Tag Archives: research

US Herring Recall – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on May 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Listeria Blog

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Darrel J. Aubertine today alerted consumers that Mazowsze Deli Inc., 420 Church Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11218 is recalling (sliced) Herring due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

The recalled in-store packed (sliced) Herring comes in an un-coded, one pound clear plastic container with a plastic lid. The Herring was sold from the deli’s retail location at 420 Church Avenue in Brooklyn only.

The recall was initiated after routine sampling by New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets Food Inspectors and subsequent analysis of the product by New York State Food Laboratory personnel, found Listeria monocytogenes present in the product.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem. Consumers who have purchased the Herring should not consume it, but should discard the product or return it to Mazowsze Deli.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

Tagged ,

HPA – UK – Campylobacter Still Number 1 in 2011

Posted on May 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

HPA

Eighty three general outbreaks of foodborne infectious disease in England and Wales were reported in 2011 to the HPA’s electronic Foodborne and Non-foodborne Gastrointestinal Outbreak Surveillance System (eFOSS)[§]. In the previous year there were 63 outbreaks of foodborne diseases (figure 1).

The rise in the number of general outbreaks in 2011 could be due to the continued increase in outbreaks caused by Campylobacter spp (20/83 in 2011; 18/63 in 2010) and a rise in the outbreaks caused by Salmonella spp compared to the previous year (18 in 2011; 8 in 2010).

Outbreaks of campylobacter have increased since 2009 and concurrently campylobacter is now the most frequently implicated causative agent in reported outbreaks representing 24% of all outbreaks [1,2 ]. In 2011, as in preceding years, most campylobacter outbreaks were associated with consumption of undercooked poultry liver pâté or parfait f rom food service establishments [3,4]. Salmonella spp. accounted for 22% of the outbreaks, most of which were caused by an increase in S. Enteritidis non PT 4 (44%, 8/18) or S. Typhimurium (33%, 6/18). The next most frequently identified agents included: norovirus (10%, 8/83), VTEC O157 (10%, 8/83) and Clostridium perfringens (8%, 7/83)

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Foodborne Illness, HPA, Microbiology, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella

Tagged , , ,

Use of Microbiological Indicators for Assessing Hygiene Controls for the Manufacture of Powdered Infant Formula

Posted on May 5, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Ingenta

Microbiological testing for various indicator microorganisms is used extensively as a means of verifying the effectiveness of efforts to ensure the microbiological quality and safety of a wide variety of foods. However, for each use of an indicator organism the underlying scientific assumptions related to the behaviour of the target microorganism, the characteristics of the food matrix, the details of the food manufacturing processes, environment, and distribution system, and the methodological basis for the assay must be evaluated to determine the validity, utility, and efficacy of potential microbiological indicator tests. The recent adoption by the Codex Alimentarius Commission of microbiological criteria for powdered infant formulae and related products provides an excellent example of an evidence-based approach for the establishment of consensus microbiological criteria. The present article reviews these criteria and those of various national governments in relation to emerging principles for the evidence-based establishment of effective indicator organisms.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

Tagged , , , ,

258 Cases in the US Sushi Salmonella Outbreak to Date

Posted on May 3, 2012 by | Leave a comment

CDC

  • Based on an epidemiologic link and results of laboratory testing, CDC has combined this Salmonella Bareilly investigation with an ongoing multistate outbreak investigation of Salmonella serotype Nchanga infections. The two associated PFGE patterns have been grouped together as the “outbreak strains.”
  • A total of 258 persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Bareilly (247 persons) or SalmonellaNchanga (11 persons) have been reported from 24 states and the District of Columbia.
    • 32 ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.
  • Collaborative investigation efforts of state, local, and federal public health agencies indicate that a frozen raw yellowfin tuna product, known as Nakaochi Scrape, from Moon Marine USA Corporation is the likely source of this outbreak.
  • Consumers should not eat the recalled product, and retailers should not serve the recalled raw Nakaochi Scrape tuna product from Moon Marine USA Corporation.
  • This investigation is ongoing. CDC and state and local public health partners are continuing surveillance to identify new cases.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella

Tagged ,

US – Kent County Jail – Clostridium perfringens Poisoning

Posted on May 2, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin

According to Lisa LaPlante, Communications and Marketing Manager of the Kent County Department of Health, the source of the April 15, 2012 food poisoning outbreak at the Kent County Jail has been discovered.

