US hit by two fish recalls

The US has been hit by two separate fish recalls linked to Clostridium botulinum and Listeria monocytogenes in the space of a week 

True Taste is recalling hot smoked vacuum packaged Rainbow Trout, Whitefish, Herring, Mackerel, Salmon Steak and Cold Smoked varieties Mackerel and Whitefish because they could be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum.
Ocean’s Beauty Seafoods is recalling Nathan’s Brand Cold Smoked Atlantic Salmon 3 oz and LASCCO Cold Smoked Atlantic Salmon 4 oz.

Botulism in True Taste fish

True Taste of Kenosha, Wisconsin, issued a market withdrawal on 18 December and it affects products with production dates beginning on 1 January 2012 to the current date.
Potential for contamination was identified after routine samples collected by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection found that the product did not meet the 3.5% minimum requirement for water phase salt.
Sample analysis reported water phase salt concentrations of 2.2% (hot smoked white fish); 3% (hot smoked herring); and 3.4% (hot smoked rainbow trout).
The recalled product is vacuum packaged and can be identified with either the True Taste Label in California and Illinois or the Lowell Foods Label in Illinois.
It has a white sticker applied to the package with the first set of numbers representing the date of processing and the second set of numbers representing the best if used by date.
No illnesses have been reported as yet but Botulism is a potentially fatal form of food poisoning.

Nathan’s brand linked to listeria

Ocean Beauty Seafoods is recalling 371 cases of ready-to-eat cold smoked salmon products because of possible contamination by Listeria monocytogenes.
The recalled products, made in Chile, were distributed to retailers from 20 November to 12 December.
The potential for contamination was noted after internal testing by the company revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in samples.
No other Ocean Beauty products are included and there have been no complaints or illnesses reported.
Lascco 4 oz Nova Salmon with the UPC 072840017517 involves 96 cases of fish and Nathan’s 3oz Nova Salmon 073030803682 involves 275 cases.

Fuente: http://www.foodqualitynews.com

Amish Wisconsin Raw Milk Trial due to Campylobacter jejuni contamination

The public needs to be educated about the dangers of raw milk

16 people, including at least 9 children, were sickened by raw milk contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni served at a 4th grade school event in Wisconsin. The same strain of Campylobacter was found by health officials in unpasteurized milk (raw milk) produced at a local farm, according to officials from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Western Racine County Health Department.

A parent served raw milk from the farm at the school event. This highlights one of the problems with raw milk: most people do not know that raw milk is a dangerous product that can cause serious injury and death. A man, who drank raw milk contaminated with Campylobacter, developed a serious neurological case of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and is now paralyzed. He can’t even breathe on his own. 

The public needs to be educated about the dangers of raw milk.  Unfortunately some raw milk advocates comment that raw milk is safe while health officials point to raw milk as the source of the outbreak. The evidence proves the former are wrong.

In the meantime stool samples submitted to the WRCHD by ill students and adults were sent to the State Laboratory of Hygiene where they tested positive for the pathogen Campylobacter jejuni.  Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) food inspectors collected milk samples from the bulk tank at the farm, all tested positive for Campylobacter jejuni.

Further testing by the State Hygiene lab showed the pathogenic strain isolated from the stool samples and the milk samples matched. Additionally, interviews with event attendees revealed that consuming the unpasteurized milk was statistically associated with illness. Health officials said that this combination of laboratory and epidemiologic evidence indicates that the illnesses were caused by the unpasteurized milk consumed at the school event.

The defendant in a long-awaited trial for raw milk violations in Wisconsin has won a further delay of the proceedings. Vernon Hershberger, the raw milk producer charged with four misdemeanors related to the sale of unpasteurized milk, was set to face trial Jan. 7.

The Sauk County court has to sort out religious-based objections that were raised in briefs filed in his defense because of his religious beliefs, the raw milk dairy farmer says he was raised Amish and still maintains many of those beliefs. The raw milk producer faces charges of distributing milk from a dairy farm with a milk producer’s license, operating a retail food establishment without a license, operating a dairy plant without a license and selling raw milk.

Source: FoodSafetyNews

Rapid tests are less effective in identifying foodborne illness sources

Fingerprinting by PulseNet system is the big difference

New tests that detect common foodborne pathogens more rapidly are less likely to trace contamination to the source, since they provide less specific information than older, slower tests, say public health officials.

As a consequence, sources of foodborne illnesses outbreaks will not be identified as quickly, state epidemiologists told the Scientific American in a report published Monday.

