Category Archives: Hygiene

Canada – Recalls – Salmonella – Mycotoxin – Clostridium botulinum

CFIA – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Wonder Berry North America are warning the public not to consume certain baby cereal products described below because they may contain mycotoxin HT-2.

There has been one reported illness associated with the consumption of these products. The affected products have been distributed in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec.

The importer, Wonder Berry North America, Toronto, Ontario, is voluntarily recalling the affected products from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

CFIA – The public  warning issued on June 24, 2013 has been updated to include additional  product, importer, and distribution information.

The Canadian Food Inspection  Agency (CFIA) and UNFI Canada Inc. are warning the public not to consume the  Prince brand Tahini products described below because they may be contaminated  with Salmonella.

The following Prince brand  products, product of Israel, are affected by the recall. There have been no reported  illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.

The importer, UNFI Canada Inc.,  Concord, ON, is voluntarily recalling the affected products from the  marketplace.  The CFIA is monitoring the  effectiveness of the recall.

CFIA – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)  and Overwaitea Food Group are warning the public not to consume the Prince  brand Tahini described below because it may be contaminated with Salmonella.

The following Prince brand product, product of Israel, is affected by the recall. There have been no reported  illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.

The distributor, Overwaitea  Food Group, Langley, BC, is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the  marketplace.  The CFIA is monitoring the  effectiveness of the recall.

The CFIA is  working with Canadian importers to have these products removed from the  marketplace

CFIA – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Ratinaud French Cuisine are warning the public not to consume certain Charcuterie Ratinaud French Cuisine brand Confit Tomatoes because they may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. Toxins produced by these bacteria may cause botulism, a life-threatening illness.

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

The manufacturer, Ratinaud French Cusine, Halifax, NS, is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

India – Food Poisoning 56 University Students

The New Indian Expressimages

Around 56 students of  the women’s hostel of the Kerala University’s Kariavattom campus had to be taken to Medical College hospital after suspected food poisoning.

According to Medical College Hospital authorities,  none of the students is in a serious condition.

The students developed uneasiness and some of them vomited after having dinner, reportedly rice and fish curry, served at the hostel mess.

The hostel was shifted to a new building two weeks ago and students allege that the mess was not being run in hygienic conditions.  Most of the students were discharged from the hospital after being administered first aid.

UK – Curry Leaves cause Salmonella Outbreak 400 People

The Guardian

Uncooked curry leaves in a chutney left more than 400 people who ate at a street food festival with diarrhoea and vomiting or salmonella poisoning, health officials have found.

The leaves were contaminated with several different bacteria, experts found, which led to 29 confirmed cases of salmonella at the Street Spice festival in Newcastle in February and March.

An investigation by Public Health England (PHE) and Newcastle city council found 25 of the 29 cases had developed a strain of salmonella never found in people or food in Britain before.

According to an official report, further laboratory analysis suggested other organisms may also have caused illness including E coli and shigella.

Some of the 413 affected were found to have more than one of these infections at the same time.

No one will face prosecution because there was seen to be a lack of clear advice about the dangers of using raw curry leaves in recipes, and in general hygiene levels at the three-day event were good.

Africa and EU – Rise in Antibiotic Resistance in Salmonella

Food Safety News

Strains of one increasingly antibiotic-resistant Salmonella serotype have seen a “rapid worldwide spread,” according to a study published by researchers at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and Morocco.

Antibiotic-resistant Salmonella Kentucky, first isolated in 2002 in a French tourist who had visited Egypt, has now “spread at an astonishing rate throughout Africa and the Middle East in the space of only a few years,” the study’s authors claim.

The bacterium has also already been found in farmed-raised turkeys in Europe, though it is not clear based on available information if those turkeys were imported or grown domestically. In a summary of the study, the lead author said he worries that the resistant strain may soon spread to European poultry farms.

This study comes on the heels of a report out of Canada calling antibiotic-resistant Salmonella Kentucky a rare but “growing concern” in Canadian health. That study found that between 2003 and 2009, 30 percent of Salmonella Kentucky isolates from Canadian patients were resistant to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin.

USA – Hepatitis A Outbreak Grows

Food Safety NewsNorovirus

The Hepatitis A outbreak continues in eight western states with the case count as of June 14 rising to 106. The illnesses are blamed on an organic blend of frozen berries and pomegranate seeds from multiple countries.  Produced by Oregon-based Townsend Farms and sold at Costco and Harris Teeter stores, the frozen berry blend has caused Hepatitis A cases in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington.

In an update today on its investigation, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta profiled the cases based on available epidemiologic data from 94 of the 106 cases under investigation:

76 of 94 (81 percent) ill people interviewed reported eating “Townsend Farms Organic Anti-Oxidant Blend” frozen berry and pomegranate mix

USA – More Than Just Burgers and Beer – Campylobacter

Campylobacter BlogCampylobacter

Bacterial contamination was being blamed Monday for an outbreak of foodborne illness following the popular Burger & Beer Bash in Westchester County earlier this month.

The county Health Department said Monday that the campylobacter bacterium was to blame for the outbreak at the June 6 outdoor food festival at the Kenisco Dam in Valhalla.

The bacterium was identified through tests on samples from several people who got sick at the event. The department did not specify exactly how many people were sickened.

But health officials have not determined the source of the bacteria, since most attendees ate food from many of the 30 different vendors at the event, the department said. The department has launched an investigation and has been interviewing people in an effort to trace the source.

 

UK – Food Poisoning Begins at Home?

Haringey IndependantiStock_000012710183Small

Most cases of food poisoning happen when cooking at home, according to Haringey Borough Council.

The authority’s food safety teams, part of the Food Standards Agency, investigated 210 complaints of food poisoning but found no evidence to link them to eating out.

This suggested that most incidents were a result of poor food hygiene while cooking at home.

According to council figures, 40 per cent of the cases were caused by Campylobacter – a bacterium commonly found in raw or undercooked meat, especially poultry, unpasteurised milk, untreated water and domestic pets with diarrhoea.

USA – E.coli Case

E.coli BlogEcoli Istock

Wellesley Health Department (WHD) received notice by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s (MDPH) surveillance system on June 12, 2013 of a case of E. coli in a Wellesley resident.

The origin of the cases’ illness is being investigated.

Rumors have been circulating that the cause of the illnesses has been linked to a local supermarket. At this point, no local supermarkets are a focus of the investigation.

China – 160 Sickened Suspected Food Poisoning

English News ChinaStaphylococcus

GUANGZHOU, June 12 (Xinhua) — A total of 160 staff from a food company in south China’s Guangdong Province were suspected of suffering from food poisoning, a company source said on Wednesday.

They had symptoms of chills, fever, nausea, vomiting, stomach ache and diarrhea after having dinner at the third canteen of the Dongguan Hsu Chi Food Co. Ltd based in Dongguan City on Monday, said Sun Tianzhen, a media relations officer of Hsu Fu Chi International Ltd. told Xinhua.

Dongguan Hsu Chi Food Co. Ltd. is a subsidiary of Hsu Fu Chi International Ltd.

A 57-year-old female plate washer at the canteen was found dead at her dormitory on Tuesday but it is yet to know whether her death is connected with food poisoning or not, said Sun.

RASFF Alerts – Salmonella – Turkey – Chicken – Coconut Flour – Fish Meal

RASFF -Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in frozen turkey meat preparations from Brazil in the UK

RASFF – Salmonella Heidelberg (presence /25g) and Salmonella Minnesota (presence /25g) in frozen chicken meat from Brazil in Spain

RASFF – Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in coconut flour from Sri Lanka in Italy

RASFF – Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in fish meal from Morocco in Latvia