Category Archives: Foodborne Illness

New Zealand – Listeria Deaths – Charges Brought

Posted on June 10, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety Newslisteria-hp

Bay Cuisine, a New Zealand food company, will face charges in the Napier District Court for a Listeria outbreak last year that killed one woman and contributed to the death of another, the Dominion Post reports.

Bay Cuisine was the sole supplier of ready-to-eat meats to Hawke’s Bay Hospital, where the two victims were patients. The outbreak strain of Listeria was isolated from the meats and found at Bay Cuisine’s facilities.

The outbreak sickened four. A 60 year-old woman died as a direct result of her infection, while the bacteria contributed to the death of an 81 year-old woman.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new report finding that Listeria monocytogenes killed roughly one in five Americans infected in recent years.

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

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FDA – Reportable Food Registry Annual Report Third Annual Report: September 8, 2011 – September 7, 2012

Posted on June 7, 2013 by | Leave a comment

FDA

This is the third annual report that measures our success in receiving early warning on problems with food and feed. The Reportable Food Registry (RFR) has already proven itself an invaluable tool to help prevent contaminated food from reaching the public.

By providing early warning about potential public-health risks from reportable foods, the Registry increases the speed with which the FDA, its state- and local-level partners, and industry can remove hazards from the marketplace.

The RFR data also is providing valuable data to help meet requirements under the Food Safety Modernization Act. For example, we can use the data to identify hazards associated with products for which we have not previously made such an association and thus identify foods for which preventive controls may be needed. The data are also being used to help target inspections, plan work, identify and prioritize risks and develop guidance for industry. The FDA will continue working closely with the food and feed industries to enhance this important and beneficial tool.
Michael R. Taylor Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine

FDA

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Posted in Aflatoxin, Allergens, Allergic Reaction, Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Laboratory, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Mycotoxin, Norovirus, Pathogen, Recall, Research

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Research – Listeria monocytogenes Biofilm Formation

Posted on June 6, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Science Direct

The foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes has the ability to produce biofilms in food-processing environments and then contaminate food products, which is a major concern for food safety. The biofilm forming behaviour of 143 L. monocytogenes strains was determined in four different media that were rich, moderate or poor in nutrients at 12°C, 20°C, 30°C and 37°C. The biofilm formation was mostly influenced by temperature, resulting in decreased biofilm formation with decreasing temperature. Biofilm formation was enhanced in nutrient-poor medium rather than in nutrient-rich medium, and especially in nutrient-poor medium significantly enhanced biofilm production was observed early in biofilm maturation underlining the effect of medium on biofilm formation rate. Also serotype had a significant effect on biofilm formation and was influenced by medium used because strains from both serotype 1/2b and 1/2a formed more biofilm than serotype 4b strains in nutrient-rich medium at 20°C, 30°C and 37°C, whereas in nutrient-poor medium the biofilm production levels of serotype 1/2a and 4b strains were rather similar and lower than serotype 1/2b strains. The strains used originated from various origins, including dairy, meat, industrial environment, human and animal, and the level of biofilm formation was not significantly affected by the origin of isolation, irrespective of medium used and temperature tested. A linear model was used to correlate crystal violet staining of biofilm production to the number of viable cells within the biofilm. This showed that crystal violet staining was poorly correlated to the number of viable cells in nutrient-poor medium, and LIVE/DEAD staining and DNase I treatment revealed that this could be attributed to the presence of non-viable cells and extracellular DNA in the biofilm matrix. The significant impact of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on biofilm production of L. monocytogenes underlined that niche-specific features determine the levels of biofilm produced, and insights in biofilm formation characteristics will allow us to further optimize strategies to control the biofilm formation of L. monocytogenes.

