RASFF – shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (stx2+ /25g) in raw milk cheese from France in Germany
RASFF – enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (O26:H11 stx- eae+ /25g) in camembert cheese from France in France
KSWFoodWorld
Category Archives: E.coli
France – E. coli O26/O157 and Salmonella behind French cheese recalls
Image CDC
E. coli has prompted two different recalls of cheese and there has been one due to Salmonella in France in the past few weeks.
Recalls have been due to E. coli O26, E. coli O157 and Salmonella Montevideo but no illnesses have been reported.
Fromagère du Moulin de Carel recalled camembert from the supermarket Carrefour due to E. coli O26 H11.
The affected Camembert de Normandie 250-gram product has lot code of L19009C and date of March 10, 2019. It was beginning in late January.
The company, based in Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, took the action after E. coli was detected during a microbiological control test.
Fromagère de Jort, based in Bernière d’Ailly, also recalled camembert made from raw milk from Carrefour and Auchan due to finding the same pathogen during a microbiological control.
RASFF Alerts – STEC E.coli – E.coli O157 – Raw Milk Cheese
RASFF – shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (O157:H7 stx+ eae+) in raw milk cheese from France in France
RASFF – shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli in raw milk cheese from France in Germany
Research – Survival of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli O157:H7 Sprayed onto the Foliage of Field-Grown Cabbage Plants
To reduce the number of cabbage pathogen outbreaks, it is essential to understand the fate of enteric pathogens that contaminate plants in the field. To assist in that effort, two independent trials were conducted with a red cultivar (cv. Red Dynasty) and a green cultivar (cv. Bravo F1) of field-grown cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata). In the first trial, plants with small heads were sprayed with an inoculum containing both attenuated Salmonella enterica Typhimurium and Escherichia coli O157:H7 (5.0 log CFU/mL). Initial pathogen levels (ca. 3.9 log CFU per head), determined through plate count enumeration (limit of detection was 1.3 log CFU/g), dropped precipitously such that 2 days later, they could not be detected by enrichment culture in 22 to 35% of the heads. However, subsequent declines were at a slower rate; no differences were observed between red and green cabbage heads (P > 0.05), and heads were still positive for the pathogens 22 days after being sprayed with the inoculum. As a result, the logistic model revealed that for every 2 days contaminated cabbage heads remained in the field, the probability of finding a positive sample decreased by a factor of 1.1 (95% confidence interval from 1.0 to 1.2, P = 0.0022) and 1.2 (95% confidence interval from 1.0 to 1.4, P ≤ 0.0001) for Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7, respectively. In the second trial occurring 2 weeks later, plants with medium red or green cabbage heads were sprayed with an inoculum at a dose of 3.5 log CFU/mL. A similar decay in prevalence over time occurred for green cabbage as in trial 1; however, pathogen decline in red cabbage was less in trial 2 than in trial 1. The extended persistence of pathogens in cabbage heads exhibited in both trials infers that harvest of contaminated cabbage destined for raw consumption is risky. Additional field studies are necessary to determine whether similar pathogen fates occur in other regions or climates and to clarify the effect of the maturity of red cabbage on pathogen inactivation.
Research – Overview of Leafy Greens–Related Food Safety Incidents with a California Link: 1996 to 2016
An increase in the number of foodborne illness outbreaks associated with produce has been noted in the literature, and leafy greens have been the most common produce category associated with these outbreaks. California is the largest leafy greens producer in the United States, and many related foodborne illness incidents were traced to this state. A systematic overview of leafy greens incidents linked to California was conducted by the California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch through analysis of complaints, routine surveillance sampling, disease outbreaks, and investigations covering 1996 to 2016. The goal was to develop a risk assessment tool to modernize emergency response efforts to foodborne illnesses related to leafy greens. A database including environmental, epidemiologic, and laboratory information for each incident was developed, and descriptive analysis was performed to identify trends. In the 21-year period analyzed, 134 incidents were identified, the majority of which were surveillance related. Approximately 2,240 U.S. cases of confirmed illness were reported (298 California cases resulting in 50 hospitalizations). Romaine lettuce and spinach were the most commonly implicated vehicles. The most prevalent hazard type was microbiological, in particular bacterial, specifically associated with pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli. In California, the overview provided the Food and Drug Branch with a platform to (i) enhance its Food Safety Program, Emergency Response Unit, and California Food Emergency Response Team; (ii) assist in more efficient investigation, response, control, and prevention of California-linked foodborne illness incidents; and (iii) identify knowledge gaps and develop effective definitions, procedures, training, guidelines, and policies that will be used to help prevent future outbreaks. Outcomes provide insight into the situation in the largest leafy greens–producing state and may be used to prioritize limited national food safety resources and aid in future leafy greens–related research and foodborne incident investigations.
RASFF Alert – E.coli – Live Mussels
RASFF – high count of Escherichia coli (1600 MPN/100g) in live mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from Spain in Italy
RASFF Alert – E.coli – Live Mussels
RASFF – high count of Escherichia coli (1600 MPN/100g) in live mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from Spain in Italy
Scotland – Scottish cheesemakers challenge guidance on raw milk in their products
Five Scottish companies have launched a fundraising campaign for legal fees to challenge new inspection and enforcement guidance, including food safety measures, regarding raw milk cheese.
The guidance will effectively make production in Scotland unviable, according to the cheesemakers who specialise raw milk cheese.
It is focused on controlling microbiological risks in the production of artisan cheeses made from raw, unpasteurized milk such as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) including E. coli O157 and applies to all sites producing cheese made from unpasteurized milk from cows, goats, sheep and buffalo.
The document was produced by a working group of the Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee (SFELC) and is to be used during inspection and enforcement of food safety controls by cheesemakers making product from unpasteurised milk.
Selina Cairns from Errington Cheese told Food Safety News that to satisfy the cheesemakers the guidance needs to be removed or re-written in consultation with industry and individual cheesemakers.
Research – An assessment of the microbial quality of “döner kebab” during cold storage: Effects of different packaging methods and microwave heating before consumption
Abstract
In the current study, döner kebabs packed with different packaging methods (air packaging [AP], modified atmosphere packaging [MAP], vacuum packaging [VP] and sous vide packaging [SVP]) were evaluated for their microbial quality during storage at 4 °C. In addition, the effect of microwave heating before consumption on the microbial quality of döner kebabs was also investigated. Total mesophilic aerobic bacteria and total psycrophilic aerobic bacteria counts of döner kebabs increased during storage and reached to 6.48, 8.27, 8.15, 3.96 and 5.58, 8.53, 8.63, <1.00 log cfu/g in AP (9th day), MAP (29th day), VP (29th day) and SVP (99th day) groups, respectively. Although coliform, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus counts of döner kebabs were below 3 MPN/g, 3 MPN/g, 2 log cfu/g in all groups, respectively; no Clostridium perfringens and Listeria monocytogenes was detected in any of the groups during storage. Microwave heating was found effective on reducing the microbial load of döner kebabs. It was concluded that without any additional preservation techniques, the SVP prolonged the shelf life of döner kebabs more than 20, 6, and 5 times comparing to AP, MAP, and VP groups, respectively.
Practical applications
Döner kebab is a meat product which is very convenient for microbial growth due to its nutritional and chemical composition. Döner kebab that cannot be sold immediately after production causes high economic losses since the shelf life of döner kebab is very short after cooking. Therefore, it requires additional preservation techniques in order to prevent the economic losses after cooking and to have the opportunity of secure serving of it where döner kebab oven is not present. In the current study, sous vide (SV) applied döner kebabs protected their microbiological quality at least 100 days at 4 °C without any additional preservation techniques and application of SV after cooking provided döner kebabs with a longer shelf life comparing to air packaging, modified atmosphere packaging and vacuum packaging methods. Besides, microwave heating was applied to döner kebabs in order to simulate the conditions of consumption. Microwave heating before consumption significantly reduced the microbial load of döner kebabs.
Posted in Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium perfringens, E.coli, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Uncategorized
FoodWorld 