Good news, bad news: EU Campy and Salmonella illnesses drop, Listeria increases

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Ben Chapman

The constant public health quest is to stay ahead of the bugs by making risk management decisions. With all the focus on pathogen reduction, CDC reported last year that raw numbers show decreases in Salmonella, E.coli O157, Listeria and Yersinia infections and significant increases in Campylobacter and Vibro illnesses (compared to 2006-2008).

EFSA using similar methods, released information today that shows an increase in Listeria with decreases in Salmonella and Campylobacter in the EU.

Campylobacteriosis is still the most reported disease, accounting for 214,000 cases of infections.

“It is encouraging to see that cases of campylobacteriosis have gone down in 2012. But more investigation and monitoring is needed to see if this is the beginning of a trend”, said Marta Hugas, Acting Head of EFSA’s Risk Assessment and Scientific Assistance Department.

Over the years, salmonellosis has been decreasing- with 91,034 reported cases in 2012. This is mainly due to the successful Salmonella control programmes put in place by EU Member States and the European Commission in poultry, the report said. Most Member States met their Salmonella reduction target for poultry flocks.

Listeriosis accounted for 1,642 reported cases, 10.5% more than in 2011 and has been gradually increasing over the past five years.

Hepatitis A in Italy? We’ll see

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Food safety friend of the blog, Luca Bucchini, offers an Italian perspective on the ongoing Hepatitis A outbreaks:

You are responsible for the control of infectious diseases in the Italian Region of Trentino-Alto Adige.

In your position you know that Hepatitis A is a highly infectious disease, due to a small picornavirus RNA, often asymptomatic in children under 5 years, but which causes in older individuals jaundice, fever, weakness, and abdominal pain. The symptoms last for a week or two, sometimes months. In 15% of cases, the symptoms last more than a year.

In adults over 50 years (and in those who have liver problems) the risk of death is important (to 1.8%). It is often transmitted by foods (strawberries, shellfish, etc.), or water, given the resistance of the virus in the environment, via the classic fecal-oral route (which means eating foods which has come in contact with contaminated feces). You also know that an epidemiological difficulty is the long incubation period (28-30 days).

Back to your office. No cases have been reported in 2011 and even in 2012 from the entire Trentino. But, between January and April 2013, reports for 15 cases have come in. May’s not over, and a further 11 cases have been reported. Because you know that for every case reported to your attention, there are may be 10 unreported cases (if you can apply in Italy CDC’s estimate for underreporting of hepatits A http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/statistics/2009surveillance/Commentary.htm), the cases could be many more.

So, reasonably you suspect that there is a problem and work to uncover what is making people form Trentino ill with hepatitis A.

You ask the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy’s National Institute of Health, whether the problem concerns Trentino, or also other parts of Italy. A surveillance system, SEIEVA http://www.iss.it/seieva/?lang=1&id=37&tipo=4 collects this type of data. It is not know what the Institute told you, but we can assume that they may have told you that, of the 16 regions (out of 20) that have sent updated data, comparing the period September 2012-April 2013 to the corresponding period one year earlier, cases of Hepatitis A shot to 417 cases (from 167 a year earlier), an increase of 70%.

There is probably a significant ongoing epidemic of hepatitis A in Italy, potentially with hundreds of cases.

Is this an aggressive epidemiological investigation? We do not know what Trentinian and Italian authorities did till May 2013; no action is documented in the report of the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/supporting/doc/439e.pdf .

On May 8, however, Germany, through the systems dedicated to these epidemic alerts, reported seven cases of hepatitis A in Germans who had been skiing in Trentino and had probably contracted the virus there in mid-March. Following this report, the Netherlands and Poland also reported similar cases, for a total of 15: after the winter holiday in Trentino, they had returned home and became ill with hepatitis A.

According to the European document, only then Italy took notice of the situation in Trentino and of the 70% increase nationwide.

On May 23, the Ministry of Health finally alerted all regions, asking the notification of cases within 48 hours, instead of the usual and cumbersome passive system.

Is the conclusion that, in order to find out that in Northern Italy there is an outbreak of hepatitis A, Italians need to wait for a few Germans skiing here, get hepatitis A and then seek advice from their own health care system?

The problem is related to lack of resources; also, and there are details that are not known and which may explain delays. But certainly there is also a cultural problem.

The Americans may have reported the news differently. There is a similar ongoing Hepatitis A otubreak in the U.S

(http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/Outbreaks/2013/A1b-03-31/index.html ) and they may be connected through a common source for ingredients in frozen berries https://barfblog.com/2013/06/30-sick-hepatitis-a-outbreak-linked-to-frozen-berries-in-us-same-source-as-eu-outbreaks/):

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local officials are Investigating a multi-state outbreak of Hepatitis A illnesses potentially associated with a frozen food blend. We are moving quickly to learn as much as possible and prevent additional people from becoming ill. We recognize that people will be concerned about this outbreak, and we will continue to provide updates and advice.

