Listeria bacterium in a ricotta product in Italy has caused the death of an elderly man aged 74 of Poggio Mirteto, while three other people were severely intoxicated, including a man of 45 years of Casperia. The four people’s place of residence, Lower Sabina, and they consumed the product at the beginning of the month, cheese and dairy products by a famous dairy company which has not yet been named.
Posted in Death, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Laboratory, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen
Tagged Italian Daily Mail Listeria bacterium, Poggio Mirteto
Salmonella is naturally occurring. In the wake of outbreaks, like the one linked to Foster Farms chicken, it’s an often-repeated phrase meant to assuage consumer fears and absolve corporate responsibility. But the phrase leaves out a key piece of information, where Salmonella naturally occurs.
Salmonella lives in the intestines of humans and other animals. It doesn’t “naturally occur” on the boneless, skinless chicken breasts or the wings and drumsticks you buy at the store. It gets there through a process of contamination. People can only get Salmonella infections when they eat or drink foods that have microscopic amounts of human or animal fecal matter on them.
The mishandling or undercooking of raw chicken meat associated with the recent Foster Farms Salmonella outbreak has sickened nearly 340 people across 20 states and Puerto Rico since March and has caused concern among consumers, consumer groups, and food-safety advocates about the safety of our food system and the efficacy of testing systems designed to keep our nation’s food supply safe.
Currently, federal law under USDA allows for 7.5 percent of whole chicken carcasses to be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter. This means that products contaminated with Salmonella and Campylobacter have become common and are frequently shipped from production facilities to stores. It is up to the consumer to follow safe handling and cooking practices to avoid being sickened.
USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service guidelines require microbiological sampling to monitor raw poultry for harmful pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter, but the regulations are not necessarily enforceable because no strains of Salmonella and Campylobacter are classified as adulterants.
Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Laboratory, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall, Research, Salmonella
Tagged Food Poisoning Bulletin Salmonella, salmonella infections
The public warning issued on October 24, 2013 has been updated to include additional products and Best Before dates.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Reser’s Fine Foods Inc. are warning the public not to consume the salad products described in the link above, because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.
The manufacturer, Reser’s Fine Foods Inc., Beaverton, Oregon, USA, is voluntarily recalling the affected products from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.
Health officials at the Florida Department of Health in Broward County are advising parents, schools and daycare centers to take precautionary action to prevent the spread of Shigellosis. Shigellosis is a highly contagious form of diarrhea caused by Shigella bacteria. Shigella can spread through person to person contact and may cause severe diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. Parents of children, or anyone with symptoms of Shigellosis should contact their healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment.
To date, one person has died and several others have been sickened in an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease linked to Glenwood Nursing Home in Florence, Alabama. Legionnaires’ is a form of pneumonia caused by inhaling water mist containing Legionella bacteria.
All confirmed and suspected cases have been either residents or visitors to the nursing home. The one person who has died in the outbreak was a woman who visited the facility with two family members. She later developed respiratory symptoms and was hospitalized. Tests confirmed Legionnaires disease (Legionella pneumonia). The other family members were also sickened.
Posted in Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hand Washing, Legionella, Microbiology, Pathogen, Shigella
Tagged Florida Department of Health, Legionella pneumonia, Shigella, shigella bacteria, Shigellosis
Scientists have discovered a new strain—the first in 40 years—of Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that is ultimately responsible for causing botulism. And although they have reported their findings in a scientific journal, the investigators have taken the extraordinary step of withholding key details of the discovery. That’s because the toxins made by C. botulinum are the most dangerous known to humankind and currently there is no antidote for a toxin generated by the new strain. The fear is that malevolent organizations or rogue governments might use the information to reverse engineer their own version of the new bug, making it a potent and real bioterrorism threat.
As of September 20, 2013 (5pm EDT), CDC has been notified of 643 ill persons with of Cyclospora infection from 25 states: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York (including New York City), Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Most of the illness onset dates have ranged from mid-June through mid-July.
Public health officials in Iowa and Nebraska performed investigations within their states and concluded that restaurant-associated cases of cyclosporiasis in their states were linked to a salad mix produced by Taylor Farms de Mexico.
Epidemiologic and traceback investigations conducted in Texas by state and local public health and regulatory officials, the FDA, and CDC indicated that some illnesses among Texas residents were linked to fresh cilantro from Puebla, Mexico.
Costco, in Coon Rapids, Minn., is recalling an undetermined amount of lean fresh ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
The product subject to recall is 383 units of 88% lean fresh ground beef (88/12). It bears the Costco item number 33724 under the Costco label. This product was sold directly to 342 consumers in a Costco located at 12547 Riverdale Blvd., Coon Rapids, Minn., between Sept. 4 and Sept. 7.
Reser’s Fine Foods, a Topeka, Kan. establishment, is recalling approximately 22,800 pounds of chicken, ham and 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 company announced that these products are being recalled in conjunction with other foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A full list of products being recalled can be found on FDA’s website at www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Recalls/default.htm. Products regulated by FSIS bear the establishment number “EST. 13520” or “P-13520” inside the USDA mark of inspection and include the following:
RASFF – Salmonella Lexington (present /25g) in sweet basil from Laos in Norway
RASFF -Salmonella Mbandaka (in 2 out of 5 samples) in ground sweet pepper with raw material from Spain, packaged in Slovakia
RASFF -Salmonella enteritidis (in 1 out of 5 samples /25g) in chilled chicken wings from Poland in Czech Republic
RASFF -Salmonella enteritidis (in 1 out of 5 samples /25g) in chilled chicken breast fillets from Poland
RASFF -Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in clams (Tapes semidecussatus) from Italy
RASFF -Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in frozen cooked clams from Vietnam
RASFF -Salmonella enteritidis (presence /25g) in cheese from the Czech Republic, with raw material from Poland
RASFF -Salmonella enteritidis (presence /25g) in chilled chicken filet from Poland in the Czech Republic
RASFF – Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in frozen chicken meat preparations (Gallus domesticus) from Brazil in the Netherlands
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