam in Poland
RASFF -Bacillus cereus (up to 700 CFU/g) in chilled milk from Germany in Germany
RASFF -shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (stx1/stx2 /25g) in boneless beef from Argentina in Spain
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