Category Archives: Food Poisoning

USA – Raw Milk Issues Again – Campylobacter

Posted on May 30, 2013 by | 1 comment

Campylobacter BlogEurofins Food Testing

The Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture and Health today advised consumers to discard raw milk produced by The Family Cow in Chambersburg, Franklin County, because of potential bacterial contamination.

Agriculture and Health Department laboratory tests and several recent illnesses indicate the raw milk may contain Campylobacter bacteria.

The Department of Health has confirmed five cases of confirmed Campylobacter infection in people who consumed milk from the farm at 3854 Olde Scotland Road.

Based on the reported illnesses, the Department of Agriculture collected samples of raw milk during an investigation of The Family Cow, on May 17. Positive tests for Campylobacter were confirmed Tuesday.

The packaged raw milk is sold under The Family Cow label in plastic gallon, half-gallon, quart and pint containers. It is labeled as “raw milk.” Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized

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Posted in Campylobacter, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Illness, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

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Research – Salmonella Protective Switch

Posted on May 29, 2013 by | Leave a comment

HACCP Europa

Salmonella Typhimurium causes food poisoning in people and can be fatal in the elderly or very young. Recent technological advances in the field known as proteomics are allowing researchers to explore how proteins, the workhorses of the cell, allow the bacteria to infect and cause illness. Most technologies that examine a cell’s ensemble of proteins do so by chopping the proteins up. Adkins, lead author Charles Ansong and other colleagues wanted to look at whole proteins, which provides more information such as how proteins are regulated.

For the first time, researchers have found a particular kind of molecular switch in the food poisoning bacteria Salmonella Typhimurium under infection-like conditions. This switch, using a process called S-thiolation, appears to be used by the bacteria to respond to changes in the environment during infection and might protect it from harm.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Technology

RASFF Alerts – Campylobacter in Dill – Listeria monocytogenes in Sushi and Mackarel – Histamine in Achovies – E.coli in Clams

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

RASFF – Campylobacter (presence /25g) in fresh dill from Italy in Norway

RASFF – Listeria monocytogenes (<100 /g) in chilled sushi from Germany in the Netherlands

RASFF– Listeria monocytogenes (presence /25g) in chilled vacuum-packed smoked mackerel from Poland

RASFF -Histamine (290; 4200 mg/kg – ppm) in anchovies in olive oil from Spain in Switzerland

RASFF – Too high count of Escherichia coli (1.300 MPN/100g) in chilled clams from Portugal in Spain

RASFF – Too high count of Escherichia coli (13000 MPN/100g) in chilled clams (Venus gallina) from Italy

RASFF – Too high count of Escherichia coli (330 MPN/100g) in chilled clams (Venus gallina) from Italy

 

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Posted in Allergic Reaction, Campylobacter, E.coli, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Histamine, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Poisoning, RASFF, Recall

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RASFF Alerts – Aflatoxin – Ochratoxin – Groundnuts – Pistachios – Rye Flour –

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

RASFF -Aflatoxins (B1 = 10; Tot. = 12 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from China in the Netherlands

RASFF -Aflatoxins (Tot. = 9.3 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from China in the Netherlands

RASFF – Aflatoxins (B1 = 16.3; Tot. = 35.2 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachios from Turkey in Germany

RASFF – Ochratoxin A (5.10 µg/kg – ppb) in rye flour from Poland

RASFF – Aflatoxins (B1 = 54; Tot. = 62 µg/kg – ppb) in blanched groundnut kernels from China in the Netherlands

RASFF – Aflatoxins (B1 = 10; Tot. = 10 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from Argentina in the Netherlands

RASFF – Aflatoxins (B1 = 4.0; Tot. = 6.2 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from Brazil in the UK

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Posted in Aflatoxin, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety Alert, Food Technology, Food Testing, Mycotoxin, Pathogen, RASFF, Recall, Toxin

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RASFF Alerts – Salmonella – Paan Leaves – Poultry – Pork – Minced Meat – Fish Meal

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

RASFF -Salmonella spp. in paan leaves from Thailand in the UK

RASFF – Salmonella spp. in paan leaves from Thailand in the UK

RASFF – Salmonella group C (group O:8 detected in 2 out of 5 samples /25g) in frozen poultry kebab from Poland

RASFF– Salmonella typhimurium in frozen chicken (Gallus gallus) from Brazil in Bulgaria

RASFF – Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in frozen pork stomachs from Slovakia, via the Czech Republic in Poland

