Category Archives: Uncategorized

FDA

House of Thaller, a Knoxville Tennessee company, is voluntarily recalling selected 10 ounce packages of Hummus with Pine Nut Topping, because an ingredient supplier notified us that their ingredient has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria monocytogenes is 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.

These products were distributed nationwide through various grocery retailers from April 18, 2017 to June 13, 2017, and in Canada on April 20, 2017.

To date, no illnesses have been reported in relation to this product or recall.

DNA India

As many as 30 trainee police constables in Adilabad district of Telangana were hospitalised today for suspected food poisoning.

A total of 30 trainee constables of the police training centre in Adilabad after having dinner last night complained of vomiting and loose motions in the early hours today and were admitted to a hospital, police said.

NYOOOZ

Summary: Block education officer S L Bhajantri said an inquiry revealed that the mid-day meal was prepared a day before. “Services of the mid-day meal staff will be terminated,” the official said. There were two paramedics and a few beds for over 100 ailing students. Dr Kavitha arranged temporary beddings on the floor to treat those who did not get beds.One student said she had seen a worm in the midday meal. BELAGAVI: The only doctor who was on duty at the government primary health centre (PHC) in Hulikatti battled for six hours on Friday to save over 100 students suffering from food poisoning Police said 130 students of the Government Primary School in Hulikatti complained of abdominal pain and started vomiting after they ate the midday meal provided in the school.The PHC could accommodate only 20 patients at a time.

NYOOOZ

A Turkish prosecutor says 731 soldiers at a western base were sent to the hospital with food poisoning and 21 people from the company that provided the food have been detained.

Akif Celattin Simsek, the lead prosecutor in Manisa province, said Sunday an investigation was launched with samples taken from the affected soldiers, the food and the water. None of those hospitalized late Saturday was in critical condition.

Defense Minister Fikri Isik, who went to Manisa, said the ministry had cancelled the contract with the food company. The governor’s office said 24 soldiers remain hospitalized Sunday afternoon.

There have been several cases of suspected food poisoning at military bases in Manisa, affecting more than 1,000 soldiers and killing one in May.

Ask Bioexpert

Listeria monocytogenes was a major reason for recalls according to “summary of recall cases in Calendar Year 2016”, by the FSIS/USDA, accounting for over 80% of the total recall cases.

Food Safety Tech reported that in 2016 in the US, close to 550 food products were recalled, and around 275 were recalled due to microbial contamination. Listeria monocytogenes was the cause of 65% of the microbiological recalls.   In the last few weeks, a number of products were recalled caused by fear of Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

CFIA

Ottawa, June 19, 2017 – The food recall warning issued on June 16, 2017 has been updated to include additional product information. This additional information was identified during the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) food safety investigation.

Industry is recalling Robin Hood brand Super Keynote Strong Bakers Flour and Italian Style Flour from the marketplace due to possible E. coli O121 contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products described below.

The following products have been sold from various retailers in Ontario and possibly nationally. Please note that the products described below were intended for sale to hotels, restaurants, and institutions.

Food Safety News

It doesn’t matter how big or influential a company is, bacteria and biofilms don’t discriminate between multinationals like Dole with its tens of thousands of employees and operations like Hudson Valley Farms, where 10 or fewer people work.

Both of those companies have had close encounters with Listeria, which on-going research is showing can be even tougher to kill than previously thought. When the microorganism has time to set up housekeeping in a biofilm in crevices on equipment or around drains and cracks in floors it is even more difficult to evict.

Poultry Med 

West Australians are being warned to avoid eating raw or partly cooked eggs because of a surge in cases of salmonella food poisoning. Reports of salmonella gastroenteritis are at records levels and have been linked to particular molecular types associated with eggs. The WA Health Department said yesterday there had been 713 reported infections from salmonella typhimurium by the end of April, which was more than four times the usual number. The infection was commonly associated with consumption of foods containing raw or under-cooked eggs. A number of egg brands had been implicated. The cases of the salmonella infection had been increasing in WA since 2015 but had accelerated since late last year. There are two molecular subtypes, PFGE1 and PFGE43, that are currently causing most of this increase. Epidemiological evidence from investigations of identified localised outbreaks and a large case-control study of community cases indicates that eating raw or runny eggs is a significant cause of illness. This includes breakfast dishes containing eggs, and desserts and aioli made with raw eggs. Environmental investigations indicated some outbreaks had been caused by poor handling of egg products at the food manufacturing and preparation level and by consumers.

Journal Food Protection

Ice, widely used in the food industry, is a potential cause of food poisoning resulting from microbial contamination. Direct microbial inactivation of ice is necessary because microorganisms may have been present in the source water used to make it and/or may have been introduced due to poor hygiene during production or handling of the ice. Nonthermal and nondestructive microbial inactivation technologies are needed to control microorganisms in ice. We evaluated the applicability of a UVC light-emitting diode (UVC-LED) for microbial inactivation in ice. The effects of UV intensity and UV dose of the UVC-LED on Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and a comparison of UVC-LED with a conventional UV lamp for effective bacterial inactivation in distilled water and ice cubes were investigated to evaluate the performance of the UVC-LED. Finally, we assessed the effects of the UVC-LED on pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes in ice cubes. The results indicated that UVC-LED effectiveness depended on the UV dose at all UV intensity conditions (0.084, 0.025, 0.013, 0.007, and 0.005 mW/cm²) in ice and that UVC-LED could more efficiently inactivate E. coli ATCC 25922 in distilled water and ice than the UV lamp. At a UV dose of 2.64 mJ/cm², E. coli in distilled water was decreased by 0.90 log CFU/mL (UV lamp) and by more than 7.0 log CFU/mL (UVC-LED). At 15.2 mJ/cm², E. coli in ice was decreased by 3.18 log CFU/mL (UV lamp) and by 4.45 CFU/mL (UVC-LED). Furthermore, UVC-LED irradiation reduced the viable number of pathogens by 6 to 7 log cycles at 160 mJ/cm², although the bactericidal effect was somewhat dependent on the type of bacteria. L. monocytogenes in ice was relatively more sensitive to UVC irradiation than were E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium. These results demonstrate that UVC-LED irradiation could contribute to the safety of ice in the food industry.

FDA

Vitakraft Sun Seed Inc. of Weston, OH, is voluntarily recalling certain Sunseed Parrot Fruit & Vegetable diet and Sunseed SunSations Rabbit Food due to a potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Vitakraft Sun Seed was notified on June 14, 2017 by its supplier of dried apples that the ingredient has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Although there has been no reported evidence of direct contamination of the dried apples, our supplier has initiated the recall. To date there have been no report of any illness.

The following products are being recalled:

“The health and happiness of our customers and their animal companions is always our top priority. Although there has been no evidence of contamination in our products, we are initiating this voluntary recall as a precautionary measure,” said Brent Weinmann, President & CEO of Vitakraft Sun Seed.

These products were sold in the following states: AZ, GA, IL, MI, NJ, NY, NV, OH, PA & WI. Retailers and distributors who received the recalled lots have been contacted and asked to pull these lots from their inventory and shelves. Consumers who have purchased these products may return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Customers who have further questions are welcome to contact Customer Service at 1-800-221-6175, Monday through Friday between 8:30am and 5:00pm EST