Category Archives: Uncategorized

FDA

Mahina Mele Farms is recalling the following products after FDA testing found Salmonella in macadamia nuts. Salmonella, an organism which 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.

To date, no illnesses have been reported in connection with these products. In the interest of public health and safety, we are recalling all products processed from this batch of macadamia nuts.

The following products are involved in the recall. They were distributed to retail stores from May 26-29, 2015 primarily on the East Coast and in Hawaii.

Customers who have purchased the above products should not consume them and should return them to the store where they were purchased for a full refund or replacement. Mahina Mele Farm will reimburse the wholesaler for any returned product.

These products were shipped May 26-29th, 2015 and are from LOT #016.

If you have any questions, call Jason or Kollette Stith at 808 328 8987.

This recall is being made with the knowledge of the Food and Drug Administration.

FDA

A Thousand Virgins Corp. in Miami (City of Industry), FL is recalling all lots of tattoo Inks described below due to microbiological contamination. A Thousand Virgins grey wash inks; G1, G2 and G3, that are labeled with Lot #129, and bearing the expiration date: 1/16, revealed contamination with Mycobacterium chelonae, Microbacterium organisms, and the molds Cryptococcus albidus and members of the Penicillium genus. Use of these products may cause bacterial infection and can lead to sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection. The recalled products are described below:

The inks were manufactured, sold and distributed by A Thousand Virgins Corp. The G1, G2 and G3 grey wash tattoo inks were distributed nationwide and may be available for sale from international and online distributors.

As of today’s date, there is no laboratory evidence matching microorganisms isolated from A Thousand Virgins tattoo inks to known cases of infection.

FDA Laboratory testing has found microbial contamination in the inks. Potentially pathogenic organisms were isolated and identified by the FDA.

This recall is being made with the knowledge of the US Food and Drug Administration. Consumers with any questions should contact us at 1-866-829-4659 from Monday to Friday between the hours of 9am to 5pm EST

ABC13

Springfield, VA – Good Seed is recalling its soybean sprouts and mung bean sprouts due to possible health risks.

They say all of the packages have been recalled because of the potential they’re contaminated with listeria.

It was discovered through surveillance and monitoring by the Virginia Rapid Response Team, the Virginia Department of Agriculture, and testing by the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services.

Ingenta Connect 

Vibrio vulnificus (Vv) and Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) are the two leading causes of bacterial illnesses associated with raw shellfish consumption. Levels of these pathogens in oysters can increase during routine antifouling aquaculture practices involving dry storage in ambient air conditions. After storage, common practice is to resubmerge these stored oysters to reduce elevated Vv and Vp levels, but evidence proving the effectiveness of this practice is lacking. This study examined the changes in Vv and in total and pathogenic (thermostable direct hemolysin gene and the tdh-related hemolysin gene, tdh+ and trh+) Vp levels in oysters after 5 or 24 h of dry storage (28 to 32°C), followed by resubmersion (27 to 32°C) for 14 days. For each trial, replicate oyster samples were collected at initial harvest, after dry storage, after 7 days, and after 14 days of resubmersion. Oysters not subjected to dry storage were collected and analyzed to determine natural undisturbed vibrio levels (background control). Vibrio levels were measured using a most-probable-number enrichment followed by real-time PCR. After storage, vibrio levels (excluding tdh+ and trh+ Vp during 5-h storage) increased significantly (P < 0.001) from initial levels. After 7 days of resubmersion, Vv and total Vp levels (excluding total Vp in oysters stored for 5 h) were not significantly different (P <0.1) from levels in background oysters. Vv and total and pathogenic Vp levels were not significantly different (P > 0.1) from levels in background oysters after 14 days of resubmersion, regardless of dry storage time. These data demonstrate that oyster resubmersion after dry storage at elevated ambient temperatures allows vibrio levels to return to those of background control samples. These results can be used to help minimize the risk of Vv and Vp illnesses and to inform the oyster industry on the effectiveness of routine storing and resubmerging of aquaculture oysters.

ABC News

The next time you board a ship, you may want to salute your captain instead of shaking his hand.

