Category Archives: Bacteria

USA – FDA Recall – Herring Fillet in Oils and Spice – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on May 1, 2013 by KSW | Leave a comment

Prime Food USA, 50st & 1^st Ave Building # 57, Brooklyn NY 11232, is recalling Latis Brand Herring Fillet “Antalja” in Oil and Latis Brand Herring Fillet in Oil with Spices due to contamination with listeria monocytogenes. Listeria can cause serious complications for pregnant women, such as stillbirth. Other problems can manifest in people with compromised immune systems. Listeria can also cause serious flu-like symptoms in healthy individuals.

The recalled Latis Brand Herring Fillet “Antalja” in Oil is packaged in 7 oz (200 grams) plastic containers with a code: Best before (L): 11.02.2014. The UPC code is: 4 751004 071607. Latis Brand Herring Fillet in Oil with Spices is packaged in 7 oz (200 grams) plastic containers with a code: Best before (L): 11.02.2014. The UPC code is: 4 751004 079429. The products were sold in New York State.They are products of Latvia

The recall initiated after routine sampling by New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Food Inspectors and subsequent analysis of the product by Food Laboratory personnel found the product to be positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem. Consumers who have purchased Latis Brand Herring Fillet “Antalja” Herring in Oil and Latis Brand Herring Fillet in Oil with Spices should not consume it, but should return it to the place of purchase.Consumers with questions may contact the company at 718-439-0376

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, FDA, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

Tagged food, new york state department of agriculture, new york state department of agriculture and markets, routine sampling

Research – Antibiotic-Free Turkey Less Likely to Harbor Resistant Bacteria

Posted on May 1, 2013 by KSW | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Ground turkey from birds raised without antibiotics is less likely to be contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria than conventional ground turkey, according to a new study published by Consumer Reports today.

The group tested 257 samples of raw ground turkey meat and patties, purchased from major retailers nationwide, for Enterococcus, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, and Campylobacter and then looked at what portion of these bacteria were resistant to antibiotics. They found high levels of bacteria overall – 90 percent of samples tested positive for one of the five – and more than half were resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics. But the bugs found in products labeled “no antibiotics,” “organic,” or “raised without antibiotics” were resistant to fewer antibiotics than their conventional counterparts.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, E.coli, Enterococcus, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus

Tagged classes of antibiotics, food safety news, health, staphylococcus aureus

UK – FSA – Where You are Eating Ratings and App

Posted on April 29, 2013 by KSW | Leave a comment

FSA

Check the food hygiene rating before you eat out. Go to

food.gov.uk/ratings

or download the app.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen

Tagged apple, business, gaming, iphone, mobile, technology

Research – Food Safety – Irradiation

Posted on April 29, 2013 by KSW | Leave a comment

Iotron Industries – Canada

When electron beam technology is used to process food, it is called food irradiation. Food Irradiation, like pasteurization, can prevent countless infections because it destroys the pathogens than cause the illness.

Food borne illness is one of the most common preventable public health problems in the world today. Several measures can be taken in processing plants to help mitigate the problems, but none have the potential to be more effective than irradiation processing. Common pathogens such as e.coli and salmonella are easily destroyed when irradiated.

Today, 38 countries, including the United States, have approved the use of irradiation processing for a wide variety of food items. Test market studies have shown that the general public accepts irradiated items and actually prefers them over non-irradiated items when educational materials are available at point of purchase.

Media scrutiny about e.coli outbreaks and salmonella poisonings are becoming a common occurrence. People are becoming more aware of these very real concerns. In time, the general public will readily accept this valuable technology. With all the endorsements and proof that irradiated foods are 100% safe to consume, how could they not?

In today’s world, we have the proven technology that is capable of eliminating common food borne diseases.

