Category Archives: Food Microbiology Blog

Research – Molecular and Genetic Characterization of Colicinogenic Escherichia coli Strains Active against Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O157:H7

Posted on July 12, 2023 by | Leave a comment

MDPI

Abstract

The objective of this work was to molecularly and genotypically characterize and test the inhibitory activity of six colicinogenic Escherichia coli strains (ColEc) and their partially purified colicins against STEC O157:H7 isolated from clinical human cases. Inhibition tests demonstrated the activity of these strains and their colicins against STEC O157:H7. By PCR it was possible to detect colicins Ia, E7, and B and microcins M, H47, C7, and J25. By genome sequencing of two selected ColEc strains, it was possible to identify additional colicins such as E1 and Ib. No genes coding for stx1 and stx2 were detected after analyzing the genome sequence. The inhibitory activity of ColEc against STEC O157:H7 used as an indicator showed that colicins are potent growth inhibitors of E. coli O157:H7, being a potential alternative to reduce the presence of pathogens of public health relevance.

Leave a comment

Posted in E.coli, E.coli O157, E.coli O157:H7, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, STEC, STEC E.coli

Canada -Green Garden brand Mint recalled due to generic E. coli

Posted on July 12, 2023 by | Leave a comment

CFIA

Summary

Product
Mint
Issue
Food – Microbial Contamination – E. Coli – non-pathogenic
What to do

Do not use, sell, serve or distribute the affected product.

Audience
Retail
Affected products

Green Garden brand Mint recalled due to generic E. coli.

The recalled product has been sold in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Leave a comment

Posted in food contamination, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing

Multinational outbreak of Salmonella virchow ST16 infections associated with consumption of meat products containing chicken meat

Posted on July 12, 2023 by | Leave a comment

ACSA

Since June 2017, there is a persistent cross-border outbreak of Salmonella virchow ST16 to five countries in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). .

A total of 210 cases have been reported to the following countries: Denmark (2), France (111), Germany (26), Ireland (4), the Netherlands (34), the United Kingdom (32) and the United States (1) . Hospitalization rates range from 16.7% (2/12) in the UK, to 29.4% (5/17) and 38.5% (10/26) in France and Germany, respectively.

No deaths have been reported. Most of the cases have been linked to local restaurants serving kebab meat. The number of confirmed cases represents only a small proportion of all infections in the EU/EEA, partly because of different genome sequencing (WGS) capacities by countries.

New infections are likely to occur in the EU/EEA affecting any age group, until further investigation is carried out to identify the sources and points of contamination along the chicken meat production chain.

Leave a comment

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

France – Merguez and merguez meatball -Salmonella

Posted on July 12, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Gov france

Identification information of the recalled product

  • Product category Feed
  • Product subcategory Meats
  • Product brand name Internal
  • Model names or references Merguez dumpling SP.Couscous Merguez
  • Identification of products
    GTIN Batch Date
    0208294000000 MERGUEZ Use-by date 05/07/2023
    0207531000000 Merguez sp couscous dumpling Use-by date 05/07/2023
  • Packaging The merguez meatballs were sold in the self-service department from 07/01/2023 to 07/05/2023 The merguez sausages were sold in the traditional butcher department from 07/01/2023 to 07/03/2023
  • Marketing start/end date From 01/07/2023 to 05/07/2023
  • Storage temperature Product to be stored in the refrigerator
  • Geographic area of ​​sale Whole France
  • Distributors E.Leclerc de Guérande

Leave a comment

Posted in food contamination, food handler, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, Food Testing, Salmonella

Research – Antibacterial Effects of Theaflavins against Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella paratyphi B: Role of Environmental Factors and Food Matrices

Posted on July 11, 2023 by | Leave a comment

MDPI

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different environmental factors (temperature, pH, and NaCl) and food matrices (skimmed milk powder, lecithin, and sucrose) on the antibacterial activity of theaflavins (TFs) against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Salmonella paratyphi B (S. paratyphi B). TFs showed a larger diameter of inhibition zone (DIZ, 12.58 ± 0.09 mm–16.36 ± 0.12 mm) value against S. aureus than that of S. paratyphi B (12.42 ± 0.43 mm–15.81 ± 0.24 mm) at the same concentration (2–10 mg/mL). When temperatures were 25–121 °C, the DIZ of TFs against both S. aureus and S. paratyphi B was not significantly different. As pH increased from 2 to 10, their DIZ values decreased significantly from 16.78 ± 0.23 mm to 13.43 ± 0.08 mm and 15.63 ± 0.42 mm to 12.18 ± 0.14 mm, respectively. Their DIZ values increased slightly as the NaCl concentration increased from 0.2 mol/L to 0.8 mol/L, while their DIZ values decreased significantly for skimmed milk powder concentrations in the range of 60–120 g/L. Regarding the concentrations of lecithin and sucrose were 2–12 g/L and 10–60 g/L, their DIZ values showed no significant change against S. paratyphi B, but an increased trend for S. aureus. Under the above different environmental factors and food matrices, TFs maintained excellent antibacterial activity against S. aureus and S. paratyphi B, providing a theoretical guidance for applying TFs as novel antibacterial additives in the food industry.

