Category Archives: Foodborne Illness

More Salmonella Issues – Canadian Products – Sprouting Seeds

Posted on March 31, 2012 by | Leave a comment

CFIA

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds Ltd. are warning the public not to consume the Mumm’s brand Sprouting Seeds described below because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella. The affected product, Mumm’s brand Sprouting Seeds – Sunflower, are sold in 75 g packages bearing UPC 7 73295 07582 3 and lot # SF2020.

This product is known to have been distributed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario and may have been distributed nationally.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.

 

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Posted in Bacteria, CIFA, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella, Sprouting Seeds

More Jalepeno Pepper Problems -Canada – Salmonella

Posted on March 31, 2012 by | Leave a comment

CIFA

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Veg-Pak Produce Ltd. are warning consumers, distributors and retailers not to consume, distribute or sell the jalapeno peppers described below because they may be contaminated with Salmonella.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.

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Posted in Bacteria, CIFA, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

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FDA – Jalepeno Pepper Recall Salmonella

Posted on March 30, 2012 by | 1 comment

FDA 

Castellini Company LLC is recalling certain jalapeno peppers distributed from its Wilder, Kentucky facility because they have 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.

While there have been no illnesses reported to date in connection with this problem, Castellini Company is collaborating closely with the FDA and adhering to all safety regulations and standards.

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

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Study – Salmonella Survival in Mayonnaise

Posted on March 30, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Ingenta Connect 

Mayonnaise made from contaminated eggs has been linked to outbreaks of Salmonella infections. This study was undertaken to determine the fate of salmonellae in home-style mayonnaise and acid solutions with or without chemical preservatives. Egg yolks were inoculated with different levels of a three-serotype (Typhimurium, Heidelberg, and Enteritidis [untypeable phage type]) mixture of Salmonella or a three-phage-type (4, 8, and 13) mixture of Salmonella Enteritidis. The inoculated yolks were used to make mayonnaise with 2, 3, or 4 teaspoons of a commercial wine vinegar or lemon juice. The mayonnaise was sampled for salmonellae over a 15-day period at 4°C, and negative samples were tested further by a three-tube most-probable-number assay. The same Salmonella mixtures were respectively inoculated into six acid solutions including wine vinegar, lemon juice, and acetic or citric solutions with or without chemical preservatives. The Salmonella populations of the Salmonella Enteritidis mixture were more persistent than those of the other Salmonella mixture in mayonnaise. Both Salmonella mixtures survived longer in mayonnaise made with vinegar than with lemon juice during storage at 4°C. In the acid solutions, however, the populations of the two Salmonella mixtures were not significantly different. The numbers of the two Salmonella mixtures in acetic or citric acid solutions with the preservatives were significantly lower than those in vinegar, lemon juice, and the solutions without the preservatives. Results suggest that Salmonella in contaminated egg yolks could survive the mayonnaise-making process. The inhibition of Salmonella by vinegar and lemon juice is due to the hurdle effect of organic acids and chemical preservatives.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

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US – Stuffed Beef Recall – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on March 30, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Listeria Blog

Mosul Kubba, a Chicago, Ill. establishment, is recalling approximately 1,100 pounds of stuffed, layered beef products due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The problem was discovered during routine FSIS testing. FSIS and the company have received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of these products.

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

FDA – Blue Ocean Smokehouse – Botulinum

Posted on March 30, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Botulism Blog 

Fish may put consumers at risk of botulism and other food hazards

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in a complaint filed by the Department of Justice, is seeking to stop the processing and distribution of fish products at a California company because of a risk of botulism and other food hazards.

If granted, the permanent injunction against Fujino Enterprises Inc., doing business as Blue Ocean Smokehouse, of Half Moon Bay, Calif., would stop the company from processing and distributing fish and fish products. Blue Ocean’s president Erika Fujino also is named in the government’s complaint.

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Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, Eurofins Laboratories, FDA, Food Hygiene, Food Safety, Food Technology, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen

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US – 30 at College Hit with Norovirus Illness

Posted on March 29, 2012 by | Leave a comment

lohud.com

Dozens of students at Corcordia College are recovering from a stomach virus that swept the campus over the weekend and sent a few people to the hospital.

Some students suspect it was the Norovirus — a fast-spreading foodborne disease that causes diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pains — but there is no official finding, college officials said.

It was first reported on the 800-student campus Friday. Within a couple of days, 30 students contracted the virus and four wound up in Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Virus, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen

Wales – Report on Protecting Consumers from E.coli O157

Posted on March 29, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Consumer Focus 

For the past two years, Consumer Focus Wales has published a report scrutinising the implementation of the recommendations of the Pennington Inquiry into the E.coli outbreak in 2005 in which 44 schools were affected and a total of 157 people, mostly children, were diagnosed with E.coli O157.

In our second report publish in March 2011, we noted that progress is well advanced.However we identified specific areas where more needed to be done as well as highlighting a number of food safety issues relating to the Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) and concerns about standards in some premises serving food to vulnerable groups such as children in nurseries and older people in care homes.

This statement is an update a year on about what has been done since our last report and where focus is still needed. I am glad to report there has been continued progress this year towards implementing Professor Pennington`s recommendations, and improving food safety in Wales.

2011 Consumer Focus Report

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen

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Mustard Seeds for Controlling Food Spoilage?

Posted on March 28, 2012 by | 1 comment

Science Codex 

University of Alberta researcher Christina Engels has discovered how to extract a compound from mustard seeds that can protect against food spoilage.

Engels recovered a particular compound—sinapic acid—from mustard seed meal, which shows antibacterial effects against such strains as Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes, all of which can cause grave illness and death in humans. Canada is the world’s largest exporter of mustard seed.

Link to Paper

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Food Spoilage, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Technology

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Climate change: Potential Impacts on Food- and Waterborne Diseases in the EU

Posted on March 28, 2012 by | Leave a comment

ECDC 

ECDC issued the report ‘Assessing the potential impacts of climate change on food- and waterborne diseases in Europe’.

This report identifies the relationships between meteorological and climate variables and six food- and waterborne pathogens, by reviewing existing literature, in order to assess the potential impacts of climate change on food- and waterborne disease transmission in the EU.

Publication Link – Free of Charge

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Posted in Bacteria, ECDC, EFSA, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen