The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing a Public Health Alert for raw boneless beef trim products imported from Canada that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.
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Category Archives: USDA
USDA Recall Chicken Caesar Salad – Salmonella
Real Mex Foods, a Vernon, Calif. establishment, is recalling approximately 77,688 pounds of Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad Kits. The salad kits include dressing made with cilantro that is the subject of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recall by Fresco Green Farms Inc., due to possible Salmonella contamination, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
The products subject to recall are:
36-oz. trays of “El Torito Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad Kit.”
- 18-lb. cases that contain eight (8) 36-oz. trays of “EL TORITO Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad Kit.”
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella, USDA
Tagged food, food and drug administration fda, grilled chicken caesar, grilled chicken caesar salad, salmonella contamination
USDA – Recall Ready to Eat Poultry Products
Reichel Foods, a Rochester, Minn. establishment, is recalling approximately 15,880 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
USDA – Fresh Ground Beef Recall – Salmonella
Cargill Meat Solutions, a Wyalusing, Pa., establishment, is recalling 29,339 pounds of fresh ground beef products that may be contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
FSIS became aware of the problem during the course of an ongoing investigation of a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis involving 33 case-patients from 7 states (MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VA, VT-preliminary data, subject to change). Working in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Vermont Department of Health, New York State Department of Health, and New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, FSIS was able to link illnesses in five case-patients to the ground beef products produced at this establishment based on epidemiologic and traceback investigations, as well as in-store reviews
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella, USDA
Tagged science
US – Non – O157 Testing Preliminary Results
On June 4, food regulators began screening beef for six more strains of E. coli beyond the already-monitored E. coli O157:H7. Since that time, 110 samples of beef trim have been tested for non-O157 E. coli; 3 were found to be carrying these bacteria.
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service published these initial findings in a results chart this week. The three positive test results represented three different strains of E. coli: O45, O103 and O145, each of which was found once. No samples have yet tested positive for the other three strains: O26, O111 and O121.
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O104, E.coli O145, E.coli O157, E.coli O26, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, STEC, USDA
Tagged food safety and inspection service, food safety news, initial findings
Hawaii – Recall – Ready to Eat Pork – Listeria monocytogenes
Keoki’s Lau Lau, a Honolulu, HI establishment, is recalling approximately 400 pounds of a ready-to-eat pork product due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
The following product is subject to recall:
- 12 oz. tubs of “Keoki’s Kalua Brand Pork”
- 48 oz. tubs of “Keoki’s Kalua Brand Pork”
The problem was discovered by the firm during follow-up testing conducted after a positive result from a FSIS routine monitoring sample. FSIS and the company have not received any reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of the products. Anyone concerned about a reaction should contact a healthcare provider.
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, USDA
Tagged food, food safety and inspection service, listeria monocytogenes
USDA Food Microbiology Guidelines for Laboratories
The Guidebook contains current protocols for analytical tests required by FSIS regulatory activities on meat, poultry and egg products.1 Specifically, microbiological methods are presented for sample preparation, isolation and identification of the major foodborne pathogenic microorganisms and their toxins, meat tissue species identification, and the detection of extraneous materials and antimicrobial residues. Media and reagent formulations, and Most Probable Number Tables are contained in an appendix.
USDA – New Traceback Policy for Ground Beef
Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, USDA’s Under Secretary for Food Safety, announced in a press conference on May 2, 2012 that the government is changing its traceback policy for contaminated beef that test positive for shiga-toxin producing E. colibacteria (STEC).
“Our keys goals are to strengthen our ability to protect consumers and to bolster prevention-based public safeguards,” she said. “We are going to use traceback policies as a proactive measure, launching the investigations earlier to identify contaminated products before they reach consumers.”
USDA – New Food Safety Initiatives
The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced a series of policy measures that will better protect consumers from foodborne illness in meat and poultry products. These measures will significantly improve the ability of both plants and USDA to trace contaminated food materials in the supply chain, to act against contaminated products sooner, and to establish the effectiveness of food safety systems.
Some of these actions include:
• Zero tolerance policy for six Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) serogroups. Raw ground beef, its components, and tenderized steaks found to contain E. coli O26, O103, O45, O111, O121 or O145 will be prohibited from sale to consumers. USDA will launch a testing program to detect these dangerous pathogens and prevent them from reaching consumers.
• Test and hold policy that will significantly reduce consumer exposure to unsafe meat products, should the policy become final, because products cannot be released into commerce until Agency test results for dangerous contaminants are known.
• Labelling requirements that provide better information to consumers about their food by requiring nutrition information for single-ingredient raw meat and poultry products and ground or chopped products.
• Public Health Information System, a modernised, comprehensive database about public health trends and food safety violations at the nearly 6,100 plants FSIS regulates.
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, USDA
Tagged health
US – E.coli O157 Alert in Imported Canadian Products
Sysco Seattle Inc. is recalling approximately 16,800 pounds of ground beef patties distributed to restaurants in Colorado, Arizona, Texas and Washington because of possible E. coli contamination according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
The producer, New Food Classics of Burlington, Ontario, notified Sysco Seattle of the possible contamination earlier this month.
The following products are subject to recall:
•10 lb. boxes of PRIME RIB BEEF PATTIES 8 oz, with product code 55317, and production code 11 NO 22.
•10 lb. boxes of PRIME RIB BEEF PATTIES 71g, with product code 55391 and bearing a production code of 11 SE 01 or 12 JA 04.
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