Orange Blossom Farm is recalling Hot Dog Relish from the marketplace because it may permit the growth of Clostridium botulinum. Consumers should not consume the recalled product described below.
| Brand Name | Common Name | Size | Additional Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | Hot Dog Relish | 500 ml | Sold at St. Jacob’s Farmers’ Market in Ontario. |
The Health Hazard Alert issued on October 26, 2013 has been updated to include additional products and codes. This additional information was identified through a recall in the United States.
Reser’s Fine Foods Inc. is recalling various salad products from the marketplace due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products described at the link above.
A Salmonella outbreak that is unrelated to Foster Farms chicken has sickened at least seven people in California, Food Poisoning Bulletin has learned. Several of those who became ill are residents of Shasta County. It’s possible that one illness in another state is also part of the outbreak.
A spokesperson from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) said state health officials are working together with local jurisdictions on an investigation of an outbreak of Salmonella Lomalinda infections, but would not provide further information saying “CDPH does not comment on ongoing investigations.”
Bailey’s Choice Dog Treats of Georgia is recalling some packages of certain chicken jerky treats because it may be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria. The chicken treats are in various sizes and with these lot dates: June 5, 2013 and October 8, 2013. Those two lots tested positive for the bacteria.
Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Pet Food, Recall, Salmonella
Tagged california department of public health, cdph, food poisoning, Food Poisoning Bulletin, salmonella bacteria, salmonella outbreak
Winn-Dixie is recalling Taylor Farms Spinach Antipasta Salad from all of its stores for potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.This recall is an expansion of a recall announced earlier by Reser’s Fine Foods, Inc. The recalled item was sold in the full-service case in the deli department.
Giant Eagle stores are recalling Reser’s Fine Foods products for possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The recall affects product sold in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and West Virginia.
Differentiation between travel-related and domestic cases of infectious disease is important in managing risk. Incubation periods of cases from several outbreaks of campylobacteriosis in Canada, Europe, and the United States with defined exposure time of less than 24 hours were collated to provide information on the incubation period distribution. This distribution was consistent across the varied outbreaks considered, with 84% (702/832) of cases having an incubation period of four days or less and 1% having an incubation period of eight days or more. The incubation period distribution was incorporated into a model for the number of travel-related cases presenting with symptom onset at given dates after return to their country of residence. Using New Zealand notification data between 2006 and 2010 for cases who had undertaken foreign travel within 10 days prior to symptom onset, we found that 29.6% (67/227 cases; 95% confidence interval (CI): 28.3–30.8%) of these cases were likely to have been domestic cases. When cases with symptom onset prior to arrival were included, the probable domestic cases represented 11.8% (67/571; 95% CI: 11.2–12.3%). Consideration of incubation time distributions and consistent collection of travel start/end dates with symptom onset dates would assist attribution of cases to foreign travel.
Campylobacteriosis in humans, caused by Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli, is the most common recognized bacterial zoonosis in the EU and US. The acute phase is characterized by gastro intestinal symptoms. The long-term sequelae (Guillain-Barré Syndrome, reactive arthritis and post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome) contribute considerably to the disease burden. Attribution studies identified poultry as the reservoir responsible for up to 80% of the human Campylobacter infections. In the EU, an estimated 30% of the human infections is associated with consumption and preparation of poultry meat. Until now, interventions in the poultry meat production chain have not been effectively introduced except for targeted interventions in Iceland and New Zealand. Intervention measures (e.g. biosecurity) have limited effect or are hampered by economic aspects or consumer acceptance. In the future a multi-level approach should be followed, aiming at reducing the level of contamination of consumer products rather than complete absence of Campylobacter.
CDC – UK Duck Liver Campylobacter Outbreak
Campylobacter spp.–related gastroenteritis in diners at a catering college restaurant was associated with consumption of duck liver pâté. Population genetic analysis indicated that isolates from duck samples were typical of isolates from farmed poultry. Campylobacter spp. contamination of duck liver may present a hazard similar to the increasingly recognized contamination of chicken liver.
Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, CDC, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Research
Tagged Campylobacter jejuni, domestic cases, incubation period, infectious disease, symptom onset
Human norovirus (NoV) contaminated hands are important routes for transmission. Quantitative data on transfer during contact with surfaces and food are scarce but necessary for a quantitative risk assessment. Therefore, transfer of MNV1 and human NoVs GI.4 and GII.4 was studied by artificially contaminating human finger pads, followed by pressing on stainless steel and Trespa® surfaces and also on whole tomatoes and cucumber slices. In addition, clean finger pads were pressed on artificially contaminated stainless steel and Trespa® surfaces. The transfers were performed at a pressure of 0.8–1.9 kg/cm2 for approximately 2 s up to 7 sequential transfers either to carriers or to food products. MNV1 infectivity transfer from finger pads to stainless steel ranged from 13 ± 16% on the first to 0.003 ± 0.009% on the sixth transfer on immediate transfer. After 10 min of drying, transfer was reduced to 0.1 ± 0.2% on the first transfer to 0.013 ± 0.023% on the fifth transfer. MNV1 infectivity transfer from stainless steel and Trespa® to finger pads after 40 min of drying was 2.0 ± 2.0% and 4.0 ± 5.0% respectively. MNV1 infectivity was transferred 7 ± 8% to cucumber slices and 0.3 ± 0.5% to tomatoes after 10 min of drying, where the higher transfer to cucumber was probably due to the higher moisture content of the cucumber slices. Similar results were found for NoVs GI.4 and GII.4 transfers measured in PCR units. The results indicate that transfer of the virus is possible even after the virus is dried on the surface of hands or carriers. Furthermore, the role of fingers in transmission of NoVs was quantified and these data can be useful in risk assessment models and to establish target levels for efficacy of transmission intervention methods.
