Category Archives: Research

UK – Research – Livestock Associated with MSRA

Food Safety NewsStaphylococcus

The U.K. Department of Health (DH) has identified the presence of livestock-associated MRSA in turkeys and chickens on a farm in East Anglia. (MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.)

The BBC reports that it’s the first case of LA-MRSA in poultry in the U.K., and that two-thirds of the turkeys on the unnamed farm were infected. Hundreds of turkeys may have already been sold to local retail outlets.

GOV.UK

The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) has identified the presence of Livestock-Associated Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in poultry on a farm in East Anglia.

LA-MRSA is not the same as those that cause the healthcare associated infections that affect people. The risk of getting LA-MRSA from eating poultry meat is very low if the meat is handled hygienically and cooked thoroughly to kill any bacteria. The risk of the general public catching LA-MRSA from an animal is also very low.

HPA Scotland – Contaminated Water Tanks

HPAS

A recent Estates and Facilities Alert issued by Health Facilities Scotland (HFS) has noted that contamination of water supplies was found in two recent projects within NHS Scotland. Extensive testing traced the source to the cold water storage tanks which gave TVC (Total Viable Count) readings for Pseudomonas in excess of 500cfu/100ml (after 72-hour incubation). TVC readings fell to 0cfu/100ml immediately after disinfecting the tanks but had reverted to high levels at later re-testing.

USA – E.coli O157 Report Released 94 Sickened

E.coli BlogEcoli Istock

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH)’s report of its investigation of an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak in which 94 ill persons were identified was released today.

Research – Inactivation of Human Norovirus using Chemical Sanitizers

Norwalk_CaspidScience Direct

The porcine gastric mucin binding magnetic bead (PGM-MB) assay was used to evaluate the ability of chlorine, chlorine dioxide, peroxyacetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and trisodium phosphate to inactivate human norovirus within 10% stool filtrate. One-min free chlorine treatments at concentrations of 33 and 189 ppm reduced virus binding in the PGM-MB assay by 1.48 and 4.14 log10, respectively, suggesting that chlorine is an efficient sanitizer for inactivation of human norovirus (HuNoV). Five min treatments with 5% trisodium phosphate (pH ~ 12) reduced HuNoV binding by 1.6 log10, suggesting that TSP, or some other high pH buffer, could be used to treat food and food contact surfaces to reduce HuNoV. One min treatments with 350 ppm chlorine dioxide dissolved in water did not reduce PGM-MB binding, suggesting that the sanitizer may not be suitable for HuNoV inactivation in liquid form. However a 60-min treatment with 350 ppm chlorine dioxide did reduce human norovirus by 2.8 log10, indicating that chlorine dioxide had some, albeit limited, activity against HuNoV. Results also suggest that peroxyacetic acid has limited effectiveness against human norovirus, since 1-min treatments with up to 195 ppm reduced human norovirus binding by < 1 log10. Hydrogen peroxide (4%) treatment of up to 60 min resulted in minimal binding reduction (~ 0.1 log10) suggesting that H2O2 is not a good liquid sanitizer for HuNoV. Overall this study suggests that HuNoV is remarkably resistant to several commonly used disinfectants and advocates for the use of chlorine (sodium hypochlorite) as a HuNoV disinfectant wherever possible.

Canada – Government of Canada announces plans to strengthen food safety enforcement

CFIA

November 21, 2013, Ottawa: Today, the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health, announced the intention to introduce new penalties for businesses that fail to respect Canadian meat safety requirements.

“Consumers want a strong and reliable food inspection system on which they can depend to provide safe food,” said Minister Ambrose. “Introducing these new penalties demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that Canada’s stringent food safety requirements are being followed.”

These fines, known as Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs), provide Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspectors with an additional enforcement option when working with the meat industry. For example, they may be applied if a company withholds information, such as a positive E. coli test result, or records that are needed as part of a food safety investigation, or if a company is regularly identified for not complying with requirements.

Strict fines for food safety violations are another step the Government of Canada is taking to protect consumers. The Healthy and Safe Food for Canadians Framework outlines additional activities being undertaken by the CFIA and its federal food safety partners, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

USA – FDA Food Modernisation Act Updates

FDAFDA

FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the most sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years, was signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011. It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it.

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Research – MRSA Treatment

News NortheasternStaphylococcus

Recent work from Uni­ver­sity Dis­tin­guished Pro­fessor of Biology Kim Lewis promises to over­come one of the leading public health threats of our time. In a ground­breaking study pub­lished Wednesday in the journal Nature, Lewis’ team presents a novel approach to treat and elim­i­nate methi­cillin resis­tant staphy­lo­coccus aureus, or MRSA, a potent bac­terium whose resis­tance to antibi­otics has kept it one step ahead of researchers. That is, until now.

