Category Archives: Uncategorized

New Zealand Hummus Recall – Listeria

Posted on May 4, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Press NZ

A popular brand of hummus has been recalled because it may contain a bug which can cause severe diarrhoea and vomiting. Life Health Food (LHF) announced yesterday that they were recalling Lisa’s Organic Hummus Roasted Garlic dip with an expiry date of May 11 2012, because it had tested positive for listeria during routine testing. Listeria is a bacteria which can cause the serious illness listeriosis, symptoms of which can include fever, headache, diarrhoea and vomiting.

About 300 tubs of the hummus have already been sold, virtually all in the South Island.

There have been no reports of illness as of yet, but consumers who felt unwell after eating the product were advised to seek medical advice.

 

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US – More Dried Fish – Clostrium botulinum Issues

Posted on April 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Bites

LA Star Seafood Co. Inc., Los Angeles, CA is recalling Vobla Dry and Vobla Smoked because they have the potential to be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium which can cause life-threatening illness or death. Consumers are warned not to use the product even if it does not look or smell spoiled.
The sale of improperly eviscerated fish, 5 inches in length or greater, is prohibited because Clostridium botulinum spores are more likely to be concentrated in the viscera than any other portion of the fish. Uneviscerated fish has been linked to outbreaks of botulism poisoning which may pose a potentially life-threatening health hazard. Symptoms of botulism include blurred or double vision, general weakness, poor reflexes, difficulty swallowing and respiratory paralysis which may lead to death. People experiencing these problems should seek immediate medical attention.
The following products are recalled:
Vobla Dry, 20lb bulk boxes, not vacuum packed, no lot numbers or expiration dates.
Vobla Smoked, 20lb bulk boxes, not vacuum packed, no lot numbers or expiration dates.

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Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Uncategorized

Jail Food – Inmates Food Poisoned – US

Posted on April 19, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

About 250 inmates being held at the Kent County Jail in Grand Rapids, MI suffering with food poisoning symptoms since Sunday still do not know for certain what ails them.
 
None required hospitalisation and all are said to be recovering.
 
The illnesses among the inmates began on Sunday, when Undersheriff Jon Hess says the jail served a taco-type meal that included a “chicken product.”  Hess said the meat was cooked at the proper temperature in a kettle, and then kept warm in a steamer.
 
Because the steamer was not keeping the meat warm enough, a pizza oven was substituted.  Later Sunday afternoon, inmates said the meat did not smell or taste right. The jail feeds 1,000 inmates for every meal.
 
Food samples from all meals served over the weekend were provided to the Kent County Health Department for lab analysis.  

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48% of 120 Samples of Chicken – E.coli – US “Study”

Posted on April 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

New York Times

A recent test of packaged raw chicken products bought at grocery stores across the country found that roughly half of them were contaminated with the bacteria E. coli.

Personally I am not really suprised by this, there are also no enumerations, so no levels are ascertained and as it was produced by a group that advocates vegetarian diets.

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RSS Feeds

Posted on April 8, 2012 by | 1 comment

Hi

For those of you that prefer RSS Feeds to email, I have just added a widget to the blog that will enable you to do so.

Thanks

 

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Looking for New Food and Drink Scientists – FDF and Nestle

Posted on March 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Manufacturer

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is teaming up with Nestlé to attract a new generation of scientists into the industry at the Big Bang Careers Fair later this week.

The event is at the NEC on the 15-17th March

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FSA – Raw Milk Review?

Posted on March 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Possibly in light of the recent raw milk food illness outbreaks in the USA the FSA are deciding whether to review the use and sale of raw milk in the UK.

FSA

The Board of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) will decide next week whether the FSA should review the current rules governing the sale and marketing of unpasteurised, or raw, drinking milk and cream. This follows developments in the sale of raw milk which have seen producers using new routes of sale for their products, such as the internet and vending machines.

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Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, Food Illness, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Uncategorized

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India – 70 People Ill Food Poisoning – Wedding Function

Posted on February 7, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Zee News

Muzaffarnagar: More than 70 people were taken ill after they complained of food poisoning at Shamli town in Prabhudhnanag district.

A group of 70 people, who had come to attend a marriage function, complained of food poisoning last night after the dinner.

The organism responsible has not yet been identified

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety Alert, Microbiology, outbreak, Uncategorized

Life Technologies Acquires UK-Based Matrix MicroScience

Posted on February 3, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Cuts Food Pathogen Testing Workflow and Cost Per Sample by 50 Percent.

Life Technologies Corporation has announced that it has acquired Matrix MicroScience, a British manufacturer of large-volume, automated sample preparation systems and consumables for the food safety testing industry.  Matrix MicroScience’s technology will be added to Life Technologies’ existing foodborne pathogen detection workflow. The complementary technologies will ultimately help reduce the cost of testing by more than 50 percent and speed up time to results by hours or days in some cases, resulting in lower inventory holding costs for food producers. 

Among the key complementary technologies from the British firm is the PATHATRIX AUTO, a bench top, sample-prep instrument that isolates and concentrates target bacteria in food samples at high volumes with walk-away convenience. The system is designed to work in conjunction with reagent kits that isolate a variety of pathogens, including Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7,Listeria, Cronobacter and Campylobacter. Life Technologies is the leading manufacturer of real-time PCR instruments for the food safety testing market. Its portfolio includes real-time PCR-based detection kits for these same pathogens.

 Full article link

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Cold Plasma – Raw Chicken – Bacterial Loading/Pathogens

Posted on February 3, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Physorg.com

 A new study by food safety researchers at Drexel University demonstrates that plasma can be an effective method for killing pathogens on uncooked poultry. The proof-of-concept study was published in the January issue of the Journal of Food Protection.

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