Category Archives: Food Illness

India – 150 Hospitalised After Food Poisoning At iPhone Maker Foxconn India, Workers Protest

Posted on December 20, 2021 by | Leave a comment

NDTV

Chennai: 

Police detained scores of people for blocking highways in a protest against food poisoning incident at a Foxconn India unit, which makes iPhones for Apple Inc, a police official said on Sunday.

More than 150 employees at Foxconn’s production unit were hospitalised after a bout of food poisoning at Foxconn’s dormitories, where a majority of its staff lives. Food poisoning sparked protests by workers and their relatives, who blocked a key Chennai-Bengaluru highway for several hours, said a police official said.

“Nearly 70 women and 22 men have been detained since Saturday for blocking highway,” the official said.

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

India – Toll in suspected food poisoning in Dahod rises to eight

Posted on December 17, 2021 by | Leave a comment

India Express

The death toll in a suspected case of food poisoning in Dahod district’s Bhulwan village went up to eight on Wednesday, with one more person succumbing during treatment.

Seven of the 17 affected persons died until Tuesday after allegedly consuming a meal from the concluding ceremony of a nine-day religious event in Bhulwan village on Sunday. While four persons died late Monday, three succumbed Tuesday evening.

According to police, the villagers participated in sacrificing goats at the concluding ceremony of “Jatar” gathering, which is a nine-day religious event held every five years to pray for the well-being of the village.

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Posted in Death, food bourne outbreak, food death, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Poisoning Death, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, outbreak

Hong Kong – Food-poisoned in quarantine hotel – and no one to help

Posted on December 15, 2021 by | Leave a comment

The Standard

A 23-year-old man suffering from food poisoning for more than 18 hours in his quarantine hotel room at Four Points by Sheraton in Tung Chung and was left unattended, raising alarm bells about lack of care for sick residents at isolation hotels.

He was however sent to North Lantau Hospital more than one hour after his friend’s Australian mother, who is a resident finally alerted the hotel front desk at about 2.30 pm Tuesday. Doctor later diagnosed he was suffering from food poisoning.

The man, named JB, arrived in Hong Kong from San Francisco with a 22-year-old friend last Sunday and started their 21 days quarantine at Four Points by Sheraton Hong Kong, Tung Chung. The two are Hong Kong residents and returning home after visited San Francisco.

JB felt gassy and nauseous on Monday night after eating chicken wings and rice provided by the hotel and started vomiting due to suspected food poisoning.

“It [the food] was a little cold when I picked it up,” said JB, “[the chicken wing] looked raw when I inspected after I threw up.”

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Posted in Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Poisoning, Foodborne Illness, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Poisoning

USA – FSIS Retail Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) Pilot Project Update

Posted on December 15, 2021 by | Leave a comment

FSIS USDA

Listeria kswfoodworld food safety food poisoning

Image CDC

In January 2016, FSIS launched a multi-year nationwide pilot project to assess whether retail delicatessens are using the recommendations in the Retail Lm Guidance. FSIS tracked progress for this pilot project in the fiscal year (FY) 2021 FSIS Annual Plan and the FY 2017-2021 FSIS Strategic Plan.

As of September 30, 2021, FSIS discontinued its retail Lm surveillance because data analysis has shown that retailers have consistently followed a high percentage of the recommendations. Moving forward, FSIS will continue steps to educate the industry on its Retail Lm Guidance and associated best practices. FSIS intends to broaden its reach by partnering with retail trade associations and state regulatory authorities to assist in the distribution of educational materials for this initiative.

Since the pilot project was launched, FSIS investigators completed a total of 7,114 questionnaires in retail delis to determine the adoption rate of the recommendations. In the fourth quarter of FY 2021, FSIS reviewed 155 questionnaires completed by investigators in retail delis. The agency exceeded its target with the retailers following 93% of the 33 recommendations over the previous 12 months (target 92%).

Additionally, under its strategic and annual plans, FSIS is tracking whether the retail delis assessed are following the top eight recommendations from the FSIS Retail Lm Guidance, which are listed on pages 1-2 of the FSIS Directive 10.310.1- Pilot Project: Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Retail Delicatessens.

In the fourth quarter of FY 2021, FSIS reviewed 151 questionnaires conducted by investigators in which all eight recommendations could be assessed. The agency exceeded its annual target with 75% retailers following all eight of the most important guidelines (target 64%). These results are similar to those of last fiscal year and quarter, with FSIS meeting or exceeding its targets for both measures.

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Safety, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Research

Sweden – Salmonella outbreak over.

Posted on December 14, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Salmonella

An outbreak of Salmonella has ended in Sweden with officials unable to find the source of infection.

In October, 40 people became ill with monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium with the majority falling sick in the first half of the month. An earlier update identified 33 patients. Cases were linked by whole genome sequencing.

As no new illnesses have been recorded after late October, the outbreak was recently judged to be over by authorities.

Sick people were 2 to 92 years old with a median age of 44. They lived in eight different regions.

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, outbreak, Salmonella

Canada – Avocados are possible link in Canada Salmonella Outbreak

Posted on December 13, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Food Poison Journal

Food Safety News reports that in a public health notice, officials report a Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak of unknown origin is continuing to grow, with patients spread across five Canadian provinces.

