On Sept. 9, 2011, reports first surfaced of an outbreak of Listeria linked to cantaloupe – known as rock melons in Australia — grown in Colorado. Already two were dead and seven others sick.
On Aug. 17, 2012, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control announced an outbreak of Salmonella linked to cantaloupe that ultimately killed three people and sickened 270 in 26 states.
In Australia, a third death has now been linked to the Listeria-in-rockmelon outbreak, and the number of sick people has risen to 12.
Already, an Australian rockmelon grower is saying “misinformation” about the listeria outbreak will have a negative impact on growers.
The only misinformation – or fake news – is the lack of information to regain consumer confidence and trust.
Sadly, the number of dead and sick will probably grow, because Listeria has an incubation period of up to six weeks. The melon you ate five weeks ago could make you sick with listeriosis tomorrow.
This is not misinformation, it’s biology.
A table (that needs to be updated) of cantaloupe-or-rockmelon-related outbreaks is available here.
I’m not a fan of the guac, ever since a hungover former partner spewed vile smelling green stuff at the side of the road decades ago.
And I’m wary of fresh herbs, based on previous outbreaks.
So is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which on Feb. 23, 2018, revealeddetails on just how many bacteria are hiding in fresh, store-bought herbs. The agency plans to continue testing herbs through 2019 to thoroughly assess their “rates of bacterial contamination.”
The plan is to test 1,600 samples of items “typically eaten without having undergone a ‘kill step,’ such as cooking, to reduce or eliminate bacteria.” These items include fresh cilantro, parsley, and basil.
This first round of results revealed that of the 139 fresh herb samples tested, four tested positive for salmonella and three contained E. coli bacteria.
The Packer noted the testing found no pathogens in the U.S. herbs versus imported herbs.
In the same period, the FDA found that three of the 58 U.S.-processed avocado products that were tested had listeria, and one of the 49 imported samples had listeria.
From 1996 to 2015, the FDA linked 2,699 illnesses and 84 hospitalizations to fresh herbs.
The FDA also plans to sample processed avocado for similar reasons – from 2005 to 2015, 525 illnesses were linked to avocados in 12 separate outbreaks. Of 107 avocado and guacamole samples in the initial results, four contained listeria. Avocados, the FDA notes, “have a high moisture content and a non-acidic pH level, conditions that can support the growth of harmful bacteria.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control there are at least 350 languages spoken in U.S. homes (2009-2013 data).
People who have limited English proficiency can be found in all 50 states (2014 data).
About 65,00 people in the U.S. who have limited English proficiency speak Navajo or another native North American Language (2009-2013 data).
Effective communication during an emergency can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. This is true whether communicating with those whose primary language is English or with people who have limited English proficiency. People who are limited English proficient (LEP) are those who “do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English” (https://www.lep.gov/faqs/faqs.html#OneQ1).
People who are LEP can be found throughout the United States and when it comes to planning for, responding to, and recovering from disasters, considering their needs can help ensure a better emergency response. Below are some tips from our colleagues at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for reaching LEP communities in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery.
Establish policies and procedures that include language access in your emergency plan.
Identify the language groups in your area.
Ensure LEP individuals can access your programs and services.
Conduct outreach efforts.
Include LEP individuals and language access issues in training,
Provide notifications, warnings, and other information in the languages of the affected communities.
Plan for language access needs as part of survivor care.
Do not rely upon children as interpreters and translators.
Between 12 July and 29 September 2013, 29 individuals in five Canadian provinces became ill following infection with the same strain of Escherichia coli O157:H7 as defined by molecular typing results. Five case patients were hospitalized, and one died.
Twenty-six case patients (90%) reported eating Gouda cheese originating from a dairy plant in British Columbia. All of the 22 case patients with sufficient product details available reported consuming Gouda cheese made with raw milk; this cheese had been produced between March and July 2013 and was aged for a minimum of 60 days. The outbreak strain was isolated from the implicated Gouda cheese, including one core sample obtained from an intact cheese wheel 83 days after production.
The findings indicate that raw milk was the primary source of the E. coli O157:H7, which persisted through production and the minimum 60-day aging period. This outbreak is the third caused by E. coli O157:H7 traced to Gouda cheese made with raw milk in North America.
