Category Archives: Microbiological Risk Assessment

Research – Another drop in outbreaks was recorded in Germany for 2021

Food Safety News

The amount of foodborne outbreaks reported in Germany has continued to fall, according to the latest figures.

In 2021, the Robert Koch-Institut (RKI) and Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) received slightly fewer reports of outbreaks with 168 compared to 193 in the previous year.

At least 1,179 cases, 196 hospitalizations, and two deaths were related to them in 2021. As in previous years, the top causes were Campylobacter and Salmonella.

Other agents involved in outbreaks were norovirus, Bacillus cereus, hepatitis A virus, Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium perfringens, Yersinia enterocolitica, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), Clostridium botulinum, Cronobacter sakazakii, histamine, Shigella, and Staphylococcus aureus. In seven outbreaks with 73 cases, the pathogen remained unknown.

Nineteen of the 22 outbreaks with more than five patients were caused by Salmonella.

Austria sees a rise in reports of E. coli in 2021

Food Safety News

Austria recorded an increase in the number of reported E. coli infections in 2021, based on the latest data.

In 2021, 1,437 specimens were processed at the National Reference Centre for E. coli. Overall, 1,286 human samples, 79 food, and 35 pet food samples were analyzed.

A total of 476 human stool samples tested positive for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). Of these, 310 isolates were confirmed as Shiga toxin-producing compared to 242 in 2020.

In 2021, only 34 were E. coli O157 with the rest non-O157. Among the latter, there were 25 O26, 26 O103, three O111, and 12 O145 isolates. In the Austrian Epidemiological Notification System (EMS), 384 cases were reported, up from 304 in 2020.

In Upper Austria, 53 cases were reported to the EMS in 2020 compared to 104 in 2021. This same state sent 123 human samples to the National Reference Centre in 2020 versus 566 in 2021.

Research – How Many Outbreaks Are Linked to Fast Food Restaurants?

Food Poisoning Bulletin

In the past ten years, there have been many food poisoning outbreaks linked to fast food restaurants. The outbreaks slowed significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic, however. This year, there was only one fast food outbreak that was allegedly associated with Wendy’s restaurants in several states that may have been caused by romaine lettuce. These outbreaks can be very large simply because there are so many restaurants in these fast food chains.

Now that people are no longer staying at home, and are eating out more, will there be more food poisoning outbreaks linked to fast food restaurants? Only time will tell.

Read more at the link above,

Italy seizes 14 tons of food due to Listeria poisoning

PLEnglish

Rome, Nov 2 (Prensa Latina) The Italian Ministry of Health and the Health Group of the Carabinieri Armed Forces (NAS) seized 14 tons of food after inspecting 1,095 companies regarding listeria poisoning cases, a spokesman reported on Wednesday.

A health spokesman said Wednesday in a statement that this measure was rolled out following some people were reported as listeria poisoned after consuming raw or undercooked food.

As a result of a sanitary control, it was also decided to close or suspend 23 production and commercial companies, whose economic value amounts to more than seven million euros, the source said.

48 children hospitalized over food poisoning in Myanmar’s Yangon

English News

YANGON, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) — At least 48 children were hospitalized here in Yangon, Myanmar on Wednesday over suspected food poisoning, according to local rescue organizations.

“The children had symptoms such as fever, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting,” Nyunt Soe, a rescue worker from Shwe Yaung Twe Latt rescue organization, told Xinhua.

Those affected included 17 children from a primary school in Thaketa township in Yangon, he said.

Some children said they developed the symptoms after having fried vermicelli, he said, adding that they were taken to hospitals by ambulances immediately.