As of Dec. 9, there were 16 new confirmed patients, bringing the tally to 79, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. Four people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

“Many of the individuals who became sick reported eating fresh avocados purchased from grocery stores or served at restaurants before their illness. Investigation findings to date have identified that these avocados have been distributed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. More information is needed to confirm the source of the outbreak. The outbreak appears to be ongoing, as illnesses continue to be reported,” according to public health officials.

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, food contamination, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak, Salmonella, salmonellosis

Argentina – More Salmonella cases reported in Salta, Nearly half in young children

Posted on December 13, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Outbreak News Today

kswfoodworld salmonella

In a follow-up on the Salmonella situation in Salta province, Argentina, the Ministry of Public Health reported that from the beginning of 2021 and until the end of last week, 1,283 cases of salmonellosis were confirmed in the province.

In the first months of the year, a greater number of cases comprised in the first nine epidemiological weeks was observed. Then, between weeks 10 and 38, isolated infections occurred. And, from week 32 that began on August 8 until today, 665 laboratory-confirmed cases were reported.

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Singapore – Downgrading of food stall, B&S Food Corner – due to food poisoning incident ​

Posted on December 13, 2021 by | Leave a comment

SFA

22 persons were reported to have gastroenteritis symptoms after consuming food prepared at B&S Food Corner on 19 May 2021. None of them were hospitalised.
A joint investigation by the Ministry of Health and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) was conducted following the incident. Several hygiene lapses were identified during an inspection of the food stall on 21 May 2021 and SFA will be taking enforcement action against the licensee for these lapses.
SFA has adjusted the food stall’s food hygiene grade from “B” to “C” with effect from 10 December 2021, to be reviewed in 12 months. The premises will also be kept under surveillance.
Food operators are reminded to adhere to good food hygiene and safety processes. Good hygiene practices such as the washing of hands before handling food can greatly reduce the incidence of gastroenteritis when adopted by all key stakeholders, including the industry and public.
The information provided on this website should not be used as basis for any legal proceedings. Neither SFA nor any of its employees involved in the supply of the above information shall be liable for any loss or damage suffered by any member of the public by reason of any error or omission of whatever nature appearing therein or however caused.

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, food contamination, food handler, Food Hazard, 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, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, outbreak, Poisoning

Research – An outbreak of food poisoning due to Escherichia coli serotype O7:H4 carrying astA for enteroaggregative E. coli heat-stable enterotoxin1 (EAST1) – Seaweed

Posted on December 12, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Cambridge Org

In June 2020, a large-scale food poisoning outbreak involving about 3000 elementary and junior high school students occurred in Yashio, Saitama, Japan. A school lunch was the only food stuff ingested by all of the patients. Escherichia coli serotype O7:H4 carrying the astA gene for enteroaggregative E. coli (EAggEC) heat-stable enterotoxin 1 (EAST1) was detected in faecal specimens from the patients, and sample inspection revealed its presence in a seaweed salad and red seaweed (Gigartina tenella) as one of the raw materials. Analysis of the antibiotic sensitivity of the isolates revealed resistance to ampicillin and cefotaxime. All isolates were confirmed to be of the same origin by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis after digestion with the restriction enzyme XbaI, and single nucleotide polymorphism analysis using whole genome sequencing. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a large-scale food poisoning caused by E. coli O7:H4, which lacks well-characterized virulence genes other than astA.

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Posted in E.coli O7:H4, food bourne outbreak, food contamination, food handler, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak, STEC, STEC E.coli

Canada – Public Health Notice: Outbreak of Salmonella infections – Update

Posted on December 10, 2021 by | Leave a comment

PHAC

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is collaborating with provincial public health partners, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada to investigate an outbreak of Salmonella infections involving five provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. The illnesses reported in Ontario were related to travel to Alberta and British Columbia.

The source of the outbreak has not been confirmed and the investigation is ongoing. Many of the individuals who became sick reported eating fresh avocados purchased from grocery stores or served at restaurants before their illness. Investigation findings to date have identified that these avocados have been distributed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. More information is needed to confirm the source of the outbreak. The outbreak appears to be ongoing, as illnesses continue to be reported.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is issuing this public health notice to inform residents and businesses in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba of the investigation findings to date so that they can make informed decisions. At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that residents in other provinces and territories are affected by this outbreak. This notice also includes important safe food handling information for Canadians and businesses that may help prevent further Salmonella infections.

This public health notice will be updated as the investigation evolves.

Investigation summary

As of December 9, there have been 79 laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella Enteritidis illness investigated in: British Columbia (34), Alberta (28), Saskatchewan (4), Manitoba (11) and Ontario (2). The illnesses reported in Ontario are related to travel to Alberta and British Columbia. Individuals became sick between early September 2021 and mid-November 2021. Four individuals have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. Individuals who became ill are between 5 and 89 years of age. The majority of cases (63%) are female.

CFIA is conducting a food safety investigation. If specific contaminated food products are identified, they will take the necessary steps to protect the public, including requesting a recall of product as required. Currently there are no Food Recall Warnings associated with this outbreak.

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, outbreak, Research, Salmonella