Tag Archives: restaurants

UK – FSA – Latest research published by the FSA

FSA

The Agency has produced a summary of its research published in April to June 2013. Several areas of research were covered, including consumer attitudes towards the decontamination of meat and the use of freezing to reduce campylobacter in chicken livers. A full report for each area of research can be found via the links at the bottom of the page.

Evaluation: Freezing to reduce campylobacters in chicken liver
The FSA commissioned a research project to assess whether freezing chicken livers, before they are prepared and cooked in a catering or domestic kitchen, can significantly reduce the incidence of campylobacter contamination. Freezing is a proven effective intervention to control campylobacter contamination of poultry meat. However, there has been a lack of evidence on how effective this treatment is with chicken livers, particularly under conditions similar to those in catering or domestic kitchens where freezer temperatures and freezing rates may vary.

RASFF Alerts – STEC – Chilled Beef

RASFF -Shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli in chilled boneless beef (Bos taurus) from Argentina in the Netherlands

RASFF – Shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli in chilled boneless beef (Bos taurus) from Argentina in the Netherlands

 

UK -FSA Recall – Coleslaw Recall – Listeria monocytogenes

FSAfood_standards_agency_logo

Island Salads Coleslaw

Product identification (batch/date codes)

Use by date: 20 July 2013 Pack size: 200g and 400g

Listeria monocytogenes, a food-poisoning bacteria, has been found in a batch of Island Salads Coleslaw following sampling by Craigavon Borough Council. Listeria monocytogenes can cause illness in certain groups of people, such as pregnant women, unborn and newborn babies, and anyone with reduced immunity, particularly the over-60s.

Action taken by the company

The company has begun a recall of this product. Point-of-sale notices have been placed in stores.
No other Island Salads products are known to be affected.

Advice to consumers

If you have purchased the above product, please do not consume it but return to your nearest store for a full refund.

UK – FSA – Recall Milk – Possibility of Contamination

FSAfood_standards_agency_logo

Dunn’s Dairy of Beacon View Farm, Devon, has recalled all date codes of its milk and cream products because of possible cross contamination of milk and insufficient heat processing. If you have bought any dairy products that have come from this farm, please do not drink or eat them. The Agency has issued a Product Information Recall Notice.

Hong Kong – 19 Diners Sick with Cigutera Poisoning

South China Morning Post

Health authorities are launching an investigation into food poisoning case in which 19 people fell ill after eating coral reef fish at a Lamma Island eatery on Saturday.

Fourteen men and five women, aged 23 to 71, had eaten fish at the seafood restaurant, and had fallen ill with symptoms of the potentially lethal ciguatera poisoning three to 19 hours later, the Centre for Health Protection said.

The restaurant in question was the Wai Kee Sea Food Restaurant in Sok Kwu Wan.

Symptoms can include numbness of the mouth and limbs, heart palpitations fatigue, vomiting, diarrhoea and flushes. Excessive consumption can also affect the circulatory and nervous systems.

Six of the diners had sought medical help and at least one person was admitted to hospital. All are in now in stable condition, the CHP said.

Australia – Recall Corned Beef – Listeria monocytogenes

FSANZ

Pendle Ham and Bacon has recalled Cooked Corned Beef from their deli store in
Pendle Hill, NSW due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Food
products contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may cause illness in
pregnant women and their babies, the elderly and people with low immune systems.
Consumers should not eat this product. Any consumers concerned about their
health should seek medical advice.

Australia – Supplier of Eggs Under Scrutiny – Salmonella

The Age

A Victorian egg supplier is under investigation and one person has ongoing  health issues following Canberra’s largest salmonella outbreak, which has left  health professionals ”struck by the severity” of the symptoms and high  infection rate.

The outbreak, which affected 140 people and hospitalised 15 in mid-May, was  traced back to raw egg mayonnaise served at the Copa Brazilian restaurant in  Dickson. But ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Paul Kelly confirmed on Wednesday that  the focus had  turned to an egg producer in Victoria who supplied eggs to the  Copa.

 

RASFF Alerts – Salmonella – Pizzles – Fish Meal – Poultry

RASFF -Salmonella Newport (presence /25g) in dried pizzles from India in Germany

RASFF – Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in fish meal from Morocco in Poland

RASFF – Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in frozen poultry meat (Gallus gallus) from Brazil in Spain

RASFF Alerts – Aflatoxin – Peanuts – Groundnuts – Nutmegs

RASFF – Aflatoxins (B1 = 12.7; Tot. = 16.4 µg/kg – ppb) in spicy coated peanuts from India in the UK

RASFF – Aflatoxins (B1 = 4.8 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnut kernels from China in the Netherlands

RASFF – Aflatoxins (B1 = 32.4; Tot. = 40.1 µg/kg – ppb) in whole nutmegs from Indonesia in the UK

 

USA – Various Updates on the Berry Hepatitis A Outbreak

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The hepatitis A outbreak associated with Townsend Farms berries sold at Costco has sickened at least 37 people in six states and raised a lot of questions. One of them is how does food become contaminated with hepatitis A?

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated the Hepatitis A outbreak associated with Townsend Farms Organic Anti-Oxdant Blend frozen berry and pomegranate mix. Now 49 people are sick with acute Hepatitis A in seven states. And eleven people have been hospitalized. The numbers are most likely going to change every day.

Food Poisoning Bulletin

Harris Teeter is recalling frozen mixed berries that may be contaminated with hepatitis A. The Matthews, NC-based grocery chain said Tuesday that it is removing  Harris Teeter Organics Antioxidant Berry Blend from its stores out of an abundance of caution because its berry supplier is Townsend Farms Inc. which has been associated with an outbreak of hepatitis A that has sickened 37 people in six states. That product contained mixed berrie and pomegranate seeds.