Category Archives: Foodborne Illness

USA – Outbreak Investigation of Salmonella: Raw Cookie Dough (May 2023)

FDA

Product 

Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake raw Chocolate Chip Cookie and S’mores Bars dough purchased before May 23, 2023.

FDA’s investigation is complete and the outbreak is over.

Stores Affected

  • Papa Murphy’s Stores Nationwide

Symptoms of Salmonella Infection

Illness usually occurs within 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food and usually lasts four to seven days. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps. Children younger than five, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to have severe infections.

Status

Ended

Recommendation

  • Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie and S’mores Bars dough are not meant to be eaten raw.
  • This outbreak appears to be over; however, consumers should check their refrigerators and freezers for Papa Murphy’s Chocolate Chip Cookie and S’mores Bars dough purchased before May 23, 2023 and should throw it away.
  • Contact your healthcare provider if you think you may have symptoms of Salmonella infection.

Raw Dough Safety Tips

  • Due to the potential for contamination, never eat any raw dough that is supposed to be cooked or baked.
  • Always wash hands and clean and sanitize work surfaces and utensils thoroughly after contact with raw dough or batter.
  • Keep raw food or dough separate from other foods while preparing them to prevent any possible contamination from spreading.
  • More information is available on the FDA website.

Current Update

July 13, 2023

The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, investigated an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections linked to Chocolate Chip Cookie and S’mores Bars dough sold at Papa Murphy’s franchises and purchased before May 23, 2023.

FDA conducted a traceback investigation and identified two suppliers of interest. FDA and several state partners collected samples at both suppliers, and state partners also collected retail samples at several Papa Murphy’s stores. All samples collected were reported as negative for Salmonella contamination. As of July 13, 2023, CDC announced that the outbreak is over. CDC reports a total of 26 illnesses in six states. The last illness onset was May 22, 2023. FDA’s investigation is complete.

In response to this investigation, Papa Murphy’s notified franchise owners nationwide and stopped selling all Chocolate Chip Cookie dough and S’mores Bars dough at all stores and stopped using unprepared dry cookie dough mixes dating back through April 2023 to ensure any potentially contaminated ingredients are not used. As of July 13, 2023, Papa Murphy’s has not restarted sales of cookie dough. Additionally, the firm is reviewing their dessert menu items and labels to further enhance instructions to consumers to emphasize that their products are not intended to be eaten raw.

USA – FDA- Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

FDA

What’s New

  • A new outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 (ref #1166) in a not yet identified product has been added to the table. FDA has initiated traceback.
  • For the outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis (ref #1163), the case count has increased from 105 to 112 cases.
  • For the outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis (ref #1159), FDA has initiated an onsite inspection, sample collection and analysis, and the case count has increased from 37 to 38 cases.

English Salmonella outbreak linked to eggs from Poland

Food Safety News

hazegg.jpg

A Salmonella outbreak in England that sickened more than 60 people earlier this year has been linked to eggs from Poland.

Samples from patients are also similar to previously reported isolates that fall into a cluster that is part of several national and international investigations.

There were 65 cases associated with the English outbreak; 25 confirmed and 18 probable infections linked to a restaurant, ten confirmed with unknown links to the establishment, and 12 with no link to the restaurant.

The outbreak linked to the unnamed restaurant was reported to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) East of England Health Protection Team in early April. UKHSA was notified of multiple cases of gastroenteritis following food consumption at the site, with attendance or takeaway dates in late March, according to a study published in the journal Eurosurveillance.

Research – Salmonella Berta outbreak being traced in Seattle.

Food Safety News

Officials in the Seattle/King County area of Washington are investigating an outbreak of infections from Salmonella Berta. One-third of the patients have required hospitalization.

Public Health Seattle & King County announced the investigation into the outbreak on July 10. All six outbreak patients have been tested using whole genome sequencing and have shown infection from a specific type of Salmonella. The testing shows that all of the patients were likely infected from the same source,

According to the health department, patients’ symptom onset ranges from April 12 through June 5.

“Public Health conducted interviews with the people sick with salmonellosis to identify potential common exposures and identified that some common exposures were pork and seafood. Environmental Health Investigators began traceback of meat products on June 21, 2023. They collected invoices from different places where some people got food and conducted inspections. A common location or source has not been identified,” according to the department’s outbreak notice.

The investigation is ongoing.

Multinational outbreak of Salmonella virchow ST16 infections associated with consumption of meat products containing chicken meat

ACSA

Since June 2017, there is a persistent cross-border outbreak of Salmonella virchow ST16 to five countries in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). .

