FSnet Aug. 31/08 -- III
CANADA:
Should we have been told sooner about listeria?: Public's
right to know weighed against possible lawsuits for crying
wolf
CANADA:
Outbreak confirmed as cause of death: Grande Prairie woman,
36, first Alberta victim of listeriosis; second woman in
hospital
US: Fresh
from the Deli American Sub Sandwich Listeria recall
UK:
Complacency warning on water bug: A consumer watchdog has
warned that there is "no room for complacency" after 45,000
people in north Wales were told to boil their drinking
water.
US:
Irradiation gets the green light
LETTER:
CANADA: Irradiation is answer
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CANADA:
Should we have been told sooner about listeria?: Public's
right to know weighed against possible lawsuits for crying
wolf
31.aug.08
The Toronto Star
Robert Cribb
http://healthzone.ca/health/article/488302
When public health officials in New Mexico first noticed a
spike in salmonella cases in May, they quickly issued a
public statement warning consumers.
They had no tests confirming the source of the problem, no
knowledge of its cause or what food might be responsible ñ
only that 19 people across the state were sick.
In a news release, officials shared what they knew with the
public, advised consumers on how to prevent exposure and
warned physicians across the state to keep an eye out for
symptoms in order to minimize the risk.
"Our philosophy is that the public should be notified when
we are looking at cultures of disease," says Deborah
Busemeyer, a spokesperson for the state's health department.
"It's much better to be open and get messages to them about
how to protect their health. While we didn't have great
information yet about what was causing it, we always tell
people we're investigating."
When Canadian public health officials first twigged to a
listeria problem in mid-July, they weren't so forthcoming
with the public. It would be another month of testing,
conference calls and quiet deliberation before Canadians
would know anything about it. Officials now say there was
miscommunication between levels of government that delayed
the message.
All the while, Canadians continued to consume deli meat we
now know to be potentially deadly.
Yesterday, the death toll of the listeriosis outbreak rose
to 10 as federal health officials confirmed that a
36-year-old Alberta resident died after contracting the
bacteria. Eight people in Ontario and one in B.C. have died,
with many more stricken by illness caused by the bacteria.
In public statements, most provincial and federal
politicians, along with government food safety experts have
repeated that an early warning system designed to detect
such outbreaks worked and that officials got busy tracing
the clues.
"Our system worked well to protect Ontario citizens," said
provincial associate chief medical officer of health David
Williams. "It shows how dynamic we can respond."
But a growing chorus of experts says such boasts are
nonsense.
"What are they bragging about?" asks Doug Powell, a food
safety expert from Ontario now working as an associate
professor of food safety at Kansas State University.
"Why did it take so long for that testing to occur and for
them to tell people about it? In general, U.S. food safety
officials say what they know and what they don't know. They
don't congratulate themselves for discovering dead and sick
people."
Even some health officials quietly wonder if the system
could have been quicker to warn the public.
"I think the point (about time delays in reporting to the
public) is well taken," said Dr. Vinita Dubey, associate
medical officer of health with Toronto Public Health. "The
complication in this investigation is we're dealing with
federal, provincial and local jurisdictions and the question
is who (issues the public statement)? As Toronto Public
Health, do we do that? There's no question we'll do a
post-mortem of this and see where things could have been
sped up."
The Maple Leaf meat recall ñ the largest in Canadian history
ñ played out like an episode of CSI, each new clue adding
perspective to the last as health officials wrestled with
when to blow the whistle.
On July 16, a report came to Toronto Public Health about a
listeria case in a city nursing home. Five days later,
something very unusual happened: A second case was reported
at the same nursing home.
"It raises your alarm bells," Dubey says. "Two cases in a
nursing home is absolutely not what you'd expect."
Meanwhile, on July 29, the provincial health ministry
notified all health units, Health Canada, the Public Health
Agency of Canada and food safety specialists across the
country that it was investigating a listeriosis problem.
Instead of the normal occurrence of four cases a month, the
July numbers were jumping past 10. Also, a Hamilton woman
died of listeriosis in June.
Samples of deli sandwiches from the Toronto nursing home
reached Health Canada labs for testing on July 24. The
results came back on Aug. 5, showing three positive results.
