FSnet Aug. 23/08
BARFBLOG:
Death toll from listeria in Canada climbs
CANADA: More
deaths confirmed: But medical officials say risk remains
'very small'
CANADA: Five
things: Food recalls
VIRGINIA: E.
coli investigation update
TEXAS: Lack
of Dallas pool inspections is making waves
CANADA: KAP
makes big strides in food safety initiatives
NEW ZEALAND:
Review of recent food survey reports conducted by ACT Health
Transcriptome
analysis of organisms with food safety relevance
Molecular
analysis of the microbial food safety implications of food
reformulations for improved health
how to
subscribe
BARFBLOG:
Death toll from listeria in Canada climbs
23.aug.08
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/listeria-1/death-toll-from-listeria-in-canada-climbs/index.html
Depending on what sources are cited, there are now four
confirmed deaths in Ontario and one in B.C. from the same
strain of listeria. Several more deaths are being
investigated, and the number of ill will continue to rise.
http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2008/08/23/6545861-sun.html
The spin that various social actors and politicians are
putting on this listeria outbreak is beyond gross – it’s set
a new low for unwarranted aggrandizing.
While preparing to do a live interview with CBC NewsWorld on
Thurs., the host introduced the program by saying that the
first case of listeria was in a 36-year-old pregnant woman
in late June. As a pregnant Amy looked on – she’s very
supportive of my media activities and viciously edits much
of my writing, and vice-versa – I tried not to go, WTF, as
the cameras were rolling.
http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/daily/today/cbc_newsworld/
So I’m baffled why various politicians and health types are
bragging about how well the system worked to identify this
outbreak.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Friday that it was
Ontario that "blew the whistle," stating,
"We've put in place a new system that allows us to detect an
outbreak and to see a pattern very early in the game. I'm
glad we got hold of it early and now we'll take serious
steps working with the feds to put it behind us."
http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2008/08/23/6545861-sun.html
Robert Clarke, the assistant deputy minister of the Public
Health Agency of Canada, said Friday that the government's
actions in this case were quite rapid and an illustration of
success.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080822.wrecall23/BNStory/National/
"The fact that it actually moved along, got investigated,
ended up at CFIA and others finding samples that were
positive in the food was actually quite fast in terms of how
these things could progress.”
Premier and PHAC dude, two months after the first case is
not an early warning system. And how about a little empathy
for the sick and dead?
On Friday, Michael McCain, president of Maple Leaf Foods,
published a full-page open letter in major Canadian
newspapers, stressing the steps the company has taken,
including a voluntary recall of 23 meat products.
In an internal e-mail to Maple Leaf employees Thursday
morning, McCain said,
“I'm sure most of you have read the newspapers and listened
to the TV or radio reports like I have. This isn't something
we should ever want to be in the news about, but we have no
reason to hang our heads - we're doing what is the right
thing to do in this situation…acting responsibly and with
extraordinary precaution.
“The headlines certainly suggest that our product are the
cause of the illness and single death reported. It is
important to note that:
• Listeria exists all around us in our environment, all the
time. 10% of us carry it on us (according to some reports),
and it exists in broad types of food in small percentages.
• Listeriosis, caused by Listeria Monocytogenes, occurs
regularly (some 60 cases per year in Canada), and is mostly
effecting the immune deficient (see previous descriptions),
and very sadly people do die from this who are susceptible
• All we know factually is this….we have had three small
samples of two items test positive for LM, and that Public
Health tell us there is an increase in listeriosis illness
all connected to a single DNA pattern, with one related
death. We DO NOT have factual linkage that these are related
to our product, although we could not say it is impossible,
given our own positive (albeit small sample) test result.
Again, there is no factual linkage we are aware of.
• That is why we took the dramatic action we did - recall
all the product (ALL - not just the products in question)
from these lines, and shut down the plant for a "deep
clean". These were precautionary measures, all made with the
most conservative view in mind - well beyond what the CFIA
was asking of us.
• The CFIA and Public Health are continuing their
investigation.
Of course the media will extend that, and we expected this.”
