FSnet Aug. 7/08 -- II

BARFBLOG: Food safety extension in New Zealand in Kansas

AUSTRALIA: Consumers embrace name-shame website

CALIFORNIA beef linked to Virginia E coli outbreak

INDIANA: Number of pool parasite illness cases on rise

NEW YORK officials: Stomach ills on rise at summer camps

First report of a Salmonella enterica serovar Weltevreden outbreak on Réunion Island, FRANCE, August 2007

FS -3- Food scares and trust: A EUROPEAN study

U.S. Sen. Harkin: Restoring confidence in food safety

US: No evidence to support 'organic is best'

TEXAS firm recalls cattle heads that contain prohibited materials

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BARFBLOG: Food safety extension in New Zealand in Kansas
07.aug.08
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/food-safety-communication/food-safety-extension-in-new-zealand-in-kansas/index.html
She had Amy and me to her house in New Zealand. She ran the 5K race at the Ohio State Fair. And now she's coming to rock Manhattan (Kansas).
Philippa Ross-James, Program Manager Communications, with the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, will share her experience promoting food safety practices in culturally acceptable ways with New Zealand's indigenous people -- Maori, and New Zealand's Pacific peoples.
Philippa began her career as a food technologist in the dairy industry.
After taking a break to raise children, Philippa retrained in communications and now works in the corporate communications group of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority.
Her talk will happen at Kansas State University's Student Union, room 206
10-11 a.m., on Monday, Aug, 11, 2008.
For more information, contact Doug Powell, dpowell@ksu.edu
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/07/articles/food-safety-communication/we-like-wellington-new-zealand-and-not-just-for-bret-and-jemaine/



 
AUSTRALIA: Consumers embrace name-shame website
07.aug.08
ABC News Online (Australia)
ABC Australia
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/07/2326795.htm
New South Wales restaurant-goers have embraced a month-old website that names and shames establishments for breaching health standards.
The State Government passed amendments to the Food Safety Act earlier this year, allowing the Food Authority to publish the details of businesses that receive penalty notices on its website.
Dozen of restaurants, including a top Sydney eatery, have already been named for things like pest problems, having faulty equipment and substandard hygiene facilities.
Primary Industries Minister Kevin Greene says consumers have the right to know if there has been a breach of food safety standards.
"It's about choice. If there's a serious problem with a food outlet, customers have the right to know," he said.
"One thing I can say is that since this website was introduced on the first of July, there's been an average of 1,200 hits a day, which certainly proves its been really embraced by the public."



 
CALIFORNIA beef linked to Virginia E coli outbreak
07.aug.08
CIDRAP News
Robert Roos
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/fs/food-disease/news/aug0708ecoli-jw.html
An Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak at a Boy Scout camp in Virginia has been linked to ground beef from a California company, prompting the firm to recall 153,630 pounds of beef, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported today.
S&S Foods of Azusa, Calif., is recalling 30-pound boxes of frozen ground beef because of possible E coli contamination, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said in a news release. The products were sold to food services and institutions, not retail stores, the FSIS said.
The agency said ground beef from the company was used at a Virginia Scout camp where E coli recently broke out. Virginia health officials said in an online update today that 25 E coli cases have been confirmed out of about 84 reported illnesses in Scouts who recently attended the camp in Goshen, Va. Eight scouts have been hospitalized.
"Through our trace-back we confirmed that the camp had some of the S&S food products, and that's what was used in dinners at the camp on certain days," leading to the recall, said Emily Metz, an FSIS spokeswoman in Washington, DC.
"We have 11 culture-confirmed cases of E coli, and 5 of those have a PFGE [pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, or DNA fingerprint] pattern that matches some of the leftover product at the camp, which was produced by S&S Foods," Metz told CIDRAP News today. She said no cases elsewhere have been linked to S&S Foods products so far.
The contamination was discovered through a joint investigation by the FSIS and the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), the FSIS said.
VDH spokeswoman Cheryle Rodriguez said the reason Virginia and the FSIS have mentioned different numbers of confirmed cases (25 versus 11) is that some of the cases have not yet been tied to ground beef. "Those are cases, yes, but we have not confirmed that they're associated with the ground beef," she told CIDRAP News. "Right now that's the main thing we're looking at, but we look at all possibilities."
The ground beef products were shipped to distributors in Allentown, Pa., and Milwaukee, the FSIS said. The 30-pound boxes carry the establishment number "EST. 20375" inside the USDA mark of inspection, and the individual packages are labeled "742798 MFST, 100% GROUND BEEF BULK, 80/20, 1LB. BRICK."
USDA spokeswoman Laura Reiser said the agency will not be releasing a list of establishments that received the meat, as it was not sold in retail stores, according to a Washington Post report published today.
In July the USDA announced it would soon begin listing the names of retail stores that receive food products involved in class 1 (high-risk) recalls. The new policy is to take effect this month.


