Category Archives: Eurofins Laboratories

CIFA – Recall – Onions – Listeria

CIFA

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume the Gills Onions brand Fresh Diced Red Onions, Fresh Diced Yellow Onions, and Fresh Diced Celery & Onions because these products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.

NZ – Two Dead – Hospital Food – Listeria

NZHerald

Two people have died and three others have become ill in a listeria outbreak believed to have originated in hospital food in two different regions.The affected products have also been recalled from shops as they may contain the bacteria causing the disease.The two elderly women died after contracting listeria, a food-transmitted illness found in meat supplied to the Hawkes Bay Hospital.Two other people contracted the disease but recovered.

US – Non – O157 Testing Preliminary Results

Food Safety News

On June 4, food regulators began screening beef for six more strains of E. coli beyond the already-monitored E. coli O157:H7. Since that time, 110 samples of beef trim have been tested for non-O157 E. coli; 3 were found to be carrying these bacteria. 
 
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service published these initial findings in a results chart this week. The three positive test results represented three different strains of E. coli: O45, O103 and O145, each of which was found once. No samples have yet tested positive for the other three strains: O26, O111 and O121.

CFIA – Salad Recall – Listeria monocytogenes

CFIA

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Sobeys Quebec Inc. are warning the public not to consume the Earth Greens brand Organic Italian Blend salad described below because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The affected product, Earth Greens brand Organic Italian Blend salad, product of USA, is sold in a 198 g plastic clamshell package bearing UPC 8 18431 00107 3, Best Before date 2012 JL 13, and lot code 2217915MI.

This product has been distributed in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and Nunavut.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.

Allergen Labelling – FSA

Not really microbiology but often undertaken in micro. laboratories and maybe of some interest.

FSA 

The Food Standards Agency has begun a UK-wide survey to compare the level of allergens in foods that have voluntary allergen labelling with similar products not labelled in this way. No other survey of this kind has been carried out in the UK.

Allergen advisory labelling, such as labelling that states ‘may contain nuts’, is voluntary. Many manufacturers label their products to alert consumers with allergies that a food may not be suitable for them, as it may unintentionally contain small amounts of an allergen as a result of cross-contamination during production. The survey could help determine if this type of labelling is being used appropriately.

FDA – Meatballs Recalled Listeria monocytogenes

FDA

SCARBOROUGH, Maine – Hannaford Supermarkets today alerted customers to a recall issued by New Jersey-based Buona Vita Inc. of three meatball products, due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.

The three products are all sold through the deli department: Homestyle Meatballs with Sauce, sold by the pound; Meatball Panini – cold, UPC # 941260723096; and Meatball Panini – hot, UPC # 94126072102.  Customers who purchased any of these products should not consume them, and may return the items to Hannaford for a full refund. Products subject to the recall have been removed from the shelves at Hannaford.

Buona Vita’s voluntary recall is part of a broader recall involving various frozen, ready-to-eat meat and poultry products produced by Buona Vita and sold to distributors nationwide.  The problem was discovered during microbiological testing by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.  No illnesses have been reported.

Oyster Bay Shellfish – Vibrio parahaemolyticus Outbreak

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The New York Department of Environmental conservation is advising food establishments to avoid using or selling shellfish harvested from areas in the town of Oyster Bay, N.Y. According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, harvesting is no longer allowed in that area because of an illness outbreak caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a naturally occurring marine bacteria.

RASFF – PSP, Listeria,Salmonella, Histamine

RASFF – PSP Mussels from France

RASFF – STEC E.coli Roqufort Cheese France

RASFF – Salmonella Pasteurised Eggs in Denmark sourced in Poland

RASFF – Listeria in Chilled Smoked Salmon in Italy sourced in Spain

RASFF – Salmonella Frozen Chicken Thighs in France sourced in the Netherlands

RASFF – Salmonella Frozen Turkey Meat in Italy

Danish Alert – Histamine in Fresh Tuna

Newborns Sickened in Hospital- Salmonella

Food Safety News

Over the past three weeks, two newborn girls have contracted Salmonella infections at a Central California hospital.

Authorities are investigating how the infants, treated at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, were exposed to the bacteria. 
 
“We don’t have an answer yet,” said Dr. John Walker of the Stanislaus County’s Public Health Services. “However, there has been intense investigation.”    
 
One of the victim’s moms suspects that the infant formula given to her daughter in neonatal intensive care may have been contaminated. 
 
A hospital administrator at Doctors told CBS Sacramento that this appears to be an isolated event, not part of a larger outbreak.

 

US – Cheese Recall – Possible Listeria monocyotgenes

Food Safety News

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that the Allegheny County Health Department and Whole Foods Market are recalling Jean Perrin Edel de Cleron cheese sold at the Whole Foods store in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood after a person became ill with Listeria contamination and samples tested positive for Listeria