Category Archives: Food Hygiene

RASFF Alert – Campylobacter -Chilled Chicken Products

Posted on November 23, 2018 by | Leave a comment

RASFF-Logo

RASFF– Campylobacter coli (200-1200 CFU/g) and Campylobacter jejuni ( 700-2900 CFU/g) in chilled chicken products from Poland in Denmark

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Posted in Campylobacter, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, RASFF, Uncategorized

Hong Kong – Food Alert Not to consume romaine lettuce from the US, Canada and unknown sources – E.coli

Posted on November 23, 2018 by | Leave a comment

CFS

Issue Date 22.11.2018
Source of Information Centre for Food Safety
Food Product Romaine lettuce
Product Name and Description All romaine lettuce imported from the US and Canada
Reason For Issuing Alert
  • The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, through its routine Food Incident Surveillance System, learnt on November 21 that there were reports in the United States (US) and Canada about outbreaks of Escherichia coli (E. coli) infection that might be linked to the consumption of romaine lettuce contaminated with E. coli.
Action Taken by the Centre for Food Safety
  • The CFS immediately contacted the US and Canadian authorities for more information (including about the place of origin of the affected romaine lettuce). The Centre also, starting from November 21, held all romaine lettuce imported from the US and Canada for testing at the import level, which will only be released to the market upon satisfactory test results.
  • The CFS has also enhanced surveillance of romaine lettuce from the two countries at retail level.
  • The CFS will continue to closely monitor the latest developments of the incident in the US and Canada and take appropriate follow-up action.
Advice to the Trade
  • Retailers have voluntarily removed the product concerned from shelves.
Advice to Consumers
  • For the sake of prudence, the CFS urges the public not to consume romaine lettuce from the US, Canada and unknown sources.
Further Information The CFS press release

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Posted in E.coli, E.coli O157, E.coli O157:H7, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Uncategorized

USA – Food Safety Tips for your Holiday Turkey

Posted on November 21, 2018 by | Leave a comment

CDC

CDC and its partners are investigating a multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella infections linked to raw turkey products(https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/reading-07-18/index.html). This outbreak is a reminder that raw turkey products can have germs that spread around food preparation areas and can make you sick.

Food handling errors and inadequate cooking are the most common problems that lead to poultry-associated foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States. Follow these four food safety tips at the link above to help you safely prepare your next holiday turkey meal.

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Posted in Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Safety, Food Testing, Salmonella, Uncategorized

USA- Clostridium Perfringens Warning As the Holidays Approach

Posted on November 21, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin CDC Clost perf

A Clostridium perfringens outbreak sickened hundreds of people who ate at the Poplar Tent Presbyterian Church BBQ on November 1, 2018. The Cabarrus Health Alliance reported that at least 290 people had reported symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea after that event. The bacteria that caused the illness was identified as Clostridium perfringens after food samples were tested. The bacteria was fond in the Brunswick stew.

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Posted in Clostridium perfringens, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Uncategorized

USA – 4 Listeria Illnesses Linked to Long Phung Food Products prompt Recall

Posted on November 21, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Food Poison Journal kswfoodworld Listeria monocytogenes

165368 C. Corporation, doing business as Long Phung Food Products, a Houston, Texas establishment, is recalling an undetermined amount of ready-to-eat pork products that may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The ready-to-eat pork patty rolls were produced on various dates from May 21, 2018 through Nov. 16, 2018.

On October 22, 2018, FSIS was notified of a cluster of listeriosis illnesses that were closely related. Working in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state public health partners, FSIS determined that there is a link between the Listeria monocytogenes illnesses and ready-to-eat pork products produced by Long Phung Foods.

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Uncategorized

India – 40 girls from the BC Ladies Hostel in Suryapet in Telangana were hospitalised after presenting with symptoms of food poisoning.

Posted on November 21, 2018 by | Leave a comment

The News Minute

The girls had all eaten dal and rice for dinner at their hostel mess and within hours, all of them developed severe stomach pain and vomiting, and had to be taken to the Suryapet Government Hospital.Doctors at the hospital immediately began treatment for food poisoning, after which all 40 of them recovered and were discharged, according to officials from the Suryapet District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) Dr Niranjan’s office.

“The girls were admitted on Sunday immediately after they began presenting with vomiting and stomach pain. They were all treated and discharged,” said an official from the DMHO’s office. “We have arranged for a team of health experts to follow up on the issue with the hostel and are taking efforts to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again,” the official added.

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Uncategorized

UK – Scotland – Norovirus season starts

Posted on November 20, 2018 by | Leave a comment

HPS

Latest figures show that NHS boards have reported an increase in norovirus and health professionals across NHSScotland are working to reduce the likelihood of outbreaks arising.

Norovirus, sometimes referred to as the ‘winter vomiting bug’, is a highly infectious stomach bug which causes sickness and diarrhoea and can rapidly spread in health and social care settings, as well as in the wider community. Most people make a full recovery within a couple of days, however some people (usually the very young or elderly) may become dehydrated and require hospital treatment.

The best way to stop norovirus spreading is to stay at home for at least 48 hours after symptoms have stopped to avoid spreading it further. Hands should be washed frequently with soap and water as alcohol based hand rubs are not effective for norovirus.

Further information on norovirus can be found at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisonin….

HPS produce guidance for use in all care settings before and during outbreaks of norovirus, and this year have produced new guidance and supporting tools specifically for care homes. Guidance and materials can be found at: https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/giz/norovirus.aspx.

