Category Archives: Food Safety

RASFF Alert- STEC E.coli – Bovine Meat

RASFF

Escherichia coli STEC in bovine meat from Brazil. in Bulgaria and Spain

RASFF Alert – E.coli – Young Sweetcorn

RASFF

E. Coli in young sweetcorn from Thailand in Norway and the Netherlands

RASFF Alerts – Vibrio cholerae – Shrimps

RASFF

Presence of Vibrio cholerae in shrimps from Ecuador in Spain

RASFF

Vibrio cholerae in shrimps from Ecuador in Spain

USA – Irvington Seafood recalls crab due to Listeria monocytogenes

Food Poison Journal

Irvington Seafood of Irvington, AL, is recalling its 1 lb. packages of “Crabmeat: Jumbo, Lump, Finger, and Claw meat” because they have 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.

The recalled “Crabmeat: Jumbo, Lump, Finger, and Claw meat” were distributed to distributors located in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The product comes in a 1 lb. containers, package marked with license number AL 111-C with the company name “Irvington Seafood.”

Please look for the following batch number written on the bottom of the container: 130, 131, 132, 134, 137, 139, 141, 144, 145, 146,148, 150

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem.

Canada – Whole raspberries (frozen) recalled due to Norovirus

CFIA

Summary

Product
Whole raspberries (frozen)
Issue
Food – Microbial Contamination – Norovirus
What to do

Do not consume recalled products

Affected products

Issue

Épicerie Frenette is recalling the affected product from the marketplace due to possible norovirus contamination.

The recalled product has been sold at Épicerie Frenette, 625 rue Principale, Beresford, New Brunswick.

What you should do

  • If you think you became sick from consuming a recalled product, call your doctor
  • Check to see if you have recalled products
  • Do not consume recalled products
  • Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the location where they were purchased

People with norovirus illness usually develop symptoms of gastroenteritis within 24 to 48 hours, but symptoms can start as early as 12 hours after exposure. The illness often begins suddenly. Even after having the illness, you can still become re-infected by norovirus. The main symptoms of norovirus illness are diarrhea, vomiting (children usually experience more vomiting than adults), nausea and stomach cramps. Other symptoms may include low-grade fever, headache, chills, muscle aches and fatigue (a general sense of tiredness).  Most people feel better within one or two days, with symptoms resolving on their own, and experience no long-term health effects. As with any illness causing diarrhea or vomiting, people who are ill should drink plenty of liquids to replace lost body fluids and prevent dehydration. In severe cases, patients may need to be hospitalized and given fluids intravenously.

Canada – Certain Tri-Star Seafood Supply Ltd. Spot Prawns recalled due to Norovirus

CFIA

Summary

Product
Certain Spot Prawns
Issue
Food – Microbial Contamination – Norovirus
What to do

Do not consume, use, sell, serve, or distribute the recalled products

Affected products

Issue

Tri-Star Seafood Supply Ltd. is recalling certain Spot Prawns from the marketplace due to possible norovirus contamination.

The recalled products have been sold in British Columbia and Ontario and may have been distributed in other provinces and territories.

What you should do

  • If you think you became sick from consuming a recalled product, call your doctor
  • Check to see if you have the recalled products in your home or establishment
  • Do not consume the recalled products
  • Do not serve, use, sell, or distribute the recalled products
  • Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the location where they were purchased
  • Consumers who are unsure if they have purchased the affected products are advised to contact their retailer

People with norovirus illness usually develop symptoms of gastroenteritis within 24 to 48 hours, but symptoms can start as early as 12 hours after exposure. The illness often begins suddenly. Even after having the illness, you can still become re-infected by norovirus. The main symptoms of norovirus illness are diarrhea, vomiting (children usually experience more vomiting than adults), nausea and stomach cramps. Other symptoms may include low-grade fever, headache, chills, muscle aches and fatigue (a general sense of tiredness).  Most people feel better within one or two days, with symptoms resolving on their own, and experience no long-term health effects. As with any illness causing diarrhea or vomiting, people who are ill should drink plenty of liquids to replace lost body fluids and prevent dehydration. In severe cases, patients may need to be hospitalized and given fluids intravenously.

USA – CDC – Food Safety Materials

CDC

CDC offers many free educational resources about preventing food poisoning. Read feature stories to learn more, share infographics and videos on social media, and syndicate our web pages on your site to help educate others.

