Yearly Archives: 2015

What kind of synthetic drug? Initial tests for 3 Kings bakery

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Preliminary laboratory results were released on Friday in a foodborne illness investigation of a Santa Ana Bakery that distributed tainted bread.

3kingsAccording to the Orange County Health Care Agency, the results indicated the presence of a synthetic drug, which was used in making Rosca de Reyes bread at Cholula’s Bakery.

Officials explained more than 30 people reported experiencing dizziness, palpitations and numbness after eating the bread on Jan. 5 and 6.

The bakery will remain closed as part of the investigation until the business can show professional restaurant grade cleaning, disposal of all opened food and all ingredients used to make the bread, and mandatory food safety training for all staff.

Should I worry should I not: Critical review of methodology and application of risk ranking for food

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This study aimed to critically review methodologies for ranking of risks related to feed/food safety  and nutritional hazards, on the basis of their anticipated human health impact.

risk.ranking.efsa.jan.15An extensive systematic literature review was performed to identify and characterize the available methodologies for risk ranking in the fields of feed and food safety and nutritional hazards, as well as the socio-economic field.

Risk ranking methods from the environmental field were studied as well to determine whether approaches used in this field could also be applied for ranking human health risks related to feed and food safety and nutritional hazards.

The review used a predefined search protocol. It covered the bibliographic databases Scopus, CAB Abstracts, Web of Sciences, and PubMed over the period 1993-2013. All references obtained were stored into an Endnote database and evaluated for their relevance. All references deemed to be relevant were studied in–depth so as to characterize the risk ranking method described. Characteristics of each method were stored in an Excel database.

The methods for risk ranking were then grouped into method categories, which were described in general. These groups included: risk assessment, comparative risk assessment, risk ratio method, scoring method, cost of illness, DALY/QALY, willingness to pay, multi criteria decision analysis, risk matrix, flow charts/decision trees and expert judgment methods.

Based on the characteristics of the individual methods and the method categories, an overarching framework was developed for selection of the appropriate method(s) that could be used for risk ranking of feed and food related hazards, on the basis of human health impact. This framework has the format of a decision tool, with which – given the characteristics of the risk ranking question at hand – the most appropriate method(s) can be selected.

Application of this overall framework to several case studies showed it can be a useful tool for risk managers/assessors to select the most suitable method for risk ranking of feed/food and diet related hazards, on the basis of expected human health impact.

Critical review of methodology and application of risk ranking for prioritization of food and feed related issues, on the basis of the size of anticipated health impac

EFSA

H.J. van der Fels-Klerx, E.D. van Asselt, M. Raleyh, M. Poulsen, H. Korsgaard, L. Bredsdorff, M. Nauta, V. Flari, M. d’Agostino, D. Coles, L. Frewer

www.efsa.europa.eu/publications

Screen Shot 2015-01-09 at 11.13.43 PM

 

4th-graders in New York planned to kill teacher with hand sanitizer

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Law enforcement officials say a group of fourth-grade students allegedly talked about trying to kill their teacher with hand sanitizer because she was mean to them, but concerned parents and a school board member foiled the plot.

teacher-sanitizer-insertThe alleged incident happened in December just before winter break, and according to the police report, three students between ages 9 and 10 at Elba Elementary School, located between Rochester and Buffalo, were involved.

Their plan was to expose a teacher to anti-bacterial products because she is highly allergic to them.

The report, provided by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, said, “the suspects made comments to other students that they were going to kill (the teacher) by putting antibacterial products around the classroom.”

Microbiological risk? Lettuce from British Columbia

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As I sit and overlook Vancouver Harbour, it’s timely that hockey buddy Kevin Allen had a paper published about lettuce: because who doesn’t think of locally grown lettuce in Jan.

lettuceIncreased consumer demand for fresh leafy produce has been paralleled by an increase in outbreaks and illness associated with these foods.

Presently, data on the microbiological quality and safety of produce harvested in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia is lacking. Therefore, fresh green, red, and romaine lettuce samples (n = 68) were obtained from five regional farmers’ markets in late summer of 2012 and subsequently analyzed to determine total numbers of aerobic bacteria, coliforms, and Escherichia coli. Additionally, enrichment procedures were used to detect low concentrations of E. coli.

Obtained E. coli isolates were subjected to multiplex PCRs to determine phylogenetic groupings and the presence of virulence genes (eaeA, hlyA, stx 1, and stx 2). All E. coli were tested for resistance to 15 antibiotics using a disk diffusion assay.

Lettuce samples yielded mean aerobic colony counts of 6.3 log CFU/g. Coliforms were detected in 72% of samples, with a median concentration of 1.9 log CFU/g. Of samples, 13% were found to harbor E. coli, with a median level of 0.7 log CFU/g. Antibiogram typing of all E. coli (n = 33) revealed that 97% possessed resistance to one or more antimicrobials, with resistance to amikacin (58%), trimethoprim (48%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (45%) being the most common.

Phylogroup typing showed that 79% of these isolates belonged to group B1, with the remaining assigned to groups A (9%) or D (12%); no virulence genes were detected. Considering that phylogroup indicators suggestive of fecal contamination (groups A and D E. coli) were recovered in lettuce samples presented at retail, further work is required to explore at what point along the food chain contamination occurs.

Also, this study shows the presence of multidrug-resistant E. coli in fresh vegetables. Summed, these data provide important information on the microbiological quality of leafy vegetables grown in British Columbia through the detection and characterization of frequently used indicator organisms.

 

Microbiological survey of locally grown lettuce sold at farmers’ markets in Vancouver, British Columbia

jan.15

Journal of Food Protection®, Number 1, January 2015, pp. 4-234, pp. 203-208(6)

Wood, Jayde L.; Chen, Jessica C.; Friesen, Elsie; Delaquis, Pascal; Allen, Kevin J.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2015/00000078/00000001/art00028

Salmonella and listeria and raw milk

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Two quantitative risk assessment (RA) models were developed to describe the risk of salmonellosis and listeriosis linked to consumption of raw milk sold in vending machines in Italy.

colbert.raw.milkExposure assessment considered the official microbiological records monitoring raw milk samples from vending machines performed by the regional veterinary authorities from 2008 to 2011, microbial growth during storage, destruction experiments, consumption frequency of raw milk, serving size, and consumption preference.

Two separate RA models were developed: one for the consumption of boiled milk and the other for the consumption of raw milk. The RA models predicted no human listeriosis cases per year either in the best or worst storage conditions and with or without boiling raw milk, whereas the annual estimated cases of salmonellosis depend on the dose-response relationships used in the model, the milk storage conditions, and consumer behavior in relation to boiling raw milk or not.

For example, the estimated salmonellosis cases ranged from no expected cases, assuming that the entire population boiled milk before consumption, to a maximum of 980,128 cases, assuming that the entire population drank raw milk without boiling, in the worst milk storage conditions, and with the lowest dose-response model.

The findings of this study clearly show how consumer behavior could affect the probability and number of salmonellosis cases and in general, the risk of illness. Hence, the proposed RA models emphasize yet again that boiling milk before drinking is a simple yet effective tool to protect consumers against the risk of illness inherent in the consumption of raw milk.

The models may also offer risk managers a useful tool to identify or implement appropriate measures to control the risk of acquiring foodborne pathogens. Quantification of the risks associated with raw milk consumption is necessary from a public health perspective.

 

Quantitative risk assessment of human salmonellosis and listeriosis related to the consumption of raw milk in Italy

Journal of Food Protection®, Number 1, January 2015, pp. 4-234, pp. 13-21(9)

Giacometti, Federica; Bonilauri, Paolo; Albonetti, Sabrina; Amatiste, Simonetta; Arrigoni, Norma; Bianchi, Manila; Bertasi, Barbara; Bilei, Stefano; Bolzoni, Giuseppe; Cascone, Giuseppe; Comin, Damiano; Daminelli, Paolo; Decastelli, Lucia; Merialdi, Giuseppe; Mioni, Renzo; Peli, Angelo; Petruzzelli, Annalisa; Tonucci, Franco; Bonerba, Elisabetta; Serraino, Andrea

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2015/00000078/00000001/art00004

Listeriosis: Bad food, bad holding, susceptible population

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The Interagency Risk Assessment—Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) in Retail Delicatessens provides a scientific assessment of the risk of listeriosis associated with the consumption of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods commonly prepared and sold in the delicatessen (deli) of a retail food store.

listeria4The quantitative risk assessment (QRA) model simulates the behavior of retail employees in a deli department and tracks the Lm potentially present in this environment and in the food. Bacterial growth, bacterial inactivation (following washing and sanitizing actions), and cross-contamination (from object to object, from food to object, or from object to food) are evaluated through a discrete event modeling approach. The QRA evaluates the risk per serving of deli-prepared RTE food for the susceptible and general population, using a dose-response model from the literature.

This QRA considers six separate retail baseline conditions and provides information on the predicted risk of listeriosis for each. Among the baseline conditions considered, the model predicts that (i) retail delis without an environmental source of Lm (such as niches), retail delis without niches that do apply temperature control, and retail delis with niches that do apply temperature control lead to lower predicted risk of listeriosis relative to retail delis with niches and (ii) retail delis with incoming RTE foods that are contaminated with Lm lead to higher predicted risk of listeriosis, directly or through cross-contamination, whether the contaminated incoming product supports growth or not.

The risk assessment predicts that listeriosis cases associated with retail delicatessens result from a sequence of key events: (i) the contaminated RTE food supports Lm growth; (ii) improper retail and/or consumer storage temperature or handling results in the growth of Lm on the RTE food; and (iii) the consumer of this RTE food is susceptible to listeriosis. The risk assessment model, therefore, predicts that cross-contamination with Lm at retail predominantly results in sporadic cases.

Journal of Food Protection®, Number 1, January 2015, pp. 4-234, pp. 134-145(12)

Pouillot, Régis; Gallagher, Daniel; Tang, Jia; Hoelzer, Karin; Kause, Janell; Dennis, Sherri B.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2015/00000078/00000001/art00019

Who doesn’t? Working when sick

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Surveillance data indicate that handling of food by an ill worker is a cause of almost half of all restaurant-related outbreaks. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Code contains recommendations for food service establishments, including restaurants, aimed at reducing the frequency with which food workers work while ill. However, few data exist on the extent to which restaurants have implemented FDA recommendations.

sick.rest.workerThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net) conducted a study on the topic of ill food workers in restaurants. We interviewed restaurant managers (n = 426) in nine EHS-Net sites. We found that many restaurant policies concerning ill food workers do not follow FDA recommendations. For example, one-third of the restaurants’ policies did not specifically address the circumstances under which ill food workers should be excluded from work (i.e., not be allowed to work). We also found that, in many restaurants, managers are not actively involved in decisions about whether ill food workers should work. Additionally, almost 70% of managers said they had worked while ill; 10% said they had worked while having nausea or “stomach flu,” possible symptoms of foodborne illness.

When asked why they had worked when ill, a third of the managers said they felt obligated to work or their strong work ethic compelled them to work. Other reasons cited were that the restaurant was understaffed or no one was available to replace them (26%), they felt that their symptoms were mild or not contagious (19%), they had special managerial responsibilities that no one else could fulfill (11%), there was non–food handling work they could do (7%), and they would not get paid if they did not work or the restaurant had no sick leave policy (5%).

Data from this study can inform future research and help policy makers target interventions designed to reduce the frequency with which food workers work while ill.

 Managerial practices regarding workers working while ill

Journal of Food Protection, Number 1, January 2015, pp. 4-234, pp. 187-195(9)

Norton, D. M.; Brown, L. G.; Frick, R.; Carpenter, L. R.; Green, A. L.; Tobin-D’Angelo, M.; Reimann, D. W.; Blade, H.; Nicholas, D. C.; Egan, J. S.; Everstine, K.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2015/00000078/00000001/art00026

Sticking around: Persistent and transient L. monocytogenes strains from retail deli environments

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Based on recent risk assessments, up to 83% of listeriosis cases from deli meat in the United States are predicted to be from ready-to-eat deli meats contaminated during processing at retail grocery stores.

listeria.deli.slicer.jan.15Listeria monocytogenes is known to use sanitizer tolerance and biofilm formation to survive, but interplay of these mechanisms along with virulence potential and persistence mechanisms specific to deli environments had yet to be elucidated.

In this study, 442 isolates from food and nonfood contact surfaces in 30 retail delis over 9 months were tested for inlA premature stop codons (PMSCs); inlA encodes InlA, which is necessary to cause listeriosis. A total of 96 isolates, composed of 23 persistent and 73 transient strains, were tested for adhesion and biofilm-forming ability and sanitizer tolerance. Only 10/442 isolates had inlA PMSCs (p<0.001). Strains with PMSCs were not persistent, even in delis with other persistent strains. Most (7/10) PMSC-containing isolates were collected from food contact surfaces (p<0.001); 6/10 PMSC-containing isolates were found in moderate prevalence delis (p<0.05). Persistent strains had enhanced adhesion on day 1 of a 5-day adhesion-biofilm formation assay. However, there was no significant difference in sanitizer tolerance between persistent and transient strains.

Results suggest that foods contaminated with persistent L. monocytogenes strains from the retail environment are (1) likely to have wild-type virulence potential and (2) may persist due to increased adhesion and biofilm formation capacity rather than sanitizer tolerance, thus posing a significant public health risk.

 Persistent and transient Listeria monocytogenes strains from retail deli environments vary in their ability to adhere and form biofilms and rarely have inlA premature stop codons

Foodborne Pathogens and Disease [ahead of print]

Wang Jingjin, Ray Andrea J., Hammons Susan R., and Oliver Haley F.

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/fpd.2014.1837

Red-yellow-green disclosure for San Jose

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“Whether you are grabbing a quick lunch or settling in for a fancy dinner, you want to know that the food was prepared in a kitchen that is clean and safe.” That’s how county supervisor Joe Simitian summarized his push for a major countywide system that will eventually rate every one of the 8,000 dining places in the county and later all food trucks and caterers.

doug.honolulu.rest.inspecIt will require posting in the front a placard with a red, yellow or green color and also put online the complete results of most recent inspections along with any past violations.

This significant public health program launched over the past year by the county’s Department of Environmental Health has been tested, vetted and analyzed at workshops along with a huge number of public comments. There are also on-going class sessions for restaurant operators and their staffs. And now it is ready for a rollout.

A variation of this program has been working for several years in many other jurisdictions including Sacramento, San Diego, Alameda and Los Angeles counties (and Toronto; this is what it looks like in Honolulu earlier this week, right) but our county has carefully tweaked it to fit locally. And it appears to have the support of the dining industry, according to DEH Consumer Protection Director Mike Balliett.

The website at sccgov.org/SCCDineOut will provide the food facility inspection results and also list the restaurants that have been shut down for food safety violations over the past six months.

The county’s 38 inspectors will begin using the placard and website system as they complete their regular inspections here in San Jose and all the other cities. 

Hygiene failures: 36 Surrey restaurants closed by Fraser Health in 2014

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Thirty-six Surrey, B.C. restaurants were closed at one point or another last year by Fraser Health. That number is up 16 from 2013, during which 20 restaurants were received closure orders. All but two of the restaurants on the 2014 list were re-opened after they made the satisfactory changes.

surrey.restThe most common reason for the restaurant closures were related to hygiene, with many being closed down for not being maintained in a sanitary condition, or failure to ensure utensils or surfaces are maintained in a sanitary manner. Others were closed for maintenance or equipment issues.

Fourteen of the restaurants were cited to have pest problems and one restaurant, Bukjang Korean Restaurant, was cited for a “failure to ensure the food was obtained from approved sources.”

Inderjeet Gill, manager in health protection at Fraser Health said that restaurant in particular had been sourcing eggs that were cracked, soiled and feathered and remains closed after having their permit revoked. Biryani Garden Restaurant also remains closed.