Category Archives: Pathogen

USA- Hepatitis A – Townsend Farms and Hawaii Restaurant NYC

Food Poisoinng Journal

As of September 20, 2013, 162 people have been confirmed to have become ill from hepatitis A after eating ‘Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend’ in 10 states: Arizona (23), California (79), Colorado (28), Hawaii (8), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (1), New Mexico (11), Nevada (6), Utah (3), and Wisconsin (2). [Note: The cases reported from Wisconsin resulted from exposure to the product in California, the cases reported from New Hampshire reported fruit exposure during travel to Nevada, and the case reported in New Jersey was a household contact of a confirmed case from Colorado.] Currently, 6 of the confirmed cases are household contacts of confirmed cases (secondary cases).

Food Poisoning Journal

In response to cases of hepatitis A infections in an employee and four customers at New Hawaii Sea restaurant, located at 1475 Williamsbridge Road in the Bronx, the New York City Health Department is urging customers who ate at the restaurant, either in-store, through catering or delivery, between September 7th and September 19th to receive hepatitis A vaccine as soon as possible. Any leftover food from this restaurant should also be discarded. Any person who ate at New Hawaii Sea, either in-store, through catering or delivery, between September 7th and September 19th is considered at risk and is recommended to receive hepatitis A vaccine as soon as possible. Any person who ate food from this restaurant before September 7th should be evaluated if they have symptoms suggestive of infection. The Health Department is working with the restaurant to ensure that all the food handlers are vaccinated.

USA – Salads Recall Possible Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria Blog Eurofins Food Testing UK

Weis Markets, Inc., the Sunbury, PA-based supermarket chain with 162 stores in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland, is recalling Weis Quality salads for possible Listeria contamination.

No illnesses have yet been associated with the recall, which Weis announced Monday on its Facebook page. The Weis brand salads are made by Milwaukee-based Garden Fresh Foods.

Canada – CFIA Alert – Salmonella in Spinach

CFIA Eurofins Food Testing UK

Ottawa, September 23, 2013 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Ippolito Fruit and Produce Ltd., are warning the public not to consume the Frisco’s, Queen Victoria and Metro brands spinach described in the link because they may be contaminated with Salmonella.

These products have been distributed in Ontario and Quebec. These products may also have been distributed to other provinces.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.

The manufacturer, Ippolito Fruit and Produce Ltd., Burlington, Ontario, is voluntarily recalling the affected products from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

Canada – E.coli O157 in Cheese Update

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The Public Health Agency of Canada says that now fourteen cases of E. coli O157:H7 are associated with contaminated raw milk cheese products manufactured by Gort’s Gouda Cheese Farm in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. There are four people who are ill in British Columbia; eight in Alberta; one in Saskatchewan; and one in Quebec. One person in British Columbia has died as a result of this infection.

Ill persons started getting sick between mid-July and early September. Some of Gort’s raw milk cheeses have been recalled as a result of this outbreak. The statement said that “there is currently no indication of widespread risk to Canadians. However, E. coli O157:H7 can pose a serious public health risk. Additional cases of illness may be identified and linked to this outbreak in the future.”

Research – Increasing Vibrio Prevalence

Food Safety NewsVibrio

With a nearly 50-percent mortality rate, Vibrio vulnificus is the most deadly foodborne pathogen in the world, according to University of North Carolina at Charlotte Biology Professor Jim Oliver. And instances of infection in the U.S., however rare, are rapidly rising.

Fifteen years ago, there were 21 confirmed cases of Vibrio vulnificus and parahaemolyticus infections in the U.S. Last year, there were 193.

While infections from either of the pathogens are still rare compared with, say, Salmonella and Campylobacter, the incidence rate grew faster than any of the other five microbes tracked in the Centers for Disease Control’s 2012 Food Safety Progress Report. The vulnificus strain is responsible for 95 percent of seafood-related illness fatalities in the U.S., according to a 2013 study by Oliver and Joanna Nowakowska. Another Vibrio strain, parahaemolyticus, is milder, causing diarrhea, nausea, fever and chills, according to CDC.

USA – One Dead from Salmonella Outbreak in Kentucky

Food Safety NewsSalm

Salmonella outbreak in Hopkins County, Kentucky, has killed one person and caused another seven confirmed illnesses.

The cause of the outbreak is still unknown, according to county health officials. Investigators have begun interviewing victims to see where or what they might have eaten in the days leading up to their illnesses.

RASFF Alert – Histamine – Tuna

RASFF – Histamine (240 mg/kg – ppm) in chilled tuna loins from Spain

RASFF Alerts Listeria – Fish – Campylobacter – Chicken – Bacillus cereus -Ginger Powder – Curry Powder

RASFF -Listeria monocytogenes (2600, <10 CFU/g) in smoked halibut from Belgium, with raw material from Denmark

RASFF -Listeria monocytogenes (<10 CFU/g) in various tuna, smoked salmon and sea food salads from Belgium in France

RASFF -Campylobacter coli (2800; 45000 CFU/g) and Campylobacter jejuni (3200; 120000 CFU/g) in fresh whole chicken, breast fillet from France in Den mark

RASFF -Bacillus cereus (39000 CFU/g) in ginger powder from India, via France in Switzerland

RASFF -Bacillus cereus (14000 CFU/g) in curry powder from India in Switzerland

RASFF – Bacillus cereus (55000 CFU/g) in curry powder from India in Switzerland

RASFF Alerts – Salmonella – Turkey – Chicken

 RASFF -Salmonella spp. in frozen turkey meat preparation from Brazil in the Netherlands

RASFF -Salmonella Heidelberg (presence /25g) in frozen whole chicken (Gallus gallus) from Brazil in Denmark

RASFF -Salmonella enteritidis (presence /25g) in chicken steak without bone from Poland in the Czech Republic

RASFF – Salmonella spp. in frozen chicken leg quarters from Denmark

RASFF – E.coli – Deer Meat – Beef

RASFF -Shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (O103 VT1 EAE positive) in quick-frozen deer meat from Austria in Italy

RASFF – Shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (presence /25g) in frozen boneless beef (Bos taurus) from Brazil inItaly