Category Archives: Microbiological Risk Assessment

USA – Salmonella Outbreak at Solano County Jails Sickens 117

Food Poisoning Bulletin

A Salmonella outbreak at Solano County jails in California has allegedly sickened more than a hundred inmates, according to the Vallejo Sun. All three jails in that county have ill inmates, and the outbreak has lasted more than a week, a spokesperson for the Solano County Sheriff’s Office told that outlet.

There are three jails in that county, including the Stanton Correctional Facility, the Claybank Detention Facility, and the Solano County Justice Center Detention Facility. Trinity Services Group provides the food for all three jails, and the Solano County Department of Health has been working with that establishment to clean their facility and to test food for contamination.

RASFF Alert – Animal Feed – Aflatoxin – Peanuts for Bird Feed

RASFF

Aflatoxin B1 in Bolivian peanuts for bird feed in Netherlands and Germany

RASFF Alerts – Animal Feed – Salmonella – Soybean Meal – Soyabean Pods

RASFF

Salmonella spp. in soybean meal (feed) from Italy in Germany and Austria

RASFF

Salmonella Mbandaka in soybean pods from the Netherlands in Belgium

Wales – Second childcare setting identified in STEC E.coli probe

Wales Online

A second childcare setting has been identified in an investigation into an E.coli case in Wales. Public Health Wales confirmed that it was investigating two cases of E.coli in children who attend the nursery at Ysgol Pen Barras in Ruthin on Saturday.

However, PHW has since re-classified one of these cases as “probable”, rather than confirmed. One child who attends the school has got a confirmed diagnosis of E.coli.

While there is currently no evidence to suggest the case has been transmitted or acquired from the school, children in the nursery and reception classes at the school were asked not to attend on Monday and Tuesday and were also asked to provide stool samples.

Korea – Wash hands after touching eggs: Food agency warns of salmonella outbreak

Korean Herald

Food safety authorities on Wednesday warned people to wash hands promptly after handling or cooking raw eggs, citing food poisoning risks from Salmonella, a harmful bacterium found in poultry and mammal intestines.

There have been numerous cases of food poisoning caused by cross-contamination, where individuals handle eggs and then fail to wash their hands before cooking food or touching other cooking utensils, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

USDA-FSIS Surveys Salmonella Rates in NRTE Breaded Stuffed Chicken Products

Food Safety.Com

As part of an effort to reduce cases of salmonellosis attributable to poultry products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) conducted a study with the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) laboratories to gather data on not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) breaded stuffed chicken products purchased at retail stores. The release of the survey results follows FSIS’ April 2023 proposed determination to declare Salmonella an adulterant in breaded stuffed raw chicken products.

The survey was intended to gather information on the positive rate of Salmonella in NRTE breaded stuffed chicken products and any differences in laboratory methods used.

Through FERN, 11 geographically dispersed state labs participated in the study. From July 1, 2022—September 30, 2022, the labs purchased locally available NRTE breaded stuffed chicken products at retail stores (approximately 15 samples per month for each product) and tested them for the presence of Salmonella and indicator organisms.

In total, 58 of the 487 samples tested were positive for the presence of Salmonella. A noticeable difference in positivity rates was seen between laboratories that ran methods the same as FSIS (36 of 135, or 27 percent) using larger test portions and laboratories that ran methods different from FSIS (22 of 352, or 6 percent) using smaller test portions. Small amounts of Salmonella present in the product or uneven distribution of Salmonella contamination could account for the lower positivity rates when smaller sample portions were tested.

Total aerobic counts were similar across products tested. Whole genome sequencing detected S. Enteritidis (18 of 58), S. Infantis (22 of 58), S. Kentucky (15 of 58) and S. Typhimurium (3 of 58).

USA- FDA – Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

FDA

What’s New

  • For the outbreak of Salmonella Paratyphi B var. L(+) tartrate+ (ref #1157), FDA initiated an on-site inspection and sample collection and analysis. The case count has increased from 33 to 34 cases.
  • For the outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis (ref #1159), the case count has increased from 34 to 36 cases.
Date
Posted
Ref Pathogen
or
Cause of
Illness
Product(s)
Linked to
Illnesses

(if any)
Total
Case
Count

Status
6/14/2023 1157 Salmonella
Paratyphi B
var. L(+)
tartrate+
Not Yet
Identified
34 Active
6/14/2023 1159 Cyclospora
cayetanensis
Not Yet
Identified
36 Active
5/24/2023 1156 Salmonella
Enteritidis
Raw
Cookie
Dough
See
Advisory
Active
4/26/2023 1152 Not Yet
Identified
Morel
Mushroom
See
Advisory
Active
3/1/2023 1143 Hepatitis
A Virus
Frozen
Organic
Strawberries
See
Advisory
Active

USA – Celebrate Your Fourth of July Without Foodborne Illness

USDA

The Fourth of July is a time of celebration, family and of course cookouts. Cooking safely is in your hands and doing so can help keep your family healthy this Independence Day. Control the transfer of bacteria by thoroughly washing your hands before and after touching raw meat, poultry and seafood.

The USDA recommends the following food safety tips for grilling:

Preheat your grill and scrub the grate with a long-handled brush once the grill has fully preheated. Remnants from the last grill session should scrape off.
Remove the meat, poultry or seafood from its container and place on the grill at a safe distance apart. Discard any marinade used to prepare your meat, poultry or seafood.
When grilling your foods, make sure you’ve destroyed dangerous bacteria by cooking to the proper internal temperature.

Beef, pork, lamb: 145 F with a 3-minute rest.
Ground meats: 160 F.
All poultry (whole or ground): 165 F.
Fish (whole or filet): 145 F.

You can’t tell by looking at food whether it is done. Always use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of your food to determine if it is safe to eat. The thermometer should be inserted into the thickest part of the meat and poultry, through the side of burgers and thin filets of fish, for the most accurate temperature reading.

Make sure to pack up any leftovers and refrigerate them within two hours. In hot weather (above 90 F), refrigerate within one hour.

For more food safety information, call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, in English or Spanish, or email mphotline@usda.gov. Consumers can also chat live at ask.usda.gov.

UK retailers share Campylobacter in chicken results

Food Safety News

Supermarkets in the United Kingdom have reported their Campylobacter in chicken results for late 2022.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) maximum target level is up to 7 percent of birds with more than 1,000 colony-forming units per gram (CFU/g) of Campylobacter.

Data from the retailers covers October to December 2022 on high findings of Campylobacter in fresh, shop-bought, UK-produced chickens.

Results at Waitrose, Morrisons and Lidl went up while Marks and Spencer, Aldi, Asda, and Sainsbury’s recorded lower levels of contamination than the previous quarter. Figures for Co-op stayed the same.

Campylobacter is the most common cause of bacterial food poisoning in the UK and the dose needed to make people sick can be as low as a few hundred cells.

Tesco has stopped publishing data as it has changed the way it monitors the pathogen in chicken so findings are not comparable with other retailers.

Catalonia – Cook and preserve egg foods safely

ACSA