A clear hypothesis on the source of the outbreak had
emerged: Maple Leaf cold cuts.
The next day, Toronto Public Health officials contacted the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) with their findings
and advised all city nursing homes, retirement homes and
hospitals to stop serving the product, says Dubey.
But they didn't consider expanding the warning to the
general public, says Dubey, because of what appears to have
been a communication breakdown between jurisdictions.
Dubey says CFIA officials advised that the meat was only
distributed to institutions, not the general public. "We
asked those questions on a conference call. If you're told
it's not available for public consumption, what's the point
of informing the public? If we did know that, we might have
gone public. If there's a risk to human health, absolutely,
we'd go public as soon as the product came back with
listeria."
Williams, Ontario's medical officer of health, said he also
understood from the CFIA that the meat was limited to a
small distribution in institutions. "That's the information
we received," he said. "If I had cases from the public, we
would have (warned the public). But I only had cases in
institutions."
Garfield Balsam, food safety and recall specialist with the
CFIA, says the federal agency focused its attention on
institutions but didn't rule out the possibility of more
widespread consumption.
"We said that it was institutional but also said it could be
sold at retail. We try to cover off as much as possible
because we don't always know where the meat is ending up."
Linda Smith, a spokesperson for Maple Leaf, said the
company's customer list is far more varied than just
institutions, including retailers and food distributors who
resell to a wide array of customers ñ information that was
widely available to public health officials.
On Aug. 13 ñ at least three weeks after alarm bells were
going off for public health officials ñ Maple Leaf sent a
letter to distributors asking them to stop releasing some of
its products since the CFIA was investigating their safety.
Still, it would take another four days for the public to be
told about any risk. An Aug. 17 release from the CFIA
announced a recall of two Maple Leaf products after tests
confirmed the products were positive for listeria. The
recalls expanded three days later to include 23 Maple Leaf
products. Three days after that, officials confirmed the
link between a Toronto Maple Leaf plant and the
listeria-laced meat.
Ben Chapman, a PhD candidate at the University of Guelph who
researches how governments communicate food safety risks to
the public, says Canadian officials were typically
conservative in their approach to disclosure.
"If you look back to July, they could have said, `We're
seeing a lot of listeria and here's the kinds of products
where listeria is found ñ ready-to-eat meats, unpasteurized
milk and cheeses and hot dogs ñ and if you're experiencing
symptoms, talk to your doctor.' Going early might actually
save lives."
Ontario's Williams defends the careful approach to public
disclosure. There are risks ñ in terms of public health and
legalities ñ with crying wolf too soon, he says.
"If you start blowing the whistle on everything, you lose
public confidence pretty quickly, besides getting your pants
sued off. ... If we went through this whole investigation
into Maple Leaf and came up with nothing, they would say,
`So you basically made a big fuss over a few cases of some
compromised people and it's cost us $20 million in lost
productivity."
The public's right to know what officials have learned on
their behalf has to trump any other concerns, counters
Powell.
"Their job is to protect public health. But the Canadian
position is, we're not going public until we get a positive
(test). In the (U.S. salmonella) case, can you imagine if
they didn't go public until they got a positive? They had
1,500 people sick before they had a positive. The only way
to deal with uncertainties is to be honest about it and tell
people how you came to your conclusion."
CANADA:
Outbreak confirmed as cause of death: Grande Prairie woman,
36, first Alberta victim of listeriosis; second woman in
hospital
31.aug.08
The Edmonton Journal
Rosemary Westwood, With files from Steve Lillebuen
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/story.html?id=cf3c8e14-0681-4163-af3c-dd3ab438a649
Edmonton -- Health officials have confirmed Alberta's first
cases of listeriosis linked to a national outbreak.
Kirsten Woboditsch, 36, of Grande Prairie, died Aug. 14 in
hospital after she contracted the strain of listeriosis
linked to a Maple Leaf Foods recall, the province's acting
chief medical officer of health said in a press conference
Saturday.
Another woman in her 40s, who was first admitted to hospital
in Hinton, has the same strain of listeriosis and remains in
care.
"The cases we have seen have all been either elderly or had
some immune system deficiencies. These were no different,"
said Dr. Gerry Predy.