These diseases cause sickness and death to countless numbers of people the world over.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Irradiation, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella

Tagged electron beam technology, food irradiation, irradiation food, public health problems, science

USA – CDC Drinking Water Toolbox

Posted on April 29, 2013 by KSW | Leave a comment

CDC

Water systems and state or local agencies issue drinking water advisories when they believe water quality is or may be compromised. Advisories tell individuals, schools, hospitals, businesses, and others about the situation and how to take immediate action—to boil tap water before drinking, for example, or to avoid drinking or even using tap water.

The Drinking Water Advisory Communication Toolbox provides a practical guide and protocol for communicating with stakeholders and the public about water advisories that is based upon research and identified practices. It focuses on water systems and addresses the spectrum of situations that generate drinking water advisories—from a water main break to a hurricane, a drop in pressure, or intentional contamination.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Boil Water Notice, CDC, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Methods, Microbiology, Water

Tagged climate, communication toolbox, environment, science, water

Research – Frogs and Bacterial Antimicorbial Resistance

Posted on April 26, 2013 by KSW | Leave a comment

ANSTO

Skin secretions found in Australian frogs may hold the key to designing powerful new antibiotics that are not prone to bacterial resistance in humans, say researchers.

Antimicrobial peptides (small proteins) found in skin secretions are used by frogs to help fight bacterial infections.

Scientists working at the University of Melbourne and at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) are studying this naturally occurring process at the atomic level and hope it could lead to an alternative to commonly used antibiotics for fighting hospital-acquired infections like Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA).

Using a time-of-flight neutron reflectometer housed at ANSTO’s OPAL reactor named Platypus, Post Doctoral Research Fellow Dr Anton Le Brun and a research team from Melbourne University led by Professor Frances Separovic are observing the action of antimicrobial peptides from Australian tree frogs in model bacterial membranes.

Most antimicrobial peptides attack the semi-permeable barrier (the membrane) of cells making it difficult for bacteria to develop resistance.

Using Platypus offers the team a chance to see exactly how the peptides bind to the membrane and once they are bound, where they are located in the membrane.

Leave a comment

Posted in Antibiotic Resistance, Bacteria, Food Micro Blog, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Poisoning, Research

USA – Raw Milk – E.coli O157 Outbreak

Posted on April 26, 2013 by KSW | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Health officials in Wisconsin suspect three patients sickened by the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 contracted their illnesses after consuming raw milk, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Raechelle Cline told Food Safety News Thursday.

All three patients reside in Manitowoc County, and they include a three year-old child and his or her mother. Officials are currently testing samples of milk from the suspected dairy and will not identify it unless they prove a connection.

“Raw milk was the most likely commonality we’ve been able to identify,” Cline said. The illnesses occurred in March, and the officials are unaware of any additional cases.

Health institutions such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise against drinking raw milk, as it has not been pasteurized to eliminate potentially harmful pathogens.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall

Tagged health, science

USA – Salmonella Outbreak in Cucumbers

Posted on April 26, 2013 by KSW | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

At least 73 people in 18 states have fallen ill with Salmonella Saintpaul infection thought to be connected to imported cucumbers, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fourteen of the patients were hospitalized.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed the firms Daniel Cardenas Izabal and Miracle Greenhouse of Culiacán, Mexico on import alert on April 24. Those cucumbers are no longer believed to be on the market.

The number ill by state is as follows: Arizona (9), California (28), Colorado (1), Idaho (2), Illinois (3), Louisiana (1), Massachusetts (1), Maryland (1), Minnesota (8), Nevada (1), New Mexico (2), North Carolina (1), Ohio (1), Oregon (2), South Dakota (2), Texas (6), Virginia (2) and Wisconsin (2).

Illness onset dates ranged from January 12, 2013 to April 6, 2013. The ill range in age from less than 1 year to 80 years old, with a median age of 23. Sixty percent are female.

Cucumbers are historically not associated with foodborne illness outbreaks. During a massive German E. coli outbreak in the summer of 2011, cucumbers were briefly suspected as the source before the blame was ultimately blamed on fresh sprouts.