Category Archives: Methods

USA – Laboratory Guidebook Notice of Change – Listeria monocytogenes Methodatory GuidebookNotice of Change

Posted on October 4, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Click to access MLG-8.13.pdf

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Posted in Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Methods, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations

USA – Crackers Recall – Salmonella

Posted on June 4, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News Salm

Glutino, a division of GFA Brands Inc. based in Paramus, NJ, is voluntarily recalling Glutino Rosemary and Olive Oil Snack Crackers because the seasoning supplier, Kerry Ingredients, recalled the seasoning blend due to possible Salmonella contamination.

The recalled Glutino Rosemary and Olive Oil Snack Crackers were distributed nationally through retail and warehouse club stores. The product affected is sold in a 4.25-ounce and a 20-ounce opaque white box with a “Best By” date of Oct. 26, 2014, stamped on the top of the box.

No illnesses have been reported to date with consumption of this product.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Hygiene, Legionella, Methods, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella

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Australia – FSANZ Recall – Chicken Liver Pate – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on May 15, 2014 by | Leave a comment

FSANZ FSANZ3

Just Entrees Pty Ltd has recalled their own brand Chicken Liver Pate, Brandy Port and Sage from Coles supermarkets TAS and VIC due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Listeria may cause illness in pregnant women and their unborn babies, the elderly and people with low immune systems.

Consumers should return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund. Any consumers concerned about their health should seek medical advice.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Laboratory, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Methods, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

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USA – Another Cruise Ship Norovirus Outbreak

Posted on January 28, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning JournalNorwalk_Caspid

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s ship Explorer of the Seas is returning two days early to its New Jersey port after a stomach illness struck more than 600 people out of about 4,200 onboard, NBC News reported late Sunday. The 564 passengers and 47 crew members on the 10-day cruise to the U.S. Virgin Islands reported symptoms suggesting a possible norovirus outbreak, the report said, citing an official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The incident follows the outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness aboard another ship earlier this month.

Food Poisoning Journal

NBC News reports that U.S. health officials are expected to board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in the Virgin Islands on Sunday to investigate a possible outbreak of highly contagious norovirus that has sickened more than 300 passengers and crew members.

The Explorer of the Seas ship stopped part way through a 10-day cruise from Cape Liberty, N.J., to the Caribbean island of St. Maarten after reports of vomiting and diarrhea, according to the cruise line and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Posted in Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Testing, Food Virus, Methods, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Virus

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USA – Salmonella in Nuts

Posted on January 7, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin Eurofins

The current multi-state Salmonella outbreak linked to non-dairy cheeses made from raw cashews is not the first to be linked to nuts. During the last decade, illnesses from Salmonella have been linked to a variety of nuts including pine nuts, peanuts, pistachios, hazelnuts and almonds.

The current outbreak has sickened 14 people in three states: twelve in California, one in Nevada and one in Wyoming. Three people have been hospitalized. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has noted that outbreak strain of Salmonella Stanley is rarely seen outside of Southeast Asia where the cheese maker, Cultured Kitchen of West Sacramento, sources its cashews.

The article also includes discussions of other USA outbreaks.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Laboratory, Methods, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella

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Research – Global Green – Salmonella Innoculation – Salmongenics

Posted on December 31, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Global Green EGGS

Global Green has acquired the world-wide exclusive rights to manufacture, distribute, market and sell Salmogenics™, a patented vaccine that helps to combat the dangerous effects of salmonella in humans and animals.

Salmogenics is in its last stages of testing and trials before the final USDA approval for its commercial application for becoming an approved vaccine for in ovo (injected into the egg) vaccination.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Methods, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella

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Research – Pecan Shell Inhibition of Listeria

Posted on December 13, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Wiley Online LaboratoryEurofins Food Testing UK

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.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Laboratory, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Methods, Pathogen, Research

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USA – Texas – Shigella and Botulism Outbreaks

Posted on December 12, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Shigella BlogShigella_stool

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.

Botulism Blog

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.

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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

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USA – Vibrio Outbreak Raw Oysters

Posted on December 4, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning BulletinVibrio

Vibrio outbreak associated with eating raw oysters and raw clams has sickened at least 104 people in 13 states over the last six months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Six people have been hospitalized.

Public health investigators have traced the source of some of these illnesses to shellfish harvest areas in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia. Massachusetts issued a recall of oysters,  Connecticut issued a recall of oysters and clams. Implicated harvest areas in Virginia were closed in July and remain closed.  In Massachusetts, they were closed in August and remain closed. In New York they were closed in June and reopened in mid-September. In Connecticut, they were closed in August and reopened in mid-September.

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Posted in Bacteria, 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, Vibrio

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USA Research – CDC/FDA – Genome Sequencing of Food Pathogens

Posted on November 27, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

In a prior APHLTech blog post (NGS in Action: FDA’s Genome TRAKR Network), Victor Waddell of the Arizona State Public Health Laboratory described the newly formed network of laboratories formed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Known collectively as Genome TRAKR, the member laboratories perform whole genome sequencing (WGS) on bacterial foodborne pathogens isolated primarily from food and environmental sources.

Original Article APHLT

On September 1, 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began a partnership with the FDA GenomeTRAKR network to utilize the network to conduct WGS of all Listeria monocytogenes collected from reported human illness cases in the United States. This effort leverages public health resources to evaluate and potentially move this promising new technology forward for more routine use in public health laboratories nationwide.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Laboratory, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Methods, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research