Category Archives: Uncategorized

Canada – Mystery Salmonella Outbreaks Sickens 59 in 5 Canadian Provinces

Posted on July 27, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Food Poison Journal

According to Canadian Health officials, as of July 24, 2020, there have been 59 confirmed cases of Salmonella Newport illness linked to this outbreak in the following provinces: British Columbia (23), Alberta (31), Manitoba (3), Ontario (1), and Prince Edward Island (1). Individuals became sick between mid-June and mid-July 2020. Information is available for 28 illnesses. Out of 28 people, six individuals have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. Individuals who became ill are between 11 and 77 years of age. The majority of cases (54%) are female.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) is also investigating an outbreak of Salmonella Newport illnesses that have a similar genetic fingerprint to illnesses reported in this outbreak. In the U.S., a total of 212 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Newport have been reported from 23 states. 31 hospitalizations have been reported. No deaths have been reported.

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, outbreak, Salmonella, Uncategorized

Research – Punicalagin Damages the Membrane of Salmonella Typhimurium

Posted on July 26, 2020 by | Leave a comment

JFP

Salmonella , a bacterial, food-borne pathogen, can contaminate meat, milk, and vegetables. While appropriate measures are available to control Salmonella , the inhibitory phytochemicals from plants are gaining increased attention. Punicalagin, a natural antibiotic, is one of the main active tannins isolated from Punica granatum L . To obtain a broader understanding of the effect of punicalagin on the cell membranes of Salmonella typhimurium , the killing kinetics, extracellular potassium concentration, release of cell constituents, intracellular pH (pH in ), membrane potential, and morphological features were characterized to elucidate the mechanisms of action. Treatment with punicalagin induced an increase in the extracellular concentrations of potassium and a release of cell constituents. A higher pH gradient, an increase in the pH in and cell membrane depolarization were observed after punicalagin treatment. Electron microscopy observations showed that the cell membrane structures of S. typhimurium were damaged by punicalagin. It is concluded that punicalagin inhibits the proliferation of S. typhimurium and destroys the integrity of the cell membrane, leading to a loss of cell homeostasis. These findings indicate that punicalagin has the potential to be used as a food preservative in order to control S. typhimurium contamination in food and reduce the risk of salmonellosis.

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Posted in Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Technology, microbial contamination, Microbiology, Research, Salmonella, Uncategorized

Research – Researchers identify biofilm hotspots, document danger zones

Posted on July 26, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Scientists in Austria have investigated where biofilms hide and what bacteria can be found in them.

Biofilms are proven sources of contamination in the food industry. They can cause additional costs in production and can be a danger to consumer health.

Researchers at the unit of food microbiology at Vetmeduni Vienna looked at biofilms in an Austrian meat processing environment that included pork, poultry and beef. Knowledge gained on presence and composition, published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology, could help to prevent and reduce biofilm formation within food processing environments.

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Posted in Biofilm, Contaminated water, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, microbial contamination, Microbiology, Pathogen, pathogenic, Research, Uncategorized, Water, water microbiology, Water Safety

Research -Spatial Trends in Salmonella Infection in Pigs in Spain

Posted on July 26, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Frontiers in Science

 

Salmonella is one of the most important foodborne pathogens worldwide. Its main reservoirs are poultry and pigs, in which infection is endemic in many countries. Spain has one of the largest pig populations in the world. Even though Salmonella infection is commonly detected in pig farms, its spatial distribution at the national level is poorly understood. Here we aimed to report the spatial distribution of Salmonella-positive pig farms in Spain and investigate the presence of potential spatial trends over a 17-year period. For this, data on samples from pigs tested for Salmonella in 2002–2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019 as part of the Spanish Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance program, representing 3,730 farms were analyzed. The spatial distribution and clustering of Salmonella-positive pig farms at the province level were explored using spatial empirical Bayesian smoothing and global Moran’s I, local Moran’s I, and the Poisson model of the spatial scan statistics. Bayesian spatial regression using a reparameterized Besag-York-Mollié Poisson model (BYM2 model) was then performed to quantify the presence of spatially structured and unstructured effects while accounting for the effect of potential risk factors for Salmonella infection at the province level. The overall proportion of Salmonella-positive farms was 37.8% (95% confidence interval: 36.2–39.4). Clusters of positive farms were detected in the East and Northeast of Spain. The Bayesian spatial regression revealed a West-to-East increase in the risk of Salmonella infection at the province level, with 65.2% (50% highest density interval: 70–100.0%) of this spatial pattern being explained by the spatially structured component. Our results demonstrate the existence of a spatial variation in the risk of Salmonella infection in pig farms at the province level in Spain. This information can help to optimize risk-based Salmonella surveillance programs in Spain, although further research to identify farm-level factors explaining this pattern are needed.

