Category Archives: Pathogen

Italian Kindergarten – Children Ill with Salmonellosis

Posted on February 28, 2012 by | Leave a comment

BarfBlog

Three cases of salmonellosis were found in three children attending the Parish Kindergarten in the Centrol per la Famiglia of Cassinone in Seriate, Italy. They belong to the spring group, consisting of children between 2- and 3-years-old.

A boy of two-and-a-half years began showing symptoms Friday and by Sunday, had to be hospitalized.

Lab testing prompted a salmonellosis diagnosis, as in the case of two other children from the kindergarten who have been hospitalized at the Pesenti Fenaroli hospital in Alzano.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Salmonella

Vancouver Listeria in Fish Study

Posted on February 28, 2012 by | 1 comment

Vancouver Post

Traces of a bacteria that can cause death have been found in ready-to-eat fish products in Metro Vancouver.

A University of British Columbia study found traces of listeria in 40 fish product samples tested before their expiry date.

The study, led by UBC food microbiologist Kevin Allen and published in a recent issue of the journal Food Microbiology, did not name the products or the seven large chain stores and 10 small retailers where they were purchased.

The type of foods tested included lox, smoked tuna, candied salmon and fish jerky. The listeria was found in 20 per cent of the products tested, of those, five had the more virulent variety of listeria monocytogenes.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen

FSA – Spar Chicken Chunks Recall – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSA 

SPAR is recalling one batch of SPAR Flame Grilled Chicken Chunks due to the presence of low levels of Listeria monocytogenes being detected in one sample during routine monitoring.

The affected batch of 140g packs has a use-by date of 3 March 2012 and was distributed to stores in the Midlands and Wales.

No cases of illness linked to the product have been reported but, as a precaution, consumers who have bought the affected product should not consume it and can return it to SPAR for a full refund.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Standards Agency, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

Updated Numbers US/Canadian Sprout and Pita – E.coli O026/Salmonella

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

CDC

A total of 14 individuals infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O26 have been reported from 6 states. The two new cases have been reported from Michigan. Both new cases reported eating at Jimmy John’s restaurants and consuming sprouts in the 7 days preceding illness.

The Spec

Hamilton Public Health officials have discovered another 12 cases of salmonella illnesses after asking anyone who has eaten at Eat a Pita on Main Street East since Feb. 1 to call them.

Officials declared a salmonella outbreak connected to Eat a Pita after investigating four salmonella cases linked to the restaurant. Eat a Pita has been closed as a result of improper food handling. During a previously scheduled health inspection on Feb. 1, it was found that cooked chicken wasn’t being kept at a high enough temperature.

 

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Posted in E.coli, E.coli O26, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella

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Norovirus Four Major US Outbreaks this Winter

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Penn State Blog 

The leading cause of foodborne disease is making its mark this winter. Just this February, Norovirus caused more than 200 attendees at a cheerleader camp in Washington State to become ill. In St. Maarten, a cruise ship returned to port as 31 became ill. In Virginia, an elementary school was closed because so many students were ill. And in New Jersey, more than 400 college students become ill at three universities located in the same county.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Virus, Microbiology, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall

Canadian Food Recalls – Listeria monocytogenes/E.coli

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

CIFA

 The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume the refrigerated cold smoked sockeye salmon trim products described in the link above because the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.

CIFA

The public warning issued on February 24, 2012has been expanded to include an additional product and distribution information.

The affected product, Country Morning brand Beef Burgers, is sold frozen, in a 2.27 kg package bearing the UPC 057316 086624 and one of the following codes: 12861 EST 761, 22861 EST 761, 32861 EST 761 or 42861 EST 761.

The Country Morning Beef Burgers product has been distributed to Co-op and TGP grocery stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut.

There has been one reported illness associated with the consumption of this product.

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Posted in CIFA, E.coli, E.coli O157, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall

Canada – Four Salmonella Illness – Pita Restaurant

Posted on February 24, 2012 by | 1 comment

The Spec Com

Four cases of salmonella are being investigated by Hamilton’s public health department.Public health says it believes the cases are connected to the Eat a Pita restaurant on Main Street East at Kenilworth Avenue.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Salmonella

Mobile Phone Detection of E.coli?

Posted on February 24, 2012 by | 1 comment

Bites

Researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a new cell phone–based fluorescent imaging and sensing platform that can detect the presence of the bacterium Escherichia coli in food and water. The engineers combined antibody functionalized glass capillaries with quantum dots (semiconductors often used for medical imaging) as signal reporters to specifically detect E. coli particles in liquid samples using a lightweight, compact attachment to an existing cell-phone camera.

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Posted in E.coli, E.coli O104, E.coli O157, E.coli O26, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, STEC

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Hot Air and Infrared – Salmonella Control – Almonds

Posted on February 24, 2012 by | 1 comment

Food Quality News

US food safety researchers are exploring the combined use of infrared and hot air as a tool in the pasteurisation of almonds – a method to prevent potential Salmonella contamination.

 

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Salmonella, USDA

Vibrio – Behaviour in Response to Temperature Study

Posted on February 23, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Bites 

Pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus in prawn has been a major cause of saefood-borne infection outbreaks. An understanding of its behavior in prawn helps ensure safety of the seafood consumption. The objective of this investigation was to understand the pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus behavior in non-sterile prawn in a laboratory and frozen food factory as responding to temperature. The behavior was observed in a laboratory. It was found that in the laboratory this pathogen grew in a temperature range of 15 to 44 °C but died in -20 to 10 °C. The primary Baranyi and modified Gompertz models excellently explained the pathogenic growth and death characteristics, respectively. The effects of temperature on the primary-model parameters were well described by the Kohler, Ratkowsky, asymptotic and non-linear Arrhenius models. The behavior of the pathogen was also observed in a freezing process line. The pathogen responded to temperature in a similar manner to that in the laboratory results although the actual line process involved more influencing factors. Therefore, the laboratory results of temperature effect on the pathogen behavior can provide a good guideline of safety for process design and control of the seafood. The response similarity was beneficial in the information usage of pathogen behavior in prawn which was satisfactorily interchangeable between these two environments.
Highlights
► V. parahaemolyticus, problematic pathogen, grew in prawn at ≥15°C but died at ≤10°C. ► The pathogen in laboratory and frozen factory showed a similar response to temperature. ► The pathogen behavior in laboratory can be a guideline of process-line design for safety. ► The primary and secondary models of growth and death prediction were identified.

Report at Food Control Science Direct

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Posted in Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Vibrio, Vibrio parahaemolyticus

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