NZ poultry industry calls chicken contamination findings ‘scaremongering’

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Douglas Powell

That didn’t take long.

Nor should it.

But the so-called experts undermine their case by not advocating the use of a tip-sensitive digital thermometer and instead relying on the woefully unreliable color test (‘chicken must be fully cooked through until juices run clear) for safety.

A new University of Otago, Wellington study, published last week in the international journal BMC Public Health found an overwhelming majority of consumers were not aware of the widespread Campylobacter contamination.

But the Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand is challenging the findings, which it says does not reflect reported Campylobacter statistics nor consumer behaviour.

PIANZ executive director Michael Brooks said the findings did not add up with New Zealand’s soaring chicken consumption, and flat rates of reported campylobacter cases.

“Reported cases of campylobacter have sat between 6000 to 7000 for the past five years, so it’s misleading to estimate there are 30,000 cases occurring,” Brooks said.

“It is important to note that the source of these cases was not always chicken.

“Consumers contract campylobacteriosis from other sources too.”

Brooks said the poultry industry had made significant changes when it came to labelling for food safety.

The association lost control of that access to information once third parties like butchers or supermarkets started packaging their own raw chicken product.

“As an industry it is important for everyone to educate their customers on food safety practices.”

Brooks said he welcomed a collaborative approach with institutions such as Otago University, as consumer education was key to reducing cases of campylobacter.

Campy in NZ poultry: ‘Warning labels required’

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Douglas Powell

(Doesn’t say if the study has been published in a peer-reviewed journal.)

New Zealanders want brightly coloured warning labels on fresh chicken to warn them of the risks of the country’s “number one food safety problem”, new research suggests.

A University of Otago study found only 15 per cent of consumers were aware that 60 to 90 per cent of fresh chicken meat for sale in New Zealand is contaminated with campylobacter.

“This study has identified some clear gaps in campylobacteriosis prevention in New Zealand,” University of Otago infectious diseases researcher Professor Michael Baker said.

“Fresh chicken is heavily contaminated with campylobacter and causes an estimated 30,000 New Zealanders to get sick each year. “

Fresh chicken was also spreading antibiotic resistant bacteria and was “New Zealand’s number one food safety problem”, Baker said.

Speaking on Mike Hosking Breakfast today, he said people were still getting sick as a result of not carrying out best practice when preparing fresh chicken – including not adequately cleaning bench surfaces or sinks that have come in contact with it.

Baker said a label would need good information to help a consumer, but would need to be tested.

He said labels to should read something like: “This food should be treated with care.”

The study was based on interviews with 401 shoppers over 16 who were recruited outside 12 supermarkets and six butcheries in the Wellington Region

“New Zealand has one of the highest rates of campylobacteriosis in the world and at least half of cases can be attributed to contaminated chicken,” Philip Allan, a medical student and researcher at the Department of Public Health, University of Otago Wellington (UOW), said.

“Our study showed that many consumers are not aware of the risks, and that retailers should do much more to inform shoppers.”

The study also assessed the quality of current chicken labelling in supermarkets and butcheries and identified major deficiencies in the safety information provided to consumers.

Butchery labels in particular were lacking in chicken preparation information.

More than half wanted the levels of campylobacter contamination reported, the study found.

“Most participants thought a large, brightly coloured warning label containing safety information would be the most effective for communicating safe chicken preparation information.”

The study’s researchers said the most effective way to reduce campylobacteriosis rates is for Ministry for Primary Industries to mandate lower contamination levels of fresh poultry.

“This measure has been highly effective in the past, halving the rate of campylobacteriosis in New Zealand when implemented in 2007.
“While improved labelling is important, it is no substitute for cleaning up our poultry,” Baker said.

35 now sick, 9 hosiptalized in South Australian Salmonella outbreak; bakery reopens

Posted on January 4, 2018 by Douglas Powell

Confirmed cases of salmonella, linked to a South Australian bakery, have climbed to 35 with more expected as tests continue.

SA Health says nine people, including two children, have been hospitalised after eating products from the Gawler South bakery, which has two outlets in Gawler, about 40km north of central Adelaide.

The link to the bakery was first revealed late last month.

“We’ve now seen cases in people aged two years to 70 years old and we are anticipating more cases as further test results come through,” SA Health’s director of public health Kevin Buckett said.

The source of the contamination had been linked to sandwiches, wraps, rolls and focaccias with chicken and other fillings.’’

In a statement posted on social media the bakery’s management said it was no longer cooking chicken on the premises and SA Health officials were happy with its food handling processes.

Management also apologised to anyone who had become sick. “We hope this apology is received to be genuine and in good faith,” the statement said.

According to the ABC, the bakery was also struck by a salmonella outbreak in October 2016 which affected eight people.

Stop kissing chicks: CDC gets tired of counting, 1 dead, 1120 sick from backyard poultry

Posted on October 23, 2017 by Douglas Powell

1120 Cases

48 States

249 Hospitalizations

1 Death

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

This year saw the largest number of illnesses linked to contact with backyard poultry ever recorded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Contact with live poultry or their environment can make people sick with Salmonella infections. Live poultry such as chickens and ducks can be carrying Salmonella bacteria but appear healthy and clean, with no sign of illness.