 
INDIANA: Number of pool parasite illness cases on rise
07.aug.08
Associated Press/Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-poolparasites,0,4961411.story
INDIANAPOLIS -- State health officials are tracking a surge in illnesses caused by a chlorine-resistant parasite that swimmers often ingest in water parks and swimming pools.
Illnesses from exposure to Cryptosporidium -- or Crypto, as it is commonly called -- nearly doubled in Indiana from 79 in 2004 to 149 in 2007, the State Department of Health said.
The parasite found in human and animal feces can infect someone if they swallow tainted water, food or anything that's come in contact with feces from an infected person or animal.



 
NEW YORK officials: Stomach ills on rise at summer camps
07.aug.08
Newsday.com
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--campailments0807aug07,0,6612520.story
ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York health officials are warning parents that significantly more summer campers are experiencing stomach cramps, diarrhea and nausea this year because of a spike in viral gastrointestinal outbreaks.
The state Department of Health did not provide specific numbers, but officials instructed overnight camp directors to notify them of any new outbreaks. The department is also recommending precautions to prevent campers from acquiring and spreading the illness.
The viruses are commonly known as the norovirus or Norwalk virus and can be spread through exposure to infected people or contaminated food and water.
To reduce the risk, campers should wash their hands regularly and avoid others if they are feeling sick.



