Tag Archives: environment

USA – FDA Recall – Seafood Products – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on June 5, 2013 by | 1 comment

FDA

Prime Food USA, 50st & 1st Ave Building # 57, Brooklyn NY 11232, is recalling Latis Brand Seafood Products due to confirmed and suspected contamination with listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria can cause serious complications for pregnant women, such as stillbirth. Other problems can manifest in people with compromised immune systems. Listeria can also cause serious flu-like symptoms in healthy individuals.

The recalled Latis Brand Seafood products are packaged in various sizes plastic oval type containers. All container sizes are affected. The UPC numbers for the products begin with 75100407…. .The product was sold nationwide. They are products of Latvia

The recall was initiated after routine sampling by New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Food Inspectors and subsequent analysis of the products by Food Laboratory personnel found various products to be positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem. Consumers who have purchased Latis Brand Seafood Products should not consume them, but should return them to the place of purchase.Consumers with questions may contact the company at 718-439-0376

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Posted in Bacteria, FDA, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Laboratory, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

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Ireland – FSAI Recall – Smoked Mackerel – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on June 4, 2013 by | Leave a comment

FSAI

The implicated batch of Kari smoked mackerel is being recalled from consumers due to the detection of Listeria monocytogenes in a sample tested in Poland. The batch was sold nationwide, mainly in Eastern European supermarkets.  Shops which have sold this batch must display a point-of-sale notice advising customers not to consume the implicated batch.

Kari Smoked Mackerel (Makrela wedzona), in chilled vacuum packs. (Approval number: PL 02071801 EC)

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Standards Agency, Food Testing, FSAI, Laboratory, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Recall

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USA- Hepatitis A in the News Again Worldwide

Posted on June 1, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety NewsVirusds

Patrons of the 800 Degrees Three Fires restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana may be at risk for hepatitis A infection, warned health officials Friday.

A worker at the restaurant tested positive for the virus, prompting the Allen County Health  Department to issue a public health advisory.

The Department is urging customers who ate or drank at the 800 Degrees Three Fires restaurant on Illinois Road between May 18 and May 26, 2013 to get the hepatitis A vaccine if they have not already had it.

Food Safety News

new outbreak of a hepatitis A strain rarely seen in the Western Hemisphere is believed to be associated with frozen mixed berries purchased from Costco is being investigated by multiple agencies, including the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.  At least 30 illnesses are involved, including  sicknesses in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada.

According to the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend frozen berries purchased from Costco appear to be the source of this outbreak.

The outbreak strain has  been identified by CDC as hepatitis A virus (HAV) genotype 1B, a strain that circulates in North Africa and the Middle East.  It was associated with last year’s outbreak in Europe involving frozen berries and another in British Columbia involving frozen berry blend with pomegranate seeds from Egypt.

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Posted in Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Technology, Food Testing, Food Virus, Hepatitis A, outbreak, Pathogen, Poisoning, Recall, Toxin, Virus

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Hong Kong – Australian Milk Recall – High Total Bacterial Count

Posted on May 30, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Hong Kong Food Safety Center

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) today (May 23) advised people not to consume a particular batch of Pura slim milk imported from Australia which was detected to have a total bacterial count exceeding the legal limit. The trade should also stop selling the affected product.

Details of the product concerned are as follows:

Product name: Pura slim milk
Place of origin: Australia
Expiry date: May 26, 2013
Packing size: 1 litre

“A sample of the milk was collected for testing under the regular Food Surveillance Programme. The test result showed that the total bacterial count of the sample was more than 30,000,000 per millilitre,” a CFS spokesman said.

“According to the Milk Regulation, milk after heat-treatment by means of pasteurization should not contain more than 30,000 bacteria per millilitre,” he said.

The CFS has issued a warning letter to the importer, Nowaday International Development Limited. Importation of the product concerned has been suspended and the trade has been alerted to the incident.

The importer is the sole importer of the milk product concerned. It has stopped sale and has initiated a recall of the affected product. According to the information provided by the importer, the affected product was available for sale at several supermarket chains. For enquiries about the product recall, consumers can call a hotline set up by the importer at 2882 2347 during office hours.

“The total bacterial count exceeding the legal limit indicates unsatisfactory hygienic conditions, but does not mean it would lead to food poisoning. Despite that, we think that it will be prudent for consumers who have bought the affected product to stop drinking it. The trade should also stop selling the affected product,” the spokesman said.

The CFS has informed the Australian authorities. We will monitor the recall of the affected product and the development of the incident. Appropriate actions will be taken whenever necessary.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Microbiology, Recall

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USA – Raw Milk Issues Again – Campylobacter

Posted on May 30, 2013 by | 1 comment

Campylobacter BlogEurofins Food Testing

The Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture and Health today advised consumers to discard raw milk produced by The Family Cow in Chambersburg, Franklin County, because of potential bacterial contamination.

Agriculture and Health Department laboratory tests and several recent illnesses indicate the raw milk may contain Campylobacter bacteria.

The Department of Health has confirmed five cases of confirmed Campylobacter infection in people who consumed milk from the farm at 3854 Olde Scotland Road.

Based on the reported illnesses, the Department of Agriculture collected samples of raw milk during an investigation of The Family Cow, on May 17. Positive tests for Campylobacter were confirmed Tuesday.

