Evidence is emerging that sprouted seeds could present an unacceptable risk to human health unless effective control measures such as irradiation can be used to make them safer.
Would the European market really want irradiated products?
KSWFoodWorld
Category Archives: Eurofins Laboratories
MRSA Levels in Pork 7% – US Study
Retail pork products in the U.S. have a higher prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (MRSA) than previously identified. This in theory may well apply to retail pork products in the UK and Europe although there is not data to confirm this. The report also states ” the this organism is estimated to cause around 185,000 cases of food poisoning each year. ” I am not aware of figures for the UK and Europe on MRSA causing foodborne illness.
Rapid Micro Methods Matrix
RMM Product Matrix allows you to compare multiple RMM technologies that are commercially available or in development.
This is quite a good tool for looking for Rapid Micro Methods available on the market or yet to be released
Bacillus Cereus Food Outbreak USA
A total of 58 employees who worked at the Zappos plant in Bullit County, Kentucky were infected by a bacteria called Bacillus cereus in December 2011. At least twenty-nine sought medical attention, but nobody was hospitalised. The specific food item was not identified.
FDA – Cheese Recall – Listeria monocytogenes
Kradjian Imp Co, Glendale, CA is recalling 231 Cases, 22Lb / Cs of Cedar Tree brand Tresse Cheese, 16 oz and Cedar Tree brand Shinglish cheese, 16 oz because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
Tresse Cheese and Shinglish cheese were distributed in Southern California, Northern California, Washington State, Minnesota, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee,Arizona and Michigan to Mediterranean specialty markets.
Mass Spectrometry – Rapid Staph Indentifications!
This report could send a chill into any microbiologists heart………….chemists getting involved with microbiology!
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a new laboratory test that can rapidly identify the bacterium responsible for staph infections. This new test takes advantage of unique isotopic labeling combined with specific bacteriophage amplification to rapidly identify Staphylococcus aureus.
The test uses mass spectrometry to quantify the number of S. aureus organisms in a large number of samples in just a few hours, compared to a day or two for culturing techniques typically used to detect this bacterium.
Salmonella in Alfalfa Seed Sprouts – US Recall
January 19, 2012 – LEASA Industries Co., Inc. of Miami, FL is recalling 346 cases of LEASA Living Alfalfa Sprouts with use by date 2/1/12, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonellacan result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
LEASA Living Alfalfa Sprouts with use by date 2/1/12 were distributed through FL, GA, AL, LA, and MS through retail stores and food service companies on 1/4/12, 1/5/12, 1/6/12, 1/7/12 and 1/8/12.
The affected product is in 6 oz. clear plastic containers with a UPC code of 75465-55912 and has an expiration date of 2/1/12. The UPC code is located on the side of the label at the side of the container. The expiration date of the package is located on the side of the container.
No illnesses have been reported to date
EFSA Discounts Anti-Norovirus Post Harvest Methods
An article in Food Quality news reports on the EFSA findings over Anti-Norovirus post harvest measures.
The best measures to prevent norovirus in oysters is to focus on preventing human faecal contamination, rather than introducing post-harvest measures such as heat or high-pressure processing (HPP), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has claimed.
US Based Outbreak Alert Website and Database
US-based, but interesting to filter food microbiology outbreaks since 1990 with over 6000 outbreaks logged. The data can be filter by products groups, organisms and US state and year. Might be good to check where and if your products have been involved in outbreaks.
US – E.coli in Milk
A Tenino dairy says it’s recalling its fluid raw milk products because of the danger of contamination with potentially harmful E. coli bacteria.
There have been no reported illnesses related to the recalled products, the dairy said.
FoodWorld 