FSNET APRIL 16, 2003 -- II
USDA finds less salmonella tainted meat in 2002
Shigellosis - USA (Texas)
California cracks down on hazardous gulf coast oysters:
emergency order
praised by CSPI
Journal of Food Protection launches online manuscript
submission system
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USDA FINDS LESS SALMONELLA TAINTED MEAT IN 2002
April 16, 2003
Reuters
WASHINGTON - An annual government report was cited as saying on Wednesday
the U.S. federal inspectors last year found salmonella in about 2.6 percent
of ground beef products, down from 2.8 percent the previous year.
USDA was further cited as saying that year-to-year declines were also found
in ground turkey, broilers, cattle and hogs. The only increase was in ground
chicken.
USDA Undersecretary Elsa Murano was quoted as saying, "These data tell us
that we are making steady and sustained progress in reducing the incidence
of salmonella in raw meat and poultry products."
Separately, the department said it planned to regularly publish test results
for salmonella at U.S. meat plants. USDA said this would help alert
companies more quickly of a potential food safety problem at their plant.
SHIGELLOSIS - USA (TEXAS)
April 15, 2003
ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
Michelle Hayes
Local Shigella Outbreak Has Local Health Officials Worried. A highly
contagious disease, shigellosis, is sweeping through several area
communities.
Shigellosis is a communicable disease which causes severe diarrhea. It is
caused by the bacteria _Shigella_ and is spread from one infected person to
the next by hand-to-mouth contact [a more polite way of referring to
fecal-oral transmission - Mod.LL].
On the South Plains of Texas, the disease is having a big impact on 3
communities: Lubbock, Levelland, and Brownfield. Most cases of shigellosis
occur among toddlers who are not fully toilet-trained. The children at All
God's Children Learning Center in Lubbock are learning a very important life
lesson early.
"We wash their hands before everything," says the day care's director,
Gloria Wellington. "After coming from home and before every activity
the
first order of business is to wash hands."
It is an order of business which could prevent them from contracting
shigellosis.
"Children may not observe proper hygiene after going to the bathroom and
children put their hands in their mouths or in other children's mouths,"
says Ken Condon, a Disease Investigator for the City of Lubbock Health
Department. Condon says shigellosis has become and epidemic in the city
and
that it's "keeping us very, very busy."
Right now, the Lubbock City Health Department is investigating 48 cases of
shigellosis and that's more than double the number of cases they tracked
last month.
Condon says _Shigella_ is "very highly contagious, it takes as little as 10
bacteria to transmit the bacteria from person to person and that's why we
are so eager to inform people to properly wash hands often using the
bathroom or before preparing foods."
And for the little ones at All God's Children Learning Center, washing their
hands is something they enjoy.
"Our teachers model what we teach to the kids. We have a song that we
sing
just to reinforce in their little minds that every time you hear this song,
you need to wash your hands," says Wellington. Without medical
treatment,
it takes about 24 to 48 hours for shigella to exit your system. But
officials say, even if you no longer have symptoms, you are still contagious
for sometime afterward.
CALIFORNIA CRACKS DOWN ON HAZARDOUS GULF COAST OYSTERS:
EMERGENCY ORDER
PRAISED BY CSPI
April 15, 2003
CSPI Press Release
http://www.cspinet.org/new/200304151.html
California public health officials today banned the sale of raw oysters
harvested in warm months from the Gulf of Mexico because of concerns about
bacterial contamination. That move won praise today from the nonprofit
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which for years has called
on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require such oysters to be
processed to eradicate the dangerous Vibrio vulnificus bacteria.
"California officials have done what the FDA should have done long
ago,"
said CSPI food safety director Caroline Smith DeWaal. "Because the FDA has
abdicated its responsibility, each year dozens of consumers are hospitalized
and half of those die from eating raw Gulf Coast oysters." Todayıs
emergency
order--which goes into effect immediately--prevents California retailers,
distributors, and wholesalers from accepting raw Gulf Coast oysters
harvested during April through October unless the oysters have been
processed to eliminate Vibrio. Enforcement of the order will be phased in
between today and May 1.
Virtually all such shellfish carry the bacteria, which is particularly
deadly for Americans who have an underlying health condition such as liver
disease, diabetes, AIDS, or other immune deficiencies. Half of the victims
who develop a blood infection from V. vulnificus will die from it, making it
one of the deadliest types of food poisoning. "The FDA should not
continue
to stand on the sidelines while states act on their own," said CSPI senior
food safety attorney Charlotte Christin, who coordinates CSPIıs Serving
Safer Shellfish (SSS) campaign. "Until the FDA acts, retailers around the
country should not serve or sell unprocessed Gulf Coast shellfish meant to
be eaten raw." Restaurants, retailers, and wholesalers who are SSS members
have pledged to serve or sell their customers only raw shellfish harvested
from cold waters or processed Gulf Coast shellfish. Today's action is the
second in recent months in which California officials have adopted seafood
safety stances tougher than the federal government's. California Attorney
General Bill Lockyer has recently filed lawsuits to require chain
restaurants and retailers to warn consumers about seafood known to have high
levels of mercury.
JOURNAL OF FOOD PROTECTION LAUNCHES ONLINE MANUSCRIPT
SUBMISSION SYSTEM
April 16, 2003
Journal of Food Protection
www.foodprotection.org
Des Moines, Iowa - The International Association for Food Protection and the
Journal of Food Protection (JFP) recently launched an Online Manuscript
Submission system. Electronic submission will speed the handling of
manuscripts through the submission and review process. JFP encourages online
submission of new manuscripts at www.foodprotection.org.
Authors can submit new manuscripts online by entering all contact and
manuscript information, attach a PDF, Word or Word Perfect file, and upload
the manuscript. Once submitted to IAFP, the manuscript will be processed
within 72 hours and sent out for peer review. Authors who do not have
Internet access may continue to submit their manuscripts via mail. The
Online Manuscript Submission System can be used from any computer, any
operating system, anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. There
are no programs to be downloaded.
About the Journal of Food Protection
First published in 1937, the Journal of Food Protection is a refereed
monthly publication. Each issue contains scientific research and
authoritative review articles reporting on a variety of topics in food
science pertaining to food safety and quality. The Journal is
internationally recognized as the leading publication in the field of food
microbiology with a readership exceeding 11,000 scientists from 69
countries. The Journal of Food Protection is indexed in Index Medicus,
Current Contents, BIOSIS, PubMed, Medline and many others.
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