California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Director and State Health Officer Dr. Ron Chapman today warned people not to eat cashew cheese products manufactured by The Cultured Kitchen because they may be contaminated with Salmonella. Fifteen cases of illnesses have been reported in the Western United States, with twelve of the cases occurring in California. Three patients have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported.
Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Hygiene, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella
Tagged California, cashew cheese products, cdph, Food Poisoning Journal California Department of Public Health, Ron Chapman, State Health Officer Dr
RASFF -shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli in frozen boneless beef from Brazil in the Netherlands
RASFF -shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli in chilled boneless beef from Brazil in the Netherlands
RASFF -Listeria monocytogenes (210 CFU/g) in chilled sliced smoked salmon from Denmark in Italy
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Hygiene, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, RASFF, Recall
Tagged boneless beef, escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, rasff
Salmonella on Foster Farms chicken has sickened at least 416 people in 23 states, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak strains of Salmonella Heidelberg are resistant to several commonly prescribed antibiotics which may be a factor in the 40 percent hospitalization rate for this outbreak, which is about twice the average.
The company has not issued a recall for the chicken and despite its plans to improve in October conditions at three plants associated with the outbreak, reports of illness continued through the end of November and perhaps beyond, according to the CDC.
Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Salmonella
Tagged centers for disease control and prevention, Food Poisoning Bulletin Salmonella, Foster Farms chicken, outbreak, Salmonella Heidelberg
It won’t all harm you, but some of it might. That’s the caveat in the latest Consumer Reports analysis of tests on raw chicken breasts purchased at retailers nationwide. The analysis found that 97 percent of tested chicken breast samples “harbored bacteria that could make you sick.”
While it is true that the detected bacteria could cause infections if improperly handled, a smaller proportion has the potential to cause foodborne illness in the classic sense.
Food sold over the internet is an emerging business that also presents a concern with regard to food safety. A nationwide foodborne disease outbreak associated with sandwiches purchased from an online shop in July 2010 is reported. Consumers were telephone interviewed with a structured questionnaire and specimens were collected for etiological examination. A total of 886 consumers were successfully contacted and completed the questionnaires; 36.6% had become ill, with a median incubation period of 18 h (range, 6–66 h). The major symptoms included diarrhea (89.2%), abdominal pain (69.8%), fever (47.5%), headache (32.7%), and vomiting (17.3%). Microbiological laboratories isolated Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, Salmonella Virchow, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli from the contaminated sandwiches, Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Virchow from the patients, and Salmonella Enteritidis and Staphylococcus aureus from food handlers. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis genotyping suggested a common origin of Salmonella bacteria recovered from the patients, food, and a food handler. Among the pathogens detected, the symptoms and incubation period indicated that Salmonella, likely of egg origin, was the probable causative agent of the outbreak. This outbreak illustrates the importance of meticulous hygiene practices during food preparation and temperature control during food shipment and the food safety challenges posed by online food–shopping services.
Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella
Tagged food handler, food handlers, Food Safety, salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella Virchow, staphylococcus aureus
Bacteria can evolve rapidly to adapt to environmental change. When the “environment” is the immune response of an infected host, this evolution can turn harmless bacteria into life-threatening pathogens. A study published on December 12 in PLOS Pathogens provides insight into how this happens.
A protein in Salmonella inactivates mast cells — critical players in the body’s fight against bacteria and other pathogens — rendering them unable to protect against bacterial spread in the body, according to researchers at Duke Medicine and Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS).
Scientists have used a new method to map the response of every salmonella gene to conditions in the human body, providing new insight into how the bacteria triggers infection.
Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have revealed that formerly overlooked sites deep inside the nose may be reservoirs for Staphylococcus aureus, a major bacterial cause of disease.
Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Hygiene, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella
Tagged Duke-National University of Singapore, harmless bacteria, PLOS Pathogens, salmonella, science daily, Science Daily Bacteria
Growers and processors of USDA certified organic foods are in need of suitable organic antimicrobials. The purpose of the research reported here was to develop and test natural antimicrobials derived from an all-natural by-product, organic pecan shells. Unroasted and roasted organic pecan shells were subjected to solvent free extraction to produce antimicrobials that were tested against Listeria spp. and L. monocytogenes serotypes to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of antimicrobials. The effectiveness of pecan shell extracts were further tested using a poultry skin model system and the growth inhibition of the Listeria cells adhered onto the skin model were quantified. The solvent free extracts of pecan shells inhibited Listeria strains at MICs as low as 0.38%. The antimicrobial effectiveness tests on a poultry skin model exhibited nearly a 2 log reduction of the inoculated cocktail mix of Listeria strains when extracts of pecan shell powder were used. The extracts also produced greater than a 4 log reduction of the indigenous spoilage bacteria on the chicken skin. Thus, the pecan shell extracts may prove to be very effective alternative antimicrobials against food pathogens and supplement the demand for effective natural antimicrobials for use in organic meat processing.
Shigella outbreak continues to hit Grayson County hard. Health Department officials say new cases are being reported every day.
News 12 last reported there were 36 cases just before Thanksgiving. But, in just 13 days that number has jumped to 61 confirmed cases in Grayson County.
A command center has been set up at the Health Department, where they say employees are working to stop Shigella from spreading.
On Friday, the Health Department was informed of the first potential case here in Amarillo. They soon began investigating and discovered three other possible cases.
Two of the patients matched the criteria and were given the antitoxin. Doctors say they are slowly improving.
All four patients are adults and are currently hospitalized.
“We’ve got a small group of people who know each other in some manner, we hope that there are no other cases, but we just want to do our due diligence and make sure that we are protecting our community by providing information,” Casie Stoughton who is the Assistant Director of the City of Amarillo Public Health Department.
Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Laboratory, Methods, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Shigella
Tagged Health Department
FoodWorld 