Category Archives: Food Illness

US Ground Beef Recall – E.coli

Posted on December 21, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Manufacturing Net

A Nebraska meatpacker recalled more than 40,000 pounds of ground beef products distributed in 16 states after a test confirmed the presence of E. coli, the Agriculture Department said Friday.

The products were shipped to institutions and distributors in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. of Dakota City, Neb., recalled 10-pound chubs of chuck fine ground beef 80/20, packed in cases containing eight chubs.

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement that the problem was discovered through routine monitoring that confirmed a positive result for E. coli. No reports of illness have been received.

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Posted in E.coli, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Recall

US Organic Celery Seed – Recall – Salmonella

Posted on December 20, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Swanson Health Products and its supplier, B & M Inc. of Mount Vernon, MO, are recalling whole organic celery seed because it may be contaminated with Salmonella.
 

organicsceleryseed.jpg

B & M’s O Organics-brand celery seed is sold at all Safeway-owned stores, including Safeway, Carrs, Dominick’s, Genuardi’s, Pak ‘N Save, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb and Vons.
 
Swanson’s celery seed is sold at its retail store in North Dakota, over the Internet or by mail-order.
 
In separate news releases late Friday, the companies said they were alerted to the problem by B & M’s supplier, which they did not identify. Routine sampling had returned a test positive for Salmonella, according to B & M.
 
No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with the O Organics Celery seed, which was sold at stores from May 25, 2011, through Dec. 16, 2011.

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Posted in Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, outbreak, Recall, Salmonella

US – Ground Beef Recall – Possible Salmonella

Posted on December 17, 2011 by | Leave a comment

USDA – FSIS – WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2011 – Hannaford, a Scarborough, Maine-based grocery chain, is recalling an undetermined amount of fresh ground beef products that may be contaminated with a strain of Salmonella Typhimurium, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. This recall was initiated due to concerns about illnesses caused by an outbreak of salmonellosis that may be associated with use and consumption of fresh in-store ground beef prepared in and purchased at Hannaford stores.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Recall, Salmonella

FSA – CO-OP – Recall Scottish Smoked Salmon – Listeria

Posted on December 17, 2011 by | Leave a comment

The Co-op is recalling two date codes of its Scottish smoked salmon because some packs contain high levels of listeria. The affected batches have a ‘use by’ date of 21 December 2011 and 24 December 2011. If you have bought the product do not eat it. The Agency has issued a Product Recall Information Notice.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Recall

CIFA – Smoked Fish – Botulinum Recall

Posted on December 17, 2011 by | Leave a comment

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Euromax Foods are warning the public not to consume certain Euromax Foods brand vacuum packaged smoked fish products, described below, because the products may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. Toxins produced by this bacteria may cause botulism, a life-threatening illness.

The following Euromax Foods brand vacuum packaged smoked fish products, sold in various weights, listed below, are affected by this alert:

Product Best Before date
Smoked Mackerel 28DE 11
Smoked Mackerel Fillets 21DE 11, 28DE 11
Smoked Herring 28DE 11
Smoked Herring Fillets 28DE 11
Smoked Rainbow Trout 28DE 11
Smoked White Fish 21DE 11
Smoked Halibut 21DE 11

These products have been sold only at Euromax Foods located at 190 Boivard Drive West, Unit 59, Brampton, Ontario.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.

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Posted in Clostridium botulinum, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Recall

Administration Error Lead to CIFA – Listeria Recall Delay

Posted on December 15, 2011 by | Leave a comment

An article in Food Quality News has reported on how a administration error by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency lead to milk products contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes being left on the shelves for a month. The full recall was reported on this Blog a couple of days ago.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Recall

Scottish Official Norovirus Season Declared Open!

Posted on December 14, 2011 by | Leave a comment

HPS – Health Protection Scotland

Following a report from one NHS board of seven wards being closed due to confirmed or suspected norovirus, the Official Norovirus Season was declared as having started on 5 December.

Weekly Reports Link

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Virus, Microbiology, Norovirus

10% Retail Raw Poultry Packaging Contaminated by Campylobacter

Posted on December 14, 2011 by | Leave a comment

A report on the results of a survey on the contamination of raw poultry packaging was published by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) on 9 December. The report discovered that about 10% of samples were found to be contaminated with Campylobacter on the external packaging. It is for this reason that consumers are advised to make sure they keep raw poultry separate from ready-to-eat food at purchase, in storage and during preparation. Consumers should carry raw poultry home in separate bags and should store raw poultry at the bottom of their refrigerator away from ready-to-eat foods. During preparation they should wash hands thoroughly after handling raw poultry or other raw foods, and take all steps to avoid cross contamination through utensils or surfaces including cleaning and disinfecting food contact surfaces which are used to prepare raw poultry. Consumers should always cook food thoroughly to kill any bacteria that may be present.

REHIS REPORT

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Posted in Campylobacter, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, outbreak

2011 Clostridium botulinum Editorial – John Cowden HPS

Posted on December 14, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Editorial Link

Short paper on recent Clostridium botulinum outbreaks in 2011 in Europe.

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Posted in Clostridium botulinum, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, outbreak, Recall

Eurosurveillance Report – Korma Sauce – Botulinum 2011

Posted on December 14, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Report Link

HPS Link

An investigation is currently underway to explain an outbreak of food-borne botulism in Scotland. Three children in the same family were confirmed as having botulism following consumption of a meal made with a jar of korma sauce. Residual sauce from the jar, the jar lid and a remnant of the meal, all tested positive for Clostridium botulinum type A toxin. The children are recovering, although two remain ventilated and in intensive care unit.

Comment centres, in particular, on the fact that all three arose from consumption of widely distributed, commercially produced foods while the number of cases in all three was surprisingly low were a production fault assumed to have been the source of contamination. In the Scottish outbreak, indeed, the food originated from a state-of-the-art food-production facility where intensive investigation has yet to find any shortcomings, and no post-production event has been identified which could explain the contamination.

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Posted in Clostridium botulinum, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Testing, Microbiology, outbreak