The duration of immunity to norovirus (NoV) gastroenteritis has been believed to be from 6 months to 2 years. However, several observations are inconsistent with this short period. To gain better estimates of the duration of immunity to NoV, we developed a mathematical model of community NoV transmission. The model was parameterized from the literature and also fit to age-specific incidence data from England and Wales by using maximum likelihood. We developed several scenarios to determine the effect of unknowns regarding transmission and immunity on estimates of the duration of immunity. In the various models, duration of immunity to NoV gastroenteritis was estimated at 4.1 (95% CI 3.2–5.1) to 8.7 (95% CI 6.8–11.3) years. Moreover, we calculated that children (<5 years) are much more infectious than older children and adults. If a vaccine can achieve protection for duration of natural immunity indicated by our results, its potential health and economic benefits could be substantial.
We report an increase in the proportion of genotype GI.6 norovirus outbreaks in the United States from 1.4% in 2010 to 7.7% in 2012 (p<0.001). Compared with non-GI.6 outbreaks, GI.6 outbreaks were characterized by summer seasonality, foodborne transmission, and non–health care settings.
After the substantial decrease in acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in children caused by rotavirus after introduction of 2 rotavirus vaccines (1), norovirus has become the leading cause of medically attended AGE in US children <5 years of age (2). We describe the clinical characteristics of norovirus disease and assessed whether rotavirus vaccine protected against norovirus AGE.
This review identified fourteen reported illness outbreaks attributed to consumption of pathogen-contaminated spice during the period 1973–2010. Countries reporting outbreaks included Canada, Denmark, England and Wales, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Serbia, and the United States. Together, these outbreaks resulted in 1946 reported human illnesses, 128 hospitalizations and two deaths. Infants/children were the primary population segments impacted by 36% (5/14) of spice-attributed outbreaks. Four outbreaks were associated with multiple organisms. Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica was identified as the causative agent in 71% (10/14) of outbreaks, accounting for 87% of reported illnesses. Bacillus spp. was identified as the causative agent in 29% (4/10) of outbreaks, accounting for 13% of illnesses. 71% (10/14) of outbreaks were associated with spices classified as fruits or seeds of the source plant. Consumption of ready-to-eat foods prepared with spices applied after the final food manufacturing pathogen reduction step accounted for 70% of illnesses. Pathogen growth in spiced food is suspected to have played a role in some outbreaks, but it was not likely a contributing factor in three of the larger Salmonella outbreaks, which involved low-moisture foods. Root causes of spice contamination included contributions from both early and late stages of the farm-to-table continuum.
Posted in Bacillus, Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella
Tagged illness outbreaks, salmonella outbreaks, spice
In recent years, numerous foodborne outbreaks due to consumption of berry fruit contaminated by human enteric viruses have been reported. This European multinational study investigated possible contamination routes by monitoring the entire food chain for a panel of human and animal enteric viruses.
A total of 785 samples were collected throughout the food production chain of four European countries (Czech Republic, Finland, Poland and Serbia) during two growing seasons. Samples were taken during the production phase, the processing phase, and at point-of-sale. Samples included irrigation water, animal faeces, food handlers’ hand swabs, swabs from toilets on farms, from conveyor belts at processing plants, and of raspberries or strawberries at points-of-sale; all were subjected to virus analysis. The samples were analysed by real-time (reverse transcription, RT)-PCR, primarily for human adenoviruses (hAdV) to demonstrate that a route of contamination existed from infected persons to the food supply chain. The analyses also included testing for the presence of selected human (norovirus, NoV GI, NoV GII and hepatitis A virus, HAV), animal (porcine adenovirus, pAdV and bovine polyomavirus, bPyV) and zoonotic (hepatitis E virus, HEV) viruses.
At berry production, hAdV was found in 9.5%, 5.8% and 9.1% of samples of irrigation water, food handlers’ hands and toilets, respectively. At the processing plants, hAdV was detected in one (2.0%) swab from a food handler’s hand. At point-of-sale, the prevalence of hAdV in fresh raspberries, frozen raspberries and fresh strawberries, was 0.7%, 3.2% and 2.0%, respectively.
Of the human pathogenic viruses, NoV GII was detected in two (3.6%) water samples at berry production, but no HAV was detected in any of the samples. HEV-contaminated frozen raspberries were found once (2.6%). Animal faecal contamination was evidenced by positive pAdV and bPyV assay results. At berry production, one water sample contained both viruses, and at point-of-sale 5.7% and 1.3% of fresh and frozen berries tested positive for pAdV.
At berry production hAdV was found both in irrigation water and on food handler’s hands, which indicated that these may be important vehicles by which human pathogenic viruses enter the berry fruit chain. Moreover, both zoonotic and animal enteric viruses could be detected on the end products. This study gives insight into viral sources and transmission routes and emphasizes the necessity for thorough compliance with good agricultural and hygienic practice at the farms to help protect the public from viral infections.
Posted in Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Food Virus, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis E, Laboratory, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Research, Virus
Tagged enteric viruses, food chain, food handler, food production chain, irrigation water
In light of new evidence calling into question the effectiveness of current control measures to reduce or prevent illness from consumption of spices in the United States, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) developed a risk profile on pathogens and filth in spices. The objectives of the risk profile were to (1) describe the nature and extent of the public health risk posed by consumption of spices in the United States by identifying the most commonly occurring microbial hazards and filth in spice (2) describe and evaluate current mitigation and control options designed to reduce the public health risk posed by consumption of contaminated spices in the United States (3) identify potential additional mitigation and control options and (4) identify critical data gaps and research needs. The draft risk profile for pathogens and filth in spices provides information for FDA to use in the development of plans to reduce or prevent illness from spices contaminated by microbial pathogens and/or filth.
FoodWorld 