House of Spices (India), packaging products under MDH brand names, is recalling various lots of “MDH SAMBAR MASALA” because of the risk of Salmonella contamination, according to a recall notice posted on the FDA’s website.
The recalled product, produced by R-Pure Agro Specialities and distributed by House of Spices (India), were sold in retail grocery stores in Northern California.
The New Jersey Department of Health is working with the Mendham Township Health Department and the Mendham Golf and Tennis Club (MGTC) in response to a hepatitis A outbreak related to a food handler at the club. MGTC is a members only club.
Hepatitis A is an immediately reportable condition to the Department and the local health department; through this mechanism this case was identified. The Department of Health is supporting the Mendham Township Health Department—which began immediately investigating. The food handler was excluded from work and a review of other food handlers for vaccination and proof of immunity was conducted. Close contacts of the food handler were identified and given prophylaxis (vaccine or medication to prevent illness after exposure).
Image CDC
Posted in food bourne outbreak, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, outbreak, Shigella, Uncategorized
A Salmonella outbreak associated with steak tartare served at Restore Public House in La Crosse, Wisconsin has sickened 17 people, Jen Rombalski, Health Director of the La Crosse County Health Department told Food Poisoning Bulletin in an email. Steak tartare is made from beef that is finely chopped, mixed with other ingredients, and served raw.
This food is considered “high risk.” The restaurant prepared it properly, according to public health officials. Restaurants can serve these foods, according to Ms. Rombalski, as long as they post an advisory telling consumers that the food is risky to consume.
The Safety Reporting Portal (SRP) streamlines the process of reporting product safety issues to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Whatever your role, (manufacturer, health care professional, researcher, public health official, or concerned citizen), when you submit a safety report through this Portal, you make a vital contribution to the safety of America’s food supply, medicines, and other products that touch us all.
Parts of this website have been translated from English to Spanish. Pages that have been translated have an “En Espanol” link in the upper right part of the page. Click this link to see the page in Spanish (Espanol). Click “In English” to see the page in English. In the case of any discrepancy in meaning, the English version is considered official. Currently, report questions are only in English and reports should only be submitted in English. Thank you for using the FDA Safety Reporting Portal.
A Philadelphia E. coli outbreak has sickened at least 14 people, according to a Health Alert issued by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Public health officials “have identified a few shared restaurant exposures,” in their ongoing case investigation, but no one restaurant or food has been named so far.
Posted in food bourne outbreak, food contamination, 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 disease, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Uncategorized
The top nine retailers across the UK have today published their latest testing results on campylobacter contamination in UK-produced fresh whole chickens (covering samples tested from April to June 2019).
The latest figures show that on average, across the major retailers, 3.6% of chickens tested positive for the highest level of contamination. These are the chickens carrying more than 1,000 colony forming units per gram (cfu/g) of campylobacter.
| Contamination levels | July-September 2018 | October-December 2018 | January-March 2019 | April-June 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cfu/g less than 10 | 58.8% | 63.1% | 55.4% | 59% |
| cfu/g 10-99 | 26.7% | 22.3% | 25.3% | 25.3% |
| cfu/g 100-1000 | 11% | 11.4% | 15.8% | 12.1% |
| cfu/g over 1000 | 3.5% | 3.1% | 3.5% | 3.6% |
The sampling and analyses are carried out in accordance with protocols laid down by the FSA and agreed by Industry.
We have been testing chickens for campylobacter since February 2014 and publishing the results as part of a campaign to bring together the whole food chain to tackle the problem. Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK.
In September 2017 we announced changes to the survey, with major retailers carrying out their own sampling and publishing their results under robust protocols laid down by the FSA. We are continuing to sample fresh whole chickens sold at retail, however, the focus is now on the smaller retailers and the independent market.
Chicken is safe if consumers follow good kitchen practice:
The Dragon Sushi restaurant in Palma, which was at the centre of the recent foodborne disease outbreak, had received a warning from the health ministry in June.
On that occasion, there was evidence of three people having become ill after eating at the restaurant; all three were found to have salmonella poisoning.
Food safety inspectors went to the restaurant in June and found a number of deficiencies.
These didn’t lead to the restaurant’s closure. The owners were given a warning and instructed to remedy the deficiencies.
Ten days later, the inspectors returned and were satisfied that the issues had been addressed. Sanctioning procedures were initiated against the restaurant. These have yet to be brought to a conclusion. The maximum fine is 5,000 euros.
There are now 94 people who have been affected by the recent outbreak. The number confirmed with having had salmonella poisoning has risen to 26.
The source of the outbreak is still being investigated. When the three cases arose in June, it was apparently not possible to find the source of the poisoning.
The restaurant, which remains closed, faces a second fine of up to 20,000 euros.
When the number of hepatitis A cases hit peak levels in Southern Nevada in the late 1990s, health officials required all food workers to get immunization shots to prevent the virus that could cause liver damage and lead to death.
But after the number of cases dropped to historic lows in the 2000s, the immunization rule was eliminated.
Today, hepatitis A cases are now on the rise around the U.S. and in Southern Nevada, where health officials reported last week that an infected Las Vegas 7-Eleven clerk handled hot dogs and hot deli items and exposed an unknown number of customers to the virus.
When should immunization shots be mandated to fight disease?
