Moon Fishery Pvt. Ltd of India, the company that manufactured the yellow fin tuna Nakaochi Scrape that was recalled in the United States and sickened at least 258 people in 24 states and the District of Columbia, is recalling 22 pound cases of “Tuna Strips” because they may also be contaminated with Salmonella. The specific serotype of the bacteria was not specified.
NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana health officials say they closed a harvesting area and ordered a recall of oysters taken from there since April 26 after 14 people became ill with norovirus. The closure started Tuesday and was expected to last at least three weeks.
The recall includes shucked, frozen, breaded and processed oysters and those for the half-shell market taken from Area 23 in Terrebonne Parish southwest of New Orleans. Some of the oysters were shipped to Maryland, Texas and Georgia.
Health officials said people became ill after eating oysters from that area at one New Orleans-area restaurant.
Cleveland Beansprouts Co. of Ohio is recalling all alfalfa sprouts because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. This bacteria can cause serious and sometimes life-threatening infections to people with weakened immune systems. Pregnant women who contract listeriosis can suffer miscarriages and stillbirths.
There are no lot codes or any other identifier on the product. The sprouts were distributed only in Ohio. The Ohio Department of Agriculture discovered the contamination under the USDA’s Microbiological Data Program, which is set to be eliminated by the White House and Congress in FY 2013.
If you have purchased this product, do not eat it; discard it in a closed container.
FunFresh Foods, Inc. of San Clemente, California in consultation with the FDA is voluntarily recalling a single lot of its 6 ounce packages of FunFresh Foods™ World Berries™ Organic “Cacao Nibs” because they may be contaminated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 bacteria (E. Coli O157:H7). E. coli O157:H7 causes a diarrheal illness often with bloody stools. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure called Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly. The condition can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, HUS, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall
Tagged cacao nibs, environment, health
Eighty three general outbreaks of foodborne infectious disease in England and Wales were reported in 2011 to the HPA’s electronic Foodborne and Non-foodborne Gastrointestinal Outbreak Surveillance System (eFOSS)[§]. In the previous year there were 63 outbreaks of foodborne diseases (figure 1).
The rise in the number of general outbreaks in 2011 could be due to the continued increase in outbreaks caused by Campylobacter spp (20/83 in 2011; 18/63 in 2010) and a rise in the outbreaks caused by Salmonella spp compared to the previous year (18 in 2011; 8 in 2010).
Outbreaks of campylobacter have increased since 2009 and concurrently campylobacter is now the most frequently implicated causative agent in reported outbreaks representing 24% of all outbreaks [1,2 ]. In 2011, as in preceding years, most campylobacter outbreaks were associated with consumption of undercooked poultry liver pâté or parfait f rom food service establishments [3,4]. Salmonella spp. accounted for 22% of the outbreaks, most of which were caused by an increase in S. Enteritidis non PT 4 (44%, 8/18) or S. Typhimurium (33%, 6/18). The next most frequently identified agents included: norovirus (10%, 8/83), VTEC O157 (10%, 8/83) and Clostridium perfringens (8%, 7/83)
Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Foodborne Illness, HPA, Microbiology, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella
Tagged clostridium perfringens, food service establishments, research, science
A POISONOUS food alert website, created by a local postgraduate student, crashed due to severe overload yesterday as visitors thronged the site to learn about food safety amid an unending stream of food scandals in China.
The website has a record of the latest 2,300 food problems in the country, with detailed reports and victim numbers. It maps different areas with different colors to show the degree of food problems.
The website went down at about 10am yesterday when tens of thousand of people visited it at the same time. The website was back online late last night, after it rented a new server to meet the huge demand.
You can try the website link but it is only in Chinese as far as I can see.
At least 24 people in New Brunswick are sick with symptoms of E. coli infection, including eight who are in hospital, but the source of the outbreak remains unclear.
“While laboratory testing continues, several cases have been confirmed as E. coli O157:H7, a severe strain that can sometimes cause serious illness.”
Authorities do have suspicions of the cause, based on some common food sources, he said. But he doesn’t want to say anything definite yet, he said.
“It is common products at this point that people have eaten. I don’t want to name one versus another one without any good evidence at this stage because it wouldn’t be good for people to, for example, stop eating any of a particular food, just because they might be afraid that they may become sick. We really don’t have good evidence.”
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been involved in testing some food products.
Smiling Hara of Asheville is voluntarily recalling 12-ounce packages of unpasteurized soybean tempeh because of possible contamination with salmonella.
The company is recalling tempeh manufactured this year between Jan. 11 and April 11. The containers are marked with a best-by date of 7/11/12 through 10/25/12. Tempeh is used as a meat substitute in vegetarian cuisine.
The company is directing consumers to return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers wanting more information can contact Smiling Hara at 828-242-1300.
“Anyone with this product in their possession should not eat it,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “Smiling Hara launched the recall after samples collected by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services during a routine inspection tested positive for salmonella.”
Additional tests will be conducted by the N.C. Division of Public Health to determine whether the salmonella detected in the tempeh matches the strain found in an outbreak that has sickened 37 people. Cases appear to have been associated with residence or travel to Buncombe County since Feb. 28.
According to Lisa LaPlante, Communications and Marketing Manager of the Kent County Department of Health, the source of the April 15, 2012 food poisoning outbreak at the Kent County Jail has been discovered.
Laboratory tests have revealed that there was Clostridium perfringens, a spore-producing bacteria, in a rice and cheese product. The food was prepared, chilled, and then reheated and served to the inmates.
All 250 inmates who were sickened have recovered. No one was hospitalised during this outbreak. Other food samples have been sent to the lab for testing because this was such a large outbreak. Officials expect it will be another month or two before the investigation is complete.
FoodWorld 