Category Archives: Uncategorized

Poultry Med 

The Slovakia State Veterinary and Food Administration announced that veterinary inspectors discovered 21,000 kg of salmonella-tainted chicken breast imported from Brazil in Bratislava. The frozen chicken breast infected with Salmonella Heidelberg have been found in warehouses in Bratislava. Veterinary inspectors immediately ordered his removal, because it had distributed seven to 54 restaurants around the country.
The Brazilian meat was imported into Slovakia via the Netherlands and Poland.
Salmonella Heidelberg was involved in 2013-2014 in a foodborne outbreak in 29 USA states and Puerto Rico. A total of 634 persons infected. Epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback investigations conducted by local, state, and federal officials indicated that consumption of Foster Farms brand chicken was the source of this outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg infections.

CFIA

Ottawa, April 1, 2017 – The food recall warning issued on March 23, 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 Chef Destinations, Frankly Fresh Salads and Fresh St. brands Fresh Guacamole and 7 Layer Dip from the marketplace due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products described below.

CFIA

Ottawa, March 31, 2017 – Central Smith Creamery is recalling Wholesome Farms brand Vanilla Sundae Cup from the marketplace due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled product described below. Food service institutions, such as hospitals and nursing homes, should not serve or use the recalled product described below.

Emerald Insight

Medeiros et al. (2001) estimate 3.5 million cases of foodborne illness in the U.S. annually are associated with inadequate cooking of animal foods or cross-contamination from these foods. Past research shows home food handling practices can be risk factors for foodborne illness. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the communication of food safety guidance, specifically safe endpoint temperatures and cross-contamination risk reduction practices, in popular cookbook recipes.

Plos One

Abstract

Journal of Food Protection

Over the last 10 years, some high-profile foodborne illness outbreaks have been linked to the consumption of leafy greens. Growers are required to complete microbiological risk assessments (RAs) for the production of leafy crops supplied either to retail or for further processing. These RAs are based primarily on qualitative judgements of hazard and risks at various stages in the production process but lack many of the steps defined for quantitative microbiological RAs by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. This article is based on the discussions of an industry expert group and proposes a grower RA approach based on a structured qualitative assessment, which requires all decisions to be based on evidence and a framework for describing the decision process that can be challenged and defended within the supply chain. In addition, this article highlights the need for evidence to be more easily available and accessible to primary producers and identifies the need to develop hygiene criteria to aid validation of proposed interventions.

Journal of Food Protection

Thermophilic Campylobacter and Salmonella enterica are major causes of gastrointestinal foodborne infection. Survival of these pathogens on food-associated surfaces is a risk contributing to their spread through the food system. This study examined the transfer of two strains each of C. jejuni, C. coli, Salmonella Enteritidis, and Salmonella Typhimurium from chicken meat to a knife or scissors used on either a plastic or wooden cutting board. Each strain of Campylobacter and Salmonella at ∼10⁸ CFU mL⁻¹ was inoculated (5 mL) onto 25 g of chicken meat with skin and allowed to attach (for 10 min). The meat was then cut (20 times per implement) into 1-cm² pieces with either a knife or scissors on either a plastic or wooden cutting board. The numbers of pathogens transferred from meat onto cutting implements and cutting board surfaces were enumerated. The surfaces were subsequently either rinsed with water or rinsed with water and wiped with a kitchen towel to mimic commonly used superficial cleaning practices for these implements, and the numbers of pathogens were enumerated again. The bacterial numbers for both pathogens were determined on thin-layer agar. The attachment of the Salmonella strains to chicken meat (∼7.0 to 7.8 log CFU cm⁻²) was higher than the attachment of the Campylobacter strains (∼4.6 to 6.6 log CFU cm⁻²). All four Salmonella strains transferred in higher numbers (∼1.9 to 6.3 log CFU cm⁻²) to all surfaces than did the Campylobacter strains (∼1.1 to 3.9 log CFU cm⁻²). The transfer rates of both pathogens from the chicken meat to all the surfaces examined varied substantially between ∼0 and 21.1%. The highest rate of transfer (∼21.1%) observed was for C. coli 2875 when transferred from the chicken meat to the scissors. Most cleaning treatments reduced the numbers of both pathogens (∼0.3 to 4.1 log CFU cm⁻²) transferred to all the surfaces. Our study gives insights into the risks associated with the transfer of Campylobacter and Salmonella from poultry to the surfaces used in poultry preparation.

