Category Archives: Uncategorized

Research – Evaluating a Combined Method of UV and Washing for Sanitizing Blueberries, Tomatoes, Strawberries, Baby Spinach, and Lettuce

Posted on November 2, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Journal of Food Protection

ABSTRACT

We assessed a fresh produce decontamination system using a combined method of UV and washing (water-assisted UV [WUV]) in different scales. The system used tap water to wash fresh produce while exposing it to UV light. First, the reduction of Salmonella in tap water under UV treatment (1 to 1,740 mJ/cm2) was determined. Increasing the UV dose significantly (P < 0.05) increased the Salmonella reduction in wash water, and UV intensity of more than 2 mW/cm2 could reduce Salmonella in tap water to below 1 CFU/mL given enough processing time (more than 1 min; UV dose of 120 mJ/cm2). Then, the decontamination effectiveness of a small WUV system was tested on blueberries (50 g). Blueberries were spot or dip inoculated with a Salmonella cocktail and treated by the small WUV system (200 mL of water). In general, WUV treatments achieved significantly better Salmonella inactivation than tap water wash; tap water wash (10 min) and 2 mW/cm2 WUV treatment (with a UV dose of 1,200 mJ/cm2) reduced populations of spot-inoculated Salmonella on blueberries by 2.44 and 5.45 log, respectively. Compared with spot-inoculated Salmonella on blueberries, dip-inoculated Salmonella was more difficult to be inactivated by WUV treatments. Then, the decontamination effectiveness of WUV treatments was tested on blueberries (170 g), tomatoes (290 g), strawberries (170 g), baby spinach (60 g), and lettuce (60 g) using a larger WUV system. In general, 10 min of 29 mW/cm2 WUV treatment (a high UV dose of 17,400 mJ/cm2) resulted in significantly better Salmonella inactivation than tap water wash (for 10 min) regardless the inoculation method, agreeing with the results of the small-scale study. For both spot- and dip-inoculated lettuce, no significant difference (P > 0.05) in Salmonella inactivation by WUV treatments was observed when the quantity of lettuce increased from 50 to 100 g.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Water-assisted UV showed ≤3 log more Salmonella inactivation than tap water wash.

  • Water-assisted UV showed the highest Salmonella reduction on blueberries and tomatoes.

  • More spot-inoculated Salmonella was killed than dip-inoculated Salmonella by up to 3 log.

  • Water-assisted UV of 17.4 J/cm2 could reduce Salmonella in water to less than 1 CFU/mL.

Leave a comment

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

USA – Wawona recalls berries from grocery chains because of positive hep A test

Posted on November 1, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

A frozen fruit supplier for the Aldi and Raley’s grocery chains is recalling frozen berries because a government test returned a positive result for hepatitis A.

Wawona Frozen Foods packaged frozen berry mixes containing raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries under Aldi’s Season’s Choice brand and frozen raspberries under Raley’s label, according to a recall notice released by Wawona officials and posted by the Food and Drug Administration.

The company did not report the states where it distributed the frozen fruit.

“The frozen raspberries and frozen berry mixes containing raspberries were distributed throughout stores in Aldi and Raley’s Family of Fine store chains. The recalled frozen raspberries were imported from Chile,” the Wawona recall notice states.

As of the FDA’s posting of the recall, officials had not received any reports of confirmed infections related to the recalled berries.

Leave a comment

Posted in food contamination, food handler, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Virus, Hepatitis A, Uncategorized, Virus

USA – Romaine E. coli Outbreak happened in September and no one told you

Posted on November 1, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Food Poison Journal Eurofins Food Testing UK

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is sharing news of a recent E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, involving 23 illnesses, that was likely associated with romaine lettuce. No deaths were reported. The active investigation has reached its end and the outbreak appears to be over. The FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control did not identify actionable information for consumers during this investigation. Additionally, when romaine lettuce was identified as the likely source of the outbreak, the available data at the time indicated that the outbreak was not ongoing and romaine lettuce eaten by sick people was past its shelf life and no longer available for sale. The FDA is communicating details about the outbreak at this time to help ensure full awareness by the public and to highlight the ongoing importance of industry actions to help ensure the safety of leafy greens. Federal health officials do not believe there is a current or ongoing risk to public health.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in E.coli, food bourne outbreak, food contamination, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Safety, Food Testing, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, outbreak, Uncategorized

Research -Efficacy of Surfactant Combined with Peracetic Acid in Removing Listeria innocua from Fresh Apples

Posted on November 1, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Journal of Food Protection

ABSTRACT

Large amounts of water used in the apple packing process, the presence of organic matter, and difficult-to-clean equipment are vectors for contaminating apples with foodborne pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes. There is a need to develop new cleaning methods for fresh apples and evaluate their antimicrobial efficacy. A series of surfactants of different chemical properties (cationic lauric arginate [LAE], anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate [SDS], and nonionic Tween 20 [T20]) alone and combined with peracetic acid (PAA) were evaluated for their efficiency in the removal of L. innocua, a surrogate of L. monocytogenes, from fresh apples. Whole fresh apples were inoculated with L. innocua (7 log CFU/mL) by a dipping method, dried, and subjected to wash treatments with selected cleaning solutions (water, PAA, PAA-LAE, PAA-SDS, and PAA-T20). The contact angle between the cleaning solutions and the surface of the apples was measured. The antimicrobial activity of the cleaning solutions and the efficacy of the cleaning treatment were evaluated by enumeration of L. innocua from treated apples and visualized by scanning electron microscopy. Stem bowl and calyx cavities of the apple harbored higher bacteria concentrations (∼4.82 log CFU per apple), compared with the equatorial section (∼2.66 log CFU per apple). Addition of 0.1% of selected surfactants led to a significant decrease in surface tension of cleaning solutions and allowed better spreading on the apple surface. Surfactants combined with PAA solution resulted in higher L. innocua reduction compared with PAA alone; however, their efficacy was limited. The most effective cleaning solution was PAA-T20, with reduction of approximately 2.2 log. Scanning electron microscopy imaging confirmed that most bacteria were harbored inside the surface irregularities. PAA alone and with surfactants caused damage and deformation of bacteria cells. Cleaning apples with PAA combined with surfactants may improve microbial safety in whole apples; however, the efficiency of the decontamination treatment can be reduced because of variations in apple morphology.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Combining surfactants with PAA decreased the population of L. innocua on apples.

  • Treating apples with PAA-T20 reduced the load of L. innocua by 2.2 log.

  • Stem bowl and calyx cavity are difficult-to-reach areas during the cleaning operation.

  • Cleaning treatments were not effective in removing all L. innocua from apples.

Leave a comment

Posted in Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Listeria, Listeria innocua, microbial contamination, Microbiology, Research, Uncategorized

Research -Antibacterial Effect of a Mixed Natural Preservative against Listeria monocytogenes on Lettuce and Raw Pork Loin

Posted on November 1, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Journal of Food Protection

