Infected Icelandic oysters caused food poisoning for 48 individuals at Skelfisksmarkaðurinn, a relatively new restaurant owned by succcessful tv chef and restaurant owner Hrefna Sætran. Icelandic oysters are a novelty in Iceland as all oysters on menus until now have been imported from Ireland or other countries.
The oysters were imported as youngsters and raised in Skjálfandaflói bay by company Víkurskel. This is the first time that the noro virus is confirmed in oysters in Iceland.
At least three people including two children are dead and over 250 taken ill due to alleged food poisoning in Uttarakhand’s Bageshwar district.
According to Kumaon Commissioner Rajeev Rautela, those dead include two children aged 10 and five years old and a woman.
At a wedding ceremony on November 29 night, many guests consumed food and subsequently fell sick including the bride and groom. All have been admitted to different hospitals in Berinag, Kapkot, Bageshwar, Almora and Haldwani.
In the third case of mass food poisoning this month, 131 people – including kindergarten pupils and teachers – fell ill on Monday (26 November) after consuming food from a caterer while attending a learning camp.
In a joint statement released on Tuesday, the National Environment Agency (NEA), Ministry of Health (MOH) and Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said they are investigating an outbreak of gastroenteritis – inflammation of the stomach and intestines which causes vomiting and diarrhoea.
The outbreak was traced to the consumption of food prepared by FoodTalks Caterer & Manufacturer, located at Shimei East Kitchen along Bedok North Street 5. The three authorities carried out a joint inspection of the premises on Tuesday, with food and environmental samples taken for testing and food handlers being sent for stool screening.
According to Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao, the food poisoning victims had attended a learning camp organised by Busy Bees Asia. Organisers said that the camp was stopped immediately upon the outbreak of food poisoning.
As of Tuesday, 131 cases of gastroenteritis had been reported. None of the victims have been hospitalised.
Posted in food bourne outbreak, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, foodborne disease, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, Uncategorized
The health authorities have withdrawn a salmonella warning in eggs produced by two Maltese farms.
Last July, the authorities had urged the public to refrain from buying eggs produced by St Joseph Farm-M. Xerri and a farm in Triq Santa Domenika, Rabat, Gozo.
In a statement on Saturday, the health authorities said the two farms had now conformed.
According to the Department of Food Safety in Ho Chi Minh City’s statistics, the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (Staph) has caused 14 food poisoning cases accounting for 42 percent from 2010 to November, 2018.
The statistics showed that there has been 54 cases of food poisoning cases in the time.
Of these cases, 33 cases of food poisoning are caused by the organisms making up 61 percent, 14 cases are caused by toxic substances, two cases by chemicals accounting for 4 percent and two cases unverified equal to 4 percent.
People and animals have Staph on their skin and in their nose. Staph food poisoning is characterized by a sudden start of nausea, vomiting, and stomach cramps. Most people also have diarrhea. Symptoms usually develop within 30 minutes to 8 hours after eating or drinking an item containing Staph toxin,
To prevent food poisoning by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, the Department of Food Safety warned people with rhinitis or spots touch food materials.
Moreover, people should eat well-done food and drink boiled water; peel fruits before having and wash hand before and after toilets.
A federal court has permanently enjoined Saranac Brand Foods of Saranac, Michigan from “preparing, processing, and distributing adulterated ready-to-eat foods,” according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. The complaint was filed on November 29, 2018 at the request of the FDA, and the finding was entered today, Monday, December 3, 2018 by the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
Ottawa, November 29, 2018 – The food recall warning issued on November 28, 2018 has been updated to include additional product information. This additional information was identified during the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) food safety investigation.