Did you expect that more people would die? Did you or do you
warn pregnant women about the risks associated with
consuming your products?
Also, the Globe and Mail reports in Saturday’s edition that
four days before Maple Leaf Foods Inc. warned the public
that two varieties of sliced meat may have been contaminated
with listeria, the company told its distributors to stop
shipping three different products and that federal health
authorities were investigating its Toronto plant.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080822.wrecall23/BNStory/National/home
“On Aug. 13, Maple Leaf sent a letter to its distributors
requesting that, as a precautionary measure, they stop
shipping the company's Sure Slice roast beef, corned beef
and Black Forest ham because the processing plant in Toronto
where the meat was produced was under investigation by the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
“On Aug. 17, Maple Leaf recalled its Sure Slice roast beef
and corned beef after the roast beef tested positive for
Listeria monocytogenes, a food-borne bacterium that can
cause serious illness in pregnant women and the elderly.
“Then on Aug. 20, after being informed that both the Sure
Slice roast beef and corned beef tested positive for
listeria in later tests, the company recalled more than 20
deli meats and shut down its Toronto plant for
sanitization.”
CFIA says they may have some DNA fingerprint results
Saturday (its not that hard, some kids figured out half the
high-scale fish in New York was bogus
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/science/22fish.html?_r=1&oref=slogin).
This outbreak is not an early warning system working, it’s a
mess. At some point, the politicians and bureaucrats may
realize that several people died and dozens are sick
unnecessarily. The advice to pregnant women in Canada
remains shamefully inadequate.
CANADA: More
deaths confirmed: But medical officials say risk remains
'very small'
23.aug.08
Ottawa Sun
Ian Robertson
http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2008/08/23/6545861-sun.html
TORONTO -- Lab tests have raised to four the death toll from
an outbreak of listeriosis, which has struck 17 people
across Canada, health officials said yesterday.
All those who died from the listeria bacteria were seniors
living in Ontario, Sun Media learned.
In addition to the first recorded death tied to the national
outbreak -- an elderly Hamilton woman -- officials said DNA
"fingerprinting" tests at laboratories showed a second
senior died in Waterloo of that type of listeria, a third in
St. Catharines and a fourth in the Bay of Quinte area.
No details about that Quinte area person's sex or age were
released, but Dr. Richard Schabas, Hastings-Prince Edward's
medical health officer, said officials "concluded" death was
from listeria.
"We are treating the problem very seriously, because it is a
serious infection," Schabas said, but emphasized "the risk
to the general public is very small.
"This is still a very rare infection," he said.
An investigation continues into other deaths in the province
to determine possible links to the outbreak, Ontario health
ministry spokesman Mark Nesbitt said.
"To the best of my knowledge, there wasn't any indication
about this facility having any problem whatsoever until we
started getting information from the public health network,"
said Robert Arsenault, acting director of the meat programs
division for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
"I have no information that leads me to believe there was
any problem."
Arsenault told reporters in Ottawa yesterday that the Maple
Leaf facility, like the other 250 plants in Canada that make
similar products, is laboratory tested three to four times a
year for listeria.
Robert Clarke, director of infectious diseases for the
Public Health Agency, said that despite the listeria
outbreak, Canadians should not worry about the safety of the
food in their grocery carts.
"We have great confidence in the food supply," said Clarke.
"We have a very good track record in Canada of safety in the
food system."
CANADA: Five
things: Food recalls
23.aug.08
Globe and Mail
Richard Blackwell
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080823.RFIVETHINGS23/TPStory/Business
1 Terrible Tins
Unfortunately for arctic explorer Sir John Franklin and his
crew, there were no food recalls back in the 1840s. Studies
of the frozen corpses of some of the 128-members of the
ill-fated Franklin expedition suggested that lead poisoning
contributed to their demise. Food canning was a new
technology at that time, and the lead likely came from the
solder used in the tins of soup, vegetables and meat carried
on the expedition's ships.
