Category Archives: Uncategorized

USA – Guan’s Mushroom Co Recalls Enoki Because of Possible Health Risk – Listeria monocytogenes

FDA

Guan’s Mushroom Co of Commerce, CA is recalling all cases of its 200g/7.05 ounce packages of Enoki Mushroom (Product of Korea) because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

The recalled products were distributed from CA, NY, PA in retail stores through produce distributors or wholesalers.

The Enoki comes in a 200g/7.05ounces, clear plastic package with the description “Enoki Mushroom” in English, Korean and French, and Guan’s logo in the front. At the back, there are UPC code: 859267007013 and package code 14-1 at lower right corner.

The product is being shipped in a white cardboard box with 25 pcs of 200g. The box contains Guan’s logo in green color and #02473.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem.

The potential for contamination was noted after routine testing by State of California revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in 200g package of Enoki.

The distribution of the product has been suspended.

Consumers who have purchased 200g packages of Enoki are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with question may contact the company at 323.223.1188.


Company Contact Information

Consumers:
Guan’s Mushroom Co.
 323.223.1188

Product Photos

Ireland – Recall of a Batch of Burren Smoke House Smoked Irish Organic Salmon Due to the Detection of Listeria monocytogenes

FSAI

Summary
Category 1: For Action
Alert Notification: 2020.17
Product: Burren Smokehouse Smoked Irish Organic Salmon; pack sizes: 90g, 180g, 500g.
Batch Code: 291/03 or 29103
Country Of Origin: Ireland

Message:

Burren Smokehouse is recalling the above batch of Smoked Irish Organic Salmon due to the low level detection of Listeria monocytogenes. Consumers are advised to check their fridges and freezers for the implicated batch.

Nature Of Danger:

Symptoms of Listeria monocytogenes infection can include vomiting, nausea, persistent fever, muscle aches, severe headache and neck stiffness.  In rare cases, the infection can be more severe, causing serious complications, such as meningitis.  Some people are more vulnerable to Listeria monocytogenes infections, including pregnant women, babies, and people with weakened immune systems, including the elderly.  The incubation period (time between initial infection and first symptoms appearing) is on average 3 weeks but can range between 3 and 70 days.  

Action Required:

Manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, caterers & retailers:

Caterers should not use the implicated batch.

Consumers:

Consumers are advised not to eat the above batch and to dispose of it.

Burren Smokehouse FOP

Research – Bacteria form biofilms like settlers form cities

Science Daily biofilm

Biofilms are composed of bacteria living in a densely packed and organized community. Research paired high-level imaging tools with an algorithm to track a biofilm as it formed. Biofilm growth at multiple scales, they found, mimics aspects of how cities emerge from individual settlers.

The findings show that, as individual bacteria multiply and grow into a dense and sticky biofilm, such as the community that forms dental plaque, their growth patterns and dynamics mirror those seen in the growth of cities.

“We take this ‘satellite-level’ view, following hundreds of bacteria distributed on a surface from their initial colonization to biofilm formation,” says Hyun (Michel) Koo, a professor in Penn’s School of Dental Medicine and senior author on the work. “And what we see is that, remarkably, the spatial and structural features of their growth are analogous to what we see in urbanization.”

This new perspective on how biofilms grow could help inform efforts to either promote the growth of beneficial microbes or break up and kill undesirable biofilms with therapeutics.

Research – Coronavirus: no evidence that food is a source or transmission route

EFSA

EFSA is closely monitoring the situation regarding the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that is affecting a large number of countries across the globe. There is currently no evidence that food is a likely source or route of transmission of the virus.

EFSA’s chief scientist, Marta Hugas, said: “Experiences from previous outbreaks of related coronaviruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), show that transmission through food consumption did not occur. At the moment, there is no evidence to suggest that coronavirus is any different in this respect.”

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has said that while animals in China were the likely source of the initial infection, the virus is spreading from person to person – mainly via respiratory droplets that people sneeze, cough, or exhale. More information on coronavirus and food can be found in this FAQ by the BfR, Germany’s risk assessment body.

Scientists and authorities across the world are monitoring the spread of the virus and there have not been any reports of transmission through food. For this reason, EFSA is not currently involved in the response to the COVID-19 outbreaks. However, we are monitoring the scientific literature for new and relevant information.

Research – COVID-19 and the Food Industry

New Food Magazine

While we hear reassurance from food safety bodies such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that “there is currently no evidence that food is a likely source or route of transmission of COVID-19,” we are all still, surely, feeling a little uncertain. Is our food truly safe? What impact will this unprecedented pandemic have on the food and beverage industry further down the line?

EFSA’s Chief Scientist, Marta Hugas, said that “experiences from previous outbreaks of related coronaviruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), show that transmission through food consumption did not occur” and that we – industry and consumer alike – can be confident that this translates to COVID-19.

Research – Thermal Resistance of Foodborne Pathogens and Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 on Inoculated Pistachios

JFP

Process control validations require knowledge of the resistance of the pathogen(s) of concern to the target treatment, and, in some cases, the relative resistance of surrogate organisms. Selected strains of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (five strains), Listeria monocytogenes (five strains), and Salmonella enterica (five strains) as well as Salmonella Enteritidis phage type (PT) 30 and nonpathogenic Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 were inoculated separately (as individual strains) onto inshell pistachios. The thermal tolerance of each strain was compared via treatment of inoculated pistachios to hot oil (121°C) or hot water (80°C) for 1 min. Survivor curves in hot oil or hot water (0.5 to 6 min, n = 6 to 15) were determined for one or two of the most resistant strains of each pathogen, as well as E. faecium NRRL B-2354 and Salmonella Enteritidis PT 30, and the Weibull model was fit to the data. A pilot-scale air-impingement oven was used to compare the thermal tolerance of E. faecium NRRL B-2354 and Salmonella Enteritidis PT 30 on pistachios with or without a brining pretreatment and at either dry (no steam) or 30% humidity (v/v) oven conditions. No significant difference in the time to a 4-log reduction in hot oil or hot water was predicted for any of the strains evaluated, on the basis of the 95% confidence interval. In the pilot-scale oven, E. faecium NRRL B-2354 was more thermally resistant than Salmonella in a broad set of differing treatments, treatment times, and temperatures. Salmonella is a suitable target pathogen of concern in pistachios for thermal processes because no other pathogen tested was more thermally resistant under the conditions evaluated. E. faecium NRRL B-2354 was at least as thermally resistant as Salmonella under all conditions evaluated, making it a good potential surrogate for Salmonella on pistachios.

Research – Occurrence and characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat meat products in Poland

JFP

Listeria monocytogenes is a potential hazard for food safety and therefore public health. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and characteristics of L. monocytogenes in Polish ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products in retail. Among the 184 439 food samples collected within the framework of national official control and monitoring program only 0.3% were  positive for L. monocytogenes. A significant group of products that did not meet the criteria were RTE meat products. This group accounted for 40% of all non compliant samples. A total of 70 L. monocytogenes isolates from RTE meat products (meat, sausages and delicatessen products with meat) were examined. The majority of the tested isolates (51%) belonged to serogroup 1/2a-3a, followed by 1/2c-3c (21%), 1/2b-3b-7 (14%) and 4ab-4b-4d-4e (13%). Serogroup 4a-4c was not present among the tested isolates. All L. monocytogenes isolates harbored the virulence-associated genes inlA, inlC, inlJ and lmo2672 . The llsX marker was detected in twelve of 70 (17%) isolates. Ampicillin resistance was the most common resistance phenotype and was identified in 83% of L. monocytogenes isolates. A low incidence of resistance to amoxicillin/clavunate acid (6% isolates)  was also detected. All L. monocytogenes isolates were susceptible to chloramphenicol, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, meropenem, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, tetracycline and erythromycin. This work provides useful information regarding contamination of RTE meat products with L. monocytogenes, which may have implications for food safety risk.

Research – Researchers turn to air sampling to detect Campylobacter in chicken flocks

Food Safety News

 

A project led by the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, has developed a test method to improve the likelihood of identifying Campylobacter-positive chicken flocks.

Being able to identify Campylobacter-positive flocks before they arrive at the slaughterhouse allows them to be slaughtered after the negative flocks to avoid cross-contamination along the production line.

The method was worked on in the EU project, AIR-SAMPLE, which began in January 2018 and runs until June 2020. Other partners are the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “Giuseppe Caporale” in Italy, Veterinary Research Institute in the Czech Republic, National Veterinary Research Institute in Poland and Norwegian Veterinary Institute.

The aim was to develop and validate air sampling as a low-cost and multi-purpose alternative to fecal droppings or boot swabs for surveillance, monitoring and eradication of Campylobacter in confined and biosecured broiler production operations.

Philippines – 2 dead from food poisoning in Negros

Tempo

BACOLOD CITY – Two members of a family died while three others were hospitalized due to food poisoning in Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental Tuesday.

Fatalities were brothers aged seven and eight.

Police Major Clifford Batadhay, town police chief, said the children’s father gathered crabs locally known as “kumong-kumong” or “krukudlong” here Monday. The following day, they cooked it and ate it for breakfast.

USA – Clover Sprouts E. coli O103 Outbreak Updated: 39 Sick, 2 Hospitalized

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated the clover sprouts E. coli O103 outbreak that is associated with Jimmy John’s restaurants and Chicago Indoor Garden raw clover sprouts. Since the last update on February 26, 2020, 25 more patients who live in two states have been identified. Twenty-four of the new patients live in Utah, and Florida has been added to the state count.