 
First report of a Salmonella enterica serovar Weltevreden outbreak on Réunion Island, FRANCE, August 2007
07.aug.08
Eurosurveillance, Volume 13, Issue 32
E D'Ortenzio ()1, F X Weill2, S Ragonneau3, J A Lebon3, P Renault1, V Pierre1
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=18949
Date of submission: 28 March 2008
An outbreak of gastroenteritis involving 26 guests of a wedding dinner occurred in August 2007 in Réunion Island, a French Overseas Department. Salmonella was isolated in 61.5% of cases and the two isolates serotyped were of serovar Weltevreden. We believe this to be the first food-borne outbreak due to S. enterica serovar Weltevreden described in Réunion Island. The epidemiological and environmental investigations of this outbreak did not provide enough evidence to identify a single vehicle of infection. It is necessary to improve surveillance of salmonellosis by multidisciplinary cooperation between clinicians, epidemiologists, microbiologists and veterinarians on Réunion Island.
Introduction
Salmonellosis is estimated to affect three billion people and to cause 200,000 deaths every year [1]. Salmonella enterica is one of the most common causes of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide and is often implicated in food-borne outbreaks. More than 2,500 serovars of S. enterica have been identified [2]. S. enterica serovar Weltevreden (hereafter referred to as S. Weltevreden) has been reported as a frequent and increasingly common cause of human infection in the restricted area of Southeast Asia [2,3]. The French National Reference Centre for Salmonella (Centre National de Référence des Salmonella – CNR-Salm) at the Institut Pasteur, Paris has identified sporadic cases of S. Weltevreden infection in Réunion Island and in other islands in the Indian Ocean (Weill FX, personal data) but no outbreak due to this serovar has previously been described on Réunion. In France, including French Overseas Departments, collective (at least two cases) food-borne poisoning is subject to mandatory disease notification and must be reported to the relevant Direction régionale or Direction départementale des affaires sanitaires et sociales (DRASS or DDASS). An outbreak investigation is then conducted by the DRASS environmental unit and by veterinarians from the Direction des services veterinaries (DSV), sometimes in collaboration with the epidemiologists from the Cellule interrégionale d'épidémiologie (CIRE) of the Institut de Veille Sanitaire (French Institute for Public Health Surveillance). The management of such outbreaks is the responsibility of the public health medical doctor of the relevant DRASS.
On 30 August 2007, 11 cases of acute gastroenteritis were reported to the DRASS of Réunion Island. All cases were guests of a wedding dinner which had taken place on the evening of 25 August. An outbreak investigation was conducted among the dinner participants to identify risk factors and the vehicle of infection. We report the results of this investigation.
Methods
An outbreak-associated case of gastroenteritis was defined as a person who had eaten at the wedding dinner on 25 August 2007 and developed diarrhoea (two or more liquid stools per 24 hours) or fever (≥38 ºC) in addition to at least one of the following three symptoms: nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pain within the 24 hours after the dinner. Eligible cases were defined as confirmed if S. Weltevreden was microbiologically isolated from stools, as probable if Salmonella was isolated from stools without serotyping, and as clinical cases when data on biological confirmation were unavailable.
An active case detection was conducted to assess the total number of cases. An unmatched case-control study was conducted to try to identify the vehicle for transmission. To do so, we proceeded to a telephone interview with a standardised questionnaire. These interviews were limited to voluntary guests who accepted to give their telephone numbers. Guests who accepted to answer the questionnaire and did not mention any symptoms after the dinner were considered as controls. Data were collected and analysed with WinTiac version 1.6 software. Food-specific odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated for the consumption of food items. The Chi 2 test was used to compare proportions between groups (5% significance level). Serotyping of Salmonella isolates and antimicrobial drug susceptibility were performed at the CNR-Salm, as previously described [4]. Kitchen facilities were inspected but no food items could be sampled because of the long delay (five days) between the dinner and the notification of the outbreak.
Results
Descriptive findings
On 25 August 2007 at 8.30 PM, 285 guests were present at the wedding dinner. The meal was prepared by several guests at their homes and was brought to a communal building where the wedding took place. Food items were then warmed up in the communal kitchen and served by several guests to others. Most of those who had prepared and served the food refused to participate in the investigation. Active case detection found 26 persons who presented symptoms according to the case definition and were considered as cases. Among them, 10 cases were considered as clinical, 14 were probable and two were confirmed. The mean age of cases was 30 years and the male to female ratio was 1:1. Diarrhoea was reported by all of the 26 cases, 16 experienced vomiting and 15 had fever. Other clinical symptoms were abdominal pain (n=1) and headache (n=1), the latter not included in the case-definition. None of the cases were hospitalised and all the patients recovered. The epidemic curve shows that the median time of illness onset was on Sunday 26 August 2007 at 8.00 AM [5.00 AM - 10.30 AM] (Figure). The median time of incubation was 11 hours and 50 minutes [8h50-14h00].
Figure. Distribution of cases of gastroenteritis among dinner guests by time of onset of symptoms, Réunion Island, 26 August 2007 (n=26)
Microbiologic and environmental findings
Stool specimens from 18 persons were microbiologically tested, and in 16 of these (61.5% of the 26 cases) Salmonella was confirmed by culture. Two isolates were further analysed by serotyping, both were S. Weltevreden. These two isolates were susceptible to all 32 antimicrobial drugs tested.
No testing could be done on food items. However, an interruption of the hot and cold chain of food preparation was strongly suspected to have contributed to the outbreak.
Case control study