Introduction

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Posted in Food Microbiology Research, Research, Salmonella, Uncategorized

Research – Biofilm-forming ability of pathogenic strains isolated from retail food in Poland

Posted on July 25, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Journal of Food Protection

Biofilms have a significant impact on food safety in the food industry. Many foodborne outbreaks have been associated with pathogenic strains that can form a biofilm. The present study aimed to examine the ability to form biofilms by pathogenic strains collected from retail food samples under the Official Control and Monitoring Program in Poland. Biofilm formation was assessed by the qualitative detection of EPS production on Congo Red Agar, tube method, crystal violet biofilm assay, and MTT assay. A total of 40 isolates from food samples (10 strains for each of the species Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus cereus ) were examined. . . The study classifies strains as adherent strain, slightly adherent, nonadherent (A, SA and N); as weak, moderate, and strong biofilm formation (WBF, MBF and SBF); and weak, moderate, and high metabolic activity (WMA, MMA and HMA). Incubation conditions and time influenced the biofilm levels formed. Moreover, growth medium had a significant impact on biofilm formation. Results showed that 22.5% strains demonstrated A type in LBB and 77.5% SA type in LBB in the test tube while the stronger adhesion was obtained in BHI with 2% sucrose. Among the isolates incubated in the BHI medium with 2% sucrose, A type was observed in 60% of isolates (60%).. CV assay result show that the after 24 h incubation in LBB, SBP was 7,5% while after 48 h – 37.5% tested strains. For BHI medium supplemented with 2% sucrose after 24 h incubation strains 42.5% was classified as SBP and 37.6% after 48h.MTT assay result indicate that 15% strains incubate in LBB (24h) was HMA, and after 48h incubation time HMA show 25%. For BHI medium supplemented with 2% sucrose after 24 h or 48 h incubation strains 70% and 85 % was classified as HMA.

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Posted in Bacillus, Bacillus cereus, Biofilm, E.coli, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Staphylococcus aureus, Uncategorized, water microbiology

Research – Aspergillus mycotoxins and their effect on the host

Posted on July 25, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Pub Med

Abstract

Aspergillus fumigatus is known to produce various immunosuppressive mycotoxins including gliotoxin. However, none of these mycotoxins has been confirmed as being directly related to the pathogenesis of aspergilli. Recent studies have made substantial progress in the determination of mycotoxins as virulence factors. Gliotoxin was found to be produced much faster than previously believed under certain culture conditions, such as at 37 degrees C and under high oxygen content, which is close to the environment in the host. Gliotoxin was also found to be detectable in the sera of aspergillosis mice and of aspergillosis patients. Based on these findings, it is becoming evident that gliotoxin is produced in the infected organs of patients of aspergillosis at a significant level. In addition to these known mycotoxins, A. fumigatus produces many mycotoxins apparently different from known toxins. From the aspect of gene analysis, the deletion of laeA was found to block the expression of metabolic gene clusters such as sterigmatocystin, and the gene is also expected to be related to the production of gliotoxin. The significance of mycotoxins as virulence factors will hopefully be clarified in the near future.