At least one luxury cruise line has made no handshaking — between crew and passengers — official policy. Crystal Cruises has a no-shake rule for the captain, in addition to other “preventative measures” when it comes to health and safety on board its ships.

Ingenta Connect

Inactivation of Human Norovirus and Its Surrogates on Alfalfa Seeds by Aqueous Ozone

FDA 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it is requesting comments from the public, including scientific data and information, that would assist the agency in identifying and evaluating measures that might minimize the impact of harmful bacteria in cheeses made from unpasteurized milk.

The FDA recognizes that there is broad diversity in cheese manufacturing operations and approaches and that many factors go into ensuring the safety of the food. In issuing this call for data and information, we are interested in learning more about the standards and practices in use by a wide variety of producers, including the growing artisanal cheese manufacturing community.

We are taking this action as part of an ongoing discussion with industry and other stakeholders about potential health risks associated with consumption of cheese made from unpasteurized milk — risks that are greatest for people with weakened immune systems, older adults, pregnant women and children. The FDA is taking this action in part based on findings from a joint FDA/Health Canada Quantitative Risk Assessment also being released today.

For more information on these risks, view guidelines for avoiding illness by choosing milk and milk products carefully.

Ingenta Connect 

Foodborne viruses, in particular human norovirus and hepatitis A virus, are the most common causes of food-associated infections and foodborne illness outbreaks around the world. Since it is currently not possible to cultivate human noroviruses and the wild-type strain of hepatitis A virus in vitro, the use of a variety of viral surrogates is essential to determine appropriate thermal processing conditions to reduce the risk associated with their contamination of food. Therefore, the objectives of this review are to (i) present pertinent characteristics of enteric foodborne viruses and their viral surrogates, (ii) discuss the viral surrogates currently used in thermal inactivation studies and their significance and value, (iii) summarize available data on thermal inactivation kinetics of enteric viruses, (iv) discuss factors affecting the efficacy of thermal treatment, (v) discuss suggested mechanisms of thermal inactivation, and (vi) provide insights on foodborne enteric viruses and viral surrogates for future studies and industrial applications. The overall goal of this review is to contribute to the development of appropriate thermal processing protocols to ensure safe food for human consumption.

Food Safety News

Reports following an awards banquet last week at Bali Hai Restaurant in San Diego, which sickened at least 60 people, indicate that the likely problem was norovirus.

A spokesman with the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health was quoted Tuesday in a local newspaper saying that the county was still waiting on laboratory confirmation, but that no illness reports had been received from anyone who ate at Bali Hai but did not attend the July 29 event.

Food Safety News

About 35 people were sickened after a wedding reception Friday night in Brewerton, NY, which is about 15 miles north of Syracuse. Nine of the 35 were reportedly taken via ambulance to local hospitals, but all have apparently been released.

The reception was being held at Arrowhead Lodge at Oneida Shores Park, where people can rent the facility from Onondaga County and arrange to bring in their own food.

Food Poisoning Bulletin

At least 35 people have been sickened after attending a wedding reception July 31, 2015 at the Arrowhead Lodge in Bremerton, which is in Onondaga county, New York. Officials suspect food poisoning may be the cause of these illnesses. Nine people were taken by ambulance to the hospital; two were hospitalized overnight.

State and county health departments are investigating this outbreak. Officials aren’t sure if food poisoning is the cause

Ingenta Connect – Effect of Fill Temperature on Clostridium botulinum Type A Toxin Activity during the Hot Filling of Juice Bottles

