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FDA

Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with its National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) partners, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, released the 2015 NARMS Integrated Report. The annual report highlights antimicrobial resistance patterns in bacteria isolated from humans (by CDC), raw retail meats (by FDA), and animals at slaughter (by USDA). The report also provides information derived from whole genome sequence data about resistance genes for all Salmonella and some Campylobacter isolates. The report includes NARMS Now, a set of interactive data tools that allow users to explore the dynamics of antibiotic resistance and the genes involved. While overall resistance remains low for most human infections and there have been measurable improvements in resistance levels in some important areas, NARMS is closely monitoring a few areas of concern.

NARMS monitors antibiotic resistance in foodborne bacteria in order to assist public health officials in making data-driven decisions designed to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for humans and animals. For example, NARMS data inform FDA’s approval of safe and effective new antimicrobial drugs for animals, and help CDC and USDA investigate foodborne illness outbreaks. NARMS data will also be critical in evaluating the effectiveness of FDA’s Guidance for Industry #213 and the agricultural objectives in the U.S. National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.

Consumers can help protect themselves from foodborne bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria, by following four basic food safety tips: clean, separate, cook, chill. Learn more at http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/basics/.

Findings

The points listed below summarize a selection of observations from the 2015 NARMS Integrated Report:

1. Seventy-six percent of Salmonella isolated from humans had no resistance to any of the 14 antimicrobial drugs tested.
2. Multidrug resistance (MDR) increased from 9 percent to 12 percent of human Salmonella, driven largely by an increase in combined resistance to ampicillin, streptomycin, sulfonamides, and tetracycline among Salmonella serotype I 4,[5],12:i:-.
3. Ceftriaxone resistance either continued to decline or remained low in nontyphoidal Salmonella from all NARMS sources except turkey hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) samples, where the percent resistance in 2015 (15.7 percent) was the same as 2010 levels.
4. While still rare, azithromycin resistance occurred in Salmonella, in some cases in strains with resistance to other antibiotics.
5. Erythromycin resistance in Campylobacter coli increased three-to five-fold between 2011 and 2015 in isolates from humans (2.7 percent to 12.7 percent) and from chicken carcasses (3.4 percent to 12.8 percent).
6. Transmissible quinolone resistance in Salmonella may be increasing. The underlying resistance traits reside on mobile genetic elements and therefore have the potential to be shared, either alone or together with other resistance genes, with susceptible strains of Salmonella.
7. From 2014 to 2015, there was a decline from 73 percent to 57 percent in the proportion of retail ground turkey Salmonella isolates resistant to at least one antimicrobial. Historically, the majority of isolates from turkey sources have been resistant to at least one antimicrobial.

Note:

This NARMS Integrated Report covers a time period prior to full implementation of FDA’s Guidance for Industry #213, which sought to end the use of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals for growth promotion purposes and place the remaining therapeutic uses of these products under veterinary oversight by asking sponsors of affected products to voluntarily modify their product labeling. All sponsors made the recommended changes by the January 1, 2017 target date, or, in some cases, voluntarily withdrew approved product applications.

What’s Next

NARMS will continue to take advantage of whole genome DNA sequencing technology. This technology makes it possible to determine the complete complement of genes in a bacterium within a single laboratory workflow, supplanting other traditional methods and saving time and money. NARMS research shows that antibiotic resistance can be predicted reliably from the genomic sequence. Therefore, FDA is developing data visualization tools to make these large data sets easier to understand. Other tools are being developed by CDC for state laboratories for quickly identifying resistance patterns in outbreak strains. These enhancements will help set priorities and help public health authorities respond to food safety challenges in a more timely manner.

Poultry Med 

The Israeli Health Ministry warned consumers again that laboratory tests on eggs from the Yesh Maof farm revealed that eggs were infected with salmonella enteritidis.
According to Yesh Maof, the chicken coops have been cleaned and are free of salmonella enteritidis. The company also hinted that the stamps on the tainted eggs may have been forged.
In a statement, the Health Ministry said it will “continue testing and monitoring” in order to protect the public health. They also said they are investigating the claim that the stamps on the eggs were forged.
Less than 3% of Israel’s eggs have been found to be contaminated with Salmonella enteritidis or Salmonella typhimurium. The European average is 0.8%.
In September, up to 11 million eggs from the same farm, Yesh Maof were recalled.

FDA

Randalls, Tom Thumb and Albertsons Stores in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas Voluntarily Recall Ready. Chef. Go! Seafood Meal Bags in Cooperation with Voluntary Recall by Mann Packing Due to Possible Listeria Monocytogenes Contamination

FDA

Triple B Corporation (Anchorage, Alaska) Recalls Salad Kits and Stir Fry Mixes Due to Possible Contamination with Listeria Monocytogenes

FDA

Meijer Recalls Meijer Brand Packaged Produce Due to Possible Health Risk

FDA

Mann Packing Recall Affects Select Whole Foods Market Locations; Grocer Recalls Salads from 10 Northern California Stores

FDA

Albertsons, Safeway, Vons and Pak N’ Save Stores in Eight States Voluntarily Recall Several Fresh Vegetable Trays and Cups in Cooperation with Voluntary Recall by Mann Packing Due to Possible Listeria Monocytogenes Contamination

Journal of Food Protection

Enhanced Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures Have Limited Impact on Listeria monocytogenes Prevalence in Retail Delis

In a recent longitudinal surveillance study in 30 U.S. retail delicatessens, 9.7% of environmental surfaces were positive for Listeria monocytogenes, and we found substantial evidence of persistence. In this study, we aimed to reduce the prevalence and persistence of L. monocytogenes in the retail deli environment by developing and implementing practical and feasible intervention strategies (i.e., sanitation standard operating procedures; SSOPs). These SSOPs were standardized across the 30 delis enrolled in this study. SSOP implementation was verified by systems inherent to each retailer. Each deli also was equipped with ATP monitoring systems to verify effective sanitation. We evaluated intervention strategy efficacy by testing 28 food and nonfood contact surfaces for L. monocytogenes for 6 months in all 30 retail delis. The efficacy of the intervention on the delis compared with preintervention prevalence level was not statistically significant; we found that L. monocytogenes could persist despite implementation of enhanced SSOPs. Systematic and accurate use of ATP monitoring systems varied widely among delis. The findings indicate that intervention strategies in the form of enhanced daily SSOPs were not sufficient to eliminate L. monocytogenes from highly prevalent and persistently contaminated delis and that more aggressive strategies (e.g., deep cleaning or capital investment in redesign or equipment) may be necessary to fully mitigate persistent contamination.

Journal of Food Portection

The objective of this study was to develop and assess the efficacy of an aggressive deep cleaning sanitation standard operating procedure (DC-SSOP) in nine retail delicatessens to reduce persistent Listeria monocytogenes environmental contamination. The DC-SSOP was developed from combined daily SSOPs recommended by the Food Marketing Institute and input from experts in Listeria control from food manufacturing and sanitation. The DC-SSOP was executed by a trained professional cleaning service during a single 12-h shutdown period. A modified protocol from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual was used to detect L. monocytogenes in samples from 28 food and nonfood contact surfaces that were collected immediately before and after each cleaning and in samples collected monthly for 3 months. The DC-SSOP significantly reduced L. monocytogenes prevalence overall during the 3-month follow-up period and produced variable results for persistent L. monocytogenes isolates. Six delis with historically low to moderate L. monocytogenes prevalence had no significant changes in the number of samples positive for L. monocytogenes after deep cleaning. Deep cleaning in very high prevalence delis (20 to 30% prevalence) reduced L. monocytogenes by 25.6% (P_adj < 0.0001, n = 294) overall during the follow-up period. Among delis with extremely high prevalence (>30%), positive samples from nonfood contact surfaces were reduced by 19.6% (P_adj = 0.0002, n = 294) during the follow-up period. The inability of deep cleaning to completely eliminate persistent L. monocytogenes was likely due to the diverse infrastructures in each deli, which may require more individualized intervention strategies.

Outbreak News Today

The Colbert and Lauderdale County Health Departments, in conjunction with the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), continue to investigate gastrointestinal illnesses in persons who ate at a catered event hosted by North American Lighting Co. in Muscle Shoals, Ala., on Sunday, October 15.

Persons who attended the event have primarily reported symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. No persons have been hospitalized. Dr. Karen Landers, District Medical Officer, states that all the persons reported to be ill attended the event at North American Lighting and there is no known ongoing threat to the general public at this time.

Journal of Food Protection

Although frozen dairy desserts have a strong record of safety, recent outbreaks of foodborne disease linked to ice creams have brought new attention to this industry. There is concern that small-scale frozen dessert equipment may not comply with or be reviewed against published comprehensive design and construction sanitation specifications (National Sanitation Foundation or 3-A sanitary standards). Equipment sanitary design issues may result in reduced efficacy of cleaning and sanitation, thus increasing the likelihood of postprocess contamination with pathogenic bacteria. In this context, and given that Listeria monocytogenes outbreaks are of great concern for the frozen dessert industry, a complementary study was conducted to evaluate the fate of L. monocytogenes in ice cream mix on a stainless steel surface. Our results showed that L. monocytogenes survived for up to 6 weeks at room temperature and 9 weeks at 4°C in contaminated ice cream on a stainless steel surface. Furthermore, chlorine- and acid-based surface sanitizers had no detrimental effect on the L. monocytogenes when used at a concentration and contact time (1 min) recommended by the manufacturer; significant reduction in CFU required 5 to 20 min of contact time.

Food Poisoning Bulletin

According to a notice on Trader Joe’s website, they are recalling their branded Kohlrabi Salad Blend for potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The company’s supplier notified them of this issue. No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this issue.

Food Safety News 

Fresh Foods Manufacturing Co. of Freedom, PA,  is recalling 701 pounds of heat-treated, not fully cooked, not shelf stable chicken products that may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The problem was discovered Thursday when Fresh Foods Manufacturing Co. received notification from a supplier that the broccoli used by the company was recalled due to Listeria concerns. Fresh Foods did not indicate who that supplier is, but the recall coincides with a huge recall of freshcut produce by Mann Packing Co. Inc. of Salinas, CA, following a finding of Listeria monocytogenes in one of its products.

Food Safety News 

Image CDC

BrightFarms is voluntarily recalling packaged produce sold in Roundy’s Supermarkets due to the potential presence of E. coli at its greenhouse farm in Rochelle, IL, in Ogle County.The affected BrightFarms branded products are sold at Mariano’s Markets in Illinois and Metro Market and Pick ‘n Save stores in Wisconsin.