New diagnostic tests for foodborne illnesses caused by Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli have allowed public health officials to drop traditional laboratory testing of blood and stool samples.

The old, slower lab tests, however, were based on a cultured specimen that revealed a pathogen’s DNA “fingerprint,” which could be shared on the national PulseNet system and matched with other cases, often resulting in the source of the contamination being identified.

Timothy F. Jones, Tennessee’s state epidemiologist, told Scientific American that while rapid tests can detect whole classes of Shiga-toxin producing bacteria, and additional bacteria that in the past would have been missed, it won’t produce the DNA fingerprinting needed to by PulseNet in order to identify it as a match with a contaminated food.

Jones says that part is setting public health back to the day before it had the ability to do DNA fingerprinting. It means outbreaks will be underway longer before they are connected to a specific source, meaning more people will experience foodborne illness.

Infectious disease experts say the adoption of the new fast tests by doctors and hospitals mean public health officials will have to find new ways to monitor and track outbreaks.

Source: Scientific American

FSA warns Sunland US Salmonella Bredeney outbreak could reach UK

CDC said 41 people had been infected from 20 states with 63% percent of ill people being children.

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has warned consumers not to eat certain peanut butter based products imported from the US due to the ongoing salmonella outbreak traced to manufacturer Sunland.

An outbreak of the Salmonella Bredeney strain in the US has been linked to peanut butter produced by peanut butter producer, Sunland Inc. Because the product recall has widened, US authorities have now alerted the European Commission to possible distribution of affected products in member states, including the UK.

The Health Protection Agency was not aware of any cases of illness in the UK that may be associated with the outbreak as of yesterday. It is not thought that these products are on sale in the major supermarkets in the UK, but they may have been bought on the internet or from specialist shops that import American food products, said the FSA.

A total of 38 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bredeney have been reported from 20 states. Three new cases have been reported from two states since the last update on October 5, 2012: California (2) and New Mexico (1).

Among persons for whom information is available, illness onset dates range from June 14, 2012 to September 21, 2012. Ill persons range in age from less than 1 year to 79 years, with a median age of 7 years. Sixty-six percent of ill persons are children under the age of 10 years. Sixty-two percent of ill persons are male. Among 35 persons with available information, 10 (29%) patients reported being hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Illnesses that occurred after September 13, 2012 might not be reported yet due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said 41 people had been infected with the Salmonella strain from 20 states with 63% percent of ill people being children under the age of 10 years, in its latest update.

Liz McNulty, from the FSA’s incidents team, said: “Investigations are ongoing, but as we get more information from the US and local authorities in the UK we will be able to narrow down the list products to just those we know have been sold in the UK.

“If consumers have a product made by Sunland Inc. they should check the batch code against the list on US FDA site provided at the link top right. If the product is on the list it should not be eaten and returned to where it was bought.”

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/bredeney-09-12/index.html

Ohio City reports 770 cases of bacterial illness caused by Shigella spp.

The source of infection remains unknown 

Health officials in Columbus, Ohio’s say they’re investigating more than 770 cases of a bacterial illness that primarily affects young children, and they’re urging parents to take precautions to help stop the outbreak.

Columbus officials say they haven’t seen such a large number of Shigella ssp. cases in the past decade. The health commissioner says many of the cases are linked to childcare centers and locations where young children are in close contact.

Shigella ssp. is a virulent human enterobacterial pathogen that causes an intestinal infection characterized by intestinal pain, bloody diarrhea and dehydration. It is transmitted through human waste and can be spread if care isn’t taken when changing diapers and cleaning up after bathroom breaks.

Officials are urging increased hand-washing among children and caregivers and telling parents to keep sick kids home from day care. Up to this moment the source of infection is unknown.

Source: http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/ohio-city-reports-770-cases-of-bacterial-illness-1.350423

Investigation: USDA Quietly Eliminated 60 Percent of Foreign Meat Inspections

Agency also lacks foreign audit transparency

Sending U.S. Department of Agriculture officials overseas to inspect meat and poultry plants whose products are destined for American consumers has long been a bedrock of our modern import safety system, but an investigation by Food Safety News found, the number of countries audited by U.S. officials each year has declined by more than 60 percent since 2008.

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has also become less transparent. The agency has failed to make audit reports public in a timely fashion and only revealed which countries have been audited in the past two years this week following multiple inquiries by Food Safety News and a blog post by former Under
Secretary for Food Safety Richard Raymond questioning the lack of online records.
With an increasingly global food system – around 17 percent of the U.S. food supply is now imported – U.S. consumers are directly impacted by food safety practices and regulatory systems abroad.
Just last month, a massive E. coli O157:H7 beef recall from XL Foods in Alberta, Canada, affected 2.5 million pounds of beef that had been shipped to U.S. meat processors and grocery chains. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are no known illnesses linked to XL Foods in the United States, but at least 16 Canadians have fallen ill.

