The Reportable Food Registry is an electronic portal where food companies report issues with a food where that food is likely to cause illness. This report has a lot of interesting data about the break down of which commodities caused food safety issues.
Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, FDA, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Research, Toxin
Tagged environment, health
High count of Escherichia coli (>1500; 1400; 1200 CFU/g) in chilled basil leaves from Vietnam.
High count of Escherichia coli (30; >1500; 30 CFU/g) in chilled celery from Vietnam
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Safety, Food Testing, Microbiology
Tagged food
KBIR reports, three children are in the hospital following an E. coli outbreakat a Cocke County daycare facility. According to the Tennessee Department of Health, three juveniles, all of whom attend the same daycare facility in Newport, were diagnosed with E. coli symptoms. The source of the bacteria is currently unknown, but managers of the facility are working with investigators, and the families of all children who attend the daycare have been contacted. State health department officials have not closed the facility, but are continuing to investigate the situation.
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen
Tagged science
A study conducted by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)found that almost half of the chickens sold in supermarkets in the United States are contaminated with faeces.
The study looked at chickens produced by Pilgrim’s, Sanderson Farms, Perdue, and 22 other brands. The tests found that “48% of the chicken samples tested positive for faecal contamination, indicated by the presence of coliform bacteria commonly found in chicken dung.”
Chicken samples from every city and every grocery store chain tested positive. In Dallas, 100 percent of the chicken bought at the Kroger’s store tested positive for faecal matter. In Washington, D.C., 83 percent of the chicken bought at a Giant store and 67 percent of the chicken bought at a Safeway tested positive. Samples were also tested in Charleston, S.C., Milwaukee, Phoenix, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Miami, and San Diego.
Four children are hospitalised; a total of five confirmed with E. coli – as many as seventeen sick
Oregon Public Health officials today report test results of samples taken from Foundation Farm cows, manure and surfaces as well as raw milk from a farm customer are positive for E. coli O157.
The samples came from leftover milk recovered from one household, rectal swabs from two of four cows, and multiple manure and other environmental samples collected at the farm.
A Canadian biotech company has developed a vaccine for cattle that prevents them from shedding E. coli in their manure, and its CEO now hopes the Canadian and U.S. governments will help spread the vaccine to combat the threat posed by E. coli contamination in beef.
E. coli illnesses cost the Canadian medical system more than $200 million a year, but vaccinating every cow in the country would cost less than $50 million.
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Technology
Tagged food safety news, science
A raw milk E.coli outbreak has sickened four children in Oregon. Three of them are hospitalised and two have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which causes kidney failure, according to a press release from health officials in Oregon obtained by Food Poisoning Bulletin.
The children, who are all under the age of 15, drank raw milk from Foundation Farm in Clackamas County before they became sick as did other customers of the dairy who have not had diagnostic testing to confirm E. coli 0157:H7 infections.
The farm has voluntarily halted distribution. Customers are being notified and told not to drink any milk from the farm. their milk. Officials from Oregon Public Health Division, the Oregon Department of Agriculture and several local health departments are collaborating on an ongoing investigation.
Town and Country Foods Inc., a Greene, Maine establishment, is recalling approximately 2,057 pounds of ground and tenderised beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
The problem was discovered through company lab testing which confirmed a positive result for E.coli O157:H7. The company did not hold product pending test results, resulting in this recall. FSIS and the company have received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of these products. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact a healthcare provider.
It will be interesting to see if in the future both in the USA and UK if more testing for STEC E.coli will result in raw meat withdrawals.
An epidemiologist with the Columbia-Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services in central Missouri has confirmed with Food Safety News that three cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection in Boone County share raw milk as a common potential source of contamination.
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall, STEC
Tagged science
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is investigating an increase in cases of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in Central Missouri during late March and early April, 2012. Five cases of E. coli O157:H7 have been identified during this time period. Two of the cases, a two-year old child and a seventeen-month old child, reportedly have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe, life-threatening condition that may result in permanent kidney damage in some of those who survive.
The investigation is ongoing and the source of the infections has not been identified.
FoodWorld 