Bac­teria such as MRSA have evolved to actively resist cer­tain antibi­otics, a fact that has gen­er­ated sig­nif­i­cant interest among the sci­en­tific and med­ical com­mu­ni­ties. But Lewis, Director of Northeastern’s Antimi­cro­bial Dis­covery Center, sus­pected that a dif­ferent adap­tive func­tion of bac­teria might be the true cul­prit in making these infec­tions so devastating. –

UK News Items – Unpaid Work – Hairy Bikers – Undercooking Meat

Consumer Food Safety

The boss of the Ocean Grill in Alexandra Parade, Servet Cicek, UK, has been ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work after he admitted 10 food safety offences at North Somerset Magistrates Court.

He was also given a 12 month community, six-month curfew and told to pay costs of £2,658.92.

Council food safety officers made an unannounced inspection of the takeaway last December, the court heard, finding a build-up of dirt, grease and food throughout the premises.

Raw meats were stored next to and on top of salads and cans of drinks, allowing bacteria and blood to contaminate the food.

Consumer Food Safety

A south Indian restaurant has been closed until further notice until tests confirm the source of an outbreak which has claimed 19 victims in total.

The restaurant, in Leicester, has received five-star ratings in its last three council inspections – the most recent of which was just last month. It has also won awards for its service and standards and has featured on Hairy Bikers’ Best Of British BBC2 show.

Consumer Food Safety

The UK Food Standards Agency says the undercooking of meat products, such as burgers and sausages, continues to be a significant concern, particularly for enforcement officers responsible for assessing the safety of practices used by food businesses. 

Meat products, such as burgers, have been associated with food poisoning and they can pose a risk of illness because of the way they are prepared if they are then undercooked. For example, with whole pieces of meat, bacterial contamination is usually present on the outer surfaces. Internal (deep muscle) contamination is unlikely unless the meat has been pierced. External contamination can become spread throughout the meat during mincing, such as in the preparation of burgers, kebabs, sausages and other products.

There are indications that consumers and caterers are showing a preference for serving burgers undercooked and in a variety of settings. Local authority enforcement officers are concerned about the risk posed by such practices. A number of bacterial hazards may be associated with meat of which verocytotoxin-producing E.coli and salmonella are considered to be the most important.

 

Research – What is Clostridium difficile

Food Poisoning Journal

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a spore-forming, gram-positive anaerobic bacillus that produces two toxins: toxin A and toxin B.  These toxins typically cause gastrointestinal disease, often with severe complications.  In rare cases, C. difficile-associated disease can be fatal.  Although C. difficile bacteria can be present in human intestinal tracts and cause no clinical symptoms (a condition called colonization), some individuals with C. difficile colonization are at increased risk of becoming ill.  The most common risk factor for C. difficile-associated disease is exposure to antibiotics, especially those with broad-spectrum activity.  Although less common, exposure to agents that suppress the immune system may also increase the risk of illness.  Advanced age, severe underlying illness, gastrointestinal surgery, use of nasogastric tubes, and gastrointestinal medications (such as gastrointestinal stimulants or antacids) have also been associated with an increased risk of colonization.  Most cases are acquired in hospitals or nursing homes, but an increased incidence of community–acquired C. difficile has been reported as well.

Research – Blackberry Juice Anitmicrobial

Science DirectBlack_Butte_blackberry

Berries such as blueberry, blackberry and raspberry possess several biological activities including antimicrobial and nutritional effects. In this study, the antimicrobial activities of blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) juice against foodborne pathogens including Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Typhimurium and Escherichia coli O157:H7 were investigated. Inhibition of growth of these foodborne pathogens was measured in broth (Luria–Bertani broth for E. coli O157:H7 and S. Typhimurium, and brain heart infusion broth for L. monocytogenes), skim milk and whole milk supplemented with 10% blackberry juice at different time points (0, 24, 48 and 72 h). The effects of blackberry juice on the growth of Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus rhamnosus were also investigated in Man–Rogosa–Sharpe (MRS) broth and skim and whole milk supplemented with blackberry juice. The growth of L. monocytogenes, S. Typhimurium and E. coli O157:H7 were significantly inhibited by blackberry juice by 1–3 logs in both milk and broth. We also observed that the growths of Lactobacillus strains were significantly stimulated (1–4 logs CFU/mL) by blackberry juice in both milk and MRS broth. These data clearly demonstrate that diluted blackberry juice can be used as a preservative in food processing and a preventive in foodborne infections as a natural antimicrobial.