 

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Posted in Biofilm, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Research, Water

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USA – CDC Report on Listeria 2009-2011

Posted on June 6, 2013 by | Leave a comment

CDCE.coli O157

This report details the epidemiology of invasive listeriosis, which often leads to bacteremia, meningitis, hospitalization, fetal loss, and death, and calls for actions that could protect the most vulnerable populations. Older adults and pregnant women, particularly pregnant Hispanic women, are at much higher risk than the population at large, as are persons with weakened immunity (2). Preventing infections in these populations can have substantial impact in averting these outcomes. Older adults and persons with weakened immunity, as well as infants and young children, are also prone to many other foodborne illnesses, including campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis, and Shiga toxin–producing E. coli infections (4). Accounting for underdiagnosis and underreporting, an estimated 1,662 cases of listeriosis occur each year (5). No progress in reducing the overall incidence of listeriosis has occurred in over a decade (3,4); renewed prevention efforts are needed from farm to table.

 

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Posted in CDC, 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, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Methods, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall, Research

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Research – Norovirus – Ozone – Hard Surface Disinfection

Posted on June 5, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Ingenta ConnectNorwalk_Caspid

Human norovirus is the leading cause of epidemic gastroenteritis, especially in semiclosed settings such as daycares, nursing homes, hospitals, schools and on cruise ships. Outbreaks are often accompanied by contamination of environmental surfaces and commonly handled items. Surface disinfection of norovirus surrogates, feline calicivirus and murine norovirus, by 20 parts per million atmospheric ozone in a chamber maintaining 80% relative humidity was investigated. After treatment, neither virus could be detected on glass surfaces, but >5 log infectious virus was recovered from untreated controls. Ozone chambers used to decontaminate small, hand-contact items could be an important tool for controlling norovirus outbreaks

Ingenta Connect

Norovirus (NoV) infections are the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States. Effective disinfection is important for controlling outbreaks caused by this highly infectious virus but can be difficult to achieve because NoV is very resistant to many common disinfection protocols. The inability of human NoV to replicate in tissue culture complicates NoV research, generally necessitating genome copy quantification, the use of surrogate viruses, or the use of other substitutes such as virus-like particles. To date, comprehensive comparisons among NoV surrogates and between surrogates and human NoV are missing, and it is not clear how best to extrapolate information from surrogate data. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of comparisons of NoV surrogates with regard to their susceptibility to disinfection on hard surfaces or in suspension. Restricting our analysis to those studies in which two or more virus surrogates were compared allowed us to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in our analysis, similar to the epidemiological concept of matching. Using meta-analysis methods, our results indicate that hepatitis A virus, murine norovirus 1, and phage MS2 are significantly more resistant to disinfection than is feline calicivirus, but average differences in viral titer reduction appeared to be modest, 1.5 log PFU or less in all cases. None of the studies that compared surrogates and human NoV met our inclusion criteria, precluding a direct comparison between human NoV and NoV surrogates in this study. For all surrogates with sufficient data available to permit subgroup analyses, we detected strong evidence that the type of disinfectant impacted the relative susceptibility of the surrogates. Therefore, extrapolation of results between surrogates or from surrogates to human NoV must consider the type of disinfectant studied.

 

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Posted in Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Food Virus, Foodborne Illness, Laboratory, Microbiology, Norovirus, Pathogen, Research

USA – Various Updates on the Berry Hepatitis A Outbreak

Posted on June 5, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The hepatitis A outbreak associated with Townsend Farms berries sold at Costco has sickened at least 37 people in six states and raised a lot of questions. One of them is how does food become contaminated with hepatitis A?

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated the Hepatitis A outbreak associated with Townsend Farms Organic Anti-Oxdant Blend frozen berry and pomegranate mix. Now 49 people are sick with acute Hepatitis A in seven states. And eleven people have been hospitalized. The numbers are most likely going to change every day.

Food Poisoning Bulletin

Harris Teeter is recalling frozen mixed berries that may be contaminated with hepatitis A. The Matthews, NC-based grocery chain said Tuesday that it is removing  Harris Teeter Organics Antioxidant Berry Blend from its stores out of an abundance of caution because its berry supplier is Townsend Farms Inc. which has been associated with an outbreak of hepatitis A that has sickened 37 people in six states. That product contained mixed berrie and pomegranate seeds.