Laboratory tests have revealed that there was Clostridium perfringens, a spore-producing bacteria, in a rice and cheese product. The food was prepared, chilled, and then reheated and served to the inmates.

All 250 inmates who were sickened have recovered. No one was hospitalised during this outbreak. Other food samples have been sent to the lab for testing because this was such a large outbreak. Officials expect it will be another month or two before the investigation is complete.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium perfringens, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

Tagged , ,

Wales Cryptosporidium Outbreak Update

Posted on May 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Public Health Wales 

A further four people have been clinically diagnosed with cryptosporidiosis and are linked to the outbreak associated with a farm in Cwmbran.
 
The four new cases bring the total number of confirmed cases investigated as part of the outbreak to eight. All cases were either members of staff or volunteers who bottle fed unwell animals. These animals have now been removed from the farm.
 
Public Health Wales and Torfaen County Borough Council with the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency are continuing to investigate the outbreak of cryptosporidiosis, and extra control measures are now in place to ensure that risks to farm visitors and staff are kept to a minimum.
 

Leave a comment

Posted in Cryptosporidium, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen

Tagged , , ,

Listeria Subverts Immune Response

Posted on May 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Science Daily

Listeria, one of the most deadly causes of bacterial food poisoning, subverts a normally protective immune response to spread its infection more effectively, according to new research at National Jewish Health. Immunologists Laurel Lenz, PhD, Peter Henson, PhD, and their colleagues report online April 26, 2012, in the journal Immunity that production of nitric oxide (NO) by activated macrophages, which is normally thought of as an infection-fighting response, actually helps Listeria monocytogenes to more efficiently disseminate between infected and neighboring uninfected cells.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Food Poisoning, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

Tagged , , , ,

New Salmonella Infection Research

Posted on April 26, 2012 by | Leave a comment

PhysOrg

BBSRC-funded researchers at Cambridge University have shed new light on a common food poisoning bug. Using real-time video microscopy, coupled with mathematical modelling, they have changed our assumptions about Salmonella and how it infects human cells. The research was published in Interface.

Their research found that many incorrect assumptions had been made about Salmonella infection, particularly that macrophages are highly susceptible to infection. Their data showed that infection occurrences after initial contact between a bacterium and macrophage were low. The probability of that bacterium infecting the cell is less than 5 per cent. However, they also showed that an infected macrophage can be reinfected by a second bacterium. The concept of reinfection by Salmonella had not been considered before and this previously overlooked mechanism may make an important contribution to total bacterial numbers in infection studies.

The study also highlighted the fact that some cells are far more susceptible to infection than others. Rather than grouping all macrophages together in terms of their susceptibility to infection, the research shows that there is a spectrum of susceptibility.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Research, Salmonella

Tagged , , ,

EFSA Data – Reduction Targets for Salmonella in Turkeys

Posted on April 16, 2012 by | Leave a comment

EFSA

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was asked by the European Commission to evaluate the impact on public health of reducing Salmonella levels in turkeys across the European Union (EU). The presence of Salmonella in turkeys is considered a risk for public health through the consumption of contaminated meat from these animals. EFSA’s work will support any consideration by the Commission of setting new targets to control Salmonella in turkeys.

In a new scientific opinion, experts from EFSA’s Panel on Biological Hazards identify the main Salmonella serovars* in turkeys and indicate that transmission from breeding stock to fattening flocks is an important source of Salmonella infection as well as such sources as contaminated feed or turkey houses.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, EFSA, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Salmonella

Tagged ,

“Hypervirulent” Salmonella Research

Posted on April 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

EcoliBlog

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara, Michael Mahan and Douglas Heithoff, have published a new paper in the science journal, PLoS Pathogens, detailing their findings from a study of “hypervirulent” Salmonella bacteria.  Given the recently announced nationwide outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly associated with consumption of spicy tuna sushi, the publication of their paper could not be any more timely.

The paper, titled “Intraspecies Variation in the Emergence of Hyperinfectious Bacterial Strains in Nature,” focuses on the researchers’ efforts to seek out and locate hypervirulent strains that present a potential risk to food safety and the livestock industry.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

Tagged , ,