For the case control study, we included 26 cases and 26 controls. In univariate analysis, three exposures were statistically associated with risk of illness (Table). The most relevant food exposure was the chicken eaten by 88% of the cases and 58% of the controls (OR=5.62; CI 95% 1.34 to 23.56; p=0.01). The two other significant food items were: peas (OR=5.13; CI 95% 1.57 to 16.77; p=0.005) and rice (OR=4.03; CI 95% 1.08 to 15.09; p=0.03). However, none of these three food items could be considered as an independent vehicle of the food poisoning after adjustment with the Mantel–Haenszel method.
Table. Frequency of selected exposures among cases and controls, outbreak of gastroenteritis, Réunion island, August 2007
Discussion
We believe this to be the first food-borne outbreak due to S. enterica serovar Weltevreden described in Réunion Island. The outbreak involved 26 guests of a wedding dinner. The serovar Weltevreden was isolated in two samples. These were the only two isolates serotyped because of the poor contribution of local laboratories in sending stool specimen to the CNR-Salm in Paris due to distance and cost of transport. However, the homogeneity of the clinical presentation of cases in the cluster, the shape of the epidemic curve, the isolation of Salmonella in 61.5% of cases (88.9% of tested stools) and the identification of the same serotype in the two tested specimens allowed us to strongly suspect this serotype as the cause of the outbreak.
The results of the case-control study suggested that none of the three food items statistically associated with the risk of illness (chicken, peas and rice) could be considered as an independent vehicle of infection after adjustment. There are several methodological limitations in the case-control study that should be noted. The small sample size available for the case-control study due to poor contribution of guests limited our ability to draw strong conclusions. Furthermore, environmental investigations such as testing of food items could have strengthened our findings, but were not conducted because samples were no longer available.
Before 1970, S. Weltevreden constituted less than 4% of the total number of cases of human salmonellosis in the world [3]. It was the most common serovar to cause human infections in India during the early 1970s [5], and the one most frequently isolated from humans in Thailand during the years 1993-2002 [3]. Similar findings have been reported from Malaysia between 1983 and 1992 [6]. Thong et al. [7] found the same subtypes of S. Weltevreden among isolates infecting humans and those in raw vegetables, suggesting that this is a potential reservoir of this serovar in Malaysia. S. Weltevreden was the most common serovar in isolates from seafood, water, and duck in Thailand [3]. In a recent study in the United States, S. Weltevreden was the most common serovar found in seafood mainly imported from Thailand and Malaysia [8]. These observations could point to a water-related source for S. Weltevreden.
The results of the outbreak investigation described in this paper suggest that S. Weltevreden could be associated with a food-borne outbreak in Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, as it was observed in other countries [9,10]. A better knowledge of the epidemiology of this serovar in humans and in animals is needed in this area to identify the source of transmission. Clusters of collective food-borne poisoning are subject to mandatory disease notifications in France and its Overseas Territories. Between 1996 and 2005, 72 food-borne outbreaks have been notified to the DRASS of Réunion. Among these outbreaks, 16 (22.2%) were due to Salmonella (Typhimurium=4; Enteritidis=1; unknown species=11) [11]. However, these data are certainly incomplete because of the recognized under-reporting of such events in Réunion. For a better knowledge of Salmonella epidemiology on the island and in the South-West Indian Ocean, it is necessary to raise awareness among physicians of the need of rapid notifications of food-borne outbreaks and to improve collaboration between epidemiologists, clinicians, microbiologists and veterinarians for future outbreak investigations.
Acknowledgments
We thank members of the Cellule de Veille Sanitaire of Direction régionale des affaires sanitaires et sociales of Réunion Island for their participation in this outbreak investigation.
1. Cellule interrégionale d'épidémiologie (CIRE) Réunion-Mayotte, Institut de Veille Sanitaire, Réunion Island, France
2. Centre National de Référence des Salmonella (CNR-Salm), Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
3. Direction régionale des affaires sanitaires et sociales (DRASS), Réunion Island, France
References
1. Herikstad H, Motarjemi Y, Tauxe RV. Salmonella surveillance: a global survey of public health serotyping. Epidemiol Infect. 2002;129:1-8.
2. Galanis E, Lo Fo Wong DM, Patrick ME, Binsztein N, Cieslik A, Chalermchikit T, et al. Web-based surveillance and global Salmonella distribution, 2000-2002. Emerg Infect Dis. 2006;12:381-8.
3. Bangtrakulnonth A, Pornreongwong S, Pulsrikarn C, Sawanpanyalert P, Hendriksen RS, Lo Fo Wong DM, et al. Salmonella serovars from humans and other sources in Thailand, 1993-2002. Emerg Infect Dis. 2004;10:131-6.
4. Weill FX, Guesnier F, Guibert V, Timinouni M, Demartin M, Polomack L, et al. Multidrug resistance in Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium from humans in France (1993 to 2003). J Clin Microbiol. 2006;44(3):700-8.
5. Sood LR, Basu S. Geographical distribution and epidemiological incidence of phage-types of Salmonella weltevreden in India during 1958-1974. Int J Epidemiol. 1981;10:181-5.
6. Yasin RM, Jegathesan MM, Tiew CC. Salmonella serotypes isolated in Malaysia over the ten-year period 1983-1992. Asia Pac J Public Health. 1996-1997;9:1-5.
7. Thong KL, Goh YL, Radu S, Noorzaleha S, Yasin R, Koh YT, et al. Genetic diversity of clinical and environmental strains of Salmonella enterica serotype Weltevreden isolated in Malaysia. J Clin Microbiol. 2002;40:2498-503.
8. Heinitz ML, Ruble RD, Wagner DE, Tatini SR. Incidence of Salmonella in fish and seafood. J Food Prot. 2000;63:579-92.
9. Aggarwal P, Singh SM, Bhattacharya MM. An outbreak of food poisoning in a family due to Salmonella weltevreden at Delhi. J Diarrhoeal Dis Res. 1985;3:224-5.
10. Emberland KE, Ethelberg S, Kuusi M, Vold L, Jensvoll L, Lindstedt BA, et al. Outbreak of Salmonella Weltevreden infections in Norway, Denmark and Finland associated with alfalfa sprouts, July-October 2007. Euro Surveill. 2007 Nov 29;12(11).
11. D'Ortenzio E, Renault P. Epidémiologie des maladies à déclarations obligatoires à la Réunion (1996-2005). Cellule interrégionale d'épidémiologie Réunion-Mayotte, Institut de veille sanitaire, 2007. Available from: http://www.invs.sante.fr/publications/2003/mdo_infos/mdo_infos_reunion.pdf



