Tag Archives: food safety news

USA – Update Salmonella – Cucumber Outbreak

Posted on May 11, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety Newscucumber

An outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul linked to imported cucumbers has sickened at least 81 people in 18 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That’s up from the 78 illnesses CDC reported April 25. The number of patients hospitalized as a result of their infections has risen from 14 to 16 since that time.

The updated number of victims, by state, is as follows: Arizona (11), California (28), Colorado (1), Idaho (2), Illinois (3), Louisiana (1), Massachusetts (1), Maryland (1), Minnesota (9), Nevada (1), New Mexico (2), North Carolina (3), Ohio (3), Oregon (2), South Dakota (2), Texas (6), Virginia (3) and Wisconsin (2).

The first outbreak victim fell ill on January 12 of this year, and the latest known illness onset was April 19. However, health officials note that illnesses with an onset date of April 7 or later may not have been reported yet.

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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, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Salmonella

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Research – Antibiotic-Free Turkey Less Likely to Harbor Resistant Bacteria

Posted on May 1, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Ground turkey from birds raised without antibiotics is less likely to be contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria than conventional ground turkey, according to a new study published by Consumer Reports today.

The group tested 257 samples of raw ground turkey meat and patties, purchased from major retailers nationwide, for Enterococcus, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, and Campylobacter and then looked at what portion of these bacteria were resistant to antibiotics. They found high levels of bacteria overall – 90 percent of samples tested positive for one of the five – and more than half were resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics. But the bugs found in products labeled “no antibiotics,” “organic,” or “raised without antibiotics” were resistant to fewer antibiotics than their conventional counterparts.

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Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, E.coli, Enterococcus, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus

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USA – Extended E.coli O121 Outbreak – Farm Rich Products

Posted on April 29, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety NewsE.coli O157

Five more victims in four states were added Friday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to the list of confirmed cases in the rare Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O121 outbreak associated with Farm Rich brand products.

The additional victims—one each in California, Colorado, and Ohio and two in Florida—bring the total number of individuals infected with the outbreak strain of E coli O121 (STEC O121) to 32.

CDC says 35 percent of the victims have required hospitalization and two developed the kidney-damaging hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). No deaths have been reported among the mostly young (81 percent are age 21 or under) victims.

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Posted in CDC, E.coli, E.coli O121, 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, Methods, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

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USA – CDC – Food Safety Progress Report

Posted on April 19, 2013 by | Leave a comment

CDCiStock_000012710183Small

Food Safety News

Infection rates of the foodborne pathogens Campylobacter and Vibrio parahaemolyticus rose in 2012, while other major pathogens generally maintained rates similar to recent years, according to the nation’s annual “food safety progress report” published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Thursday.

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Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, CDC, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

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USA – Recall – Smoked Pork and Pepper Sticks – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on April 7, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety Newslisteria-hp

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is telling consumers to avoid smoked pork and beef pepper sticks made by Belgrade Meat Center in Belgrade, Minnesota. Routine product sampling discovered Listeria monocytogenes bacteria in the food. There are no reports of illness to date. You can see pictures of product labels at the MDA web site.

The pepper sticks have the lot number 318130 on the back of the package and Minnesota State Establishment Number 1157. About 20 pounds of the pork and beef pepper sticks were sold at its retail store. Consumers are asked to return the packages to the store.

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

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Egypt – Cairo University 479 Students with Food Poisoning

Posted on April 3, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Food poisoning has sent at least 479 students at Cairo’s al-Azhar university to hospitals and sent hundreds of others into the streets to demand the resignation of the school’s president.

The outbreak is so politically charged that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi took a page out of the West’s political playbook by visiting one of the hospitals where the sickened students are being treated.

Egypt’s Health Ministry said that while hundreds were ill, there have been no deaths recorded among the patients. Those suffering from food poisoning were divided among several Cairo hospitals so they could receive medical attention more promptly. The Health Ministry said all the cases were stabilized.

“Basic hygiene standards are not always observed at Egyptian universities, but this incident is one of the largest cases of food poisoning in recent years,” said BBC, reporting from Cairo.

BBC News

 

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

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USA – Walmart Recall Pizza – Possible E.coli Contamination

Posted on April 3, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Walmart is recalling Farm Rich Pizza Slices from its stores nationwide because they may be contaminated with E.coli. The frozen pepperoni pizza slices were sold in 7.2 oz cartons and 22 oz cartons with “EST. 27232″ or “P-27233″ stamped inside the USDA mark of inspection. The “best by” dates for both sizes under recall is May 15 or May 16, 2014.

The products under recall contain cheese, pepperoni, sauce and dough, according to information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which, along with Farm Rich, has posted the recall on its website. The pizza slices are among several Farm Rich items being recalled for potential E. coli contamination including: mini chicken and cheese quesadillas, mini mozzarella bites and cheesesteak sandwiches.

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Posted in E.coli, E.coli O121, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

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Research – Livestock to Human Transmission of MRSA Confirmed

Posted on March 30, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety NewsStaphylococcus

Using whole genome sequencing, scientists have found conclusive evidence that a type of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that caused human infections in Denmark came from livestock – adding to concerns that food animals are a significant MRSA reservoir for human infections.

While previous research has suggested that MRSA transfers from animals to humans, including a U.S. study last year that looked at “pig-MRSA,” the study published this week in EMBO Molecular Medicine provides the strongest evidence to date that this phenomenon is occurring and provides fodder to those advocating for greater limits on antibiotics in agriculture.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Microbiology, MRSA, Pathogen, Research, Staphylococcus aureus, Toxin

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USA – Recall – Pistachios – Salmonella

Posted on February 26, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

A California company is recalling 1,200 pounds of pistachios because they may be contaminated with Salmonella.

Hoop Nuts LLC of Van Nuys, CA issued a voluntary recall of 600 pounds of raw and 600 pounds of dry roasted pistachios Sunday.

The recalled nuts were sold under the brand names ARO Pistachio and Orandi Farms as Pistachio Halves ‘n Pieces in  30 pound white corrugated boxes.

The dry roasted pistachios are marked with lot #121203 and the raw pistachios are identifiable by lot #1-121213.

The recalled products were distributed in California.

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USA – Article – How do Pathogens get into Produce

Posted on January 23, 2013 by | Leave a comment

This is a very interesting article in Food Safety News which I think would be of interest to Food Microbiologists and the Produce industry alike. the link will take you to the full article

Food Safety News

Leafy greens, lettuce, cantaloupes, mangoes and strawberries. These are just some of the foods that have sickened or even killed people when they were contaminated with foodborne pathogens such as E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella.

Amidst the confusing swirl of information about these and other produce outbreaks, the question arises: Were some of these pathogens inside the produce? Could it be — in some cases, anyway — that the plant’s roots sucked the pathogens up out of the soil and transferred them through the plant into its edible parts?

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O103, E.coli O157, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Virus, Foodborne Illness, Hepatitis A, Hygiene, Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, O103, Research, Salmonella

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