Most of the affected children turned better in the evening, but six were still under intensive care at Yankin Children’s Hospital, said Ba Ba Gyi, another rescue official

RASFF Alert – Animal Feed – Aflatoxin – Rice Protein

RASFF

Aflatoxin B1 in rice protein from Pakistan in Spain

RASFF Alerts -Animal Feed – Salmonella – Soybean Meal

RASFF

Salmonella spp. in soybean meal from Germany in Switzerland and the UK

RASFF

Salmonella spp. in soybean meal from Germany in Denmark and Switzerland

USA – FDA Warning Letter – Bakkavor Foods USA Inc. – Listeria monocytogenes

FDA

August 08, 2022

RE: CMS #: 630545

WARNING LETTER

Dear Mr. Anchirayco:

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected your ready-to-eat (RTE) dips, soups, salad bases, burritos, entrée style meals, and seafood products manufacturing facility located at 2700 Westinghouse Blvd, Charlotte, NC, 28273-0113, on February 7-11, 15, and 23, 2022. During our inspection, we collected environmental samples (swabs) from various areas in your facility. FDA laboratory analyses found the presence of Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes), a human pathogen, in your facility. Additionally, FDA found serious violations of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation (CGMP & PC rule), Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 117 (21 CFR Part 117) and Seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 123 (21 CFR Part 123).

Based on FDA’s inspectional findings and the analytical results for the environmental swabs, we have determined that the ready-to-eat products manufactured in your facility are adulterated within the meaning of section 402(a)(4) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) [21 U.S.C. § 342(a)(4)], in that they were prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health. Furthermore, in accordance with 21 CFR 123.6(g), failure of a processor of fish or fishery products to have and implement a HACCP plan that complies with this section or otherwise operate in accordance with the requirements of Part 123, renders the fish or fishery products adulterated within the meaning of Section 402(a)(4) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 342(a)(4). In addition, failure of the owner, operator, or agent in charge of a covered facility to comply with the preventive controls provisions of the CGMP & PC rule (located in Subparts A, C, D, E, F, and G of Part 117) is prohibited by section 301(uu) of the Act (21 U.S.C. § 331(uu)). You may find the Act, further information about the CGMP & PC rule, and the seafood HACCP regulation through links in FDA’s home page at http://www.fda.gov.External Link Disclaimer

At the conclusion of the inspection, the FDA investigators issued your facility a Form 483 (FDA-483), Inspectional Observations. You provided responses to the inspection and sample findings on March 16, April 16, May 13, and June 15, 2022, describing corrective actions taken by your firm. Based on our review of the inspectional findings and the responses that your firm provided, we are issuing this letter to advise you of FDA’s continuing concerns and to provide detailed information describing the findings at your facility.

USA – FDA – Core Outbreak Table

FDA

What’s New

  • For the outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes (reference #1057) in Ice Cream, the outbreak has ended, and FDA’s investigation has closed.
  • For the outbreak of E. coli (reference #1121) in a not yet identified food, the case count has increased from 10 to 11 cases.

Research – Microbial Control of Raw and Cold-Smoked Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) through a Microwave Plasma Treatment

MDPI

The control of the pathogenic load on foodstuffs is a key element in food safety. Particularly, seafood such as cold-smoked salmon is threatened by pathogens such as Salmonella sp. or Listeria monocytogenes. Despite strict existing hygiene procedures, the production industry constantly demands novel, reliable methods for microbial decontamination. Against that background, a microwave plasma-based decontamination technique via plasma-processed air (PPA) is presented. Thereby, the samples undergo two treatment steps, a pre-treatment step where PPA is produced when compressed air flows over a plasma torch, and a post-treatment step where the PPA acts on the samples. This publication embraces experiments that compare the total viable count (tvc) of bacteria found on PPA-treated raw (rs) and cold-smoked salmon (css) samples and their references. The tvc over the storage time is evaluated using a logistic growth model that reveals a PPA sensitivity for raw salmon (rs). A shelf-life prolongation of two days is determined. When cold-smoked salmon (css) is PPA-treated, the treatment reveals no further impact. When PPA-treated raw salmon (rs) is compared with PPA-untreated cold-smoked salmon (css), the PPA treatment appears as reliable as the cold-smoking process and retards the growth of cultivable bacteria in the same manner. The experiments are flanked by quality measurements such as color and texture measurements before and after the PPA treatment. Salmon samples, which undergo an overtreatment, solely show light changes such as a whitish surface flocculation. A relatively mild treatment as applied in the storage experiments has no further detected impact on the fish matrix.