Category Archives: Microbiology

US- Salmonella in Lettuce – Recall

Posted on April 16, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Dole Fresh Vegetables is recalling 756 cases of its DOLE Seven Lettuces salad because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

 
The salad was recalled Saturday after testing by New York State health officials revealed Salmonella bacteria in a sample of the product, according to Market Watch. 
 
The Seven Lettuces salad subject to recall is marked with a use-by date of April 11, 2012 and Product Codes 0577N089112A or 0577N089112B, both of which can be found in the upper right corner of the package. It is also identified by the UPC code 71430 01057, located on the back of the package below the barcode. 
 
The product was distributed in 15 states, including Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin, reported Market Watch.
 
No illnesses have been reported related to the recall.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella

Northern Ireland – Listeria Outbreak – Pensioner Dies

Posted on April 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Press Association 

An elderly patient has died in an outbreak of listeria in two Northern Ireland hospitals. The pensioner was one of two patients in the Antrim Area Hospital that contracted the food-borne bacteria. Another acquired the bug in the Causeway Hospital on the region’s north coast.

The patient who died was already ill but listeria has been confirmed as a contributory cause of death. Both hospitals are managed by the Northern Trust, which has declared an outbreak.

The trust’s Director of Nursing Olive MacLeod said: “The person who died was a frail, elderly patient who had other illnesses but this listeria infection did contribute to their death.”

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

Yet Another Raw Milk Poisoning -Oregon – E.coli

Posted on April 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin 

A raw milk  E.coli outbreak has sickened four children in Oregon. Three of them are hospitalised and two have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which causes kidney failure, according to a press release from health officials in Oregon obtained by Food Poisoning Bulletin.

The children, who are all under the age of 15, drank raw milk from Foundation Farm in Clackamas County before they became sick as did other customers of the dairy who have not had diagnostic testing to confirm E. coli 0157:H7 infections.

The farm has voluntarily halted distribution. Customers are being notified and told not to drink any milk from the farm. their milk. Officials from Oregon Public Health Division, the Oregon Department of Agriculture and several local health departments are collaborating on an ongoing investigation.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall

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US Salmonella Bareilly Outbreak Source Found – Yellow Fin Tuna

Posted on April 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The months-long search for the origin of the multi-state Salmonella outbreak ended yesterday with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) announcement that frozen, raw, yellowfin tuna product from Moon Marine USA Corporation of Cupertino, Calif. is the source of the outbreak.

Food Safety News

Yellowfin tuna product is the likely source of the Salmonella Bareilly outbreak that has sickened 116 across 21 states and has been linked to sushi, health officials announced Friday evening.

Cupertino, CA based Moon Marine USA Corporation is voluntarily recalling 58,828 pounds of its “Nakaochi Scrape” – tuna backmeat scraped off the bones of the fish and sold in a frozen, ground state – after investigators pinpointed the product as a common food source among outbreak victims. 
 
The implicated food is not sold directly to consumers, but is usually served by retailers in sushi, sashimi, ceviche or similar dishes containing raw fish.
 
Of the 53 outbreak victims interviewed, 43 (81 percent) reported eating sushi in the week preceding their illnesses. Of the 43 who recalled eating sushi, 39 (91 percent) ate sushi that contained tuna, and 36 (84 percent) specifically recalled eating a product that contained “spicy tuna.”  
 

 

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, FDA, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella

US – Imported Fish Recall – Clostridium botulinum Spores

Posted on April 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety 

H.C. Foods Co. of Commerce, CA is recalling frozen dried mackerel and dried round scad after U.S. Food and Drug Administration personnel found that the fish imported from the Philippines was not properly eviscerated prior to processing.
 
The dried fish may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum spores, which can cause botulism, a serious and potentially fatal foodborne illness.
 
No illnesses have been reported. 
 
The sale of improperly eviscerated fish, 5 inches in length or greater, is prohibited because Clostridium botulinum spores are more likely to be concentrated in the viscera than any other portion of the fish. Uneviscerated fish has been linked to outbreaks of botulism poisoning which may pose a potentially life-threatening health hazard. 

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Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, Spores

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CIFA – Recall Sanwiches – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on April 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment

CIFA

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Les Aliments Deli Chef are warning the public not to consume certain “Super Loaded Sub” Deli Chef brand sandwiches because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The “Super Loaded Sub” Deli Chef brand sandwiches affected by this alert are sold in a 330 g package bearing the UPC 0 56040 37452 6, an Exp/Best Before date MAY 18 and the Establishment number (EST) 318.

This product has been distributed in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.

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Posted in Bacteria, CIFA, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall

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One in Five Chickens Contaminated by Pathogenic Bacteria – Which Report

Posted on April 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

UKPA 

One in five supermarket chickens is contaminated with the food poisoning bacteria campylobacter, an investigation has found.

The study of chicken samples from nine supermarkets by the Which? consumer group found 18% were contaminated with campylobacter and 17% were contaminated with listeria, with 4% containing levels of the latter classed as “high” by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Salmonella was present in 1.5% of samples.

The watchdog tested 192 samples of whole chickens and chicken portions – standard, free range and organic and all reared in the UK – from Aldi, Asda, The Co-operative, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose in March. Bacterial contamination was found in samples from each of the retailers.

The headline in the Sun Newspaper was a little more graphic!

The Telegraph had a view as well.

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Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

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“Hypervirulent” Salmonella Research

Posted on April 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

EcoliBlog

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara, Michael Mahan and Douglas Heithoff, have published a new paper in the science journal, PLoS Pathogens, detailing their findings from a study of “hypervirulent” Salmonella bacteria.  Given the recently announced nationwide outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly associated with consumption of spicy tuna sushi, the publication of their paper could not be any more timely.

The paper, titled “Intraspecies Variation in the Emergence of Hyperinfectious Bacterial Strains in Nature,” focuses on the researchers’ efforts to seek out and locate hypervirulent strains that present a potential risk to food safety and the livestock industry.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

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Toxoplasma Research Link to Severe Illness in Newborns

Posted on April 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Eurek Alert

Although this may not at first appear to be food linked, it is estimated that in the USA and Europe 50% of Toxoplamsma infections are via food.

Scientists have identified which strains of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, the cause of toxoplasmosis, are most strongly associated with premature births and severe birth defects in the United States. The researchers used a new blood test developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, to pinpoint T. gondii strains that children acquire from their acutely infected mothers while in the womb.

Pregnant women can become infected with T. gondii through contact with cat feces that contain infectious forms of the parasite or by eating undercooked meat. Women who become infected while pregnant may miscarry, give birth prematurely, or have babies with eye or brain damage.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Parasite, Toxoplasmosis

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US – California Company – Seafood Importer Closure – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on April 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says a California seafood importer and processor has agreed to shut down its operations while it corrects conditions in its processing facility, which is alleged to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, FDA, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Technology, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen