Category Archives: Foodborne Illness

Belgium – 19 Cases E.coli O157

Posted on June 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment

BarfBlog

Nineteen cases of infection with E. coli O157 have been detected in Limburg, Belgium, of which three have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).

The Federal Agency for Security of the Food Chain (AFSCA) said Thursday that all cases are related to the ingestion of filet américain (lit. American fillet) with onions and more seasoning than a normal steak tartare.

AFSCA launched an investigation and based on date of purchase, consumption and onset of disease, the suspect beef has been traced and initial sampling results were positive for E. coli O157

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

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Australia – Marinated Feta Recall – E.coli

Posted on June 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

AVA

12 June 2012: Food Standards Australia and New Zealand has issued a notice on the recall of some batches of Casa brand’s Marinated Feta in Australia due to a risk of microbial (E.coli) contamination.

 There is no import of the retail pack of the affected products in Singapore. While there is an import of the 1.5kg trade pack of the affected product, the consignment has not been distributed for sale and will be destroyed.

  Consumers who have bought the implicated products overseas should discard the products and not consume them.

 

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

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US – Raw Milk E.coli O157

Posted on June 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Ecoli Blog

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Darrel J. Aubertine today warned consumers in and around Chautauqua County to not consume “unpasteurised” raw farm milk from Castle Farms due to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination.

Castle Farms, located at 1051 Route 249 in Irving, New York, holds a Department permit to legally sell raw milk at the farm. Samples of the milk are routinely tested by the New York State Food Laboratory to determine if the raw milk is free of pathogenic bacteria.

It is important to note that raw milk does not provide the protection of pasteurization, which eliminates all pathogenic bacteria, including E. coli O157:H7. Producers who sell raw milk to consumers must have a permit to do so from the Department, must sell directly to consumers on the farm where the milk is produced and must post a notice at the point of sale indicating that raw milk does not provide the protection of pasteurization. Farms with permits to sell raw milk are inspected by the Department monthly.

To date, no illnesses are known by the Department to be associated with product from Castle Farms.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen

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FDA – Red Pepper & Onion Garlic Cheese – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on June 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FDA

Golden Glen Creamery of Bow, WA, in cooperation with the WSDA is voluntarily recalling Red Pepper with Onion & Garlic Cheddar produced on August 30, 2011 because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The Creamery agreed to recall the product after a sample taken by the WSDA returned with a positive result. Samples of the same batch have tested negative through an independent, state-approved lab that Creamery has submitted samples to. No illnesses have been reported to date. L. monocytogenesis 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.

To date, no illnesses have been reported.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, FDA, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

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US – California Farmers Markets Soups Warning – Possible Botulinum

Posted on June 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

The California Department of Health is warning consumers not to eat certain soups sold at  southern California farmers markets because they may have been produced in a way that makes them susceptible to Clostridium botulinum.  

CDPH said Monday that canned soups manufactured by Malibu-based One Gun Ranch and Santa Barbara-based Organic Soup Kitchen had the potential to be contaminated with the bacteria, which produces harmful toxins that can be dangerous to human health.
 
The soups from One Gun Ranch (left) that are subject to the warning include: Campfire Kitchen Cauliflower Soup, Heirloom Tomato Fennel Gaspacho Soup, Sequoia’s Skinny Spiced Coconut, Parsnip, and Tumeric Soup, Oassian’s Pumpkin Stew and Freddy’s Firegrilled Meatballs. The soups were sold only at the Pacific Palisades Farmers Market located at Swarthmore Avenue and Sunset Blvd. in Pacific Palisades, CA on May 13, 2012 and June 3, 2012. They were sold in 16 oz. glass jars with screw-on metal lids.  
 
The soups from Organic Soup Kitchen (below) were sold at two farmers markets: the Calabasas Farmers Market, located at Calabasas Road and El Canon Avenue in Calabasas, CA 91302 (Saturdays) and the Studio City Farmers Market, located at Ventura Place between Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Radford Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604 (Sundays). The soups were sold between June 6,2011 and May 6, 2012 in one-quart jars with screw-on metal lids. The affected soups include the following flavors: Fire Roasted Yam, Curried Potato Leek, Curry Lentil Bisque, Tomato Bean and Wild Herb and Mediterranean Chipotle Chili.   
 