The packaged raw milk is sold under The Family Cow label in plastic gallon, half-gallon, quart and pint containers. It is labeled as “raw milk.” Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized

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Posted in Campylobacter, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Illness, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

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Research – Copper Kills Norovirus

Posted on May 29, 2013 by | 2 comments

Food Posioning BulletinNorwalk_Caspid

New research presented last week at the American Society for Microbiology’s 2013 general meeting showed that copper can destroy norovirus. The research was conducted at the University of Southampton. That virus causes more than 20 million illnesses in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and norovirus causes 267 million infections worldwide every year.

Norovirus is extremely contagious and often affects people in contained situations, such as cruise ships and retirement homes. It is spread through person-to-person contact, contact with contaminated objects, and through food and drink.

Scientists discovered that norovirus is quickly destroyed on contact with copper.

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Posted in Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Microbiology, Norovirus, Research, Virus

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Vietnam – Food Poisoning Incident – 107 Cases – Sandwich

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Thanh Nien News

Ben Tre authorities concluded Sunday that a sandwich sold by a local bakery was responsible for the food poisoning of 107 people in the Mekong Delta province on May 23.

Cao Thi Diem Thuy, deputy director of the province’s Food Safety Agency, said Minh Tuyen Bakery has been shut down following the incident. Only four people have been discharged from hospital so far, with the other 103 still yet to recover.

All of them ate sandwiches at Minh Tuyen on the evening of May 22 and began to develop stomachache, diarrhea, vomiting, and high temperature by early the following day. More than 20 people were hospitalized immediately, while the others were taken in the next few days after self-medication failed to help.

Thuy said her agency has taken samples from the patients for testing, and the results would determine the action to be taken against the bakery

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Poisoning

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Pakistan – Polluted Water – Culltivated Vegetables – Hepatitis A

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Business Recorder

Cultivations of vegetables from polluted water in the outskirts of the city is posing serious public health hazard and authorities concerned are doing almost nothing to stop this practice. Experts believe that contaminated water, industrial waste and unhygienic food are causing a surge in the incidence of Hepatitis-A disease.

They said that different government and private hospitals reported that patients of Hepatitis-A were increasing. Experts feared that the situation was worsening in cities such as Karachi, Multan, Swat, and areas near Islamabad where the polluted water contaminated drinking water because of poor sanitation system.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had conducted tests in few areas and found them prone to Hepatitis-A. However, scores of areas are also affected with the same problem and continue to cause health hazards to people with infectious disease. Medical experts say that it is the responsibility of the government to providing clean drinking water to the citizens on a regular basis. Doctors advised patients to get vaccinated against Hepatitis-A as preventive measures.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Virus, Foodborne Illness, Hepatitis A, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Toxin, Water

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USA – Campylobacter in Raw Milk Outbreak

Posted on May 24, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning JournalimagesCAZ9J1WP

The Alaska Section of Epidemiology is investigating another outbreak of Campylobacter infection associated with the consumption of raw milk. This new outbreak is associated with raw milk distributed by the same Kenai Peninsula cow-share program that was linked to a Campylobacter outbreak sickened at least 31 people in February 2013.

In the current investigation, five cases of Campylobacter infection have been identified to date. Two of the five people sought medical attention. Testing by the Alaska State Public Health Laboratory identified the bacteria strain as Campylobacter jejuni. The exact same strain of C. jejuni was found in cow manure obtained earlier this year at the cow-share farm that distributed the raw milk. “The genetic fingerprint of the bacteria isolated from these two people and the cow is unique. It has never been seen before in the United States,” said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, State Epidemiologist. “These outbreaks are an unfortunate reminder of the inherent risks associated with raw milk consumption, and underscore the importance of pasteurization.”

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Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

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Research – Retrospective Analysis of Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus in Animal Feed Ingredients

Posted on May 23, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Liebert Online

The presence and antimicrobial susceptibility of foodborne pathogens and indicator organisms in animal feed are not well understood. In this study, a total of 201 feed ingredient samples (animal byproducts, n=122; plant byproducts, n=79) were collected in 2002 and 2003 from representative rendering plants and the oilseed (or cereal grain) industry across the United States. The occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of four bacterial genera (Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus) were determined. Salmonella isolates were further characterized by serotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). None of the samples yielded Campylobacter or E. coli O157:H7, whereas Salmonella, generic E. coli, and Enterococcus were present in 22.9%, 39.3%, and 86.6% of samples, respectively. A large percentage (47.8%) of Salmonella-positive samples harbored two serovars, and the vast majority (88.4%) of Enterococcus isolates were E. faecium. Animal byproducts had a significantly higher Salmonella contamination rate (34.4%) than plant byproducts (5.1%) (p<0.05). Among 74 Salmonella isolates recovered, 27 serovars and 55 PFGE patterns were identified; all were pan-susceptible to 17 antimicrobials tested. E. coli isolates (n=131) demonstrated similar susceptibility to these antimicrobials except for tetracycline (15.3% resistance), sulfamethoxazole (7.6%), streptomycin (4.6%), ampicillin (3.8%), and nalidixic acid (1.5%). Enterococcus isolates (n=362) were also resistant to five of 17 antimicrobials tested, ranging from 1.1% to penicillin to 14.6% to tetracycline. Resistance rates were generally higher among isolates recovered from animal byproducts. Taken together, our findings suggest that diverse populations of Salmonella, E. coli, and Enterococcus are commonly present in animal feed ingredients, but antimicrobial resistance is not common. Future large-scale studies to monitor these pathogenic and indicator organisms in feed commodities is warranted.

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Posted in Antibiotic Resistance, Antimicrobials, Bacteria, Campylobacter, E.coli, Enterococcus, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella

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