2 Long list
This month's scare is certainly not the first time the
listeria bacterium has been blamed for tainting food and
killing innocent victims. In 1981, 41 cases of listeriosis
were reported in Nova Scotia, where it caused miscarriages,
stillbirths and infant deaths. The culprit was identified as
cabbage grown in contaminated sheep manure. In 1985, Mexican
cheese was recalled after listeria killed 69 people across
the U.S. And in 1998 the bacteria was found in tinned
lobster from Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. In
1990, J.M. Schneider Inc. - now owned by Maple Leaf Foods -
recalled 20,000 pounds of hot dogs suspected of listeria
contamination.
3 Heavy Costs
Food recalls can be financially disastrous. Maple Leaf Foods
says the cost of recalling its meat products and temporarily
shutting down one of its Toronto plants could reach
$4-million. Sara Lee Corp., which recalled 15 million pounds
of hot dogs and deli meats in 1998 after the food was linked
to a listeriosis outbreak, took a $76-million charge.
4 A positive?
Despite the steep costs, it is possible for a company to
turn a recall nightmare into something mildly positive. New
Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson managed this feat in 1982
after seven people in the Chicago area died from taking
cyanide-laced Extra Strength Tylenol capsules. The company
yanked 31 million bottles of the painkiller, and was open
with the public and media. It also introduced more secure
packaging, and managed to regain most of its market share
within a year.
5 Turkey Threat
One of the oddest - and recurring - food recalls involves
turkeys in Vancouver. At Christmas in 1994, animal rights
groups threatened to poison turkeys to avenge the "murder"
of the birds. Supermarkets were forced to take tens of
thousands of turkeys off their shelves, and they did it
again after more threats before Thanksgiving 1996. No poison
was ever found. To head off another round, the B.C. Turkey
board mounted a "safe-turkey campaign" at Christmas 1996,
posting 200 plain-clothes guards at meat counters to prevent
any tamper of the birds. When there was another threat at
Christmas 2003, the grocery industry put up a $100,000
reward for information leading to the arrest of those
involved in the hoax.
VIRGINIA: E.
coli investigation update
22.aug.08
WSLS 10
Karen McNew
http://www.wsls.com/sls/lifestyles/health_med_fit/article/e_coli_investigation_update/16057/
The health department continues to investigate the E. coli
outbreak at a boy scout camp in Goshen.
Officials stopped taking surveys about illness from staff
and campers on Monday August 18th.
The latest number of people from the camp who said they got
sick is up to 85 and 32 people have been lab confirmed with
E.-coli 0157.
Almost two weeks ago VDH announced that at least some of the
cases are related to a beef recall.
TEXAS: Lack
of Dallas pool inspections is making waves
23.aug.08
Dallas Morning News
Jessica Sidman and Ryan McNeill
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/healthscience/stories/082308dnmetdallaspools.43e2826.html
Most pools and spas in Dallas do not undergo an inspection
that could protect the public from at least some waterborne
diseases.
City inspectors have filed more than 190 inspection reports
since January. That means about 15 percent of Dallas' 1,300
commercially or city-operated pools and spas eligible for
inspection were examined for safety and water quality.
Those inspectors are not even required to inspect
stand-alone spray parks, which are growing in popularity and
could pose a significant risk.
City and state regulations do not address the operation or
sanitation of the water playgrounds.
Health experts say that inspections are key to public
safety.
"Running a pool is not just like showing up for work," said
Michael Beach, the associate director for healthy water at
the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"You're managing a chemical reactor that people get into."
CANADA: KAP
makes big strides in food safety initiatives
23.aug.08
Coastal Plains Herald Leader
Rob Swystun
http://www.cpheraldleader.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1169077
The province’s farmer lobby group has moved with lightning
speed over the past couple of weeks to act on a food safety
resolution passed last month by the organization’s members.
“We’ve done several things since our general council
meeting,” said Keystone Agricultural Producers president and
Central Plains-area farmer Ian Wishart.
Since the July 10 meeting in Brandon, KAP has wasted little
time setting up a meeting with Manitoba Agriculture, Food
and Rural Initiatives Minister Rosann Wowchuk for Sept. 15.