 
FS -3- Food scares and trust: A EUROPEAN study
07.aug.08
Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 59, Number 1, February 2008 , pp. 2-24(23)
Mazzocchi, Mario; Lobb, Alexandra; Bruce Traill, W.; Cavicchi, Alessio
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/jage/2008/00000059/00000001/art00002
The complex interactions between the determinants of food purchase under risk are explored using the SPARTA model, based on the theory of planned behaviour, and estimated through a combination of multivariate statistical techniques. The application investigates chicken consumption choices in two scenarios: (a) a `standard' purchasing situation; and (b) following a hypothetical Salmonella scare. The data are from a nationally representative survey of 2,725 respondents from five European countries: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Results show that the effects and interactions of behavioural determinants vary significantly within Europe. Only in the case of a food scare do risk perceptions and trust come into play. The policy priority should be on building and maintaining trust in food and health authorities and research institutions, while food chain actors could mitigate the consequences of a food scare through public trust. No relationship is found between socio-demographic variables and consumer trust in food safety information.



 
U.S. Sen. Harkin: Restoring confidence in food safety
07.aug.08
Iowapolitics.com
http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=133022
In recent years, the anxieties of U.S. consumers have been raised by repeated outbreaks of sickness caused by contaminated food – everything from peanut butter to seafood to spinach. The most recent case involves jalapeño peppers. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at first suspected tomatoes as the source of the Salmonella outbreak. By the time the agency traced it to jalapeños, three months had passed and more than 1,300 people nationwide had been sickened.
How many more wakeup calls do we need in order to realize that there are significant gaps in the FDA's ability to adequately protect the nation's food supply? The agency's shortcomings are a threat to human health, and can also be very costly to the food industry.
The United Fresh Produce Association estimates that this latest outbreak cost tomato growers more than $100 million in losses after FDA mistakenly linked the outbreak to tomatoes.
We can't afford any more spectacles like the FDA's slow and botched investigation of the most recent Salmonella outbreak. The FDA has become, for all practical purposes, a drug administration that occasionally examines food – and this is not acceptable. We need a national trace-back system as well as better FDA investigation techniques, which could have identified the Salmonella culprit sooner.
In recent weeks, I joined with a bipartisan group of Senators to introduce The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act to give the FDA new authorities, tools and resources to comprehensively reform the agency's food safety systems.
The bill addresses some of the failings in the Salmonella outbreak head-on by authorizing new science-based standards for the safety of produce; increasing the frequency of inspections of all food facilities; establishing a new system for tracking and tracing-back fruits and vegetables in the event of a food-borne illness; and by giving the FDA mandatory recall authority in the event a company fails to recall a product at FDA's request. Food safety experts note that had many of these provisions been in place, the scope of the recent Salmonella outbreak could have been drastically reduced, and FDA's response time could have been dramatically improved.
I am hopeful that, with strong bipartisan support, we can move this new bill through Congress and rapidly improve the FDA's ability to respond to food-borne illness outbreaks.
The current, flawed food safety system is obviously a threat to public health, but it is also a threat to the economic health of industries that lose consumer confidence in the wake of food safety scares. By giving FDA the authority it needs to prevent and respond to food safety problems – from requiring recalls, to setting food safety standards for fresh produce, to enhancing trace-back and surveillance of food-borne illness – this bill will be a long-overdue win-win for Iowa consumers and producers alike.



