Category Archives: Food Toxin

Singapore – 131 fall ill in third mass food-poisoning case this month

Posted on December 4, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Yahoo News

In the third case of mass food poisoning this month, 131 people – including kindergarten pupils and teachers – fell ill on Monday (26 November) after consuming food from a caterer while attending a learning camp.

In a joint statement released on Tuesday, the National Environment Agency (NEA), Ministry of Health (MOH) and Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said they are investigating an outbreak of gastroenteritis – inflammation of the stomach and intestines which causes vomiting and diarrhoea.

The outbreak was traced to the consumption of food prepared by FoodTalks Caterer & Manufacturer, located at Shimei East Kitchen along Bedok North Street 5. The three authorities carried out a joint inspection of the premises on Tuesday, with food and environmental samples taken for testing and food handlers being sent for stool screening.

According to Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao, the food poisoning victims had attended a learning camp organised by Busy Bees Asia. Organisers said that the camp was stopped immediately upon the outbreak of food poisoning.

As of Tuesday, 131 cases of gastroenteritis had been reported. None of the victims have been hospitalised.

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, foodborne disease, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, Uncategorized

Viet Nam – Bacterium Staphylococcus causes 42 percent of food poisoning

Posted on December 4, 2018 by | Leave a comment

SGGP News

Staph

 

According to the Department of Food Safety in Ho Chi Minh City’s statistics, the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (Staph) has caused 14 food poisoning cases accounting for 42 percent from 2010 to November, 2018.

The statistics showed that there has been 54 cases of food poisoning cases in the time.
Of these cases, 33 cases of food poisoning are caused by the organisms making up 61 percent, 14 cases are caused by toxic substances, two cases by chemicals accounting for 4 percent and two cases unverified equal to 4 percent.
People and animals have Staph on their skin and in their nose. Staph food poisoning is characterized by a sudden start of nausea, vomiting, and stomach cramps. Most people also have diarrhea. Symptoms usually develop within 30 minutes to 8 hours after eating or drinking an item containing Staph toxin,
To prevent food poisoning by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, the Department of Food Safety warned people with rhinitis or spots touch food materials.
Moreover, people should eat well-done food and drink boiled water; peel fruits before having and wash hand before and after toilets.

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Staphylococcus aureus, Uncategorized

Research – Analysis of Bacillus cereus cell viability, sublethal injury, and death induced by mild thermal treatment

Posted on December 2, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Wiley Online Library bacillus

Abstract

As the most cost‐effective tool to ensure microbial safety, thermal processing induces a large portion of sublethal injury presenting a potential hazard to food safety. Thermal treatment at 63 °C for 1 min injured 2.22 log cfu/ml totally, half of which were sublethally injured using plate counting method. After 2 min, the inactivation log of Bacillus cereus reached 1.55 while the sublethally injured log even reached 2.16. As for the sublethally injured rate of the B. cereus, it was over 65% after 0.5 min and kept ever‐increase with time. In the end, the injured rate arrived at 99.30% after 2 min processing time. Partial esterase enzyme inactivation was found after 0.5 min heat treatment with flow cytometry combining carboxyfluorescein diacetate/propidium iodide (PI) double‐staining, but B. cereus was not dyed by PI at 63 °C. Comparing with the initial protein concentration of 0.57 ± 0.02 μg/ml, the leakage of the protein was not so notable though the general trend was increasing with duration of heat. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed that a portion of cells morphology and structure had changed after thermal process.

Practical applications

Bacillus cereus is an endospore forming pathogenic, causing foodborne illnesses and outbreaks all over the world. This research indicated that thermal treatment at 63 °C was a sublethal stress for B. cereus that a portion of cells were sublethally injured which could resume growth in suitable condition and might exist potential safety hazard if used for food pasteurization.

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Posted in Bacillus, Bacillus cereus, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Uncategorized

Research – Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella on Bruised and Unbruised Tomatoes from Three Ripeness Stages at Two Temperatures

Posted on December 1, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Journal of Food Protection

Image CDC

 

Tomatoes are one of the major fresh produce commodities consumed in the United States. Harvesting tomato fruit at a later stage of development can enhance consumer acceptance but can also increase damage due to bruising. Bruising can affect the quality of whole tomatoes by causing an unacceptable appearance and accelerating decay. Bruising may also facilitate bacterial attachment to the fruit surface and support growth of pathogens. This study evaluated the survival and/or proliferation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella on the surface of artificially bruised and unbruised tomatoes at three ripeness stages (breaker, pink, and red) and two storage temperatures (10 and 20°C). A total of 1,440 tomatoes, 720 for each organism, were analyzed. Both E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella counts declined significantly (P < 0.05) on the bruised and unbruised tomatoes over the 7-day storage period, by approximately 2.5 and 2.0 log, respectively. E. coli O157:H7 was not detected on pink tomatoes on day 7, whereas Salmonella persisted on the tomato surfaces throughout the 7-day study at all ripeness stages. Bruising had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on the survival of E. coli O157:H7 (CFU per tomato) compared with the unbruised tomatoes, in most cases. Tomatoes from the red ripeness stage showed a significant effect (P < 0.05) of bruising on Salmonella survival at both 10 and 20°C. Similar to the colony count results, the frequency (presence or absence) of inoculated tomatoes with detectable levels of inoculated bacteria decreased significantly (P < 0.05) over time. At the lower temperature, E. coli O157:H7 was recovered from significantly higher (P < 0.05) numbers of breaker and pink tomatoes, whereas there was no effect of temperature on the overall survival of E. coli O157:H7 on red tomatoes. Results from this study are essential for understanding the effects of bruising on produce safety and for producers and packers to develop mitigation strategies to control pathogenic and spoilage organisms.

