Category Archives: Uncategorized

RASFF Alert – Animal Feed – Sunflower Seeds

RASFF-Logo

RASFF – sunflower seed meal from Russia infested with moulds in Poland

 

USA – Señor Moose restaurant in Seattle is again open after Hepatitis A scare

Food Safety News

Since April 15, Public Health for Seattle and King County, WA, has learned of three people from three separate meal parties becoming ill with jaundice, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, and fatigue after consuming food from the Señor Moose restaurant between Feb. 24 and 26.

There is no indication that any current employees of the restaurant have had illnesses consistent with hepatitis A symptoms. Public Health is also contacting former employees to find out if any of them have been ill.

The restaurant, at 5242 Leary Ave. NW, in Seattle, has a current food safety rating of “Good.”

This outbreak, which involves the hospitalization of one person, is occurring while the Seattle-King County area is experiencing an outbreak of hepatitis A, mostly among the homeless. Washington State last July declared a statewide hepatitis A outbreak among people who are homeless or using drugs.

Research – Use of algal oil in shrimp diets shows sharp reduction in vibrio deaths, study finds

Under Current News

A study conducted by a team of shrimp disease experts from the US and Vietnam has found that the usage of algal oil in vannamei shrimp diets has a notable impact on survival rates among shrimp exposed to the bacterium vibrio, responsible for early mortality syndrome, or EMS, reports the Global Aquaculture Alliance.

Groups of specific pathogen-free 3-gram shrimp were fed different diets by the research team, before being exposed to shrimp broth inoculated with a consistently virulent strain of vibrio collected from a farm in Vietnam.

USA – Outbreak Investigation of E. coli O103: Clover Sprouts (February 2020) – Completed

FDA

Case Counts

Total Illnesses: 51
Hospitalizations: 3
Deaths: 0
Last illness onset: March 15, 2020

Recommendation

Chicago Indoor Garden recalled all products containing Red Clover sprouts. FDA recommends that consumers not eat the following recalled items with “Best By” dates between 12/1/2019 and 3/12/2020 that were distributed to Coosemans Chicago Inc., Battaglia Distributing, Living Waters Farms, and Whole Foods throughout the Midwest:

  • Red Clover 4oz. clamshell
  • Red Clover 2lb. boxes
  • Sprout Salad 6oz. clamshell
  • Mixed Greens 4oz. clamshell
  • Spring Salad 6oz. clamshell

Recalled products are now past their “Best By” dates and should be thrown away.

Sample Labels of Chicago Indoor Garden Sprout Products

(PDF: 849 KB)

Raw and lightly cooked sprouts are a known source of foodborne illness. We recommend that consumers, restaurants, and other retailers always follow food safety practices to avoid illness from eating sprouts.Generally, it is recommended that children, the elderly, pregnant women, and persons with weakened immune systems should avoid eating raw sprouts of any kind.

Background

FDA, along with CDC and state and local partners, investigated an outbreak of 51 illnesses caused by E. coli O103 in Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming linked to clover sprouts.

FDA’s investigation is now complete, and CDC has declared this outbreak over.

The FDA’s analysis of a sample of Chicago Indoor Garden’s sprouts identified the presence of E. coli O103. Whole Genome Sequencing of this bacteria showed that it matches the current outbreak strain. The sample also matches the outbreak strain from the November-December 2019 outbreak in Iowa, which was associated with sprouts from various Jimmy John’s restaurants.

Europe – EFSA identifies ways to reduce Listeria risk in frozen vegetables

Food Safety News

Experts have identified steps food firms can take to reduce the risk of Listeria contamination of frozen vegetables.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assessment focused on vegetables that are blanched – scalded in hot water or steam for a short time – before they are frozen. Companies blanch vegetables before freezing because it stops enzyme actions which can cause loss of flavor, color and texture.

Mitigation measures range from cleaning and disinfection of the food producing environment to water, time and temperature control at different processing steps, and accurate labelling. It is also important to monitor the production environment for Listeria monocytogenes as it can persist in this setting and then contaminate food, according to the report.

USA – Chipotle hit with $25 Million Food Safety Fine for Norovirus, Clostridium Perfringens Outbreaks

Food Poison Journal

“Although there is no intentional criminal behavior like there was in the Peanut Corporation of America case that sickened several hundred, killing nine, this hefty food safety fine for negligence, should clearly send a message to the restaurant industry,” said Marler Clark attorney, William Marler.

According to a US Attorney press release today, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. will pay $25 million to resolve criminal charges related to the company’s involvement in foodborne illness outbreaks that sickened more than 1,100 people between 2015 and 2018.

The $25 million criminal fine, the largest ever in a food safety case.

Chipotle was implicated in at least five foodborne illness outbreaks between 2015 and 2018 connected to restaurants in the Los Angeles area, Boston, Virginia, and Ohio.  These incidents primarily stemmed from store-level employees’ failure to follow company food safety protocols at company-owned restaurants, including a Chipotle policy requiring the exclusion of employees who were sick or recently had been sick.

Singapore – Fruit juice product from Australia recalled due to exceeded level of a mycotoxin

Straits Times

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has recalled a fruit juice product originating from Australia after the level of patulin, a mycotoxin, had exceeded the maximum limit in fruit juice.

The affected product, Pure Tassie Organic Apple and Blackcurrant Juice, is imported by Cold Storage Singapore, which has been told to recall the product.

This is a result of the patulin levels exceeding the action level as detected by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, and was subsequently recalled in Hong Kong.

The detected patulin in the juice was at 260 parts per billion (ppb), which exceeded the maximum limit of 50 ppb for fruit juice as stated by SFA.

Research – CLIMATE CHANGE: UNPACKING THE BURDEN ON FOOD SAFETY

Click to access CA8185EN.pdf

While the impacts of climate change on global food production and food security
are well known, the effects of climate change on food safety are much less so.
Since, the relationship between climate change and food safety hazards is not always
easy to see, this publication, Climate change: Unpacking the burden on food safety,
attempts to provide some clarity. Changes in global food systems and the increased
globalization of the food supply means that populations worldwide are at risk of
exposure to various food safety hazards. This can affect public health, food security,
national economies and international trade. In this already complicated scenario,
the challenges posed by climate change have additional implications that need to be
understood and addressed. This publication is aimed at a broad audience and it is
hoped that everyone who reads this comes away with a realization of the complexity
of the issues at stake and an appreciation of the work that lay in front of us.

Research – Food Safety and Invasive Cronobacter Infections during Early Infancy, 1961–2018

CDC

Invasive Cronobacter infections among infants are associated with severe neurologic disabilities and death. Early Cronobacter reports typically featured hospitalized and preterm infants and recognized contaminated powdered infant formula (PIF) as a transmission vehicle. To clarify recent epidemiology, we reviewed all cases of bloodstream infection or meningitis among infants that were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in the literature (1961–2018; n = 183). Most infants were neonates (100/150 [67%]); 38% (42/112) died, and 79% (81/102) had reported recent PIF consumption. In the final quarter of the study period (2004–2018), case counts were significantly higher (global average 8.7 cases/year); among US cases, significantly higher proportions occurred among full-term (56% [27/48]) and nonhospitalized (78% [42/54]) infants. PIF contamination, most commonly from opened containers, was identified in 30% (21/71) of investigations. Our findings reaffirm the need to promote safer alternatives for infant feeding, particularly among neonates.

 

Research – Cholera studies reveal mechanisms of biofilm formation and hyperinfectivity

UCSC

Free-swimming cholera bacteria are much less infectious than bacteria in biofilms, aggregates of bacterial cells embedded in a sticky matrix that form on surfaces. This accounts for the surprising effectiveness of filtering water through cloth, such as a folded sari, which can reduce infections dramatically in places where the disease is endemic, despite the fact that individual cholera bacteria easily pass through such a filter.

A new study led by researchers at UC Santa Cruz goes a long way toward explaining the hyperinfectivity of cholera biofilms. The study, published the week of April 20 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is one of several new papers on cholera biofilms from the laboratory of UCSC microbiologist Fitnat Yildiz.