Research – Integration of genomics in surveillance and risk assessment for outbreak investigation

EFSA

Keeping food safe is a challenge that needs continuous surveillance for the sake of consumers’ health. The main issue when a food‐borne pathogen outbreak occurs is represented by the identification of the source(s) of contamination. Delivering this information in a timely manner helps to control the problem, with positive outcomes for everyone, especially for the consumers, whose health is in this way preserved, and for the stakeholders involved in food production and distribution, who could face enormous economic losses if recalls or legal issues occur. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is a tool recently implemented for the characterisation of isolates and the study of outbreaks because of its higher efficiency and faster results, when compared to traditional typing methods. Lower sequencing costs and the development of many bioinformatic tools helped its spread, and much more attention has been given to its use for outbreak investigation. It is important to reach a certain level of standardisation, though, for ensuring result reproducibility and interoperability. Moreover, nowadays it is possible, if not mandatory for Open Science Practices, to share WGS data in publicly available databases, where raw reads, assembled genomes and their corresponding metadata can be easily found and downloaded. The scope of this Fellowship was to provide the Fellow all the training necessary for successfully integrating genomics to surveillance and risk assessment of food‐borne pathogens from farm to fork.

Moldova – Cronobacter found in Numil infant formula

ANSA

The National Food Safety Agency informs consumers that, following the notification of the European food alert system RASFF 2022.2901, regarding the non-compliant powdered milk product: “Mixture of powdered milk with prebiotics for children – from birth, with rapid preparation”, lot. L02.05.2022 and L28.04.2022, valid until 12.10.2023, exporter: PW Proszki Mleczne, Poland, imported into the Republic of Moldova by the food business operator “PȘENEAC”, the Agency urgently ordered the withdrawal from the network of trade in the said lots.

Product information:

Product name: “Mixture of milk powder with prebiotics for children – from birth, with rapid preparation”;

Trademark: “NUMIL”;

Lot: 02.05.2022 and 28.04.2022;

Net weight: 900 gr;

Valid until 12.10.2023;

Exporter: PW Proszki Mleczne, Poland;

Importer: “PȘENEAC”, Republic of Moldova.

Under current legislation, food business owners who own non-compliant products are required to withdraw them from the market and cooperate with the National Agency for Food Safety on actions taken to avoid or reduce the risks to human health posed by a product. non-compliant food.

Non-compliant food business owners who have not taken steps to withdraw these products from the market are liable for legal liability.

 People who have purchased these products are asked not to feed them and are entitled to return them to the shops where they were purchased.

In case of non-compliant foodstuffs or deviations from the provisions of consumer protection legislation, citizens are urged to petition the Agency.

Green Line: 0 800 800 33;

Viber: 067675544;

e-mail: sesizare@ansa.gov.md.

The action is in progress

Quebec – Notice not to consume smoked salmon sold by the company La Bernoise boucherie charcuterie inc.

Quebec

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ), in collaboration with the Food Inspection Division of the City of Montreal and the company La Bernoise Boucherie Charcuterie Inc. located at 3988, boulevard Saint-Charles in Pierrefonds (Montreal), warns the public not to consume the product indicated in the table below, because it has not been packaged in such a way as to ensure its harmlessness.

Product name

Format

Affected lot

“SMOKED SALMON”

Variable

Units sold until May 31, 2022

The product that is the subject of this warning was offered for sale until May 31, 2022, only at the establishment mentioned above. It was packaged in a clear plastic wrapper with a gold bottom and offered refrigerated. The product label includes, in addition to its name, the words “La Bernoise” and “Produit Artisanal”.

The operator is voluntarily recalling the product in question. It has agreed with MAPAQ and the Food Inspection Division of the City of Montreal to issue this warning as a precautionary measure. In addition, people who have this product in their possession are advised not to consume it. They must return it to the establishment where they bought it or throw it away. Even if the affected product shows no signs of tampering or suspicious odors, its consumption may represent a health risk. However, no case of disease associated with the consumption of this food has been reported to MAPAQ to date.

Additional information

The Ministry publishes various information documents concerning food safety. Interested persons can consult them in the “Food Consumption” section of the MAPAQ website: www.mapaq.gouv.qc.ca/consommation  . They also have the possibility of registering online by visiting www.mapaq.gouv.qc.ca/rappelsfoods  to receive, by e-mail, the food recall press releases published by the Ministry. Finally, it is possible to follow “MAPAQfoods” on Twitter at the following address: www.twitter.com/MAPAQfoods  .

smoked salmon (CNW Group/Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) 

Hazard Classification:  Class 1

Reference Number: 4558

Source

Media relations
Direction des communications
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food
Tel. : 418 380-2100, extension 3512
www.mapaq.gouv.qc.ca