FSnet Aug. 15/08 -- III

Irish meat plant linked to FINNISH salmonella cases

IRELAND: Dawn Farm Foods to carry out 'cleandown' at Co Kildare plant

US: Salmonella finds in Mexico lead to import alerts

WASHINGTON, DC: Salmonella outbreak winds down; questions remain

Chemical in cans, bottles called safe by U.S. staff

Many want a cut from the fat on bacon, but not the diners

ONTARIO: E. coli outbreak over

UK: Holidaymakers hit by stomach bug

ONTARIO: Schmidt joined by celebrity chefs at dinner in Durham

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Irish meat plant linked to FINNISH salmonella cases
15.aug.08
Herald.ie
Kevin Doyle
http://www.herald.ie/national-news/irish-meat-plant-linked-to-finnish-salmonella-cases-1456531.html
A salmonella outbreak in Finland is the latest to have a possible link to a meat plant in Co Kildare.
Countries across the EU have been put on high alert after the Nordic country became the third to confirm cases of salmonella agona.
At least 119 are now believed to have been infected by the bacteria, which may be caused by contaminated meat products made at a Dawn Farm Foods plant in Naas.
The latest details were revealed last night by the European Centre for Disease Control.
Its Eurosurveillance report shows that 110 cases of the infection with a similar strain of salmonella agona have been identified to date.
That figures is almost certain to rise to 119 as another nine cases await final analysis.
A child as young as three months is believed to be among the victims, as is a 79-year-old woman. The investigation found that the average age of those affected was 27.
The outbreak is believed to have claimed the life of a 77-year-old British woman who died from complications associated with salmonella.
The report by public health experts from Ireland, the UK and Sweden confirms 14 people across Europe have been hospitalised due to the outbreak. Four people in the Republic have required hospital treatment.
As a result a number of meat products including beef strips, chicken, lamb and pork which were on sale in at least eight European countries and to Kuwait have now been taken off the market.
Dawn Farm Foods voluntarily withdrew the food products after the genetic fingerprint of salmonella agona was linked to a particular production line at its Naas plant.



 
IRELAND: Dawn Farm Foods to carry out 'cleandown' at Co Kildare plant
15.aug.08
The Irish Times
Eanna O Caolla
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0815/breaking320.htm
Dawn Farm Foods, the company at the centre of an investigation into a food poisoning outbreak, has confirmed that it is temporarily close its plant in Co Kildare to carry out what it described as "a pharmaceutical-grade cleandown".
It emerged last week that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) was investigating Dawn Farm Foods as part of an inquiry into a salmonella outbreak in Ireland and in the UK.
FSAI officials said this week that potentially contaminated beef may have been supplied to sandwich outlet Subway, which has stores throughout Ireland and the UK.
Subway subsequently withdrew any potentially contaminated products.
A statement released this evening by Dawn Farm Foods said it was taking a number of steps "to protect consumer health and maintain customer confidence."
The company has retained the services of a specialist bio-activation technology company to carry out the cleaning process at the Kildare plant.
In addition, Dawn said it has also retained the services of another international company "to recalibrate all thermal processing equipment."
The company emphasised that the link with Dawn Farm Foods focussed on one production line which it closed on notification from the authorities of a possible link.



 
US: Salmonella finds in Mexico lead to import alerts
15.aug.08
ThePacker.com
David Mitchell
http://thepacker.com/icms/_dtaa2/content/wrapper.asp?alink=2008-123131-718.asp&stype=topstory&fb=
More than a dozen Mexican produce companies have been put on import alert by the Food and Drug Administration since July 11 due to positive tests for salmonella.
According to the FDA Web site, 12 companies have been placed on import alert due to positive tests on hot peppers, while four companies have been put on alert because of positive tests on basil. One company is on import alert for positive tests on cilantro.
The positive tests included several types of salmonella, including at least two of the Salmonella Saintpaul strain that has led to more than 1,400 reported illnesses in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and Canada.
Public health officials initially linked the outbreak to tomatoes in late May, but FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in early July that they were expanding their investigation to include other items found in fresh salsa.
FDA stepped up its sampling of tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, serrano peppers, basil and cilantro soon after.
"The vast majority of product tested was negative for salmonella, but there were scattered positives for other types in both domestic and imported product," said FDA spokesman Sebastian Cianci on Aug. 14.
Cianci said it was not unexpected to see a spike in positive tests during a period of increased sampling.
The most recent import alert is from Aug. 12.
It was unclear how many domestic companies have had positive tests. Cianci said FDA and state health agencies have been working with U.S. companies to ensure that affected domestic product is withdrawn from the supply chain.
FDA has had positive tests for Salmonella Saintpaul from at least three locations.
Cianci said samples of irrigation water and serrano peppers taken from grower Horticultores Unidos, Tamaulipas, Mexico, tested positive.
A tainted jalapeño sampled in a McAllen, Texas, warehouse was traced to Campo Blanco SA De CV, Tamaulipas. However, Cianci said it's unclear where that product was contaminated.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported a jalapeño pepper, which was purchased at a Wal-Mart store and provided to public health officials by an ill consumer from Montezuma County, also tested positive for Salmonella Saintpaul.
Cianci said traceback in the Colorado case has not been completed.



