Public health officials announced the investigation of an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness associated with vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, cramps, fevers, and chills at Tamarind Tree Restaurant in Seattle.
According to Public Health – Seattle & King County, 10 people from three separate meal parties have reported a gastrointestinal illness after eating food from the Tamarind Tree Restaurant.
Environmental Health investigators visited the restaurant on January 24, 2023. They observed improper food handling practices, including blocked access to handwashing facilities, improper storage of wiping cloths, risk of cross contamination, and lack of maintenance, cleaning, and sanitizing of food equipment and physical facilities.
The Texas Department of State Health Services has ordered a recall of all oysters harvested in the TX 1 area of south eastern Galveston Bay after reports of a few dozen cases of gastrointestinal illness among people who ate oysters from those waters. The recall includes oysters in the shell and shucked oysters harvested in the area from Nov. 17 through Dec. 7.
Consumers who purchased Texas oysters since Nov. 17 should check the packaging to see if they were harvested in TX 1. If the oysters were unpackaged, they should contact the seller to find the source. Restaurants should contact their distributor for information on the source of their oysters. Any oysters from TX 1 should be discarded.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) are investigating two incidents of gastroenteritis affecting a total of 284 persons who reported gastroenteritis symptoms after consuming food prepared by Rasel Catering Singapore Pte Ltd between 8 and 16 November 2022. They either sought outpatient treatment, self-medicated, or recovered without treatment. None were hospitalised.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) and SFA received reports of gastroenteritis involving 131persons after consuming food prepared by Burger and Lobster Singapore Pte Ltd in Jewel Changi Airport between 7 and 15 May 2022. Five were hospitalised. To protect consumers from further public health risks, the food business operations of the outlet was suspended by SFA since 16 May and the suspension was lifted on 05 July 22.
Daily Harvest has received approximately 470 reports of illness or adverse reactions to their products, specifically their “French Lentil + Leek Crumbles.”
In response to consumer reports of gastrointestinal illness and potential liver function issues, Daily Harvest has recalled all French Lentil + Leek Crumbles.
From April 28 to June 17, 2022, approximately 28,000 units of the recalled product were distributed to consumers in the United States through online sales and direct delivery, as well as through retail sales at the Daily Harvest store in Chicago, IL, and a “pop-up” store in Los Angeles, CA.
Samples were also provided to a small number of consumers. Daily Harvest directly notified by email those consumers who were shipped the affected product, and other consumers for whom the company had contact information, and consumers were issued a credit for the recalled product.
Food & Beverages
Vegetable Protein Product
Foodborne Illness
Reason for Announcement:
Gastrointestinal illness and potential liver function issues
Company Name:
Daily Harvest
Brand Name:
Daily Harvest
Product Description:
French Lentil + Leek Crumbles
Company Announcement
June 23, 2022, Daily Harvest, Inc., New York, NY. Daily Harvest has voluntarily recalled all French Lentil + Leek Crumbles due to consumer reports of gastrointestinal illness and potential liver function issues.
From April 28 to June 17, 2022, approximately 28,000 units of the recalled product were distributed to consumers in the continental United States through online sales and direct delivery, as well as through retail sales at the Daily Harvest store in Chicago, IL and a “pop-up” store in Los Angeles, CA. Samples were also provided to a small number of consumers. Daily Harvest directly notified by email those consumers who were shipped the affected product, and other consumers for whom the company had contact information, and consumers were issued a credit for the recalled product.
Consumers who may still have the recalled product in their freezers should immediately dispose of it.
French Lentil + Leek Crumbles is a frozen product packaged in a 12oz white pouch with the words “Daily Harvest” at the top, a large “CRUMBLES” immediately below the top and the words “French Lentil + Leek” in bold, as shown below. All lot codes of the French Lentil + Leek Crumbles are affected. No other Daily Harvest products are affected or part of this recall.
To date, the company has received approximately 470 reports of illness or adverse reactions. Consumer safety is our highest priority, and we have taken immediate steps to stop production and distribution of the product and conduct a root cause investigation, which is ongoing.
This recall is being made in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Dozens of British tourists have been handed compensation after falling ill on a ‘nightmare’ holiday.
Families were among 89 people who stayed at the all-inclusive Holiday Village on Lanzarote when they suffered from acute gastrointestinal infections, nausea, diarrhoea and cramps in summer 2019.
Representing some victims in a legal battle with Tui, barrister Charles Crow said: ‘Fresh food was added to older food, food appeared to be recycled/re-presented at later meals.
‘Maggots were reported in the milk, which was sometimes curdled. Food, restaurant and general hygiene standards were poor.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) are investigating six incidents of gastroenteritis affecting a total of 17 persons after consuming food prepared by Burger and Lobster Singapore Pte Ltd located at Jewel Changi Airport between 7 and 15 May 2022. Four persons were hospitalised. One had since been discharged, and the three remaining hospitalised cases are currently stable. The remaining cases either sought outpatient treatment, self-medicated, or recovered without treatment.
In view of the suspected ongoing transmission, SFA has suspended the food business operations of Burger and Lobster Singapore Pte Ltd at Jewel Changi Airport, with effect from 16 May 2022 until further notice.
All food handlers working in the premises are required to re-attend and pass the Food Safety Course Level 1 and test negative for foodborne pathogens, before they can resume work as food handlers. The appointed Food Hygiene Officer working at the premises must re-attend and pass the WSQ Conduct Food and Beverage Hygiene Audit course before he/she can resume work as a Food Hygiene Officer. The licensee is also required to clean and sanitise the premises, including equipment and utensils, and dispose all ready-to-eat food and perishable food items.
During April 2022, there has been an increase in complaints of gastrointestinal illness (GI) attributed to eating Lucky Charms cereal reported primarily to a crowdsourcing website. Some complaints of illness have also been reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state, and local health departments. There are very little data on the clinical presentation of these complaints, e.g., symptom profiles, incubation periods, and illness durations, as well as a lack of laboratory testing of clinical specimens. The scarcity of data and lack of a consistent clinical presentation are making it difficult to ascertain if any of these illnesses are linked to the suspected cereal.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is coordinating with state and federal partners to characterize the clinical presentations and epidemiology of recent illness reports. CDC is also collaborating with state and federal partners to evaluate data collected from ill people to determine if an outbreak of GI illnesses is occurring and its potential link to Lucky Charms cereal.
Objective To establish the impact of the first 6 months of the COVID-19 outbreak response on gastrointestinal (GI) infection trends in England.
Design Retrospective ecological study using routinely collected national and regional surveillance data from seven UK Health Security Agency coordinated laboratory, outbreak and syndromic surveillance systems using key dates of UK governmental policy change to assign phases for comparison between 2020 and historic data.
Results Decreases in GI illness activity were observed across all surveillance indicators as COVID-19 cases began to peak. Compared with the 5-year average (2015–2019), during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 response, there was a 52% decrease in GI outbreaks reported (1544 vs 3208 (95% CI 2938 to 3478)) and a 34% decrease in laboratory confirmed cases (27 859 vs 42 495 (95% CI 40 068 to 44 922)). GI indicators began to rise during the first lockdown and lockdown easing, although all remained substantially lower than historic figures. Reductions in laboratory confirmed cases were observed across all age groups and both sexes, with geographical heterogeneity observed in diagnosis trends. Health seeking behaviour changed substantially, with attendances decreasing prior to lockdown across all indicators.
Conclusions There has been a marked change in trends of GI infections in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The drivers of this change are likely to be multifactorial; while changes in health seeking behaviour, pressure on diagnostic services and surveillance system ascertainment have undoubtably played a role, there has likely been a true decrease in the incidence for some pathogens resulting from the control measures and restrictions implemented. This suggests that if some of these changes in behaviour such as improved hand hygiene were maintained, then we could potentially see sustained reductions in the burden of GI illness.
FoodWorld 