Tag Archives: health

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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New Zealand – Food Outlet 9 Cases Salmonella Infantis

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

The New Zealand Herald Salmonella

An unnamed Northland food outlet is being investigated over nine confirmed cases of a rare type of Salmonella. In the past few weeks, Northland District Health Board has found a total of eleven cases of the food poisoning, which has been identified as salmonella infantis.

The Board’s medical officer Clair Mills says it was odd to have a cluster all at once and in a region where this type of bug is uncommon. She says nine of the eleven people had eaten at the same outlet in Whangarei.

“So then of course we look further at the premise and we take samples from food and we take stool samples from staff.”

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

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Europe – ECDC – Antimicrobial resistance continues to be found in Salmonella and Campylobacter

Posted on May 16, 2013 by | Leave a comment

ECDCSalmonella

Antimicrobial resistance continues to be found in Salmonella and Campylobacter, the latest joint report from the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reveals.

The EU Summary Report on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic and indicator bacteria from humans, animals and food    reveals that a high proportion of Campylobacter bacteria were resistant to ciprofloxacin, a critically important antimicrobial. However, there was low resistance to erythromycin and co-resistance to important antimicrobials remains low.

Multidrug resistance was higher in Salmonella bacteria, the report reveals. Despite this, co-resistance to critically important antimicrobials remains low. High levels of antimicrobial resistance were found in Salmonella bacteria from humans and food animals, in particular turkeys and pigs.

Dr Marc Sprenger, ECDC Director, said: ‘With harmonised surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in isolates from humans and animals, we can inform effective actions to prevent further spread of antimicrobial resistance in humans.’

 

 

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Posted in Antibiotic Resistance, Bacteria, Campylobacter, ECDC, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Salmonella

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USA – Restaurant with Hepatitis A

Posted on May 5, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning BulletinClose up 3d render of an influenza-like virus isolated on white

The Southeastern Idaho Public Health Department released a statement today stating that the patrons of Papa Murphy’s in Chubbuck, Idaho may have been exposed to Hepatitis A in April. An employee from the restaurant was diagnosed with the disease on May 2, 2013. There is no evidence of a Hepatitis A outbreak at this time.

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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 Testing, Hepatitis A, Pathogen, Toxin, Virus

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RASFF Alert -Aflatoxin

Posted on May 5, 2013 by | Leave a comment

RASFF – Aflatoxins (B1 = 47.6; Tot. = 52.9 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachios from Turkey in Germany

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Posted in Aflatoxin, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Moulds, Mycotoxin, Pathogen, RASFF, Recall

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USA – Salmonella Sickens 80 – Las Vegas Restaurant

Posted on May 3, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning BulletinSalmonella

The Southern Nevada Health District is investigating a Salmonella outbreak associated with Firefly Tapas Restaurant and Bar at 3900 Paradise Road in Las Vegas. Public health officials believe more than 80 people have been sickened in this outbreak. The health department closed Firefly on April 26, 2013 after reports of illness began coming into the office.

The health department has identified the cause of the outbreak as Salmonella. The symptoms of salmonellosis, the illness associated with a Salmonella infection, include diarrhea, which can be bloody, fever, abdominal cramps, headache, loss of appetite, nausea, and sometimes vomiting. People usually get sick 6 to 72 hours after infection. Investigators do not know what food is the source of the outbreak.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, 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 – Raw Milk – E.coli O157 Outbreak

Posted on April 26, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety NewsimagesCAZ9J1WP

Health officials in Wisconsin suspect three patients sickened by the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 contracted their illnesses after consuming raw milk, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Raechelle Cline told Food Safety News Thursday.

All three patients reside in Manitowoc County, and they include a three year-old child and his or her mother. Officials are currently testing samples of milk from the suspected dairy and will not identify it unless they prove a connection.

“Raw milk was the most likely commonality we’ve been able to identify,” Cline said. The illnesses occurred in March, and the officials are unaware of any additional cases.

Health institutions such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise against drinking raw milk, as it has not been pasteurized to eliminate potentially harmful pathogens.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall

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USA – Salmonella Outbreak – Baby Ducklings

Posted on April 24, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning BulletinSalm

An outbreak of salmonellosis in Minnesota has been linked to ducklings purchased from the Tractor Supply Company store in Inver Grove Heights, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. The cases are associated with a multistate outbreak that is being investigated by the CDC.

The patients range in age from 18 to 60 years. All three cases are caused by Salmonella Infantis. The illness onset dates range from late March through early April 2013.

MDH State Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Joni Scheftel said that anyone who handles ducklings, chicks, or other birds should wash their hands thoroughly after contact. “Chicks and ducklings can be a great attraction for children and families this time of year, but they can also be a source of illness. That is why it is so important for people handling them to take steps to prevent infection.”

Young children are more at risk for these infections and are also more likely to develop serious complications from a Salmonella infection. The Salmonella bacteria is carried in the intestines of animals and is shed into the environment. Live birds are a recognized source of Salmonella. The birds can shed the pathogenic bacteria even when they look healthy.

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Posted in Bacteria, CDC, Food Hygiene, 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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