The Chef’s Warehouse is recalling Soom brand tahini products from the marketplace due to possible Salmonella contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products described below.
| Brand Name | Common Name | Size | Code(s) on Product | UPC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soom | Chocolate Sweet Tahini Halva Spread | 340 g | 071318CH | 7 91154 34932 8 |
| Soom | Sesame Premium Tahini | 454 g | 18-109, 18-121, and 18-123 | 7 18088 34741 1 |
| Soom | Sesame Premium Tahini | 39.6 lb | 18-109, 18-121, and 18-123 | 7 18088 34732 9 |
Food production–related facilities (farms, packing houses, etc.) are monitored for foodborne pathogens, and data from these facilities can provide a rich source of information about the population structure and genetic diversity of Salmonella and Listeria. This information is of both academic interest for understanding the evolutionary forces acting on these organisms and of practical interest to those responsible for controlling pathogens in facilities and to those analyzing data from facilities in the context of public health decision making. We have collected information about all positive isolates from facility inspections performed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for which whole genome sequencing data are available. The within- and between-facilities observed genetic diversity of isolates was computed and related to the common origin of isolates (as the common collected facility). This relationship provides quantification for assessing the relationship between isolates based on their genetic similarity quantified by single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Our results show that if the genetic distance (D) between two isolates is low, then more likely than not they are from the same facility or have some overlap in their supply chain. For example, if the genetic distance is no more than 20 SNPs, the probability (P) that two isolates come from the same facility = 0.66 for Salmonella and 0.70 for Listeria. However, if two isolates come from different facilities, their genetic distance is likely large (for Salmonella, P(D > 20 SNPs) = 0.99982; for Listeria, P(D > 20 SNPs) = 0.99949); even if two isolates come from the same facility, their genetic distance is also very likely large (for Salmonella, P(D > 20 SNPs) = 0.794; for Listeria, P(D > 20 SNPs) = 0.692). These results provide insight into what SNP thresholds might be appropriate when determining whether two isolates are from the same facility and thus would be of interest to those investigating foodborne outbreaks and conducting traceback investigations.
Abstract
This study is designed to determine Salmonella prevalence in organic poultry farms and slaughterhouse in three different regions with distinct seasonal characteristics. Salmonella strains were isolated from organic reared poultry farm environment (water, feed, and feces) and poultry meat samples (neck skin and breast meat). Antibiotic resistance and 16S rRNA profiles were demonstrated with alignment scores. Salmonella spp. prevalences according to regions were, 51 of 200 (25.50%) samples taken from Region A, 77 of 200 (38.50%) samples taken from Region B, 105 of 200 (52.50%) samples taken from Region C. Serotyping of the strains revealed that S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis are the most dormant strains among all strains. Antibiotic susceptibility of the strains revealed that major resistance against ampicillin. This study is held for an awareness rising about the possible impact of seasonality related with food borne pathogens prevalence.
Poultry meat and meat products account for approximately one‐third of all Salmonella infections in humans. The relation between environmental temperature and foodborne pathogens is a complex matter, which has not been investigated widely and is hard to predict. The data obtained in this study indicate a significant high prevalence in warm region, which may be evaluated as a possible key for environmental temperature effect on foodborne pathogens distribution in organically reared poultry. In addition, this study provides important information to show the sources of contamination steps ranging from farm to fork in organically reared poultry
Listeria monocytogenes is an important bacterial pathogen in seafood products, but limited information is currently available on the thermal resistance of relevant isolates in seafood. Thermal inactivation studies were undertaken (i) to provide much needed thermal inactivation data for L. monocytogenes in crab meat and (ii) to investigate whether tryptone soya broth (TSB) is representative of crab meat in thermal inactivation studies involving L. monocytogenes. D-values were obtained for a cocktail of two crab isolates (serotypes 1/2a and 4b) at 50, 55, and 60°C. In crab meat, D-values were 174.4, 28.2, and 1.6 min, respectively. Similar D-values of 176.4, 28.8, and 1.4 min were obtained in TSB. The corresponding z-values were 4.9°C (crab meat) and 4.8°C (TSB), respectively. The conclusions were that (i) current pasteurization conditions (e.g., 70°C for 2 min) would achieve complete destruction of any L. monocytogenes present in crab meat and (ii) TSB could be used as a model matrix for assessing the thermal inactivation of L. monocytogenes in crab meat.