 
WASHINGTON, DC: Salmonella outbreak winds down; questions remain
15.aug.08
Associated Press
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jFyDyMJjsAW0XxBNGpIldKhhToOgD92ITCNG0
WASHINGTON -- The nationwide salmonella outbreak is finally winding down but federal health officials can't yet say how the few tainted Mexican peppers they've found could explain such widespread illness.
The outbreak isn't considered over yet, Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson cautioned Friday. The outbreak strain has been confirmed in 1,423 patients, with the latest known illness beginning July 24.
The FDA is focusing its probe on some farms in Mexico where a handful of jalapeno and serrano peppers, and some irrigation water, tainted with the outbreak strain of salmonella were traced. At least one of the farms also grew tomatoes — the initial suspect — as well as peppers. And two of them sent produce to a common packing facility, raising the prospect that contamination there could have spread to a much higher volume of food.



 
Chemical in cans, bottles called safe by U.S. staff
15.aug.08
Bloomberg.com/AP
John Taddei
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=akW9KN2BZ_e0&refer=home
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-08-15-bisphenol-A-fda_N.htm?csp=34
WASHINGTON -- Despite ongoing safety concerns from parents, consumer groups and politicians, a chemical used in baby bottles, canned food and other items is not dangerous, U.S. federal regulators said Friday.
The Food and Drug Administration ``has concluded that an adequate margin of safety exists'' for the chemical, bisphenol A, when used in products coming into contact with food, agency staff said in a draft report dated yesterday and available on the FDA's Web site.
While the FDA has approved bisphenol A as safe for people, a report in April from the U.S. National Toxicology Program said animal studies suggested its use may pose a cancer risk and lead to early or delayed puberty. The FDA said that study lacked sufficient information on different exposure levels to warrant changing current safety recommendations.
``The utility or relevance of a portion of the current body of data on bisphenol A to human safety assessment for food contact substances has not been established,'' the draft said.
The FDA assessment recommended more detailed testing, specifically in adult, pregnant and newborn monkeys, to look for effects on nervous system development and behavior.
The FDA's draft report was greeted with enthusiasm by the American Chemistry Council, which has defended the chemical's safety.
"FDA is the government agency we rely upon to assess food-contact products. They've assessed this issue in great detail and their conclusion is very reassuring," said Steve Henges, an executive director with the council.
But environmental groups were quick to criticize the agency's conclusions, which they said relied on industry-funded studies.
"It's ironic FDA would choose to ignore dozens of studies funded by (the National Institutes of Health) — this country's best scientists — and instead rely on flawed studies from industry," said Pete Myers, chief scientist for Environmental Health Sciences.
The FDA released its preliminary re-evaluation ahead of a September meeting where outside advisers will debate the chemical's safety.
Canada has announced its intention to ban the use of the chemical in baby bottles, and U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation to ban bisphenol in children's products.
California, New Jersey and at least 10 other states also are considering bills to restrict use of the chemical.



 
Many want a cut from the fat on bacon, but not the diners
15.aug.08
Sydney Morning Herald
John Garnaut
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/many-want-a-cut-from-the-fat-on-bacon-but-not-the-diners/2008/08/15/1218307227998.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
On August 1 a rising star of the Chinese bureaucracy, Wu Jianping, received the door knock every powerful and rich Chinese official most fears.
It was the Communist Party's Discipline & Inspection Commission, asking if the food safety chief could reconcile his meagre official salary with his portfolio of Beijing properties and bank accounts containing more than 1 million yuan (almost $170,000).
The following day, Wu's body was found at the bottom of a Beijing high rise. Caijing magazine said it was suicide. A spokesman from Wu's department claimed it was "an accident".
His death shines new light on the contradictions between China's hugely profitable market economy, its aspirations for the rule of law and its age-old habits of nepotism and absolute administrative power. It also raises a delicate predicament for those in the top leadership who want reform: can they root out corruption in the Communist Party without killing the tree?
When 43-year-old Wu fell to his death, his food safety division of the China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine was responsible for ensuring the Beijing Olympics was not mired by scandals about contaminated food. His world of Olympic food safety is a neat microcosm of the problems besetting the quality-inspection administration and the broader Chinese bureaucracy.
From last month, hundreds and possibly thousands of top chefs across Beijing were forbidden from using any of the food suppliers they had previously relied upon. Chefs and hoteliers, many of whom had never had a food quality problem and had spent years testing their preferred suppliers, were suddenly ordered to buy their fresh and processed foods exclusively from a Government-approved list of 64 suppliers.
"The bacon from the designated bacon supplier was so fatty that you had to burn it black to make it edible," says an executive chef at one of Beijing's 46 five-star hotels. "And it was nearly twice the price."
The eggs were undersized, the milk (from an Olympic sponsor) was said to be tasteless and the price of red chilli was 1200 per cent above the outside market price. Orders had to be made a month in advance because the official suppliers had no capacity.
Beijing's finest restaurants have since scrambled to adjust their menus and raise their prices.
The motives for the draconian food safety rules may have been pure and the rules have achieved the narrowly defined objective. There have been no food scandals at these Olympics.
In recent weeks the rules have been relaxed after a barrage of complaints by state-owned luxury hotels such as the famous Beijing Hotel.
But the relief has come too late for some. One of Beijing's finest hotels was fined 200,000 yuan for placing unauthorised noodles as a decoration on a table display.
Zhang Xianfeng, a Beijing lawyer involved in competition cases, said government agencies had no legal right to "play the role of a promoting salesman for its chosen companies".
He said playing corporate favourites brought the risk of corruption and also hurt competing companies, consumers and "eventually it harms the Government itself".



 
ONTARIO: E. coli outbreak over
15.aug.08
Guelph Mercury
Lisa Varano
http://news.guelphmercury.com/article/367872
The E. coli outbreak at the University of Guelph is now over, but a ninth case of infection has just been confirmed.
The contamination occurred during the week of July 20 in a kitchen at the U of G.
The public health unit waited through two incubation periods, the amount of time it takes for symptoms to develop after exposure to E. coli, and found no new cases of the infection.
However, past cases could still be confirmed when the health unit receives more test results from people with E. coli symptoms.
The health unit also tested food samples from the U of G kitchen for E. coli. The samples have tested negative so far, but some test results have yet to come in.
Food from the contaminated kitchen was distributed to eateries on campus and then eaten by the people who became infected.
Dr. Nicola Mercer, the health unit's acting medical officer of health, said she did not have information about their condition.
Lori Bona Hunt, a spokesperson for U of G, also did not have that information.



 
UK: Holidaymakers hit by stomach bug
15.aug.08
The Press Association
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIMgoEimfieySQk6Z4APWXCo3rwA
Holidaymakers in a picturesque coastal village have been struck down by a bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea, the local council has said.
The illness, thought to be the norovirus, has affected about 50 people in Mawgan Porth, Cornwall.
The source of the outbreak is unknown and the situation is being monitored by the Health Protection Unit.
The Environment Agency confirmed it was testing river water for signs of pollution.
Geoff Fish, from Restormel Borough Council, said: "It's not unusual to see common infections like norovirus spread quickly in groups of people and local communities.
"The main thing with this illness is to make sure you drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration.
"We will continue to monitor the situation and we hope the incident will subside over the next few days."



 
ONTARIO: Schmidt joined by celebrity chefs at dinner in Durham
15.aug.08
The Post
Osprey News Service
http://www.thepost.on.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1157830
A slow food dinner, prepared and served by a handful of celebrity chefs at Michael Schmidt's farm on Sunday, was held to raise money for his raw milk legal defence fund.
The two-hour, $75-a-plate meal was part of a day-long event billed as, "A Celebration of Raw Milk: In Defence of Choice," that included an open house and tour of Glencolton Farm, northeast of Durham, a screening of the documentary, "Michael Schmidt -Organic Hero or Bioterrorist?" followed by a discussion with the film's producer Norman Lofts and Schmidt.
Later on there was music by jazz-performer Siobhan Duffy and John Ebata on piano, and a dance performance by Barbara Glazar.
Organizers said about $7,700 was raised through the sale of dinner tickets and another $1,800 through donations.\
Toronto chef Jamie Kennedy, who prepared a dessert that included ice cream made from milk from Schmidt's cows, has long been a supporter of legalizing the sale of raw milk.
He said in an interview there have been many advances in technology since the pasteurization of milk became mandatory in Ontario in 1934, which makes raw milk as safe as any other product.
"Another issue for me is one of choice. People should be given a choice whether they want to purchase raw milk products or pasteurized products," said Kennedy, who added taste plays a part in his support too.
 


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