RASFF – aflatoxins (B1 = 10.2; Tot. = 13.9 µg/kg – ppb) in shelled peanuts from China in Spain

RASFF-aflatoxins (Tot. = 13 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachios in shell from Iran in Germany

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 24.4; Tot. = 27.6 / B1 = 3.9; Tot. = 4.4 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachios in shell from Iran in Germany

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 11.8; Tot. = 13.0 / B1 = 11.0; Tot. = 12.1 / B1 = 2.8 µg/kg – ppb) in blanched groundnut kernels from China in Greece

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 103; Tot. = 121 / B1 = 32; Tot. = 36.5 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts in shell from China in the UK

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 15.1; Tot. = 36.9 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from the United Kingdom in the Netherlands

RASFF – Salmonella (presence /25g) in frozen salted chicken meat from Thailand in the Netherlands

RASFF-Salmonella (presence /10g) in chilled minced pork and beef mix from Poland in the Czech Republic

RASFF-Salmonella enterica ser. Typhimurium (presence /25g) in chilled turkey meat from Ireland, with raw material from Italy in Ireland

RASFF-Salmonella enterica ser. Hato (presence /25g), Salmonella enterica ser. Vejle (presence /25g) and Salmonella enterica subsp. salamae (II) (28:g,s,t:1,5 /25g) in sesame seeds from Nigeria in Greece

RASFF-Salmonella enterica ser. Infantis (presence /10g) in frozen poultry MSM from Poland in Italy

RASFF-Salmonella enterica ser. Saintpaul (presence /25g) in frozen turkey breast fillets from Brazil in Italy

RASFF-Salmonella enterica ser. Fresno (presence /25g) and Salmonella enterica ser. Kinondoni (presence /25g) in sesame seeds from Nigeria in Greece

RASFF-Salmonella (presence /25g) in frozen salted chicken breast fillets from Thailand in the UK

RASFF-Salmonella enterica ser. Heidelberg (3 out of 5 /25g) in frozen salted chicken breasts from Brazil, via the Netherlands in Slovakia

RASFF-Salmonella enterica ser. Saintpaul (presence /25g) in frozen unspiced half turkey breasts from Brazil in Italy

RASFF-Salmonella enterica ser. Bournemouth (presence /25g) and Salmonella enterica ser. Saintpaul (presence /25g) in frozen unspiced half turkey breasts from Brazil in Italy

RASFF-Salmonella (presence /25g) in frozen unspiced turkey breast fillets from Brazil in Italy

Ready Meals Info

Restaurateurs, pub landlords, supermarkets and other owners of businesses preparing and serving food and drink across England and Wales are being warned that they face losing their livelihoods and even their liberty, if they endanger customers’ health under a combination of new laws and a trend for tougher sentencing, according to UK-wide commercial law firm Maclay Murray & Spens LLP (MMS).

Philip Sewell, a London-based commercial dispute resolution partner with MMS, said that sentencing is set to become tougher for food and drink providers who breach these laws or other food safety regulations, such as those around hygiene.

“In the wake of recently tightened sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences, where business turnover and the potential harm a breach could cause are now being taken into account, it is only a matter of time before a similar approach is adopted for food hygiene and labelling offences,” he explained.

“We are already seeing evidence that tougher sentences are being sought by the CPS in England and Wales.”

Under the latest EU regulations, now in force, businesses preparing and selling pre-packaged food and drink must provide details of 14 major allergens present in the food they serve. Meanwhile, regulations introduced by the Food Standards Agency on 1 March, addressing the serving of minced meat products, for example rare burgers, means such food products must be thoroughly cooked, except where specific approval has been obtained.

Business owners looking to serve burgers or other mincemeat products that have not been cooked thoroughly throughout will need to obtain verification from their meat supplier that they are approved by either the FSA, the relevant local authority or Environmental Health Officers.

Mr Sewell concluded: “The FSA has previously set out that burgers should be cooked thoroughly, as E. coli bacteria, which cause food poisoning, can be present throughout mincemeat, rather than just on the surface. Now that the agency has spelled out how caterers and restaurateurs can go about serving rare burgers, those who ignore this process and endanger the public, or actually cause a food-poisoning outbreak, are likely to feel the full force of the law.”

“It shall be for restaurateurs to prove, if challenged, that they are cooking burgers and serving a safe product because they are following techniques verified and validated due to food safety expertise. The simplest method to achieve compliance might be to cause bacterium log reduction to a satisfactory level by cooking burgers at a minimum temperature of 70 degrees centigrade over at least two minutes or at 75 degrees centigrade for at least 30 seconds combined with flipping, slower cooking to reach the optimum temperature points and covering while cooking.“