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Posted in Aspergillus, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Mould Toxin, Mycotoxin, Uncategorized

Research – Survival of toxigenic Escherichia coli on chamomile, peppermint, green, black, ginger, and cinnamon teas during storage and brewing

Posted on July 25, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Wiley Online

In this study, the persistence of toxigenic Escherichia coli (E. coli ) on dried chamomile, peppermint, ginger, cinnamon, black and green teas stored under 4, 10, and 25°C was determined. The E. coli survival rate in ginger and cinnamon teas decreased below 0 on Day 5. In the other tested teas, E. coli survivability showed a downward trend over time, but never dropped to 0. Chamomile tea retained the greatest population of viable E. coli . Meanwhile, die‐off of E. coli was higher at 25°C compared to lower temperatures. Additionally, fate of E. coli during brewing at 60, 70 and 80°C was evaluated. The E. coli population was reduced to below 2 Log colony forming units (CFU)/g after 1 min at 80°C, At the same time, the E. coli survival at 60°C was higher than that at 70°C in all tested teas. The data indicated that if E. coli survives after storage of prepared teas, it may also survive and grow after the brewing process, especially if performed using temperatures <80°C. Finally, we analyzed the correlations between temperature, time, tea varieties and E. coli survival, and successfully constructed a random forest regression model. The results of this study can be used to predict changes in E. coli during storage and fate during the brewing process. Results will form the basis of undertaking a risk assessment.

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Posted in E.coli, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Research, Uncategorized

Research – Study suggests green tea extracts could reduce risk of infection with diarrhoea-causing Norovirus

Posted on July 24, 2020 by | Leave a comment

First Post

Scientists also found that green tea extract in combination with chitosan films can reduce levels of bacteria such as E coli and L innocua to undetectable levels after 24 hours of exposure

It’s not uncommon for one to get an upset stomach occasionally, particularly after eating outside food. This is often the result of different kinds of bacteria and viruses present in the food items. In a research, published in the International Journal of Food Science on 4 July 2020, scientists found that green tea extracts can help in reducing the risk of getting infected with a diarrhoea-causing virus known as norovirus.

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Posted in E.coli, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Listeria, Listeria innocua, microbial contamination, Microbiology, Norovirus, Research, Uncategorized

Pakistan – Aflatoxins: A peril which limits the export of maize crop from Pakistan

Posted on July 24, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Cabi Blog

The agriculture sector is one of the most climate-sensitive sectors of Pakistan’s economy. It responds to temperature, precipitation, soil radiation, etc., which are directly associated with climate change. Rising temperature, uneven distribution of precipitation, floods, droughts, and other climatic disasters have affected human life along with socio-economic sectors of the world.

In Pakistan, maize is one of the important cereal crops which contributes 2.2 percent to the valued added products and 0.4 percent to the GDP. It is grown on an area of 1251 hectares with production of 5901 tonnes. In recent years, some mycotoxins, which we refer as Aflatoxins have been detected in maize crop grown in Pakistan. It has limited the export of Pakistani corn which causes losses in the economic benefit for all the chain actors linked with maize.

On the other hand, its consumption in the domestic market has been increased dramatically as Pakistani feed industry process/mill thousands of tons of maize every year to surge the demand of poultry sector. To address the issue of aflatoxin in maize crop, USDA and USAID joined hands with Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Rafhan Maize Products Co. Ltd and CAB International to implement a programme namely ‘Aflatoxin Control in Pakistan’ using a cutting-edge USDA biocontrol technology.

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Posted in Aflatoxin, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, mold, Mould Toxin, Moulds, Mycotoxin, Uncategorized

Borneo – Alert in Brunei as Sabah reports 43 cholera cases

Posted on July 24, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Borneo Bulletin 

According to the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Malaysian Ministry of Health has reported 43 cholera cases in several areas in Sabah since January 2020 until now.

Continuous monitoring by the MoH showed no cases of cholera detected in Brunei Darussalam. Cholera is an intestinal infection caused by the ‘vibrio cholera’ virus that spreads through contaminated food and water. The main symptom is diarrhoea. Other symptoms include vomiting and abdominal pain. Severe cholera infection can lead to dehydration and death, if left untreated.

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Posted in Contaminated water, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, microbial contamination, Microbiology, Uncategorized, Vibrio, Vibrio cholera, vibrio cholerae, Water, water microbiology, Water Safety