Budgens, Londis and SuperValu have recalled some of their SuperValu Salted Peanuts, because one batch of the product has been found to contain aflatoxins at levels higher than the regulatory limits. The levels of aflatoxins found are not considered a safety risk. However, if you have bought any of the product do not eat it. The Agency has issued a Product Recall Information Notice.
Posted in Aflatoxin, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Standards Agency, Microbiology, Moulds, Mycotoxin, Recall, Toxin
Tagged aflatoxins, budgens, food, londis, restaurants, salted peanuts
Heads of Environmental Health and Directors of Trading Standards will wish to be aware of this update to Food Alert for Action 07/2012 issued on 20 December 2012 concerning the recall associated with rose bean curd tofu and chilli bean curd tofu originating from China via The Netherlands. The Agency has now received further information confirming that other lots of tofu from the same Chinese producer are contaminated with high levels of Bacillus cereus. Based on the findings, the Dutch importer Liroy B.V. is recalling all the tofu products they have imported this year from the Chinese producer.
The affected products have been distributed widely throughout the UK.
The Dutch importer will contact all their customers regarding withdrawing all other rose bean curd tofu and chilli bean curd tofu as a precaution.
Identification of the affected products:
1. Koon Yick Wah Kee – Rose Bean Curd (Tofu) 454g Best Before Date 30.06.14 Lot number 023424
2. Koon Yick Wah Kee – Chilli Bean Curd (Tofu) 454g Best Before Date 30.06.14 Lot Number 023421
(Photo Courtesy of the CDC via Wiki)
Tests for foodborne pathogens in which a culture is not grown in a lab may be necessary for produce companies, but they can’t replace traditional culture tests, industry leaders and government officials say.
Nonculture diagnostic tests have been around since the early 1980s, said David Gombas, senior vice president of food safety and technology for the Washington D.C.-based United Fresh Produce Association.
But there has been a recent push, Gombas said, to use them to replace culture tests that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies and organizations rely on to accurately diagnose cases of salmonella, E. coli and other foodborne illnesses.
That trend was highlighted in a recent article in Scientific America magazine, which found that many clinics and state-run labs are turning to nonculture tests, which are faster than culture tests.
They’re faster, but are they better?
“Right now, the answer is no,” Gombas said. “CDC, FDA, and those in the produce industry I talk to — they want a live bug.”
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit confirmed Friday that it was the Norovirus that caused an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness that affected dozens of people.
Maltese Grocery had shut down its catering operations temporarily after 85 people became sick after eating food at three events the company had catered the previous week. They’ve since resumed, but with additional precautions.
Senior Public Health Inspector Abby Mackie said clinical specimens submitted to a lab confirmed the Norovirus to be the source of the outbreak.
DENVER— The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is reporting widespread gastrointestinal illness (norovirus) throughout Colorado, including in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, schools and child care centers. Everyone is encouraged to increase simple prevention measures to stop further spread of illness in the community. Symptoms of the illness include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramping.
Alicia Cronquist, epidemiologist at the department, said, “We believe the illness is being caused by a virus germ called norovirus. This infection is very common this time of year.
MIYAZAKI — Six patients have died of gastroenteritis caused by a norovirus outbreak at Shunkokaihigashi Hospital in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, hospital officials said Sunday.
The victims — all men aged between 78 and 88 — were among 44 patients and staff who came down with symptoms of the illness, including vomiting and diarrhea, the officials said. All six were bedridden.
The health ministry has issued a nationwide warning about the norovirus because infections are approaching the record high set in 2006.
TAIPEI–Health experts said Tuesday that an unusually high number of diarrhea cases have been reported this winter due to norovirus outbreaks and it warned that the peak season is yet to come.//
About 10,108 patients sought treatment for watery diarrhea at emergency departments across the country last week, which was a five-year high, said Chuang Jen-hsiang, director of the Epidemic Intelligence Center at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
EDMONTON – Health officials in southwestern Alberta are dealing with an acute outbreak of salmonella. Officials in Lethbridge say there are more than 30 cases, mostly in rural areas. Many of the infections are secondary ones, meaning it is being spread by household contact. Symptoms include nausea and vomiting and residents are warned that the most serious complication is dehydration.
Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that commonly infects cats but is also carried by other warm-blooded animals, including humans. Up to a third of the UK population are chronically infected with the parasite. In most cases the acute infection causes only flu-like symptoms. However, women who become infected during pregnancy can pass the parasite to their unborn child which can result in serious health problems for the baby such as blindness and brain damage. People who have compromised immunity, such as individuals infected with HIV, are also at risk of serious complication due to reactivation of dormant cysts found in the brain.
Studies in the USA and UK state that up to 50% of infections can come from food.
Current thinking on how the Toxoplasma gondii parasite invades its host is incorrect, according to a study published today in Nature Methods describing a new technique to knock out genes. The findings could have implications for other parasites from the same family, including malaria, and suggest that drugs that are currently being developed to block this invasion pathway may be unsuccessful.
Posted in Food Hygiene, Food Safety, Food Testing, Microbiology, Parasite, Research, Toxoplasmosis
Listeria monocytogenes (15000 CFU/g) in smoked salmon in Germany sourced from Poland
Welcome to outbreakdatabase.com, a searchable database of illness outbreaks caused by one or more of the following
The database describes outbreaks occurring since 1984.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines an outbreak as “two or more ill persons linked to a common source” and this serves as the basis of outbreakdatabase.com. To be included in outbreakdatabase.com, the outbreak must have supporting documentation from public health agencies, journal articles, media reports, etc. Names of stores, brands, restaurants, or other sources are listed if they have been publicly identified previously.
The database is a work in progress. It will continually be updated and revised. Significant effort has been made to ensure the data are accurate. We welcome contributions, corrections, comments, etc. Please use the contact form for comments.
Up to 10,000 pounds of spinach are washed and packaged every day in iVeg Pak’s Toronto, Ontario plant. No matter where the spinach originates – Mexico, Texas, New Jersey or Ontario – the end product goes into a Pop-i package. That brand must be protected, not only for the Carnevale family owners but for the entire food chain.
To meet those standards, Taylor McCarthy’s full-time job is quality assurance, taking water samples every hour and making sure that the spinach is in the peracetic acid bath for a minimum of 45 seconds before proceeding to a drum dryer.
“This sanitizer has proven to be very effective,” says McCarthy. “We are an industry leader in using this product instead of chlorine. It’s not as corrosive on the stainless steel equipment.”
Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Methods, Microbiology, Research
Tagged restaurants, water