RASFF – Salmonella Dublin (presence /25g) in chilled minced meat (pork and beef) from Sweden

RASFF – Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in chicken meat preparations from Brazil in the Netherlands

RASFF -Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in frozen poultry meat preparation from Brazil in the Netherlands

RASFF – Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in frozen poultry meat preparation from Brazil in the Netherlands

RASFF – Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in frozen poultry meat preparations from Brazil in the Netherlands

RASFF – Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in fish meal from Mauritania in Denmark

RASFF – Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in fish meal from Mauritania in Denmark

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Poisoning, RASFF, Recall, Salmonella

Vietnam – Food Poisoning Incident – 107 Cases – Sandwich

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Thanh Nien News

Ben Tre authorities concluded Sunday that a sandwich sold by a local bakery was responsible for the food poisoning of 107 people in the Mekong Delta province on May 23.

Cao Thi Diem Thuy, deputy director of the province’s Food Safety Agency, said Minh Tuyen Bakery has been shut down following the incident. Only four people have been discharged from hospital so far, with the other 103 still yet to recover.

All of them ate sandwiches at Minh Tuyen on the evening of May 22 and began to develop stomachache, diarrhea, vomiting, and high temperature by early the following day. More than 20 people were hospitalized immediately, while the others were taken in the next few days after self-medication failed to help.

Thuy said her agency has taken samples from the patients for testing, and the results would determine the action to be taken against the bakery

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Poisoning

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Pakistan – Polluted Water – Culltivated Vegetables – Hepatitis A

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Business Recorder

Cultivations of vegetables from polluted water in the outskirts of the city is posing serious public health hazard and authorities concerned are doing almost nothing to stop this practice. Experts believe that contaminated water, industrial waste and unhygienic food are causing a surge in the incidence of Hepatitis-A disease.

They said that different government and private hospitals reported that patients of Hepatitis-A were increasing. Experts feared that the situation was worsening in cities such as Karachi, Multan, Swat, and areas near Islamabad where the polluted water contaminated drinking water because of poor sanitation system.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had conducted tests in few areas and found them prone to Hepatitis-A. However, scores of areas are also affected with the same problem and continue to cause health hazards to people with infectious disease. Medical experts say that it is the responsibility of the government to providing clean drinking water to the citizens on a regular basis. Doctors advised patients to get vaccinated against Hepatitis-A as preventive measures.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Virus, Foodborne Illness, Hepatitis A, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Toxin, Water

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USA Research – Report on Anitmicrobial Resistance

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletincocci

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has released a white paper titled “Antibiotic Resistance in Foodborne Pathogens.” The paper details information about more than 55 foodborne illness outbreaks since 1973. In 31 of those outbreaks, the bacteria were resistant to five or more antibiotics. Forty-eight of the 55 outbreaks were caused by Salmonella bacteria.

The foods most likely associated with antibiotic resistant bacteria included dairy products, ground beef, and poultry; those foods were associated with 31 out of 55 outbreaks. The paper states that the two populations that are most at risk of foodborne illness are children and immune-compromised people.

CSPI is critical of the FDA’s approach to dealing with this problem. In April 2012, the FDA issued guidance documents for industry that just “encourage” drug companies to change labeling on antibiotics used in animals to prevent their non-therapeutic use for growth promotion or feed efficiency. Scientists, including those at Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, say that the government should issue regulations about antibiotic use that have enforcement capability. Furthermore, CSPI and other groups want legislation such as “The Preservation of Antibiotics for the Medical Treatment Act” or PAMTA, passed into law.

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Posted in Antibiotic Resistance, Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Illness, Methods, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella

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Israel – Soy Material – Salmonella

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Arutz Shever Salmonella

CHS Israel, a company which produces raw materials from soy and which can be found in a variety of products throughout the food industry, informed the Ministry of Health on Thursday that it was recalling some raw materials due to concern over the presence of salmonella in its products.

The plant has stopped all production until testing and treatment is complete. The Ministry of Health reported that a return to production is contingent on the completion of tests, corrective actions and the approval of the Ministry.

The decision was made in light of findings from quality control procedures and not as a result of reports of illness. Salmonella bacteria are destroyed during heating processes such as cooking, frying and baking

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella

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FDA – Recall Cold Smoked Salmon – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

FDA

Salmolux of Federal Way, WA is recalling its cold smoked salmon products because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

No illnesses have been reported.

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Posted in Bacteria, FDA, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, Uncategorized