A total of 210 cases have been reported to the following countries: Denmark (2), France (111), Germany (26), Ireland (4), the Netherlands (34), the United Kingdom (32) and the United States (1) . Hospitalization rates range from 16.7% (2/12) in the UK, to 29.4% (5/17) and 38.5% (10/26) in France and Germany, respectively.

No deaths have been reported. Most of the cases have been linked to local restaurants serving kebab meat. The number of confirmed cases represents only a small proportion of all infections in the EU/EEA, partly because of different genome sequencing (WGS) capacities by countries.

New infections are likely to occur in the EU/EEA affecting any age group, until further investigation is carried out to identify the sources and points of contamination along the chicken meat production chain.

Indai – 40 People Hospitalized After Food Poisoning in Assam’s Sivasagar

Pratidin Time

As many as 40 people were hospitalized following an incident of food poisoning at Sivasagar’s Bokota Kaivarta village, reports emerged on Monday.

The doctors have assumed the poisoning to be caused due to consumption of food at a religious ceremony held at the village.

The affected persons reportedly showed symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting and fever after consuming the food.

Nine Kano pilgrims had food poisoning in Saudi Arabia – NAHCON

Premium Times Nigeria

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) said at least nine pilgrims from Kano had food poisoning in Saudi Arabia.

NAHCON said contrary to reports that there was a cholera outbreak among pilgrims from Kano, nine pilgrims had diarrhoea after eating unhygienic delicacies from local food vendors in Mecca.

“A temporary surveillance clinic was opened at the affected house when about nine pilgrims suffered from mostly diarrhoea which medical checks and investigations confirmed to be food poison from a local delicacy.

USA – More than 100 infected in new outbreak from Cyclospora; source under investigation

Food Safety News

More than 100 people are sick in a new outbreak of infections caused by the microscopic Cyclospora parasite, but federal officials have not yet determined the source.

As of July 6, the Food and Drug Administration reported 105 patients had been confirmed in the outbreak. The agency has not reported where the patients live.

Public health officers from the FDA have begun sample collection and analysis, but the agency has not reported what food or foods are being tested.

The new outbreak of Cyclospora infections is the third the FDA has reported so far this year. One of the investigations has been closed without the agency determining the source of the microscopic parasite.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking another outbreak that has sickened 210 people across 22 states as of its most recent update in June. Thirty people in the outbreak have been so sick they required hospitalization.

USA- CDC – Notes from the Field: Doubling of Cyclosporiasis Cases Partially Attributable to a Salad Kit — Florida, 2021–2022

CDC

Cyclosporiasis is a gastrointestinal infection caused by a protozoan parasite, Cyclospora cayetanensis. This species is only known to infect humans and is acquired when oocysts are ingested through food or water contaminated with feces that contain the parasite. The illness was first reported in 1979, and the organism was identified and named in 1994 (1). Historically, infections were typically acquired outside of the United States or from produce that was imported into the United States (1). In recent years, the number of reported U.S. cases has been increasing: cases more than doubled from 537 in 2016 to 1,194 in 2017, and then nearly tripled, to 3,519 cases in 2018; in 2019, 4,703 cyclosporiasis cases were reported.* Recently, the parasite has been found on domestically grown produce (2), and infections have been attributed to these foods (3). Produce washing will decrease but not eliminate the parasite (1).

USA – Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

FDA

What’s New

  • A new outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis (ref #1163) in a not yet identified product has been added to the table. FDA has initiated sample collection and analysis.
  • For the outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis (ref #1159), the case count has increased from 36 to 37 cases.
Date
Posted
Ref Pathogen
or
Cause of
Illness
Product(s)
Linked to
Illnesses

(if any)
Total
Case
Count

Status
7/6/2023 1163 Cyclospora
cayetanensis
Not Yet
Identified
105 Active
6/14/2023 1157 Salmonella
Paratyphi B
var. L(+)
tartrate+
Not Yet
Identified
34 Active
6/14/2023 1159 Cyclospora
cayetanensis
Not Yet
Identified
37 Active
5/24/2023 1156 Salmonella
Enteritidis
Raw
Cookie
Dough
See
Advisory
Active
4/26/2023 1152 Not Yet
Identified
Morel
Mushroom
See
Advisory
Active
3/1/2023 1143 Hepatitis
A Virus
Frozen
Strawberries
See
Advisory
Active