That meeting, Wishart explained, will see KAP
representatives and government representatives discuss
funding for food safety initiatives, which will likely come
from the Growing Forward Agreement, a five-year agreement
endorsed by the federal, provincial and territorial
governments earlier this month aimed at building a more
innovative and profitable agricultural sector.
The meeting with Wowchuk will also involve talks on food
safety standards, how food safety inspections will be done
on farms and how to educate the public on those food safety
initiatives.
As Wishart pointed out, farmers don’t want to bother with
food safety initiatives if uninformed consumers buy imported
produce at the grocery store just because it’s a nickel
cheaper than Canadian produce without thinking about how
safe the produce is.
AUSTRALIA:
Review of recent food survey reports conducted by ACT Health
20.aug.08
Food Surveillance News - Winter edition
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/newsroom/foodsurveillancenewsletter/winter2008.cfm
An ACT Health Protection Service (HPS) review of five recent
food survey reports shows food safety generally continues to
improve.
The HPS has been conducting microbiological analysis of food
and water samples for approximately 30 years as part of its
annual food survey program. HPS develops the program by
considering proposals put forward by OzfoodNet and
Communicable Disease Control and, where possible, by
collaborating on surveys that are part of the ISC
co-ordinated survey plan.
The HPS annual food program consists of a year round Ready
to Eat (RTE) survey that is complemented by a number of
short-term surveys. The RTE survey has been running since
2000 and involves an analysis of RTE food samples collected
from retail food establishments within the ACT.
These samples are tested for compliance with the FSANZ Ready
to Eat guidelines 2001. The supplementary short-term food
surveys operate to help the HPS maintain surveillance of the
quality of food provided to the ACT community.
All the surveys target food services that may present a risk
to the community so the HPS can develop corrective
processes, if necessary, before food related risks develop.
The surveys are an active food risk management activity and,
where possible, are collaborative as part of the ISC
co-ordinated survey plan, for which FSANZ is the sponsor.
The five surveys reviewed by the HPS are:
* Microbiological Quality of Ready to Eat Foods (RTE) 2006 –
7 (including a comparison with previous four years)
* Quality of Cooked Rice
* Retail Packaged Salads
* Incidence of Salmonella and Listeria Monocytogenes in
Cooked Chicken
* Microbiological Quality of Sushi (including comparison
with previous survey)
The full details of all published surveys can be found on
the ACT Health web site at:
http://www.health.act.gov.au/c/health?a=da&did=10054021
Conclusions derived from these surveys
The RTE survey tests the compliance for Standard Plate Count
(SPC),E. coli, Coagulase positive Staphylococci,Bacillus
cereus, Salmonella sp.andListeria monocytogeneswith FSANZ
guidelines for microbiological quality. The 2006-7 survey
report indicates that 2006-7 was the best year to date, with
all tests forBacillus cereus, Salmonella spandE. colibeing
in the satisfactory category. Since the inception of this
survey, a comparison of the previous four years’ test
results indicates a continuing improvement in
microbiological quality of the RTE foods in the ACT. The
comparative findings can be found on the ACT Health website.
The Quality of Cooked Rice survey also tested rice for
compliance to SPC (level 1),E. coli, Coagulase positive
Staphylococci,Salmonella sp., Bacillus cereus and Listeria
monocytogenes with FSANZ guidelines for microbiological
quality. The overall results were very good with no
Salmonella sp., Bacillus cereus or Listeria monocytogenes
detected in any of the samples. Two samples were marginal
for Coagulase positive Staphylococci and three were marginal
for E. coli. The satisfactory standard for SPC (level 1) was
met nearly 93% of the time, with two marginal cases, and
three unsatisfactory cases.
HPS conducted the Retail Packaged Salads survey following a
sudden rise in the number of ACTSalmonella sp.cases in early
2006. Samples of pre-packaged salads were bought from retail
outlets and divided into four sub-samples. No Salmonella
sp.was detected in any of the sub samples. A quarter of the
sub samples were tested forE. coliand all were negative.
