Marsh Butcheries has recalled vacuum-packed chorizo sausages from its retail store in Stratford, Cairns in QLD due to the presence of Listeria Monocytogenes. Consumers should not eat this product. Listeria may cause illness in pregnant women and their unborn babies, the elderly and people with low immune systems. Any consumers concerned about their health should seek medical advice.
RASFF – Salmonella Caracas in Ground Cumin from Turkey ans Syria
RASFF – Listeria monocytogenes in raw milk sheep cheese coated with herbs from France
RASFF – Listeria monocytogenes in Manouri Sheeps cheese from Greece.
RASFF – Salmonella Isangui in rapeseed meal from Kazakhstan.
RASFF – Salmonella in minced meat products from Sweden.
RASFF – Salmonella in poultry cutlets from Germany.
RASFF – Shigatoxin E.coli in rump steak from Argentina.
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, RASFF, Recall, Salmonella
Tagged food, rapeseed meal, sheep cheese
Fiddleheads can prove a delightful addition to any locavore’s diet, if, that is, the curled ferns are cooked properly.
Seven cases of illness associated with eating fiddleheads have been reported by residents to Toronto Public Health since the beginning of May, spokeswoman Kris Scheuer said. One case involved a family of four.
Raw or undercooked fiddleheads have been known to sporadically cause unpleasant symptoms of food poisoning since 1994, according to Health Canada. The symptoms typically last for less than a day.
Only a few people have been affected, but their temporary sickness serves as a reminder to the public to wash and cook the seasonal greens carefully and not to eat them raw.
A total of 93 persons infected with outbreak strains of Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Newport, and Salmonella Lille have been reported from 23 states. There have been 18 hospitalisations from this outbreak.
Collaborative investigative efforts of local, state, and federal public health and agriculture officials linked this outbreak of human Salmonella infections to exposure to chicks and ducklings from a single mail-order hatchery in Ohio.
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Testing, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Salmonella
Tagged research
Barring any last-minute delays, U.S. food safety inspectors will begin testing Monday for six new strains of potentially deadly E. coli bacteria to be banned from certain cuts of raw beef.
The move implements long-delayed federal regulations aimed at a group of E. coli bacteria collectively known as “the Big Six,” bugs capable of causing severe infection and death.
Under the new rules, the six additional strains of E. coli will be classified as adulterants on par with the better-known E. coli O157:H7, which is often linked to serious illnesses tied to hamburger. The new strains include E. coli O26, O111, O103, O121, O45 and O145.
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, E.coli O26, EHEC, FDA, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen
The illicit and highly-lucrative trade in shellfish is putting the health of many thousands of people at risk with tonnes of potentially contaminated seafood feared to be entering the food chain.
Health officials and food watchdogs are concerned that a boom in the illegal harvesting of cockles, clams and oysters for sale to restaurants and wholesalers threatens outbreaks of serious food poisoning.
The thriving seafood rustling industry, which sees unlicensed gangs of pickers target beaches and mudflats across the country to steal molluscs worth thousands of pounds at a time, has prompted a crackdown by the authorities. But with some pickers operating in organised gangs, fisheries protection bodies say they lack the resources to effectively tackle the problem.
With an annual value of at least £250m, the legitimate shellfish industry is a major part of Britain’s food economy. Properly gathered molluscs are subject to strict purification treatments, including ultra-violet light and filtering, to ensure they are fit for human consumption.
Full Story through the link above.
RASFF – Salmonella in Betel (Paan) Leaves from Bangladesh
RASFF – Salmonella paratyphi B in Mechanically separated frozen poultry meat, from the Netherlands.
RASFF – Aflatoxins in Peanuts in shell from China.
Posted in Aflatoxin, Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, RASFF
Tagged food, salmonella paratyphi
BALANGA CITY, Bataan: The Provincial Health Office on Monday announced that it has conducted outbreak investigations on 122 victims of food poisoning and 117 persons struck down by diarrhea in Limay, Bataan and Balanga City in separate occasions on Tuesday to Thursday last week.
Dr. Rosanna Buccahan, acting Provincial Health Officer, said they are waiting for the results of rectal swab to be known in two weeks and stool culture in one week to determine the cause or causes that affected the victims.
“We are waiting for results of the random rectal swab and stool culture from the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine in Metro Manila after the PHO in coordination with the Regional Epidemiology Research Center and the Department of Health conducted the tests,” she said.
Buccahan said that 117 inmates of the Bataan District Jail in Balanga City suffered from diarrhea Tuesday last week while 25 people were victimized by food poisoning after eating egg rolls (lumpia) during a funeral in Limay last Thursday. Ninety-seven, mostly children, were downed by food poisoning after eating dirty ice cream in Barangay Cabog-Cabog in Balanga last Wednesday
More than 150 persons have been affected with gastroenteritis and sought medical attention in the Turks and Caicos Islands since the end of April 2012, according to health officials investigating the mysterious sickness that has affected about 12 hotels on the island of Providenciales.
The officials also reported they recently have discovered one case of norovirus, but they noted that this virus cannot be confirmed as the cause of the current outbreak of diarrhea and vomiting.
SHIJIAZHUANG – Nearly 100 people fell sick due to eating suspected contaminated chicken in North China’s Hebei province, local authorities said Sunday.
A total of 97 people in Quyang county of Baoding city have been hospitalized since Friday. Among them, two people have checked out of the hospital, one is critically ill and the others are in stable condition, officials with the county government said.
A preliminary investigation shows that the illness is caused by a certain braised chicken produced by the local Dalong braised chicken store.
The store has been closed down and the owner of the store is under police control. A further investigation into the incident is underway.