US: Fresh
from the Deli American Sub Sandwich Listeria recall
31.aug.08
US Recall News
http://www.usrecallnews.com/2008/08/fda-1816.html
Belleville, IL ñ Landshire, Inc. is recalling its American
Sub Sandwich because it has the potential to be contaminated
with Listeria monocytogenes, and organism which can cause
serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children,
frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune
systems, although healthy individuals may suffer only
short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache,
stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria
infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among
pregnant women.
The American Sub Sandwiches were distributed in the
Midwestern states of: Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and
Pennsylvania. The product was sold to Circle K convenience
stores exclusively. There were 812 sandwiches produced on
Lot number 21882.
The sandwich label identifies it as: ìFresh from the Deliî
American Sub. This is a pre-packaged, individually wrapped
(clear plastic) with a black tray inside of package.
Sandwich weight is 9.75 ounces (276 grams). UPC code is
9748800540. The sandwiches involved have a Lot number of
21882. The Lot number is printed in black ink on the side of
the package.
No illnesses have been reported to date.
The recall was the result of a routine sampling taken by the
Ohio Department of Agriculture for Retail Food
Establishments. Landshire has ceased the production and
distribution of the product as the company continues its
investigation as to the source of the problem.
Consumers who have purchased the ìFresh from the Deliî
American Sub are urged to return it to the place of purchase
for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact
Landshire, Inc at 800-468-3354.
UK:
Complacency warning on water bug: A consumer watchdog has
warned that there is "no room for complacency" after 45,000
people in north Wales were told to boil their drinking
water.
31.aug.08
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7589839.stm
Welsh Water issued its third warning in three years after a
rise in bacteria was detected at a treatment plant.
The company says the warning for customers in Gwynedd and
Anglesey will stay in place for at least two weeks.
Diane McCrea, chair of the Consumer Council for Water Wales,
said clean and safety water must be the priority.
Mrs McCrea said the council's job as consumer champion was
to challenge the water company on customers' behalf to
deliver "the safe quality drinking water that they expect
and deserve".
She said: "I understand that the company is in the process
of upgrading the treatment works which is involved in this
outbreak.
"I will be calling for the company to get its other remedial
works done as quickly as possible," she added.
Mrs McCrea said welcomed stringent new regulations water
companies were now required to give consumers warnings as
soon as there was any evidence of bacteria in water
supplies.
US:
Irradiation gets the green light
31.aug.08
Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/action-line/story/664997.html
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of
irradiation to make fresh iceberg lettuce and spinach safer
and last longer without spoiling, while maintaining their
nutritional value.
The FDA says that irradiating the produce will help protect
consumers from disease-causing bacteria such as Salmonella
and E-coli.
Sometimes termed ''ionizing radiation'', irradiation is a
process of treating products with a measured dose of
radiation, and the FDA has conducted irradiation safety
evaluations for more than 40 years. It has determined the
process safe for use on a variety of foods.
However, the FDA still recommends that fresh or bagged
lettuce and spinach be washed. (I thought the science types
said it shouldnít be rewashed? ñ dp)
The FDA has previously allowed lettuce, spinach and some
other foods to be irradiated to kill insects or slow
spoilage. However, the doses used for these purposes are
lower than what is required to kill most disease-causing
bacteria.
Irradiation of iceberg lettuce and spinach is voluntary on
the part of food processors. The FDA requires that foods
that have been irradiated bear the ''radura'' logo along
with the statement ''Treated with radiation'' or ``Treated
by irradiation.''
Learn more from the FDA's Fact Sheet on Irradiation at
www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/irradlet.html.
LETTER:
CANADA: Irradiation is answer
31.aug.08
The Gazette
Michael Wiener
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/letters/story.html?id=67700075-7abf-4bfb-9dd0-2c5b45a29698
Augmented use of irradiation technology, used in conjunction
with other handling and processing safeguards, would go a
long way to preventing future contamination of our food by
E. coli, salmonella, and listeria bacteria.
It is a practice endorsed by the World Health Organization.
Rational debate on this topic has been undermined by the
popular but utterly false belief that foods thus treated
become radioactive. Isn't it time to give health-conscious
consumers a choice? Personally, if irradiated food is safe
enough for NASA astronauts, it's good enough for me.
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