Monthly Archives: June 2011

Sprouts still suck: FDA says do not eat Evergreen Produce brand alfalfa sprouts or spicy sprouts

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The FDA is warning consumers not to eat alfalfa sprouts or spicy sprouts from plastic bags labeled “Evergreen Produce” or “Evergreen Produce Inc.”

The sprouts are possibly linked to 20 reported cases, including one hospitalization, of Salmonella Enteritidis in Idaho, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota and Washington State.

The elderly, infants and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness from Salmonella infection.

Consumers, retailers and others who have alfalfa sprouts or spicy sprouts in plastic bags labeled “Evergreen Produce” or “Evergreen Produce Inc.” should discard them in a sealed container so people and animals, including wild animals, cannot eat them.

Where did the sprout seeds originate

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As the death toll in the German E. coli O104 outbreak reached 48 and the sick approached 4,000, investigators have provided no clues on a key question: where did the seeds for sprouting originate?

Does anyone know?

"Investigations are ongoing, but the first findings suggest that locally grow sprouts might be involved," the WHO said in a statement Monday of the outbreak. It said that, of eight French cases so far, three of them carried the same bacteria strains as in Germany.

"Intensive traceback is under way to identify a possible common source of the German and French sprout seeds," it added. But "other potential vehicles are also under investigation

There was "no direct supply relationship" between the farm in Germany at the center of the outbreak and the British company, Thompson & Morgan, German spokeswoman Bansbach said.

Paul Hansord, managing director of Thompson & Morgan, said last night that it was “highly unlikely” that seeds supplied by his firm were to blame for the outbreak and insisted he had no plans to recall the products from shops and customers who have already bought them.

Environmental health officers have taken samples of the seeds from the company’s premises in Ipswich, Suffolk, so they can be tested for any trace of the E coli bug. The results are expected within four days.

“We have sold many hundreds of thousands of packets of sprouting seeds to home gardeners for several years without any reported problems.
“In particular we have sold around 100,000 packets of sprouting seeds in France from more than 500 outlets just since last November.

“All of the seeds came from the same batch and have been on sale in France for many months so if there had been a problem with them, we would have expected it to have emerged earlier.”

That’s nice. Where do the seeds come from? And are they circling the globe so that more outbreaks can be expected?
 

UK seeds linked to E coli outbreak

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This is what not to say during an outbreak of foodborne illness.

The U.K. Times reports that Britain’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) was investigating possible links between vegetable seeds supplied by a British company and an outbreak of E coli in south-west France.

French authorities have identified Thompson & Morgan, a British mail order seed and plant company, as being the supplier of seeds from which rocket, fenugreek and mustard vegetable sprouts were grown and served at a party at a creche near Bordeaux.

Ipswich-based Thomson & Morgan told the BBC in a statement it was "highly unlikely" the seeds were responsible.

The company had sold "thousands of packets and have had no reported problems." It was more likely that "the way that they were used and handled" had caused the contamination.

What Thomson & Morgan may want to say is a detailed accounting of where the sprout seeds are grown and all the fabulous food safety steps that are taken by the producers and distributors, including test results of germinated seeds to verify the controls are working.

And the Brits just announced sprouted seeds should only be eaten if they have been cooked thoroughly until steaming hot throughout; they should not be eaten raw.

Steaming hot, piping hot, whatever that means. And does not warn against the risk of cross-contamination while handling those little natural plants in a home or food service kitchen. Get rid of them.

A table of international sprout outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprouts-associated-outbreaks.
 

Irish say do not eat raw sprouts

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The Food Safety Authority of Ireland gets it right, and said this morning, don’t eat sprouts.

The German outbreak of E. coli O104 that has killed 45 and sickened some 3,800 has now spread to the Bordeaux region of southern France and sickened at least 10 people.

The N.Y. Times reports this morning what food safety types have been saying all along: a common supplier sprout seed might be the ultimate source of the E. coli O104 and if those seeds are still in circulation, other outbreaks could occur.

William E. Keene, a senior epidemiologist at the Oregon Public Health Division, said it was urgent to find out if the seeds used by the German grower had come from the same source as the seeds linked to the French cases.

At least five of the French cases involved kidney failure, and tests on two of those people showed they were infected with the O104:H4 strain. The eight people infected in the Bègles area were adults, age 31 to 78. In addition, two children were sickened in another town and they were presumed also to have E. coli infections, although it was not clear if they had the same strain.

The source of the bean sprouts or the seeds from which they were sprouted is not known at this time and is the subject of ongoing investigation. The implicated bean sprouts are unlikely to have originated in the German organic bean sprout farm as this farm is closed and it is known not to have exported bean sprouts.

This raises the possibility that contaminated seeds are on the market. Therefore as a precautionary measure, and until investigations are concluded, FSAI advises, for the time being that consumers should not to eat raw bean sprouts or other sprouted seeds and caterers should not serve raw bean sprouts or other sprouted seeds.

Who knows what kind of crap is sprouting by your kitchen windowsill or in your herb garden.

Given the number of dead and dying related to this outbreak, the traceback has been an enormous failure.

A table of international sprout outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprouts-associated-outbreaks.
 

Don’t eat sprouts: Idaho version, 19 sick with salmonella

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Idaho state public health officials are investigating a number of salmonella cases
believed to be connected to the consumption of alfalfa sprouts.

The investigation is ongoing and includes 19 ill persons from northern Idaho, eastern Washington and western Montana.

Of the persons reported with salmonella infection linked to the outbreak, six have reported consumption of sprouts obtained from a northern Idaho grower, Evergreen Produce, located in Moyie Springs, Idaho.

A listing of international raw sprout outbreaks is available at:
http://bites.ksu.edu/sprouts-associated-outbreaks.
 

French say it’s British sprout seeds: how about don’t eat sprouts

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Who wouldn’t want to hang out in Bordeaux, southwestern France. We did on our way back from the ocean-and-lake-side retreat of Maubuisson a few years ago and had probably the best lunch any friends could ever serve.

Unfortunately, 10 cases of E. coli poisoning have emerged in Bordeaux in the past few days, linked to raw spouts, and the same strain that walloped Germany.

Early on in the German outbreak, a U.S. science-type told me, it’s the seed that’s probably infected and more outbreaks will appear; that’s what happened in the U.S. over the past 15 years.

At least six out of the 10 people were found to have eaten the sprouts at a local fete in Begres, southeast of Bordeaux, said a police statement, citing health authorities.

Health authorities said tests had shown two of the patients were infected by the same potentially deadly strain of the disease as that found recently in Germany, but did not say whether there was a link between the two outbreaks.

Frederic Lefebvre, secretary of state for consumer affairs, said the sprouts were purchased at a Jardiland store and were produced by Thompson & Morgan based in Ipswich, England.

The minister called for the company’s sprouts, mustard and roquette to be withdrawn from sale while an analysis was conducted.

Lefebvre also recommended that "consumers who bought these same products not use them," he said in a statement.

Jennifer Lopez’s son had a $6,000 poop in her pool

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The 3-year-old son of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony had a poop in their pool and it cost $6,000 to clean.

Oh The Scandal reports that Marc told Jay Leno this week, “He had an accident in the pool. It got into the filtration system and they charged us to clean it. That was expensive. He took a $6,000 dump in the pool!”
 

E. coli outbreak at splash park; Alabama health department investigating***

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Two children who visited the Opelika Sportsplex and Aquatics Center’s Splash Park between June 12 and June 20 have tested positive for E. coli infection, according to a Thursday release from the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Parents of children who visited the Splash Park during the same period have been cautioned to be alert for symptoms of illness such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps.

“Based on what we know now, four children who were in the Splash Park between June 12 and June 18 have been hospitalized at East Alabama Medical Center with gastrointestinal illness,” said Dr. Mary McIntyre, medical officer of the ADPH’s Bureau of Communicable Disease. The Splash Pool appears to be the common area of exposure at this time, according to that same ADPH release.

Of the two samples to test positive for E. coli, only one was from a child admitted to the East Alabama Medical Center, said John Atkinson, EAMC public relations manager.

“The other sample is from a child that was seen at a local doctor’s office, and who did not require hospitalization. To our knowledge, two children have been seen by local doctors with similar symptoms, making it a total of six (four at EAMC and two in the community),” Atkinson said. “We do not expect that number to increase.”

In one of the worst media quotes ever, Sam Bailey, director of the Opelika Parks & Recreation Department, said, “I would be shocked to think at some point tomorrow (Friday) we won’t be open, unless something we don’t know about occurs, and we’re not expecting that.”

With microorganisms, expect the unexpected.
 

Gonzalo Erdozain: eight cases of Q fever in two states not related for now

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In what seems to be two unrelated outbreaks of Q fever, five people fell ill in Washington and three in Michigan. The Washington outbreak was caused by infected goats – officials believe the pathogen infected the five people via contaminated dust particles.

Three women in Michigan fell ill after consuming raw cow milk from their dairy herd share program from a Livingston County farm.

Humans in general are at risk of zoonotic infection, but children (especially under the age of 5), pregnant women, the elderly, and immunocompromised people are at a higher risk.

Q fever is not common; this is the first reported Michigan case in 20 years and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that around 3 per cent of the healthy U.S. population and 10-20 per cent of persons in high-risk occupations (veterinarians, farmers, etc.) have antibodies to C. burnetii, suggesting past exposure. More frequent pathogens associated with animal-human contact and raw milk consumption are E. coli O157, Salmonella, Cryptosporidium and Campylobacter. For more info of the many types of zoonotic diseases that have been linked to animal-human contact outbreaks at petting zoos/farms, and raw milk consumption, visit our tables,

http://bites.ksu.edu/rawmilk and

http://bites.ksu.edu/petting-zoos-outbreaks.