The XL Foods recall, the largest in Canadian history, might never have happened if FSIS border inspectors in Sweetgrass, Montana hadn’t found E. coli O157:H7 in multiple samples of the imported beef and raised the issue with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Food safety advocates say the incident highlights the importance of a strong border inspection system, but also raises critical questions about whether FSIS has taken a more hands-off approach in regulating foreign countries sending meat and poultry products to the U.S.

Canadian media reported this month that FSIS was preparing to audit the Canadian meat safety system. The audit had been planned and was not prompted by the XL Foods recall, according to both CFIA and FSIS officials, but the reports noted that FSIS had not audited Canada, a major meat trading partner, since 2009.
Food safety experts and consumer advocates have started wondering: Why aren’t these food safety check-ups happening annually like they used to? Some worry that budgetary pressures are forcing a reduction in the number of audits, or worse, that the reductions are part of an effort to liberalize trade at the expense of public health.
Source: FoodSafetyNews

Programa europeo promueve énfasis renovado en investigación y desarrollo

El Programa apunta a ahondar en métodos que permitan combatir los riesgos generados por patógenos.

La Plataforma Tecnológica Europea “Food for Life” (“Alimentos para la Vida”) lanzó su nueva Agenda Estratégica de Investigación y Desarrollo, que pone el foco en mejorar los estándares de inocuidad alimentaria.

El programa de la ETP “Alimentos para la Vida” fue lanzado en 2005 bajo la administración de FoodDrinkEurope, una alianza público-privada liderada por la industria con el fin de impulsar la innovación en la industria.

La primera agenda de investigación fue puesta en marcha en 2007, pero sus prioridades fueron actualizadas en línea con las Iniciativas Centrales hacia 2020 de la Unión Europea (UE) y la nueva Unión para la Innovación.

El reporte establece cuatro áreas focales para la Investigación y Desarrollo (I+D): riesgos y desafíos microbiológicos; riesgos químicos, incluyendo toxinas de origen biológico; análisis de riesgos robustos y efectivos desde el punto de vista de los costos, y herramientas de detección de seguridad alimentaria que sean rápidas y que actúen en tiempo real.

El Programa apunta a ahondar en métodos que permitan combatir los riesgos generados por microorganismos que mutan, de manera de cumplir adecuadamente con las regulaciones globales de seguridad alimentaria.

Los microorganismos son blancos móviles. Nuevas variantes emergen por mutación y adaptación, y algunos de ellos largamente olvidados muchas veces re-emergen”, afirma el reporte. La interacción en los ecosistemas es compleja, gran número de lagunas en el conocimiento de estos problemas deberán merecer atención dentro de la próxima década”, advierte el análisis.

Fuente: Indualimentos

Neogen pathogen DNA confirmation method receives letter of no objection

Neogen Corporation has announced it has received a letter of no objection for its pathogen DNA confirmation method which produces results in 24 hours 

The NeoSEEK method received a letter of no objection from the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to detect Shiga toxin-producing strains of E.coli (STECs). 

Confirmation method 

The letter of no objection allows the use of the NeoSEEK STEC system as a confirmatory method for six STEC serogroups (O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145). 

The confirmation method is different than the USDA approval given to detection methods from firms such as DuPont Qualicon and BioControl Systems. 

The system is comparable to the USDA reference method, FSIS MLG 5B.02, which can take three or more days to achieve a confirmatory result, while Neogen claim their method provides results within 24 hours.I 

t assays a number of independent genetic markers to detect and identify pathogens, which provides actionable results quicker than conventional cultural methods. 

NeoSEEK provides confirmatory results from the enrichment broth, eliminating the need for single colony isolation and allowing for accuracy while delivering quicker confirmatory results. 

The letter allows companies to use the system to comply with the USDA’s regulation that requires the testing of raw beef trim for six new STEC serogroups as well as 0157:H7. 

Customer assurance 

"The letter from the USDA provides further assurance to our customers that our NeoSEEK system performs as designed,” said James Herbert, Neogen’s chairman and CEO. 

“As worldwide food regulation has evolved to address newly identified threats to our global food supply, such as STECs, Neogen’s test systems have evolved to rapidly and accurately detect those threats. 

“NeoSEEK provides the DNA-definitive test the food industry needs that has been proven to be comparable to the older reference method, yet provides much quicker results.” 

