Category Archives: Uncategorized

FSANZ 

Nalcoombie Pastoral Company has recalled Ovaston Organics in NSW and QLD due to System failure: potential for unacceptable dirty eggs. Dirty eggs can harbour pathogens that may cause illness if consumed. Consumers should not eat this product. The product can be returned to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Environmental Swabs

This external quality assessment (EQA) scheme is suitable for laboratories that routinely examine environmental swabs.

Staphylococcus Enterotoxin

Participants reconstitute the samples, incubate, then test for Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin.

Non Pathogens

This external quality assessment (EQA) scheme is suitable for laboratories located on production sites where the introduction of pathogens may be inadvisable.

Food Microbiology Legislation

This external quality assessment (EQA) scheme is designed for laboratories that examine foods for compliance with Regulation (EC) 2073/2005 and subsequent amendments.

FSIS/USDA

Snapp’s Ferry Packing Company, an Afton, Tenn. establishment, is recalling approximately 410 pounds of beef product 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 ground beef item was produced on Nov. 20, 2015. The following product is subject to recall: [View Label]

• 5-lb. packages of “Ground Beef,” with a packaging date of Nov. 20, 2015.

The product subject to recall bears establishment number “Est. 9085” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The item was distributed to restaurants in the Knoxville, Tenn. area. None of this product was sold at retail.

The problem was discovered on Jan. 19, 2016, when a positive result for E. coli O157:H7 from FSIS testing was traced back to the establishment as a result of an ongoing illness investigation in Tennessee. FSIS is continuing to work with our public health partners at the Tennessee Department of Health and Knox County Health Department on this investigation and will provide updated information as it becomes available.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps 2–8 days (3–4 days, on average) after exposure the organism. While most people recover within a week, some develop a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). This condition can occur among persons of any age but is most common in children under 5-years old and older adults. It is marked by easy bruising, pallor, and decreased urine output. Persons who experience these symptoms should seek emergency medical care immediately.

FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on the FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls.

TheGulfToday

MANILA: Food poisoning has downed a total of 207 public school students in two areas in the Philippines within just two days, raising serious concern from health authorities on the safety of food and snacks served to them.

The latest case was reported by GMA News in the town of Ubay on the island province of Bohol in the Visayas in Central Philippines that victimised 85 elementary school students who partook of a local delicacy called “ampao” (sweetened rice puff) on Friday.

GOV.UK – Foodborne illness in humans: general outbreaks in England and Wales in 2015

GOV.UK – Reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals: suspected and laboratory-confirmed outbreaks in 2015

GOV.UK – Salmonella infections (faecal specimens) in England and Wales: laboratory reports 2015

GOV.UK – Common gastrointestinal infections in England and Wales: laboratory reports in 2015

KOMONEWS.COM

SEATTLE — Norovirus has sickened more than two dozen people at a senior living facility in Seattle.

The outbreak first surfaced on Saturday night at Mirabella Seattle and has continued spreading ever since. On Sunday morning, Seattle firefighters answered Artis Leabo’s 911 call for her 94-year-old husband, Dick

SYRACUSE.COM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Health officials are investigating what caused some of the hundreds of parents and children attending a Rochester dance competition to become ill.

The Monroe County Health Department says it’s too early to determine a cause, but officials say they suspect norovirus caused several people to fall ill after attending last weekend’s event at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

Food Poisoning Bulletin 

Ten people have died and 77 others have been sickened by Legionnaires Disease in Flint, Michigan and the the surrounding area since June 2014, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced this week.  The spike in illnesses began two months after the city of Flint changed its water supply to the Flint River in a money-saving move, but health department officials say its too early to tell if the two are related. One reason health officials say they cannot be directly link the cases to the water change in Flint is the they don’t have isolates from case patients.

FDA 

Heritage International (USA) Inc. of Compton, CA is voluntarily recalling one lot of Trader Joe’s Raw Cashew Pieces with the following code “BEST BEFORE 07.17.2016TF4” because of potential contamination with Salmonella. Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

The recall only affects one specific lot of Trader Joe’s Raw Cashew Pieces. The product comes in a 16 ounce, clear, non-resealable plastic package (with a barcode number of 00505154) and with the following lot code, “BEST BEFORE 07.17.2016TF4.” The “BEST BEFORE” information can be found on the backside of the package above the barcode.

The New York Times

OVER the last two decades, more and more Americans have begun patronizing their local farmers markets. From 1994 to 2014, the number of farmers markets throughout the country increased almost fivefold. Many consumers frequent these markets because they believe that the foods they purchase there are healthier and safer than the same items sold at supermarkets, posing less risk of food-borne illness.

Yet no one really knows whether what is sold at farmers markets is less likely to make you sick. For one thing, the publicly available data on food-borne illness from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are limited: Only the location where the food was prepared is available, and even that is not always recorded. You cannot use these data to link an outbreak or case of food-borne illness to the specific place where the food was purchased.

Daily News

Around 22 students at the Baduraliya Maliyadewa Primary School, were hospitalized yesterday due to food poisoning, police said.

A group of Grade 5 students started vomiting and some had even fainted after eating a meal at the school.

“The students were admitted to the Baduraliya Hospital with symptoms similar to that of food poisoning,” hospital sources said.

The students were not in any serious condition. The Police and Health authorities have launched an investigation.