The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is warning consumers not to eat Harry’s Berries Salsa (mild or hot flavors) or Harry’s Berries Dilled Beans, packed by Gean Farms, Inc., because they may have been improperly produced, making them susceptible to contamination with Clostridium botulinum. No illnesses have been linked to any of the affected products at this time.
Prison hooch, or homemade alcohol, is the likely source of a botulism outbreak at an Arizona prison that sent seven inmates to intensive care. The seven inmates, all from Special Management Unit 1 of the Arizona State Prison Complex Eyman in Florence, were hospitalized over the weekend.
Botulism is not spread through person-to-person contact. Although it can develop in contaminated wounds or through IV drug use, it most often develops after eating or drinking food that is tainted with the toxin. Botulism poisoning must be treated with a course of special anti-toxin, the stockpile of which is controlled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Birtch Farms and Estate Winery are warning the public not to consume the Birtch Farms and Estate Winery brand Pumpkin Butter because it may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. Toxins produced by these bacteria may cause botulism, a life-threatening illness.
The affected product, Birtch Farms and Estate Winery brand Pumpkin Butter, was sold in 110 ml and 250 ml jars. All lot codes are affected by this alert.
This product has been distributed in Ontario.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.
Food contaminated with Clostridium botulinum toxin may not look or smell spoiled. Consumption of food contaminated with the toxin may cause nausea, vomiting, fatigue, dizziness, headache, double vision, dry throat, respiratory failure and paralysis. In severe cases of illness, people may die.
The manufacturer, Birtch Farms and Estate Winery, Woodstock, ON, is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.
Total of 11 cases of botulism were registered during the 11 months of this year with 17 poisoned people out of which two ended fatally, Sanitary-Epidemiological Service at the Armenian Healthcare Ministry informed Armenian News Am. Two of the poisoned persons were children. The poisoning cases were registered in Yerevan, as well as in Shirak, Ararat, Armavir, Lori and Tavush regions of Armenia. As a matter of fact, 19 cases of botulism were registered last year with 30 poisoned people, 3 of whom died.
To avoid the poisoning, the Ministry warns again not to prepare canned food at home, or at least to boil it for up to 30 minutes before consumption.
Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research
Tagged environment, nature
Refrigerated Processed Foods of Extended Durability (REPFEDs) are a diverse group of food products. Their production process consists of a variable sequence of different processing steps leading to various types of REPFEDs being introduced to the market. To assure microbial safety, the food industry relies on a combination of mild heat treatment (i.e. pasteurization), appropriate product formulation (i.e. pH, water activity, modified atmosphere packaging, preservatives), cold storage and shelf life limitation. In this paper a classification of REPFED food types is presented and their microbiological safety is evaluated. REPFEDs were classified according (i) to the production process and (ii) to the expected consumer’s reheating practices. To evaluate the microbiological safety, historical data on the microbial contamination of REPFEDS were collected from five companies, 706 analyses on the day of production (T0) and 2912 analyses at the end of shelf life (TEoS). Results demonstrated that the microbial safety of the products is overall satisfactory. The number of samples exceeding the acceptable levels for Bacillus cereus/sulfite reducing Clostridia (T0: 103 CFU/g, TEoS: 105 CFU/g) was 4.07%/1.94% at T0 and 2.04%/0.69% at TEoS. None of the samples exceeded the acceptable levels for Listeria monocytogenes (T0: Absent in 25 g, TEoS: max 102 CFU/g). In addition the temperature of 38 products was monitored during reheating according to instructions of the manufacturer. The pasteurization values obtained during reheating are very heterogeneous, and only 7 products obtained a P70 of 2 min throughout the entire product. To assess the effect of reheating on L. monocytogenes a challenge test (including reheating) of paella with L. monocytogenes was performed. This demonstrated that L. monocytogenes can grow up to 0.63 log CFU/g in 6 days at 4 °C and that reheating the paella according to the instructions on the label does not guarantee absence of L. monocytogenes. These findings demonstrate the microbial food safety of the tested REPFEDs is satisfactory, and that producers should not rely on the reheating at consumer level to eliminate L. monocytogenes.
Posted in Bacillus, Bacillus cereus, Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium difficile, Clostridium perfringens, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Safety, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research
Tagged absence of l, bacillus cereus, food, microbial contamination, microbial safety
KRASNYI OKTYABR located at 60 20th street, Brooklyn, NY 11232 is recalling Beer Set Dried Rudd discovered by New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Food Inspectors during a routine inspection and subsequent analysis of the product by Food Laboratory personnel that confirmed the fish had not been properly eviscerated prior to processing.
No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem. Consumers who have Beer Set Dried Rudd are advised not to eat it, but should return it to the place of purchase. Consumers with questions should contact the company at 718-858-6720.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) warned consumers not to eat certain 7th Heaven Gourmet spreads on Saturday because they were processed in a manner that makes them susceptible to contamination with Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that causes botulism poisoning.
7th Heaven Gourmet of Hesperia, California recalled its Pate Mediterraneo and Eggplant & Shitake Tapenade spreads packaged in 8 ounce glass jars with screw-on metal lids, which were available for purchase between September 2011 and July 2012 and sold at farmers markets in Victorville and Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Reference Number: 7321
Recalling Firm: STELLAR SMOKED SALMON
Date of Recall: 8/7/2012
Recall Classification: 3
Distribution : Ontario
Extent of the Product Distribution : Retail
| Brand Name | Common Name | Size | Codes(s) on Product | UPC | Reason for Recall: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STELLAR SMOKE SALMON | SLICED SMOKED SALMON | 125 g | All codes | None / Aucun | Microbiological – Clostridium botulinum |
Health Protection Scotland, on behalf of the Incident Management Team, have today published the final report into an outbreak of foodborne botulism in Scotland in November 2011.
This outbreak affected three children from one family in the NHS Forth Valley area. The vehicle of intoxication was found to be a single jar of a commercially produced korma sauce.
The Arizona Republic reports that four state prison inmates were hospitalized with suspected botulism poisoning Friday after apparently drinking homemade prison alcohol, authorities said.
This is not the first time that prison inmates have been diagnosed with botulism following what is suspected to be an attempt at making homemade alcohol.
In 2011, 12 inmates at the Utah State Prison in Draper developed botulism after drinking a concoction made from fruit, potatoes, bread, water and sugar.
In 2004, four California inmates were hospitalized after contracting botulism from a two-gallon batch of prison-made alcohol.
FoodWorld 