University of Alberta researcher Christina Engels has discovered how to extract a compound from mustard seeds that can protect against food spoilage.
Engels recovered a particular compound—sinapic acid—from mustard seed meal, which shows antibacterial effects against such strains as Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes, all of which can cause grave illness and death in humans. Canada is the world’s largest exporter of mustard seed.
ECDC issued the report ‘Assessing the potential impacts of climate change on food- and waterborne diseases in Europe’.
This report identifies the relationships between meteorological and climate variables and six food- and waterborne pathogens, by reviewing existing literature, in order to assess the potential impacts of climate change on food- and waterborne disease transmission in the EU.
Publication Link – Free of Charge
BEIRUT: At least 20 people, including a Chinese national, are in police custody and being investigated for violating food safety laws, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi said Monday.
Qortbawi, who spoke during a news conference at the ministry, said that among those detained, seven were from Beirut and another seven were picked up in Mount Lebanon, one of whom is a Chinese national.
Four people in Tripoli have also been detained, along with one in Nabatieh, and one in South Lebanon, with the latter awaiting the results of laboratory testing before the investigations continue. Arrest warrants in absentia have been issued for another two individuals who remain at large, the minister said.
Consumer Focus Wales called on First Minister Carwyn Jones to make public the findings of a report he commissioned in 2010 into how best to enforce food hygiene regulations in Wales. The Food Standards Agency report should have been published in February 2011.
Kroger Company is recalling store brand salsa and pico de gallo because they may be contaminated with Salmonella. This recall may be related to the recall of fresh jalapenos by Castellini Produce earlier in the month
The Canadian Food Inspection Service (CFIA) is recalling raw milk cheese from Fromagerie du Pied-de-Vent Inc. because it may be contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus. The cheese was sold in retail stores in Ontario and Quebec.
The Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Pathogens (LGP) has reported 49 non-travel associated, fully sensitive cases of Salmonella Poona with specimen dates on or after 24 October 2011 to 19 March 2012. This compares with 21 and 33 cases reported during the whole of 2009 and 2010 respectively. Those affected range from four months to 88 years of age with 65% of all cases aged over 60 years and a median age of 69.5 years; men and women are similarly affected.
Cases have been found across England and Wales, with most cases occurring in the South West (28%), South East (16%) and Wales (14%) regions. So far, no cases have been reported in London and the East Midlands and 14 cases have received treatment in hospital.
The Salmonella Poona isolates from 41 of the cases have been further typed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and all but one has the same PFGE profile XB.0003. This strain is indistinguishable from a strain seen in an outbreak in Sweden in 2010; however, a source was not been confirmed for that outbreak.
Salmonella enterica serovar Poona causes gastro-enteritis in humans through the consumption of contaminated food. In humans chronic carriage is rare and so cases of Salmonella Poona should be excluded from work, school and other institutional settings for 48 hours after first normal stools and will not require microbiological clearance [1].
Following the increase in cases, an Outbreak Control Team comprising representatives from the South West, Wales and South East regions, and from HPA Colindale’s Gastrointestinal, Emerging and Zoonotic Infections group (GEZI), is investigating.
Reference
1. Preventing person-to-person spread following gastrointestinal infections: guidelines for public health physicians and environmental health officers. Communicable Disease and Public Health 7(4), December 2004, pp362.
Experts are puzzled at the rise in cases of Campylobacter — the most common cause of food poisoning.
There were 2,440 official cases notified in the Republic last year, which is a rise of 46.9pc over 2010.
Its largest group of victims are children under four years of age, according to the disease watchdog, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre of Ireland.
It pointed out that the increase in cases has been examined in a range of countries in the past but beyond theories about consumption of poorly cooked poultry no firm explanation for any rise was found.
I was discussing this at a meeting yesterday and we wondered if it was linked to the current economic climate and chicken being a cheaper meat than beef or lamb?
Foodborne diseases, such as norovirus, are as big a threat to the Olympics as terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, according to a Home Office risk assessment.
A vaccine could be developed to prevent Campylobacter being carried in chickens. This approach could drastically cut the number of cases of food poisoning, saving the UK economy millions each year, says an American scientist presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology’s Spring Conference in Dublin.
Scientists at Washington State University are studying the maternal antibodies that are passed from hens to their chicks. “These antibodies protect chicks from becoming colonized by Campylobacter in the first week of life,” explained Professor Michael Konkel who is leading the research. “Our group has now identified the bacterial molecules that these antibodies attack, which has given us a starting point for a vaccine against Campylobacter,” he said. “We have already found that chickens injected with these specific molecules – found on the surface of Campylobacter jejuni – produce antibodies against the bacterium. This response partially protects them from colonization.”
A vaccine could be a powerful weapon to help control food-borne illness. “Preventing contamination of poultry at slaughter has not been effective at reducing illness in humans. It has been shown that about 65% of chickens on retail sale in the UK are contaminated with Campylobacter,” explained Professor Konkel. “Ideally, the best way to prevent contamination is to stop chickens on the farm from becoming colonized with this microorganism in the first place, which could be achieved by vaccination. Our goal within the next 6 months is to test a vaccine for chickens that will reduce Campylobacter colonization levels. There’s still a long way to go, but I’m confident our lab and others are moving in the right direction.”
Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen
Tagged health