ABSTRACT

A mixed natural preservative, including grapefruit seed extract (GSE), cinnamaldehyde (CA), and nisin, was investigated for the reduction of Listeria monocytogenes growth on lettuce and raw pork loin. The MIC of each natural preservative was investigated for L. monocytogenes strains tested. Following central composite design, lettuce and pork loin were inoculated with a cocktail of three strains of L. monocytogenes (ATCC 15313, H7962, and NADC 2045 [Scott A]) and treated with the mixed natural preservative that included GSE (0.64 to 7.36 ppm), CA (1.6 to 18.4 ppm), and nisin (0.48 to 5.5 ppm). The MIC of GSE was 31.25 ppm in tested L. monocytogenes strains, and of CA was 500 and 1,000 ppm in L. monocytogenes ATCC 15313 and the other L. monocytogenes strains, respectively. The MIC of nisin was 250 ppm. The R2 value of this model was more than 0.9, and the lack of fit was not significant. The mixed natural preservative showed a synergistic antimicrobial effect and reduced the growth of L. monocytogenes by 4 to 5 log CFU/g on lettuce. In addition, the reduction of L. monocytogenes on pork loin was 3 log CFU/g. The mixed natural preservative, which consisted of GSE (6 to 8 ppm), CA (15 to 20 ppm), and nisin (5 to 6 ppm), increased the antibacterial effect against L. monocytogenes. These results suggest that the use of the mixed natural preservative could reduce the economic cost of food preparation, and response surface methodology is considered effective when measuring synergy among antimicrobials.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Antibacterial effect of a mixed preservative was tested on lettuce and pork loin.

  • The mixed preservative consists of GSE, CA, and nisin.

  • The RSM via the CCD using GSE, CA, and nisin was statistically relevant.

  • The mixed preservative was effective against L. monocytogenes on food products.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, microbial contamination, Microbiology, Research, Uncategorized

Ireland -Recall of Additional Iceland Houmous Products Due to the Possible Presence of Salmonella

Posted on November 1, 2019 by | Leave a comment

FSAI

Summary
Category 2: For Information
Alert Notification: 2019.44 (Update 4)
Product: Please refer to the table below for details of the implicated Iceland products.

In addition, please find a consolidated list of all the implicated houmous products and batches, (including retailers), subject to recall due to the possible presence of Salmonella.
Batch Code: All use by dates
Country Of Origin: United Kingdom

Message:

Further to FSAI food alert 2019.44, FSAI food alert 2019.44 (Update 1), FSAI food alert 2019.44 (Update 2) and FSAI food alert 2019.44 (Update 3), Iceland is extending its recall to include all batches of the houmous products below, due to the possible presence of Salmonella. These products were sold in Iceland stores. Point-of-sale notices will be displayed in affected stores.

Implicated Iceland Batches
Iceland Houmous Products.

Leave a comment

Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, FSAI, Salmonella, Uncategorized

UK – Updated: Zorba Delicacies Limited recalls various houmous products because of the possible presence of Salmonella

Posted on November 1, 2019 by | Leave a comment

FSA

Zorba Delicacies Limited is extending the recall of various brands and flavours of houmous because the products may contain Salmonella.

See the full list at the link above.

Leave a comment

Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, fsa, Salmonella, Uncategorized

RASFF Alerts – Listeria monocytogenes – Chilled Horse Meat – Chilled Cooked Ham Chilled Head Cheese

Posted on November 1, 2019 by | Leave a comment

RASFF-Logo

RASFF – Listeria monocytogenes (presence /25g) in chilled horse meat from Romania in Romania

RASFF – Listeria monocytogenes (110 CFU/g) in chilled cooked ham from Austria in France

RASFF – Listeria monocytogenes (presence /25g) in chilled head cheese from Belgium in Belgium

Leave a comment

Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, RASFF, Uncategorized

RASFF Alerts – Aflatoxin – Raw Shelled Peanuts – Watermelon Seeds

Posted on November 1, 2019 by | Leave a comment

RASFF-Logo

RASFF – aflatoxins (B1 = 5.58; Tot. = 5.99 µg/kg – ppb) in raw shelled peanuts from the United States in Poland

RASFF – aflatoxins (B1 = 3.2 µg/kg – ppb) in watermelon seeds roasted and salted from Turkey in the UK

Leave a comment

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

RASFF Alert – Moulds – Biscuits with Apricot Filling

Posted on November 1, 2019 by | Leave a comment

RASFF-Logo

RASFF – biscuits with apricot filling from Poland infested with moulds in Poland

 

Leave a comment

Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Spoilage, Food Testing, mold, Mould Toxin, Moulds, Mycotoxin, RASFF, Uncategorized