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Posted in E.coli, E.coli O157, E.coli O157:H7, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Uncategorized

RASFF Alerts – STEC E.coli -Chilled Boneless Beef – Farmstead Cheese

Posted on November 30, 2018 by | Leave a comment

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RASFF-shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (in 1 out of 5 samples /25g) in chilled boneless beef from Argentina in Germany

RASFF-shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (presence /25g) in farmstead cheese from France in Germany

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Posted in E.coli, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, RASFF, STEC, Toxin, Uncategorized

RASFF Alerts – Aflatoxin – Raw Red Rice – Hazlenut Kernels – Groundnut Kernels – Dried Figs

Posted on November 30, 2018 by | Leave a comment

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RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 6.1 µg/kg – ppb) in raw red rice from India, via Germany in Siwtzerland

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 20; Tot. = 21 µg/kg – ppb) in hazelnut kernels from Azerbaijan in Germany

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 5 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnut kernels from Argentina in the Netherlands

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 5.3 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnut kernels from China in the UK

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 8.7; Tot. = 15 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnut kernels from Argentina in the Netherlands

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 42.21; Tot. = 62.66 µg/kg – ppb) in dried figs from Turkey in Germany

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Posted in Aflatoxin, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Mycotoxin, Uncategorized

RASFF Alert- Ochratoxin A – Raisins – Sultanas

Posted on November 30, 2018 by | Leave a comment

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RASFF-ochratoxin A (>15 µg/kg – ppb) in raisins (sultanas) from Turkey in Spain

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Mycotoxin, RASFF, Toxin, Uncategorized

Vietnam – Food safety still a problem in school canteens

Posted on November 28, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Vietnamnet

VietNamNet Bridge – Several food poisoning cases reported at public canteens, including a number in schools, across the country in recent months have raised concerns among parents and the public about food safety.

In the latest incident, hundreds of students at Xuan Non Kindergarten in Dong Anh District suffered food poisoning after attending a party at their school on November 14.

Days later, nearly 200 students were taken to local medical facilities for emergency treatment after experiencing stomach aches, headaches, vomiting and high fevers.

One of 13 food samples tested positive for Salmonella type 2 – a bacteria that causes intestinal infection, fever, abdominal pain and diarrhoea.

In October, more than 300 students from Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School in Ninh Binh Province also suffered food poisoning.

Health authorities confirmed that bacteria was to blame for the mass poisoning that affected hundreds of children at the schools after they ate chicken floss.

The samples taken from the food and victims’ vomit tested positive for microbes and bacteria, according to Dr Cao Van Trung, deputy director of the Food Poisoning Supervision Office at the Food Safety Department.

Results of the investigation showed the samples contained Staphylococcus aureus, also known as golden staph, or a type of bacteria frequently found in the nose, along the respiratory tract, and on the skin in humans. It is a common cause of skin infections including abscesses, respiratory infections, and food poisoning.

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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 Safety, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Uncategorized

Canada – E. coli outbreak: 22 cases in three provinces

Posted on November 27, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Outbreak News Today

The Public Health Agency of Canada is collaborating with provincial public health partners, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, as well as the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA), to investigate an outbreak of E. coli infections in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and several U.S. states.

In Canada, based on the investigation findings to date, exposure to romaine lettuce has been identified as a source of the outbreak, but the cause of contamination has not been identified.

The current outbreak appears to be ongoing as illnesses linked to romaine lettuce continue to be reported. These recent illnesses indicate that contaminated romaine lettuce may still be on the market, including in restaurants, grocery stores and any establishments that serve food. At this time, the investigation evidence in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick suggests that there is a risk of E. coli infections associated with eating romaine lettuce.

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Posted in E.coli, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Uncategorized

RASFF Alerts – Aflatoxin – Shelled Almonds – Apricot Kernels – Hazelnuts – Groundnuts – Figs- Dried Figs – Pistachios

Posted on November 23, 2018 by | Leave a comment

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RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 11.43; Tot. = 13.48 µg/kg – ppb) in shelled almonds from the United States in Italy

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 27; Tot. = 31 µg/kg – ppb) in apricot kernels from Turkey in the Netherlands

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 76; Tot. = 81 µg/kg – ppb) in hazelnuts from Turkey, with raw material from the Netherlands, packaged in Slovenia in Slovenia

RASFF– aflatoxins (B1 = 30; Tot. = 33,2 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnut kernels from the United States in Spain

RASFF -aflatoxins (B1 = 13.7 µg/kg – ppb) in figs from Turkey in Denmark

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 9.4 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachio kernels from Turkey in Greece

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 63; Tot. = 73 µg/kg – ppb) in dried figs from Turkey in France

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 19.8; Tot. = 30 µg/kg – ppb) in dried figs from Turkey in France

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Posted in Aflatoxin, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Mycotoxin, Uncategorized