 
US: No evidence to support 'organic is best'
07.aug.08
EurekAlert!
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/soci-net080708.php
New research in SCI's Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture says there is no evidence to support the view that organically grown crops contain more major and trace elements
New research in the latest issue of the Society of Chemical Industry's (SCI) Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture shows there is no evidence to support the argument that organic food is better than food grown with the use of pesticides and chemicals
Many people pay more than a third more for organic food in the belief that it has more nutritional content than food grown with pesticides and chemicals.
But the research by Dr Susanne Bügel and colleagues from the Department of Human Nutrition, University of Copenhagen, shows there is no clear evidence to back this up.
In the first study ever to look at retention of minerals and trace elements, animals were fed a diet consisting of crops grown using three different cultivation methods in two seasons.
The study looked at the following crops – carrots, kale, mature peas, apples and potatoes – staple ingredients that can be found in most families' shopping list.
The first cultivation method consisted of growing the vegetables on soil which had a low input of nutrients using animal manure and no pesticides except for one organically approved product on kale only.
The second method involved applying a low input of nutrients using animal manure, combined with use of pesticides, as much as allowed by regulation.
Finally, the third method comprised a combination of a high input of nutrients through mineral fertilisers and pesticides as legally allowed.
The crops were grown on the same or similar soil on adjacent fields at the same time and so experienced the same weather conditions. All were harvested and treated at the same time. In the case of the organically grown vegetables, all were grown on established organic soil.
After harvest, results showed that there were no differences in the levels of major and trace contents in the fruit and vegetables grown using the three different methods.
Produce from the organically and conventionally grown crops were then fed to animals over a two year period and intake and excretion of various minerals and trace elements were measured. Once again, the results showed there was no difference in retention of the elements regardless of how the crops were grown.
Dr Bügel says: 'No systematic differences between cultivation systems representing organic and conventional production methods were found across the five crops so the study does not support the belief that organically grown foodstuffs generally contain more major and trace elements than conventionally grown foodstuffs.'
Dr Alan Baylis, honorary secretary of SCI's Bioresources Group, adds: 'Modern crop protection chemicals to control weeds, pests and diseases are extensively tested and stringently regulated, and once in the soil, mineral nutrients from natural or artificial fertilisers are chemically identical. Organic crops are often lower yielding and eating them is a lifestyle choice for those who can afford it.'



 
TEXAS firm recalls cattle heads that contain prohibited materials
07.aug.08
FSIS News Release
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_028_2008_Release/index.asp
Washington -- Dallas City Packing, Inc., a Dallas, Texas, establishment, is recalling approximately 941,271 pounds of cattle heads with tonsils not completely removed, which is not compliant with regulations that require the removal of tonsils from cattle of all ages, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.
Tonsils are considered a specified risk material (SRM) and must be removed from cattle of all ages in accordance with FSIS regulations. SRMs are tissues that are known to contain the infective agent in cattle infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), as well as materials that are closely associated with these potentially infective tissues. Therefore, FSIS prohibits SRMs from use as human food to minimize potential human exposure to the BSE agent.
The following products subject to recall include:
* Various weight boxes of "2-BEEF HEAD." Each shipping package bears the establishment number "EST. 156" inside the USDA mark of inspection, as well as a packaging date between "2 05 7" and
"8 05 8" stamped on the side of the box.
* Various weight boxes of "3-BEEF HEAD." Each shipping package bears the establishment number "EST. 156" inside the USDA mark of inspection, as well as a packaging date between "2 05 7" and
"8 05 8" stamped on the side of the box.
The company is recalling all products packed between Feb. 5, 2007, and Aug. 5, 2008. These products were distributed primarily to retail establishments in Texas as well as distribution centers in California, Colorado, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas.
The problem was discovered by FSIS.
Media and consumers with questions about the recall should contact company President Alan Rubin or Vice President David Meyers at (214) 948-3901.
Consumers with food safety questions can "Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day.
 


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