Neogen received the USDA’s letter of no objection as a result of studies validating the effectiveness of the system.

The technology uses mass spectrometry-based multiplexing to determine the genetic composition of bacteria in a food sample, and then compares those results with the known genetic makeup of the target E.coli strains to identify and differentiate the target strains. 

The FSIS announced in June that it would start testing for the six non-0157 strains of Shiga toxin-producing E.coli (STEC) in raw beef manufacturing trimmings.

Fuente: FoodQualityNews 

Vegetables products have been voted as the most likely driver of an increase in foodborne illness outbreaks, according to a Nordic survey

Imports were identified as the most likely critical points of pathogen proliferation

A group of food safety experts were identified from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and asked about their perceptions for foodborne outbreaks over the next decade. The likely cause of a foodborne outbreak was vegetables and vegetable products, followed by herbs, spices and condiments, fish and other seafood, meat and meat products and fruit and fruit products.

Alcoholic beverages and sugar and confectionery were voted as unlikely sources for foodborne outbreaks. Swedish respondents more often selected herbs and spices as likely vehicles of foodborne transmission, perhaps due to recent experience of the severe EHEC outbreak in Germany and France, said the study.

Finnish respondents selected fish as a likely vehicle, perhaps due a larger share of imported fish products, added the authors.

Critical point in the chain. Imports were identified as the most likely critical points of agent proliferation generating an increase in outbreaks, closely followed by food service with food transport the most unlikely point. Increased import of foreign food and consumption of raw food scored highly as the likely drivers of foodborne outbreaks.

The survey looked at addressing the issue of potential changes in future outbreaks of human foodborne and waterborne diseases relating to 2011-2020, compared with the previous decade. 61 respondents voted that it was unlikely that the number of outbreaks will decrease by at least 10%. Almost 50% thought that it was likely that there would be increasing exposure to known foodborne disease agents, while the emergence of new foodborne disease agents or new variants of known agents was cited as a concern.

Survey participation. The survey involved Livsmedelsverket (National Food Agency), Sweden, Mattilsynet (Norwegian Food Safety Authority), Evira (Finnish Food Safety Authority) and DTU Fødevareinstituttet (National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark. It was conducted online from December 2011 to May 2012 with 110 respondents.

The 19 questions covered beliefs about outbreak trends, characteristics of a potential positive trend, the drivers of such a potentially increasing number of outbreaks, and background questions on nationality, education and professional experience of risk management, assessment and communication.

Source: Food Quality News

Salmonella in Smoked Salmon Sickens Nearly 1,000 in Netherlands

No U.S. illnesses tied to the fish, say health officials

At least 950 people in the Netherlands are now known to have fallen ill in a Salmonella Thompson outbreak linked to salmon. Three elderly victims have died.

The outbreak was first reported October 1 after more than 200 Salmonella illnesses were linked to smoked salmon sold by Netherlands-based Foppen. Subsequent environmental testing revealed the presence of the outbreak strain of the bacteria in one of the company’s manufacturing plants in Greece.

Now the outbreak has grown to include almost 1,000 Dutch victims, three of whom have died, reported the Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) Thursday, according to MedicalXPress.

Meanwhile, health officials have identified a cluster of Salmonella Thompson infections in the U.S. The genetic fingerprint of this bacteria is indistinguishable from that of the strain causing the Dutch outbreak; however, patient interviews have revealed that Foppen smoked salmon was not a likely source of infection for these cases, according to Lola Russell, spokesperson for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We have the same PFGE (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) pattern that they have (in the Netherlands), but ours is not showing a connection to smoked salmon. We’ve been speaking to those people, but they do not report eating smoked salmon,” Russell told Food Safety News.

While the recalled Dutch smoked salmon was sold in the U.S. by Costco Wholesale, no illnesses have been linked to the product, says the Kirkland, WA-based company.

According to Craig Wilson, Director of Food Safety at Costco, consumers called the company to report illnesses after being notified of the recall. However, when asked Thursday via email whether any of these illnesses had been officially linked to consumption of Foppen smoked salmon, Wilson replied, “No. None at all.”

Costco recalled two smoked salmon products manufactured by Foppen in its October 1 recall: one sold under the Kirkland Signature brand and one sold under the Foppen brand. The Kirkland Signature-branded salmon has since been cleared, as it was manufactured at a different plant from the Greek one where the contamination was found. The recalled Foppen-branded product, which was manufactured at the implicated Greek plant, has been destroyed.

Fuente: FoodSafetyNews