Leave a comment

Posted in Antibacterial, Decontamination Microbial, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus

Australia – Research – A1243 Harmonisation of marine biotoxin standards for bivalve shellfish 

Posted on July 11, 2023 by | Leave a comment

FSANZ

To review the current biotoxin (DST and PST) maximum levels (MLs) for bivalve molluscs in Schedule 19 to Standard 1.4.1 of the Code, with the aim of harmonising with Codex MLs for bivalve molluscs (CXS 292-2008).​

​ Call for submissions ​​​

Call for submissions (pdf 507 kb)​​(word 156 kb)​

Supporting document 1 – known cases(pdf 302 kb)​​​(word 132 kb)

Supporting document 2 – costs and benefits(pdf 402 kb)​​​​  (word 138 kb)​​​

Administrative Assessment – 23 December 2021(pdf 235 kb)​​​​  (word 65.8 kb)​​​

Executive Summary (pdf 221 kb) ​​

Application (pdf 11.6 mb) ​​

Application – additional information (pdf 349 kb) ​​​​

Applications published on our website may contain material owned by a third party. If you wish to re-use third party material, you may need to seek permission from the copyright owner.​​​​​​​

Leave a comment

Posted in Decontamination Microbial, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Lipophilic Marine Biotoxin, Marine Biotoxin, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk

Research -Holistic Strategies to Control Salmonella Infantis: An Emerging Challenge in the European Broiler Sector

Posted on July 11, 2023 by | Leave a comment

MDPI

Abstract

Salmonella spp. has been globally recognized as one of the leading causes of acute human bacterial gastroenteritis resulting from the consumption of animal-derived products. Salmonella Enteritidis, S. Typhimurium, and its monophasic variant are the main serovars responsible for human disease. However, a serovar known as S. Infantis has emerged as the fourth most prevalent serovar associated with human disease. A total of 95% of isolated S. Infantis serovars originate from broilers and their derived products. This serovar is strongly associated with an elevated antimicrobial (AMR) and multidrug resistance, a resistance to disinfectants, an increased tolerance to environmental mercury, a heightened virulence, and an enhanced ability to form biofilms and attach to host cells. Furthermore, this serovar harbors genes that confer resistance to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic in human medicine, and it has the potential to acquire additional transferable AMR against other critically important antimicrobials, posing a new and significant challenge to global public health. This review provides an overview of the current status of the S. Infantis serovar in the poultry sector, focusing on its key virulence factors, including its virulence genes, antimicrobial resistance, and biofilm formation. Additionally, novel holistic strategies for controlling S. Infantis along the entire food chain are presented in this review.

Leave a comment

Posted in antimicrobial resistance, Antimicrobials, Decontamination Microbial, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Salmonella, Salmonella in Chicken

Nine Kano pilgrims had food poisoning in Saudi Arabia – NAHCON

Posted on July 11, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Premium Times Nigeria

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) said at least nine pilgrims from Kano had food poisoning in Saudi Arabia.

NAHCON said contrary to reports that there was a cholera outbreak among pilgrims from Kano, nine pilgrims had diarrhoea after eating unhygienic delicacies from local food vendors in Mecca.

“A temporary surveillance clinic was opened at the affected house when about nine pilgrims suffered from mostly diarrhoea which medical checks and investigations confirmed to be food poison from a local delicacy.

Leave a comment

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

Research – Identification of genetic variations related to pathogenicity by whole genome sequencing of Listeria monocytogenes SMFM2019-FV16 isolated from enoki mushroom

Posted on July 11, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Wiley Online

Abstract

In this study, the characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from enoki mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) collected from May to July 2019 were analyzed. The isolates were analyzed for strain characteristics, hemolysis, antibiotic resistance, heat resistance, and virulence genes (inlA, inlB, actA, plcB, and hlyA) were analyzed, and whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis was performed for the strain with the highest risk. Seven isolates were obtained from some enoki mushroom samples. All isolates were β-hemolytic and had virulence genes. Antibiotic resistance test showed multi-drug resistance in L. monocytogenes strain SMFM2019-FV15 and SMFM2019-FV16. L. monocytogenes SMFM2019-FV16 showed higher heat resistance than the other isolates. According to the results L. monocytogenes SMFM2019-FV16 was selected as the strain with the highest risk. WGS for L. monocytogenes SMFM2019-FV16 showed that it had 14 antibiotic resistance genes and 43 virulence genes, and 35 single nucleotide variants in the 43 virulence genes were observed. These results indicate that these genetic variations might be related to the high risk of L. monocytogenes SMFM2019-FV16.

Leave a comment

Posted in Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Listeria, Listeria Enoki Mushrooms, Listeria monocytogenes, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Pathogen, pathogenic

France – Seafood cocktail 1kg METRO CHEF – Salmonella

Posted on July 11, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Gov france

Identification information of the recalled product

  • Product category Feed
  • Product subcategory Fishery and aquaculture products
  • Product brand name METRO CHEF
  • Model names or references Seafood cocktail 1kg METRO CHEF
  • Identification of products
    GTIN Batch Date
    3439496423517 P3151001 Date of minimum durability 31/05/2025
  • Marketing start/end date From 06/16/2023 to 07/05/2023
  • Storage temperature Product to keep in the freezer
  • Health mark FR.69.141.003.CE
  • Geographic area of ​​sale Whole France
  • Distributors METRO France

Leave a comment

Posted in food contamination, food handler, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Quality, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, Food Testing, Salmonella