The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Veg-Pak Produce Ltd. are warning consumers, distributors and retailers not to consume, distribute or sell the jalapeno peppers described below because they may be contaminated with Salmonella.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.
Castellini Company LLC is recalling certain jalapeno peppers distributed from its Wilder, Kentucky facility because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
While there have been no illnesses reported to date in connection with this problem, Castellini Company is collaborating closely with the FDA and adhering to all safety regulations and standards.
Mayonnaise made from contaminated eggs has been linked to outbreaks of Salmonella infections. This study was undertaken to determine the fate of salmonellae in home-style mayonnaise and acid solutions with or without chemical preservatives. Egg yolks were inoculated with different levels of a three-serotype (Typhimurium, Heidelberg, and Enteritidis [untypeable phage type]) mixture of Salmonella or a three-phage-type (4, 8, and 13) mixture of Salmonella Enteritidis. The inoculated yolks were used to make mayonnaise with 2, 3, or 4 teaspoons of a commercial wine vinegar or lemon juice. The mayonnaise was sampled for salmonellae over a 15-day period at 4°C, and negative samples were tested further by a three-tube most-probable-number assay. The same Salmonella mixtures were respectively inoculated into six acid solutions including wine vinegar, lemon juice, and acetic or citric solutions with or without chemical preservatives. The Salmonella populations of the Salmonella Enteritidis mixture were more persistent than those of the other Salmonella mixture in mayonnaise. Both Salmonella mixtures survived longer in mayonnaise made with vinegar than with lemon juice during storage at 4°C. In the acid solutions, however, the populations of the two Salmonella mixtures were not significantly different. The numbers of the two Salmonella mixtures in acetic or citric acid solutions with the preservatives were significantly lower than those in vinegar, lemon juice, and the solutions without the preservatives. Results suggest that Salmonella in contaminated egg yolks could survive the mayonnaise-making process. The inhibition of Salmonella by vinegar and lemon juice is due to the hurdle effect of organic acids and chemical preservatives.
Posted in Bacteria, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research
Tagged egg yolks, food, salmonella infections
Campylobacter is the most common known source of human bacterial enteritis in the developed world and poultry is considered the main source. Broilers often become colonised with Campylobacter during rearing, and then contaminate the farm environment. The objective of this study was to identify Campylobacter-positive environmental reservoirs on farms, as these pose a risk to broiler flocks becoming colonised with Campylobacter. We considered the temporal aspects of exposure and colonisation. A longitudinal study monitored six conventional rearing farms over 2 years. The broiler flocks, catchers’ equipment, vehicles, shed surrounds, shed entrance, other equipment, farm entrance, other animals, puddles, dead birds, mains water and drinkers were systematically sampled 2–4 times per flock. A multivariable generalised estimating equation model was used to assess associations between contaminated environmental sites and colonised broiler flocks. The associations were adjusted for confounders and other known risk factors. To further assess temporality of contamination, the sequence of contamination of the different environmental sites and the flocks was established. Contaminated shed entrances and anterooms, contaminated drinkers and shedding of Campylobacter by other animals such as cattle, dogs, wildlife and rodents were significantly associated with positive flocks. The reservoir of ‘other animals’ was also the reservoir most commonly positive before the flock became colonised. The other sites usually became contaminated after the flock was colonised.
Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen
Tagged environment, science, water
Mosul Kubba, a Chicago, Ill. establishment, is recalling approximately 1,100 pounds of stuffed, layered beef products due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
The problem was discovered during routine FSIS testing. FSIS and the company have received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of these products.
Fish may put consumers at risk of botulism and other food hazards
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in a complaint filed by the Department of Justice, is seeking to stop the processing and distribution of fish products at a California company because of a risk of botulism and other food hazards.
If granted, the permanent injunction against Fujino Enterprises Inc., doing business as Blue Ocean Smokehouse, of Half Moon Bay, Calif., would stop the company from processing and distributing fish and fish products. Blue Ocean’s president Erika Fujino also is named in the government’s complaint.
A person’s mere presence in a room can add 37 million bacteria to the air every hour — material largely left behind by previous occupants and stirred up from the floor — according to new research by Yale University engineers.
Overall, they found that “human occupancy was associated with substantially increased airborne concentrations” of bacteria and fungi of various sizes. Occupancy resulted in especially large spikes for larger-sized fungal particles and medium-sized bacterial particles.
Researchers found that about 18 percent of all bacterial emissions in the room — including both fresh and previously deposited bacteria — came from humans, as opposed to plants and other sources.
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Microbiology, Technology
Tagged airborne concentrations, environment, science
Dozens of students at Corcordia College are recovering from a stomach virus that swept the campus over the weekend and sent a few people to the hospital.
Some students suspect it was the Norovirus — a fast-spreading foodborne disease that causes diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pains — but there is no official finding, college officials said.
It was first reported on the 800-student campus Friday. Within a couple of days, 30 students contracted the virus and four wound up in Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville.
For the past two years, Consumer Focus Wales has published a report scrutinising the implementation of the recommendations of the Pennington Inquiry into the E.coli outbreak in 2005 in which 44 schools were affected and a total of 157 people, mostly children, were diagnosed with E.coli O157.
In our second report publish in March 2011, we noted that progress is well advanced.However we identified specific areas where more needed to be done as well as highlighting a number of food safety issues relating to the Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) and concerns about standards in some premises serving food to vulnerable groups such as children in nurseries and older people in care homes.
This statement is an update a year on about what has been done since our last report and where focus is still needed. I am glad to report there has been continued progress this year towards implementing Professor Pennington`s recommendations, and improving food safety in Wales.
The Food Standards Agency is reminding anyone who is considering setting up a stall selling refreshments during the Olympics to plan ahead. To help, the Agency has produced guidance answering the most frequently asked questions.
The stall will need to be registered as a food business and, if it is to be situated on a public road or path, a street trading licence will also need to be obtained from the local authority. Anyone not following these procedures may face tough enforcement action.