The incidence of Salmonella sp.and Listeria monocytogenesin
Cooked Chicken survey was prompted by a quantitative risk
assessment article in the Journal of Food Microbiology. The
article indicated the possibility of a ‘significant number’
of chicken pieces being contaminated, or cross-contaminated,
with Salmonella sp. during handling. However,Salmonella sp.
was not isolated from any of the chicken pieces. Soon after
the survey started, HPS decided to add Listeria
monocytogenesto the testing regime. Subsequently,Listeria
monocytogenes was isolated from two ‘hot’ samples and one
cold shredded sample.
The Microbiological Quality of Sushi survey was conducted in
conjunction with the ISC coordinated survey on Sushi, led by
NSW, and allows comparisons with the previous ACT Sushi
survey held in 2003. HPS detected no potentially hazardous
samples in the tests which found:
* the number of unsatisfactory samples reduced by 66%
* the number of marginal samples reduced by 20%
* the percentage of satisfactory results for all tests was
more than 90% and the majority of tests more than 95%.
The results of the survey indicate that the microbiological
quality of sushi in the ACT is considerably better than it
was four years ago.
Transcriptome
analysis of organisms with food safety relevance
01.aug.08
Foodborne Pathogens and Disease Volume 5, Number 4
Supraja Puttamreddy, Michael D. Carruthers, Melissa L.
Madsen, F. Chris Minion
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/fpd.2008.0112
Transcriptome analysis using microarrays has become a
powerful tool to better understand the process of disease
and other complex biological processes such as food spoilage
and biofilm formation. This review is divided into two basic
sections: 1) a short history and description of microarrays
and 2) a discussion of studies involving bacterial food
safety pathogens that focused on whole genome transcript
analysis. Not included are the many studies using
microarrays to identify, diagnose, or genetically
characterize these organisms. This review focuses on studies
involving Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp.,
Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria monocytogenes, and Yersinia
enterocolitica. Many of the studies involve altering the
growth environment to simulate stress conditions and the use
of host–pathogen model systems to explore virulence
mechanisms. Few studies use conditions that might be
considered unique to the food industry. Exceptions are
studies of biofilm-specific transcriptome changes and
analysis following pressure treatment. This review should
not be considered as a comprehensive review, and where
appropriate, species-specific reviews are cited that are
more complete.
Supraja Puttamreddy
Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive
Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Michael D. Carruthers
Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive
Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Melissa L. Madsen
Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive
Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
F. Chris Minion
Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive
Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Molecular
analysis of the microbial food safety implications of food
reformulations for improved health
01.aug.08
Foodborne Pathogens and Disease Volume 5 Number 4
Roy D. Sleator, Colin Hill
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/fpd.2008.0089
Food reformulation is commonly used as a strategy to produce
foods for improved health; for example, replacing sugar with
aspartame, and salt (NaCl) with KCl may help to reduce the
incidence of obesity and heart disease. However, such
reformulations will also change the intrinsic
physicochemical properties of the food, which may in turn
support the growth of foodborne pathogens and ultimately
increase the incidence of foodborne disease. Thus, we need a
better understanding of the microbiological food safety
issues associated with product reformulation. Herein we
review the most recent advances in our understanding of how
microbial pathogens adapt to changes in the food
composition, and how this information may ultimately be used
for the design of effective pathogen control measures.
Roy D. Sleator
Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, University College Cork,
Cork, Ireland.
Colin Hill
Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, University College Cork,
Cork, Ireland.
FSnet is produced by the
International Food Safety Network at Kansas State
University, and is supported at the Gold Fork level by:
Marler Clark.
FSnet is supported at the Sterling Fork level by: CropLife
Canada, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural
Affairs , New Zealand Food Safety Authority, Monsanto
Canada, and the Ontario Cattlemen's Association.
Fsnet is supported at the Silver-plate Fork level by: The
National Restaurant Association, Unilever, Sholl Group/Green
Giant Fresh, Feedlot Health Management Services, McDonald's,
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The Food Safety Network presents a unique opportunity to
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financial support to the Food Safety Network, please visit
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information on collaboration or fee-for-service
opportunities, please contact Dr. Doug Powell:
dpowell@ksu.edu
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