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Posted in CDC, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Virus, Foodborne Illness, Hepatitis A, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Poisoning, Recall

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USA – E.coli Outbreak Investigations Include Ice Tea

Posted on June 3, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Online AthensEcoli Istock

Public health officials are investigating iced tea among other menu items at a Stephens County barbecue restaurant as the possible source of a major E. coli outbreak that has sickened as many as 18 people.

Eleven people have been confirmed to have E. coli infection, and seven others are probable cases, though their illness has not been confirmed by lab results, state officials say.

There have been no other infections reported since May 8.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, 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, Toxin

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India – Food Poisoning Outbreaks

Posted on June 3, 2013 by | Leave a comment

The Times of Indiaimages

KANPUR: At least 75 persons suffered from food poisoning after consuming sweets at a ’tilak’ ceremony in Surauli village of Bidhnoo late on Monday night. An investigation has been ordered into the matter.

The incident took place at the ’tilak’ ceremony of Deepak Yadav, son of Dayaram Yadav and a resident of Surauli village. Guests and family members from both the groom and bride’s sides had gathered for dinner. Soon after consuming sweets, people complained of stomach ache and were rushed to Community Health Centre, said the police.

Greater Khasmir

Kulgam, May 28:  More than 100 people have fallen sick after consuming Kashmiri Wazwan at a marriage party at Muhammad-Pora village of this South Kashmir district.
Reports said the villagers complained of vomiting and dysentery soon after they consumed the feast. “They might have taken something at the marriage party that might have caused the food poisoning,” said a doctor attending on the sick.

 

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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, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall

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USA – Norovirus Update Mulvaney Restaurant

Posted on May 31, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning BulletinNorwalk_Caspid

The outbreak of norovirus at Mulvaney’s restaurant in Sacramento we told you about in March has been confirmed and updated. Laura McCasland, Communication & Media Officer of the Sacramento County Department of Health & Human Services told us that 138 people were sickened in this outbreak.

The ill persons ate at the restaurant between Friday, February 22 and Tuesday, February 26, 2013. During the week of February 17 to February 24, 2013, at least six food service workers reported that they were ill. People started gettting sick between Friday, February 22, 2013 and Thursday, February 28, 2013. The cause of the illness was norovirus. The restaurant was inspected February 13, 2013 and passed.

Public health officials suspect that the foods that are associated with the risk of developing illness include Turkish coffee pudding, pickled beet salad, grilled eggplant, ham, lamb, and Yukon potatoes. The age range for all of the events was 18 to 80 years old. Among all of the ill patrons who ate at Mulvaney’s restaurant, 52.4% were female and 47.6% were male.

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Posted in Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Virus, Foodborne Illness, Hand Washing, Hygiene, Illness, Laboratory, Microbiology, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Virus

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USA – Salmonella News – Thai Peppers – Holiday Inn Update

Posted on May 30, 2013 by | 2 comments

FDA Recall

FRUIT TREASURE of CHULA VISTA, CA is recalling 43 boxes (25lb) of fresh THAI PEPPERS, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

The recalled fresh Thai peppers were distributed on April 7, 2013 to April 10, 2013 to retail markets in California.

The product comes in a 25lb white wax box with a logo that says “JAMMIN PEPPERS”.

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

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The outbreak of Salmonella associated with the Holiday Inn Bordeaux in Fayetteville, North Carolina has grown to 99 ill persons, up 11 from yesterday. Sixteen cases are lab-confirmed, according to Buck Wilson of the Cumberland County Health Department.

The two restaurants that served food associated with this outbreak are the Cafe Bordeaux and the All American Sports Grill. If you ate at these restaurants and suffered the symptoms of a Salmonella infection, including fever, chills, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and muscle pains, see a health care provider as soon as possible.

 

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Posted in Bacteria, FDA, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella

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