As raising backyard flocks becomes more popular, more people are having contact with chickens and ducks – and may not know about the risk of Salmonella infection.

These outbreaks are a reminder to follow steps to keep your family healthy while enjoying your backyard flock.

Always wash hands thoroughly with soap and water right after touching live poultry or anything in the area where the birds live and roam.

Adults should supervise handwashing for children.

Do not let live poultry inside the house.

Do not let children younger than 5 years handle or touch chicks, ducklings, or other live poultry without adult supervision.

In 2017, CDC and multiple states investigated 10 separate multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections in people who had contact with live poultry in backyard flocks.

The outbreak strains of Salmonella infected a reported 1120 people in 48 states and the District of Columbia

Illnesses started on dates ranging from January 4, 2017 to September 22, 2017.

249 ill people were hospitalized. One death was reported from North Carolina.

Epidemiologic, traceback, and laboratory findings linked the 10 outbreaks to contact with live poultry, such as chicks and ducklings, from multiple hatcheries.

In interviews, 542 (70%) of 774 ill people reported contact with live poultry in the week before illness started.

The outbreaks were caused by Salmonella bacteria with several DNA fingerprints : Salmonella Braenderup, Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Hadar, Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i-, Salmonella Indiana, Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Litchfield, Salmonella Mbandaka, Salmonella Muenchen, and Salmonella Typhimurium.

Multistate outbreaks of human Salmonella infections linked to live poultry in backyard flocks, 2017 (final update)

19.oct.17

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/live-poultry-06-17/index.html

Chicken sashimi is risky; and gross

Posted on September 8, 2017 by Ben Chapman

A year ago I was in Japan for a few days and my hosts took me for sashimi every night. I think they thought it was funny taking a food safety nerd for a bunch of raw seafood. I did my best to be polite and steered towards more cooked foods. And lots of rice.

Earlier today Sara Miller at Live Science and I exchanged emails about chicken sashimi, a food that has been popular on twitter over the past couple of days. The same food that was linked to 800+ illnesses in the spring of 2016. Even Japanese public health folks were urging against eating it.

It’s not uncommon to find raw foods on a restaurant menu — think sushi or steak tartare — but if you see uncooked poultry as an option the next time you’re dining out, you may want to opt for something else.

Several restaurants in the United States are serving up a raw chicken dish that’s referred to as either chicken sashimi or chicken tartare, according to Food & Wine Magazine. Though the “specialty” hasn’t caught on much in the U.S., it’s more widely available in Japan.

Eating chicken sashimi puts a person at a “pretty high risk” of getting an infection caused by Campylobacter or Salmonella, two types of bacteria that cause food poisoning, said Ben Chapman, a food safety specialist and an associate professor at North Carolina State University.

Chapman noted that eating raw chicken is different from eating raw fish, which can be found in sushi dishes. With raw fish, the germs that are most likely to make a person sick are parasites, and these parasites can be killed by freezing the fish, he said. Salmonella, on the other hand, “isn’t going to be affected by freezing.”

Chicken sashimi is sometimes prepared by boiling or searing the chicken for no more than 10 seconds, according to Food & Wine Magazine.

But these preparations probably only kill off the germs on the surface of the chicken, Chapman said. “But even that I’m not sure about,” he added. In addition, when a chicken is deboned, other germs can get into the inside of the chicken, he said.

Rare chicken hooks UK food porn-types, the country that gave the world mushy peas and mad cow disease: It’s a Salmonella/Campy shit-storm waiting to happen

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Douglas Powell

Just when you thought you’d seen every possible bizarre foodie trend on Instagram, a truly stomach-churning craze comes along to surprise you.

Siofra Brennan of the Daily Mail writes people have been sharing images of their ‘juicy and tender’ meals of medium rare chicken, claiming it’s the best possible way to enjoy the meat, but their claims certainly haven’t gone down well with the masses.

People have described the craze as ‘salmonella waiting to happen’ with one stating that there’s a ‘special place reserved in hell’ for people who don’t cook their chicken properly.

However, fans are absolutely insistent that it’s the best way to eat the poultry with one declaring that if you’re not having your chicken medium rare, ‘you’re doing it wrong’.

People seem particularly keen to find out what firebrand chef Gordon Ramsay thinks of the debacle, frantically tweeting him images of the offending dishes to get his opinion.

His thoughts remain, as yet, unknown.

(Who gives a fuck?)

Earlier this year Australian Morgan Jane Gibbs found worldwide notoriety with a Facebook snap of a plateful of very pink pieces of chicken with the caption: ‘Just made chicken medium rare chicken strips.

‘They’re so good can’t believe I’ve never tried it like this before,’ she said.

‘Can’t wait to dig into this with my homemade salad and veges. #healthy #newyearsresolution #clean #cleaneating’

Unsurprisingly the post has gained notoriety online as people tried to figure out if Ms Gibbs is being serious with her nauseating dish.

While the post by Ms Gibbs was most likely a joke, the image itself was of a legitimate dish, origination from a blog promoting tourism in the Japanese region of Shizuoka and the recipe for chicken tataki; chicken seared over hot coals and served raw.

Chicken sashimi is another Japanese dish where the bird is served raw, chefs manage to avoid the issue of pesky food poisoning by serving the meat as fresh as possible and raising the chickens in a hygienic environment.

That’s some microbiological poultry manure (check your organic garden).

To avoid the risk of food poisoning, the NHS recommends that chicken must be cooked through so that the meat is ‘no longer pink, the juices run clear and it’s steaming hot throughout.’

No wonder the UK is messed up about chicken, the government-types can’t get advice right.

Use a thermometer and stick it in.

Raw stupidity

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Douglas Powell

From a regular barfblog.com correspondent. Many thanks.

Pinto defense: Consumer group says more than half of NZ chickens have campy

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Meeting government standards is about the worst thing any group can say when it comes to trust.

Almost all food purchases are an act of faith-based food safety.

The Pinto, an American car that had a tendency to explode when hit from behind, also met all government standards.

More than half the supermarket chickens in a Consumer NZ study carried Campylobacter, but the poultry association says the test was much stricter than official requirements.

The study of 40 chickens found 65 per cent (26 chickens) tested positive for Campylobacter, Consumer NZ said.

Fourty chickens don’t mean statistical shit, especially if they were from the same grower.

But already, the industry and the government are defending NZ poultry, without a lot of data.

Croatian ag ministry fails to report new Salmonella case

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Douglas Powell

(Something may be lost in translation)

Why did Croatian government services responsible for food control did not inform consumers that chicken fillets imported from Poland had salmonella in them before the European website RASFF announced on 11 November that chicken fillets that were on the Croatian market were infected with salmonella, reports Jutarnji List on November 16, 2016.

According to the notice on the website, it is apparent that the laboratory analysis was conducted 20 days earlier, on 21 October. So, the obvious question is why was the finding sent 20 days later and why Croatian consumers were not informed about it.

The explanation was given by the Agriculture Ministry, which is responsible for informing citizens about possible withdrawal of food from the market. They said that Croatia, which is a member of the RASFF system, submitted information that one retailer conducted analysis of chicken from Poland (on 21 October) and that the presence of salmonella was found. “Even before obtaining laboratory reports, the meat was past its expiry date and therefore was no longer present in the market. That is the reason why the information in the RASFF system is classified only as a “notice of information”, and not as an “alert”. So, this chicken is no longer on the market in Croatia”, according to the Ministry.

However, while the reply states that the public was not informed because at the time when the report was finished the expiry date had already passed, it seems that the chicken was on the market while waiting for the findings, which realistically means that today someone might have in their freezer contaminated chicken which was bought in October.

It is interesting that the analysis which led to the discovery of salmonella in the chicken took place in the midst of another scandal with salmonella in eggs imported also from Poland. It is therefore worrying that this information was not officially released by the Agriculture Ministry.

It has been just over a month since a boy from Bregana, Mirko Vidović, died after eating eggs that have been infected with salmonella. Although the autopsy process has still not been completed, so the exact cause of death is not known, it is known that the eggs he ate were infested with salmonella. The eggs were withdrawn from the shops. Immediately after the Croatian case was reported to RASFF, it was discovered that several other similar cases were reported in the EU, all connected to a facility in Poland. At the time, as many as 12 other European countries reported salmonella cases as well.

Campy in organic and conventional layer chickens

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Poultry is a major source of Campylobacter, which can cause foodborne bacterial gastroenteritis in humans. Additionally, poultry-associated Campylobacter can develop resistance to important antimicrobials, which increases the risk to public health. While broiler chickens have been the focus of many studies, the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter on layer farms has not received equal attention. However, the growing popularity of cage-free and organic layer farming necessitates a closer assessment of (1) the impact of these farming practices on the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter and (2) layers as a potential source for the transmission of these pathogens.

Here, we showed that the prevalence of Campylobacter on organic and conventional layer farms was statistically similar (p > 0.05). However, the average number of Campylobacter jejuni-positive organically grown hens was lower (p < 0.05) in comparison to conventionally grown hens. Campylobacter isolated from both production systems carried antimicrobial resistance genes. The tet(O) and cmeB were the most frequently detected genes, while the occurrence of aph-3-1 and blaOXA-61 was significantly lower (p < 0.05). Farming practices appeared to have an effect on the antimicrobial resistance phenotype, because the isolates from organically grown hens on two farms (OF-2 and OF-3) exhibited significantly lower resistance (p < 0.05) to ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, and tylosin. However, on one of the sampled organic farms (OF-1), a relatively high number of antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter were isolated.

We conclude that organic farming can potentially impact the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter. Nevertheless, this impact should be regularly monitored to avoid potential relapses.

Antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter in organically and conventionally raised layer chickens

Foodborne Pathogens and Disease. September 2016, ahead of print. doi:10.1089/fpd.2016.2161.

Kassem Issmat I., Kehinde Olugbenga, Kumar Anand, and Rajashekara Gireesh

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/fpd.2016.2161

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