The norovirus public facing campaign materials are now available with posters and leaflets being issued to boards. These materials and social media messages can be viewed at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/norovirus.

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Virus, Norovirus, Uncategorized, Virus

Poland – Epidemiological update: Salmonella in eggs from Poland

Posted on November 20, 2018 by | Leave a comment

ECDC

Since the joint ECDC-EFSA rapid outbreak assessment ’Multi-country outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections linked to Polish eggs’ published on 12 December 2017, 15 EU/EEA countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden and United Kingdom) have reported 336 confirmed, 94 probable and 3 new historical-confirmed cases associated with this ongoing multi-country outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis in the EU/EEA. In the same period, seven historical probable cases were reclassified as excluded.

Overall, 1 412 cases have been found associated with this outbreak: 532 confirmed and 166 probable cases since 1 February 2017 and 343 historical-confirmed and 367 historical-probable cases between 2012 and 31 January 2017. In addition, no dates have been reported for four outbreak-confirmed cases, so they are unclassifiable as current or historical cases (Table 1).

Table 1. Distribution of cases by case classification and country, EU/EEA, February 2012 to November 2018 (n=1 420; 4 cases missing date of onset or sampling or receipt at reference laboratory), as of 12 November 2018

Reporting country Confirmed cases Probable cases Historical-confirmed cases Probable-confirmed cases Total number of cases
Belgium 0 46 14 127 187
Croatia 0 0 4 0 4
Czech Republic 0 6 0 3 9
Denmark 16 0 6 2 24
Finland 0 0 0 1 1
France 21 0 8 0 29
Greece 0 0 0 2 2
Hungary 0 29 0 5 34
Ireland 12 0 4 4 20
Ireland 1 0 0 0 1
Italy 0 12 1 19 32
Luxembourg 4 0 5 0 9
Netherlands 8 25 90 164 287
Norway 22 18 11 32 83
Poland 25 0 0 0 25
Slovenia 0 7 3 0 10
Sweden 11 20 12 2 45
United Kingdom 412 3 185 6 606
Total 532 166 343 367 1408
              698                 710

 

Most outbreak cases were reported during the summer months (Figure 1). Due to reporting delays, additional cases are expected to be reported with onset in recent months.

A total of 112 confirmed or historical-confirmed cases were reported with travel history in an EU country during the incubation period and therefore were likely infected there. Countries where infections likely took place were Poland (25 cases identified from 2016 to 2018), Bulgaria (22 cases from 2015 to 2018), Cyprus (14 cases in 2016 and 2018), Portugal (11 cases from 2015 to 2017) and Hungary (10 cases from 2016 to 2018). Additional travel-associated cases were also reported (<10 cases per country) with travel history to Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia and Spain.

Figure 1. Distribution of cases by month of onset* and case classification (n=1 412; 4 cases missing any date of report), EU/EEA, January 2012 to October 2018, as of 12 November 2018

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The 2016 and 2017 European outbreak investigations identified eggs originating from Poland as the vehicle of infection in this outbreak (ECDC/EFSA rapid outbreak assessments published in March and December 2017). Outbreak-confirmed cases belong to four different WGS clusters.

Assessment

As reported in the previous ECDC/EFSA rapid outbreak assessment, in 2016 and 2017, evidence from epidemiological, microbiological, environmental and tracing investigations identified eggs originating from Poland as the vehicle of infections in this multi-strain outbreak. Control measures were implemented following these investigations. However, new outbreak cases were notified in 2017 and in 2018 with similar magnitude and temporal patterns. Based on the analysis of the travel-associated cases, it is likely that more countries where molecular typing is not performed routinely for human S. Enteritidis isolates are affected by the outbreak, including Bulgaria, Cyprus and Portugal.

Actions

ECDC monitors the occurrence of human cases associated with this threat and offers sequencing services for countries reporting probable cases of human S. Enteritidis isolates with MLVA profile 2-9-7-3-2 or 2-9-6-3-2 or
2-9-10-3-2 or 2-10-6-3-2 or 2-10-8-3-2 or 2-11-8-3-2. EU/EEA countries should consider interviewing new outbreak-confirmed cases.

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, MLVA, Salmonella, Uncategorized

USA – Green Cedar Ackawi Cheese Recalled for Possible Listeria

Posted on November 20, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulleting

Green Cedar Ackawi Cheese is being recalled for possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. This cheese was distributed at retail locations in East Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, Michigan. No reports of illness connected to this issue have been received to date.

The Green Cedar Ackawi cheese is sold in a small clear plastic shrink wrapped package with a “sell by” date of March 26, 2019 or later. The “sell by” date is printed on a white sticker that is placed on the back of the product. The issue was discovered on November 9, 2018 during a routine inspection by the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development, Food & Dairy Division (MDARD) and the FDA.

If you bought this cheese, do not eat it, even if you plan to cook with it. Wrap the cheese in several layers of plastic wrap or foil so other people and animals can’t access it, and put it into a secure garbage can. You can take the cheese back to the store where you purchased it for a refund.

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Uncategorized

Pakistan – Karachi food poisoning: Sindh government takes charge after deceased’s family complains of inaction

Posted on November 19, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Samaa TV

Sindh government swung into action after the parents of children who died after alleged food poisoning in Karachi complained that the government has done nothing for them.

On November 11, four-year-old Ahmad and one-and-an-half-year-old Muhammad died after eating ‘unhygienic food’ at Arizona grill – a restaurant in Karachi’s DHA.

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Posted in food contamination, food death, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Uncategorized