Consumers who purchased any of the soups described above are urged to throw them out immediately and then thoroughly wash their hands with soap and water.
 
As of Monday, no illnesses had been linked to these soups, CDPH reported.  
 

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Posted in Bacteria, CDPH, Clostridium botulinum, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

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France – Sardine Recall – Histamine

Posted on June 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Rappels

The retailer Casino announced Monday, June 11 a recall of batches of canned sardines contaminated with histamine, a compound that is resistant to cooking and can cause digestive disorders, skin problems and headaches.

The products that must be returned to store are boxes of 120g of sardines in vegetable oil brand “Every Day” with the lot number BJ.L 019F, and as expiration date, January 19, 2017. These boxes have the barcode 3700311820348 when they are sold individually and in sets of three 3700311820331.

Also recalled are 120g cans of sardines in tomato sauce, branded “Everyday”, bearing the lot number BJ.L 020E, and the expiration date of January 20, 2015. These boxes have the barcode 3700311820362 when they are sold individually and in sets of three 3700311820355.

Casino has told customers not to eat these sardines and return them to the store for refund. These foods have significant levels of histamine that can cause, soon after ingestion, digestive problems or skin rash, accompanied by headaches,” even after cooking.

People who have consumed the products mentioned above and are presenting these symptoms should consult their doctor and draw attention to the consumer,” he adds.

A free call on 0800 13 30 16 provides more information.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Histamine, Microbiology, Recall

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Korean Oysters Recall Taipai – Food Poisoning

Posted on June 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The China Post

TAIPEI–Health authorities in Taiwan said yesterday they have seized a batch of raw oysters at a high-end restaurant chain and have launched checks on all oyster imports from South Korea after dozens of consumers in Taipei and Taichung reported symptoms of food poisoning.

Since late May, there have been reports of 24 people experiencing nausea, vomiting, abdominal pains and diarrhea after eating at Taipei restaurants in the Eatogther chain.

Earlier this week, dozens of similar cases were reported in Taichung by people who bought food at Eatogther restaurants in the central Taiwan city.

Initial investigations showed that the problem was caused by eating uncooked oysters shipped from South Korea. Checks at the three Eatogther restaurants in Taipei and those in Taichung found sanitation problems in the kitchens, including a pileup of waste, inadequate refrigeration, and oysters being left to thaw out in plastic containers near sinks.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Recall

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FSA – Research Financial Pressure- Increased Food Safety Risks

Posted on June 11, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSA

New research published today by the Food Standards Agency shows that some people are taking more risks with food safety as they try to save money and make their meals go further.

The research showed that most of those questioned (97%) believed the cost of their typical shopping basket has gone up significantly in the last three years, with half of these (47%) trying to make better use of leftover food. However, some people are ignoring ‘use by’ dates more than they used to, while others are keeping leftovers for longer than the recommended limit of two days in the fridge.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

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Organic Meats Increased Toxoplasmosis Risk?

Posted on June 10, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin 

A study published in the May 22, 2012 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseaseshas found that organic meats may have increased toxoplasmosis risk.

Toxoplasmosis gondii is a single-celled parasite that used to be a significant problem in pork. The definitive host for the parasite is cats. When pigs were allowed to forage for food, they often ate food contaminated with infected cat feces, or ate wild animals and birds that contained the oocysts. That’s why your grandmother used to cook pork well done to 160 degrees F, because that destroyed the parasite in all of its forms.

When pork farmers changed the methods of hog raising to eliminate foraging and fed the animals processed food, the risk of toxoplasmosis fell considerably. But the current trend toward free-range food animals, especially pigs and lamb, has increased the toxoplasmosis risk, since those animals are foraging for food. Wild game, such as venison, is also a a source of the toxoplasmosis parasite.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Parasite, Pathogen, Toxoplasmosis

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Australia Milk Recall Listeria

Posted on June 9, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSANZ 

Parmalat Australia Ltd has recalled Pauls Smarter White Milk (1L) from Woolworths, Coles, BP Service Stations and smaller independent outlets in NT due to Listeria Monocytogenes contamination. Listeria may cause illness in pregnant women and their unborn babies, the elderly and people with low immune systems.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall