Illnesses continue to be added to a tally of people in Canada who have been sickened in a Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak tied to frozen corn.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) reports that there are now 110 people from five provinces who have been confirmed as outbreak patients. As of Dec. 21 there were 84 confirmed patients.
“Many of the individuals who became sick reported eating a variety of raw and cooked produce items before their illness. Initially, investigators identified that fresh avocados were reported by many cases before they became ill; however, more information was needed to confirm the source of the outbreak,” according to the PHAC outbreak update.
“As part of the food safety investigation, the CFIA collected different food items from restaurants where ill people dined. Testing found the outbreak strain of Salmonella in an unopened package of Alasko brand frozen whole kernel corn. Traceback findings identified Alasko as the common brand of frozen corn consumed at various foodservice establishments by individuals who became sick. Based on the investigation findings to date, the outbreak is linked to Alasko brand frozen whole kernel corn.”
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is collaborating with provincial public health partners, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada to investigate an outbreak of E. coli O157 infections involving 2 provinces: Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Based on the investigation findings to date, the outbreak is linked to Hankook (Korean characters only) brand Original Kimchi. Many of the individuals who were sick reported having eaten Hankook (Korean characters only) brand Original Kimchi before their illnesses occurred.
The CFIA issued a food recall warning on January 28, for Hankook (Korean characters only) brand Original Kimchi sold in 2L containers with a net weight of 1670 g, UPC code 6 23431 00030 4, and best before date January 29, 2022. The recalled product was distributed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
For more information on the recalled product, please consult CFIA’s website. The CFIA is continuing its food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products. If other products are recalled, the CFIA will notify the public through updated food recall warnings.
Do not eat, use, sell, or serve the recalled kimchi or any products made with the recalled kimchi. This advice applies to individuals, as well as retailers, distributors, manufacturers and food service establishments such as hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals and long-term care homes, across Canada.
This public health notice will be updated as the investigation evolves.
Investigation summary
As of January 28, there have been 14 laboratory-confirmed cases of E.coli O157 illness linked to this outbreak in the following provinces: Alberta (13) and Saskatchewan (1).
Individuals became sick between early December 2021 and early January 2022. No deaths or hospitalizations have been reported. Individuals who became ill are between 0 and 61 years of age. The majority of cases (64%) are female.
The CFIA issued a food recall warning on January 28 for certain Hankook (Korean characters only) brand Kimchi products. The recalled product wasdistributed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
The CFIA is continuing its food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products. If other products are recalled, the CFIA will notify the public through updated food recall warnings.
Who is most at risk
E. coli O157 is more likely to cause severe illness than other strains of E. coli. Pregnant women, those with weakened immune systems, young children and older adults are most at risk for developing serious complications.
Most people who become ill from an E. coli infection will recover completely on their own. However, some people may have a more serious illness that requires hospital care or causes long-lasting health effects. In rare cases, some individuals may develop life-threatening complications, including stroke, kidney failure and seizures, which could result in death. It is possible for some people to be infected with the bacteria and to not get sick or show any symptoms, but to still be able to spread the infection to others.
What you should do to protect your health
The following advice applies to individuals, as well as retailers, distributors, manufacturers and food service establishments such as hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals and long-term care homes, across Canada:
Do not eat, use, sell or serve the recalled kimchi or any products made with the kimchi. Check to see if you have recalled food products at home. If you do, throw them out and wash your hands.
Clean and sanitize all surfaces and storage areas that recalled kimchi or any products made with the recalled kimchi may have come in contact with, including countertops, containers, utensils, freezers, and refrigerators.
If you have been diagnosed with an E. coli infection or any other gastrointestinal illness, do not cook food for other people.
Symptoms
People infected with E. coli can have a wide range of symptoms. Some do not get sick at all, though they can still spread the infection to others. Others may feel as though they have a bad case of upset stomach. In some cases, individuals become seriously ill and must be hospitalized.
The following symptoms can appear within one to ten days after contact with the bacteria:
nausea
vomiting
headache
mild fever
severe stomach cramps
watery or bloody diarrhea
Most symptoms end within five to ten days. There is no real treatment for E. coli infections, other than monitoring the illness, providing comfort, and preventing dehydration through proper hydration and nutrition. People who develop complications may need further treatment, such as dialysis for kidney failure. You should contact your health care provider if symptoms persist.
What the Government of Canada is doing
The Government of Canada is committed to protecting the health of Canadians from enteric disease outbreaks.
PHAC leads the human health investigation into an outbreak and is in regular contact with its federal, provincial and territorial partners to monitor the situation and to collaborate on steps to address an outbreak.
Health Canada provides food-related health risk assessments to determine whether the presence of a certain substance or microorganism poses a health risk to consumers.
CFIA conducts food safety investigations into the possible food source of an outbreak.
Epidemiological information
Figure 1 is an epidemiological curve for this outbreak, which shows the numbers of new cases by week. Outbreak investigators use this information to show when illnesses begin, when they peak, and when they trail off. It can take several weeks from the time a person becomes ill to when the illness is reported and testing confirms a link to the outbreak. Data are available for 14 cases.
Figure 1. Number of people infected with E. coli O157:H7
Food safety issues occur more frequently than you might think, especially in recent times, with an increase of 125% in grocery recalls in recent years. And while the risks may be fairly benign (think: a gluten-free product that may have come into contact with wheat during manufacturing) some contaminants can have devastating—even deadly—consequences for consumers. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that foodborne illness from infectious pathogens or harmful chemicals causes 48 million people to get sick each year, with 148,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths on average.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) categorizes product recalls based on the potential severity of effects. The least serious is a Class III recall, with minimal risk for adverse health consequences. Class II means that the effects of exposure or use can lead to temporary or reversible health consequences. Class I is the most severe, marked when “there is a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.”
But tragically, there have been dozens of Class I product recalls in the past decades that caused hundreds of illnesses and some deaths to consumers. These are seven of the most catastrophic food recalls in grocery history.
Federal officials are reporting that an outbreak of E. coli O121:H9 infections linked to romaine lettuce has ended.
Four illnesses were confirmed in the outbreak. Little other information was available from the Food and Drug Administration.
“The information collected over the course of this investigation indicated that romaine lettuce was the likely source of this outbreak; however, it appears that this outbreak is over, and there is no actionable advice for consumers,” according to FDA officials.
“FDA has been conducting a traceback investigation and other activities in an effort to learn more about possible sources or routes of contamination.”
The FDA first reported the outbreak two weeks ago but has not shared any information about patient demographics or what states are involved. The agency did not report when the first illness was reported or when the last one was logged by public health officials.
As of Jan. 26, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had not posted any information about the outbreak. That is generally standing procedure for the agency if a specific product is not identified.
In March of this year it will be 4 years since I boarded a flight from Seattle to Johannesburg (20 plus hour flight) to speak at a food safety conference just days after the South African health authorities announced that a Listeria outbreak had been linked to a product named polony manufactured by the largest food manufacturer in Africa.
I recall how similar it felt to the early days of the Jack-in-the-Box E. coli outbreak of 1993– how everyone seemed honestly shocked that such a tragedy could happen.
I have spent the last 4 years working (being 10 hours behind has required far too many late nights and early morning calls) with a cadre of amazing lawyers and more amazing staff moving forward in the first foodborne illness class action in Africa. We have much to do to find justice to the more than 1,000 sickened and their families. I am saddened by the pace of the litigation, but determined to take care of our class members – we have to work harder.
Listeria was the top pathogen source of food recalls and related deaths in 2021, according to an in-depth analysis by Food Poisoning Bulletin. After our second annual analysis of recalls for meat and poultry, which are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), we turned our attention to recalls for all other foods which are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Listeria findings are some of the key takeaways from our deep dive into 2021 food recalls.
This notice has been updated to communicate the source of the outbreak and reflect 26 additional illnesses that have been reported in the ongoing outbreak investigation. There are now 110 Salmonella illnesses reported across 5 provinces. Based on the investigation findings to date, the outbreak is linked to Alasko brand frozen whole kernel corn.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is collaborating with provincial public health partners, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada to investigate an outbreak of Salmonella infections involving 5 provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. The illnesses reported in Ontario were related to travel to Alberta and British Columbia.
Many of the individuals who became sick reported eating a variety of raw and cooked produce items before their illness. Initially, investigators identified that fresh avocados were reported by many cases before they became ill; however, more information was needed to confirm the source of the outbreak.
As part of the food safety investigation, the CFIA collected different food items from restaurants where ill people dined. Testing found the outbreak strain of Salmonella in an unopened package of Alasko brand frozen whole kernel corn. Traceback findings identified Alasko as the common brand of frozen corn consumed at various food service establishments by individuals who became sick. Based on the investigation findings to date, the outbreak is linked to Alasko brand frozen whole kernel corn.
The CFIA issued food recall warnings on December 14 and 19 for Alasko brand frozen whole kernel corn. The recalled products were distributed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec, and may have been distributed in other provinces and territories. This led to a secondary recall for Fraser Valley Meats brand frozen whole kernel corn on December 18. Several additional secondary recalls have been issued since then for products that were made using the recalled Alasko brand frozen whole kernel corn. More information on the recalled products are available online. The CFIA is continuing its food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products. If other products are recalled, the CFIA will notify the public through updated food recall warnings.
The outbreak appears to be ongoing, as recent illnesses continue to be reported. Do not eat, use, sell, or serve any of the recalled corn or products made with the recalled corn. This advice applies to individuals, as well as retailers, distributors, manufacturers and food service establishments such as hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals and long-term care homes, across Canada.
This outbreak is an important reminder to Canadians and businesses that frozen vegetables can carry harmful germs that can lead to foodborne illness if not properly handled and cooked prior to consuming.
This public health notice will be updated as the investigation evolves.
A wide variety of pathogens can cause disease in humans through the consumption of contaminated food [1–3]. Contamination of food can occur at any point from farm to table, as a result of improper hygiene, handling, storage or preparation, and the broad range of food products that can be contaminated adds to the complexity. An estimated 652,000 cases of infectious diseases because of contaminated food occurred in 2018 in the Netherlands, leading to around EUR 171 million in costs [4]. This figure and corresponding costs have remained at the same level since 2009 [4,5]. The exact number of cases remains unknown; only a minority of food-borne cases is captured by surveillance systems since most infections are relatively mild and no diagnostic testing is performed. Furthermore, not all food-borne infections are systematically monitored.
Although recognised food-borne outbreaks only account for a small part of the food-borne disease burden, they can provide insight into the pathogens causing outbreaks, food products implied as vehicles, points of contamination, and settings in which transmission occurs [6,7]. Determination of the contaminated food product is difficult, especially in sporadic cases, because of varying incubation periods in which many exposures occurred, as well as recall bias. Outbreaks offer the opportunity to gather consumption data from more than one case and to perform a comparison with controls, which increases the chance of finding the contaminated food item. Analysis of data over a longer period also offers the opportunity to describe trends in food-borne outbreaks, to identify new and emerging food-borne pathogens and specific pathogen-food combinations, and to examine the public health importance of pathogens, which can be used to improve food safety [6,8].
The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of food-borne outbreaks registered between 2006 and 2019 in the Netherlands in order to provide a better understanding of food-borne outbreaks and to guide efforts to control, reduce and prevent future food-borne illness.
Salmonella contamination of eggs and egg shells has been identified as a public health problem worldwide. Here, we reported an outbreak of severe gastrointestinal symptoms caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. enteritidis) in China. We evaluated the outbreak by using epidemiological surveys, routine laboratory testing methods, and whole genome sequencing (WGS). This outbreak occurred in a canteen in Beijing, during March 9–11, 2021, 225 of the 324 diners who have eaten at the canteen showed gastrointestinal symptoms. The outbreak had characteristical epidemiological and clinical features. It caused a very high attack rate (69.4%) in a short incubation time. All patients developed diarrhea and high fever, accompanied by abdominal pain (62.3%), nausea (50.4%), and vomiting (62.7%). The average frequency of diarrhea was 12.4 times/day, and the highest frequency of diarrhea was as high as 50 times/day. The average fever temperature was 39.4°C, and the highest fever temperature was 42°C. Twenty strains of S. enteritidis were recovered, including 19 from the patients samples, and one from remained egg fried rice. Antibiotic susceptibility test showed that the 20 outbreak strains all had the same resistance pattern. PFGE results demonstrated that all 20 strains bore completely identical bands. Phylogenetic analysis based on WGS revealed that all 20 outbreak strains were tightly clustered together. So the pathogenic source of this food poisoning incident may was contaminated egg fried rice. Resistance gene analysis showed that the outbreak strains are all multi-drug resistant strains. Virulence gene analysis indicated that these outbreak strains carried a large number of virulence genes, including 2 types of Salmonella pathogenicity islands (SPI-1 and SPI-2). Other important virulence genes were also carried by the outbreak strains, such as pefABCD, rck and shdA. And the shdA gene was not in other strains located in the same evolutionary branch as the outbreak strain. We speculated that this is a significant reason for the serious symptoms of gastroenteritis in this outbreak. This outbreak caused by S. enteritidis suggested government should strengthen monitoring of the prevalence of outbreak clone strains, and take measures to mitigate the public health threat posed by contaminated eggs.
FoodWorld 