The potential threat of terrorist attacks against the United States food supply using neurotoxin produced by Clostridium botulinum (BoNT) has resulted in the need for studying the effect of various food process operations on the bioavailability of this toxin. The objective of this study was to evaluate C. botulinum type A neurotoxin bioavailability after a simulated hot fill juice bottling operation. C. botulinum type A acid mud toxin (∼10⁶ mouse lethal dose [MLD₅₀]/ml) was deposited into juice bottles at an experimentally determined fastest cooling spot. Bottles (12 or 20 oz [355 and 592 ml]) were filled with either apple juice or an orange drink, at 80 or 85°C, in either upright or inverted orientations. Toxicity of the juice was evaluated as a function of holding time (1 to 2 min) by the mouse bioassay. The fastest cooling point in the upright orientation was determined to be at a bottle’s bottom rim. In the inverted orientation, the fastest cooling point was in the bottle cap region. With respect to these two points, the upright bottle cooled faster than the inverted bottle, which was reflected in a higher inactivation of BoNT in the latter. For the orange drink (pH 2.9) toxicity was reduced by 0.5 × 10⁶ MLD₅₀/ml to a nondetectable level after 1 min in all bottle sizes, orientations, and temperatures as measured by the mouse bioassay. This indicates that there was at least a 0.5 × 10⁶ MLD₅₀/ml reduction in activity. Inactivation in apple juice (pH 4.0), to the same degree as in the orange drink, was found only for the inverted orientation at 85°C. Complete inactivation in apple juice for all conditions was found at a lower added toxin level of 0.25 × 10⁵ MLD₅₀/ml. In general, bottle inversion and filling at 85°C provided complete inactivation of BoNT to the 0.5 × 10⁶ MLD₅₀/ml level. All experiments resulted in the inactivation of 2.5 × 10⁴ MLD₅₀/ml of BoNT regardless of juice type, fill temperature, or bottle orientation and size.

PubMedGov – Assessing the Performance of Clostridium perfringens Cooling Models for Cooked, Uncured Meat and Poultry Products.

Heat-resistant spores of Clostridium perfringens may germinate and multiply in cooked meat and poultry products when the rate and extent of cooling does not occur in a timely manner. Therefore, six cooling models (PMP 7.0 broth model; PMIP uncured beef, chicken, and pork models; Smith-Schaffner version 3; and UK IFR ComBase Perfringens Predictor) were evaluated for relative performance in predicting growth of C. perfringens under dynamic temperature conditions encountered during cooling of cooked, uncured meat and poultry products. The predicted growth responses from the models were extensively compared with those observed in food. Data from 188 time-temperature cooling profiles (176 for single-rate exponential cooling and 12 for dual-rate exponential cooling) were collected from 17 independent sources (16 peer-reviewed publications and one report) for model evaluation. Data were obtained for a variety of cooked products, including meat and poultry slurries, ground meat and poultry products with and without added ingredients (e.g., potato starch, sodium triphosphate, and potassium tetrapyrophosphate), and processed products such as ham and roast beef. Performance of the models was evaluated using three sets of criteria, and accuracy was defined within a 1- to 2-log range. The percentages of accurate, fail-safe, or fail-dangerous predictions for each cooling model differed depending on which criterion was used to evaluate the data set. Nevertheless, the combined percentages of accurate and fail-safe predictions based on the three performance criteria were 34.66 to 42.61% for the PMP 7.0 beef broth model, 100% for the PMIP cooling models for uncured beef, uncured pork and uncured chicken, 80.11 to 93.18% for the Smith-Schaffner cooling model, and 74.43 to 85.23% for the UK IFR ComBase Perfringens Predictor model during single-rate exponential chilling. Except for the PMP 7.0 broth model, the other five cooling models (PMIP, Smith-Schaffner, and UK IFR ComBase) are useful and reliable tools that food processors and regulatory agencies can use to evaluate the safety of cooked or heat-treated uncured meat and poultry products exposed to cooling deviations or to develop customized cooling schedules

Stratford Observer

THE MANAGER of a Stratford restaurant has been made to pay more than £20,000 after a serious outbreak of salmonella saw six people hospitalised and one suffer kidney failure.

Henry Cheung, who manages the Laughing Buddha on Greenhill Street, was also banned from being involved in the running of any food outlet after pleading guilty to eight food hygiene offences at Leamington Magistrates’ Court on Friday (July 31).

The prosecution against Mr Cheung was brought by Stratford District Council’s Environmental Health department, who told the court how 15 people were known to have contracted food poisoning after eating at the Chinese restaurant between July and August last year.

Peterlee Star

Specialist lawyers have been contacted by family members of a person affected by the E.coli outbreak linked to a butcher’s shop.

Fifteen cases of illness have emerged as a result of the outbreak. Health officials say many of those affected fell ill after eating pre-cooked meats or savoury products purchased or supplied by the Robinson’s Butchers site in Billingham.