These findings provide further evidence that a 60-day ripening period cannot ensure die-off of pathogens that might be present in raw milk Gouda cheese after production and have triggered an evaluation of processing conditions, physicochemical parameters, and options to mitigate the risk of E. coli O157:H7 infection associated with raw milk Gouda cheese produced in Canada.
Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections linked to aged raw milk gouda cheese, Canada, 2013
Andrea Currie, Eleni Galanis, Pedro Chacon, Regan Murray, Lynn Wilcott, Paul Kirkby, Lance Honish, Kristyn Franklin, Jeff Farber, Rob Parker, Sion Shyng, Davendra Sharma, Lorelee Tschetter, Linda Hoang, Linda Chui, Ana Pacagnella, Julie Wong, Jane Pritchard, Ashley Kerr, Marsha Taylor, Victor Mah, and James Flint
Repetition is the norm. Karl Popper had something to say about that.
In 2004, my laboratory reported (and by reported I mean published in a peer-reviewed journal) that, based on 60 hours of detailed viewing of television cooking shows, an unsafe food handling practice occurred about every four minutes, and that for every safe food handling practice observed, we observed 13 unsafe practices. The most common errors were inadequate hand washing and cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods.
Once the paper was published, it made headlines around the globe.
They then tested two groups of participants making chicken salad with home-made mayonnaise based on a cooking video – one of which showed a chef who followed recommendations and another which showed a cook with poor hygiene.
Those shown the video with the exemplary kitchen hygiene complied with the recommended measures more frequently when cooking the dish by themselves.
Prof Hensel added: “The results show that the kitchen hygiene presented in cooking shows may have an influence on the hygiene behaviour of the viewers.
“TV cooking shows can therefore take on a role model function by sharpening awareness of kitchen hygiene instead of neglecting it.”
Consumers receive information on food preparation from a variety of sources. Numerous studies conducted over the past six years demonstrate that television is one of the primary sources for North Americans. This research reports on an examination and categorization of messages that television food and cooking programs provide to viewers about preparing food safely. During June 2002 and 2003, television food and cooking programs were recorded and reviewed, using a defined list of food safety practices based on criteria established by Food Safety Network researchers. Most surveyed programs were shown on Food Network Canada, a specialty cable channel. On average, 30 percent of the programs viewed were produced in Canada, with the remainder produced in the United States or United Kingdom. Sixty hours of content analysis revealed that the programs contained a total of 916 poor food-handling incidents. When negative food handling behaviors were compared to positive food handling behaviors, it was found that for each positive food handling behavior observed, 13 negative behaviors were observed. Common food safety errors included a lack of hand washing, cross-contamination and time-temperature violations. While television food and cooking programs are an entertainment source, there is an opportunity to improve their content so as to promote safe food handling.
Risk assessments are fraught with value judgements scientists make when choosing the upper and lower boundaries of numerical ranges and the assumptions made, especially those involving human behavior.
For the many food safety risk assessors and analysts out there, a New Zealand tree may offer a lesson.
A tree in Rotorua, known as Spencer’s Oak, was deemed to be of a “tolerable” level of risk when it came down in a Jan. 2018 storm and killed a woman.
The 150-year-old oak, believed to be around 23m tall, blocked Amohia St, trapped 56-year-old Trish Butterworth in her car. She died at the scene.
The risk assessment of the tree has been revealed in documents released by Rotorua Lakes Council to Stuff under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.
Benn Bathgate reports that in a tree assessment report from an arboricultural contractor dated February 28, 2017, Spencer’s Oak and a second tree were assessed.
“The assessed risk levels for these trees all fall the tolerable level,” the report said.
“There is some decay evident in some of the buttress roots and in some old pruning wounds. Sounding the trunk and buttress roots with a plastic mallet did not indicate any major areas of concern.”
The report also found several old wire rope cables installed in the tree which were described as “under a lot of tension”, with one frayed and unravelling.
“Although the cables appear to be under tension there are no signs that these cables are required by the tree.”
The tree was also described as showing signs of decline.
The report also outlines three bands of risk level; broadly acceptable, tolerable and unacceptable.
“This inspection and report will give the three a risk rating and options for mitigation,” the report said.
“It is up to the tree owners to decide what if any action is to be taken depending on their tolerance of tisk.”
The report’s conclusion said if the examined trees had major deadwood removed, their risk level would be considered as low as reasonably practible.
I have never fed any of my dogs or cats raw pet food.
They may eat each other’s poop, but I control what I can control.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting pet owners to a history of four recalls of and multiple complaints associated with Darwin’s Natural and ZooLogics pet foods, manufactured by Arrow Reliance Inc., dba Darwin’s Natural Pet Products, over the period from October 17, 2016 to February 10, 2018. In each instance, the company recalled these products after being alerted to positive findings of Salmonella and/or Listeria monocytogenes in samples of their raw pet food products.
In its most recent recall, on February 10, 2018, Arrow Reliance/Darwin’s Natural recalled ZooLogics Duck with Vegetable Meals for Dogs (Lot #41957) and ZooLogics Chicken with Vegetable Meals for Dogs (Lot #41567) because the products may be contaminated with Salmonella and therefore have the potential to cause salmonellosis in humans and animals. The company states that it only sells its products online through direct-to-consumer sales.
The FDA has investigated six complaints of illness and death in animals that have eaten the recalled products.
Arrow Reliance/Darwin’s Natural has notified its customers directly of the recalls, but has so far not issued any public notification announcing this or any of the previous recalls.
This issue is of particular public health importance because Salmonella can make both people and animals sick.
As part of an ongoing investigation into complaints associated with products manufactured by Arrow Reliance/Darwin’s Natural of Tukwila, WA, the FDA has confirmed that new samples of Darwin’s Natural Pet Products raw pet foods have tested positive for Salmonella. These raw pet foods include ZooLogics Duck with Vegetable Meals for Dogs Lot #41957 and ZooLogics Chicken with Vegetable Meals for Dogs Lot #41567.
The latest recall was triggered by a complaint of an adult dog that had recurring diarrhea over a nine-month period. The dog tested positive for Salmonella from initial testing by the veterinarian and by follow-up testing by the FDA’s Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network (Vet-LIRN). The Darwin’s Natural raw pet food that the dog had been fed was also positive for Salmonella.
Arrow Reliance/Darwin’s Natural is aware of the dog’s illness and the positive results and initiated a recall on February 10, 2018 by directly notifying its customers via email. The firm has not issued a public recall notice.
Since October 2016, Arrow Reliance/Darwin’s Natural has initiated four recalls and had six reported complaints (some referring to more than one animal) associated with their raw pet food products, including the death of one kitten from a severe systemic Salmonella infection. The Salmonella isolated from the kitten was analyzed using whole genome sequencing and found to be indistinguishable from the Salmonella isolated from a closed package from the same lot of Darwin’s Natural cat food that the kitten ate.
In addition to reports of illnesses associated with Salmonella contamination in the products, the FDA is aware of complaints of at least three animals who were reportedly injured by bone shards in the Darwin’s Natural raw pet food products.
I don’t know what it is about Australians, whether it’s some pseudo-inherited British culture of hierarchy, or just dumbness, but lately, any outbreak of barfing and pooping is called a gastro outbreak.
As in gastroenteritis.
There are microbiology labs in Australia, so figure it out, and let people know.
Janelle Miles of The Courier Mail reports 20 students at two University of Queensland residential colleges have fallen ill with gastroenteritis in the middle of orientation week.
The students are residents of King’s College and Grace College at UQ’s St Lucia campus in Brisbane’s west.
They have been quarantined separated from other students to avoid the infection spreading.
Was it foodborne? Are there any epidemiologists in Australia? Is anyone investigating?
Nine years ago I had my most memorable bout with foodborne illness. I had Campylobacter and it was terrible. It all started with a trip to visit Doug in Kansas.
I gave a somewhat incoherent talk to an undergraduate food microbiology class while sweating; slept most of my visit away; went to a football game; left the football game at halftime; spent two nights rushing to the bathroom every hour to evacuate my intestines.
I wanted to blame Doug.
He brings out the best in people.
After a feverish trip home (diarrhea on a plane sucks) and crashing for the remainder of the weekend I went to my doctor to get things checked out. I described my symptoms, had a rectal exam (fun) and was given the materials needed for a stool sample.
The idea of stool sample harvesting was way more fun than the actual act.
It’s amazing any foodborne illnesses are confirmed with stool samples because the process is a bit nuts. It took some thinking to figure out how to catch the sample without contaminating it with water or urine. The final decision was to use the bucket from our cleaned and sanitized salad spinner – which has since been retired – and place it in the toilet bowl.
I took the poop harvest and filled three vials to fill (one for C. difficile, one for parasites and another for other pathogens), and a bonus margarine-like tub for “other things.” The vials were easy, they came with their own spoons. After ten swipes across the base of the former salad spinner I was able to messily get the rest of the sample collected in the tub. Then came the clean-up. This whole episode took me about 45 minutes.
I proudly returned to the doctor’s office with samples in hand. I asked her what percentage of stool sample kits come back filled with poop. She said about 10%.
That’s the problem with clinical confirmation of foodborne illness pathogens.
Patrick Quade and the iwaspoisoned.com group is trying to add to the toolbox of public health foodborne illness investigations, because not a lot of samples make it to public health so cases can be confirmed.
According to the New York Times, this is the era of internet-assisted consumer revenge, and as scorned customers in industries from dentistry to dog-walking have used digital platforms to broadcast their displeasure, the balance of power has tipped considerably in the buyer’s favor. This is especially true of IWasPoisoned, which has collected about 89,000 reports since it opened in 2009.
Consumers use the site to decide which restaurants to avoid, and public health departments and food industry groups routinely monitor its submissions, hoping to identify outbreaks before they spread. The site has even begun to tilt stocks, as traders on Wall Street see the value of knowing which national restaurant chain might soon have a food-safety crisis on its hands.
Not everyone is happy about the added transparency. Restaurant executives have criticized IWasPoisoned for allowing anonymous and unverified submissions, which they say leads to false reports and irresponsible fear-mongering. Some public health officials have objected on the grounds that food poisoning victims can’t be trusted to correctly identify what made them sick.
“It’s not helping food safety,” said Martin Wiedmann, a professor of food safety at Cornell University. “If you want to trace food-borne illness, it needs to be done by public health departments, and it needs to include food history.”
I dunno. Maybe it will help as a supplemental data set. There are folks in local and state health departments subscribing to alerts that can lead to earlier and more focused investigations.
The end of my story is that I was diagnosed with campylobacteriosis. I became a statistic. I was administered a food history questionnaire. No answers on a source ever came back. New tools to crowdsource public health information can act as a an early warning system for outbreak and illness investigators.
Martin Naylor of the Mirror reports a brazen couple claimed they fell in with food poisoning while on holiday – only to put up pictures of themselves having fun and eating luxury meals on social media.
Leon Roberts and Jade Muzoka pleaded guilty to fraud and have been warned by a judge that they can face jail.
The couple falsely claimed their holiday in Turkey was ruined in a scam that could have cost travel firm TUI £50,000 had they not been caught out, the Derby Telegraph reports.
But despite the pair discontinuing their story before a penny was paid out, the company chose to prosecute.
District Judge Jonathan Taaffe said: “It would fly in the face of common sense to regard this as an isolated incident.
“It is a real problem in Great Britain and has a real impact on the genuine persons who suffer that make genuine claims and put those who do suffer illness on holiday under suspicion.
“This (the offences) is outside the (sentencing) guidelines because it encourages a tsunami of false claims.
“All (sentencing) options are open at this stage and this is a serious case and it may be that a custodial sentence will follow to show the importance of your wrongdoing.”
Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court was told how Roberts, 37, of Alvaston, and Muzoka, 27, from Sinfin, spent a week at the luxury Cornelia Golf Resort and Spa, in Turkey, in July 2015.
The following April, the pair submitted claims through their solicitor saying they both fell ill during their time away.
But investigators discovered photographs of the couple, who are no longer together, lounging by the pool, drinking and eating dinner.
By the end of the outbreak, 33 people were killed and at least 140 sickened.