The full text is here http://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Outbreaks/ucm354698.htm. Let’s focus on the part that in bold.

The urgency is evident: we know that there is a cause (a contaminated food), we must identify it (and have done so already in fact), remove it from the market and tell consumers to throw it away if they have it in their homes, so nobody’s going to get ill anymore. We know that you are worried, but you should know that we are moving at top speed.

Too much adrenaline? It’s the American approach.

Instead let’s hear the Italian bell:

In April 2013 two international outbreaks of Hepatitis A have been reported, the first involving patients in the North-European countries (clusters allegedly linked to the consumption of frozen berries from extra-EU countries), the second of tourists returning from Egypt . In recent months, moreover, a significant increase compared to previous years of cases of hepatitis A in Italy was noted. In light of the increase of cases in our country and of the two epidemics that are involving other European countries, the Ministry of Health has prepared the Circular 23 May 2013 (http://www.trovanorme.salute.gov.it/renderNormsanPdf?anno=0&codLeg=46074&parte=1%20&serie=) to strengthen surveillance of hepatitis A virus and initiate investigations aimed at identifying both the existence of possible autochthonous cases related to the outbreak and, where appropriate, the potential sources of infection.

The Germans warned Italy in early May. On the 23th, Italy is strengthening the surveillance system. We, Italians, wonder if there are “possible” related cases in Italy (which sounds a little like saying that in Trentino they have served contaminated products exclusively to German, Polish and Dutch tourists). If there are really Italian cases related to the outbreaks, we might then ask “where appropriate”, of course, if a cause – potentially – exists. Caution prevails, perhaps resignation or, if you will, a wise detachment.

As the Ecclesiastes say, “the sun rises and the sun goes down” (or, if you will, hepatitis A comes and goes again) “Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new?”

In short, no urgency, a cause still to be found to prevent diseases, but above all prudence.

Potentially, possibly, maybe, and even if.

In reality, however, there seems to be a point of concern. Authorities know about the suspected foods (frozen berries, known to spread viruses if not fully cooked, and in 2013 this is not new) including lots and brands. Italy has sent an alert about these products to the EU, making clear (https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/portal/index.cfm?event=notificationDetail&NOTIF_REFERENCE=2013.0756): mix frozen berries from Italy, with raw material from Canada, Serbia, Bulgaria and Poland, via Switzerland that is, it may well be a product made in Italy by an Italian company, but it is not our good Italian food. Same goes for the other alert (to use the words of the Ministry, “extra-EU imports”).

As Americans and northern Europeans import contaminated fruit from countries, where agricultural workers have no access to proper sanitation facilities (and thus, for example, collect the fruit with unwashed hands after using the bathroom), and get sometimes sick, now it’s up to us. Stigmatizing extra-EU imports is however in line with the current anti-import attitude.

Probably, however, the ordinary citizen would like to know the brand of the suspected products, so she, while keeping the brand in mind for future purchases, an throw away the product before eating it, and potentially getting sick.

On this point, as it is customary, in a strange game of different actors (blaming an individual official is superficial), the silence is absolute (NB: update June 6th at 13:26. I was informed that the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, on its site http://www.provincia.bz.it/usp/service/321.asp?archiv_action=4&archiv_article_id=427075 – I do not know how often visited by consumers across Italy – reported on May 31 the details of the suspected food. Well done to the Province, but what about the rest of the Italians? ilfattoalimentare reports from that a cheesecake and a third product sold at Coop may be involved http://www.ilfattoalimentare.it/allerta-alimentare-frutti-di-bosco-surgelati-contaminati-da-virus-epatite-a-ritirati-dal-mercato.html).

When you hear that in America or in Germany there is an outbreak with hundreds of people sick, and so you think you have the luxury to get concerned about the theoretical risks of GMOs, do not console yourself thinking that those things do not happen to us Italians. Perhaps media and risk communicators just let you free not to worry about foodborne disease.

PS: it should be clear that I hold in great esteem many officials from the local health authorities, of the Ministry of Health, and of ISS, particulary knowing the conditions in which they have to operate. This article is not addressed to them, the problem is political and cultural.

EU to ban olive oil jugs from restaurants under guise of hygiene

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Douglas Powell

The European Union is to ban olive oil jugs and dipping bowls from restaurant tables in a move described by one of Britain’s top cooks as authoritarian and damaging to artisanal food makers.

The small glass jugs filled with green or gold coloured extra virgin olive oil are familiar and traditional for restaurant goers across Europe but they will be banned from 1 January 2014 after a decision taken in an obscure Brussels committee earlier this week.

From next year olive oil “presented at a restaurant table” must be in pre-packaged, factory bottles with a tamper-proof dispensing nozzle and labeling in line with EU industrial standards.

The use of classic, refillable glass jugs or glazed terracotta dipping bowls and the choice of a restaurateur to buy olive oil from a small artisan producer or family business will be outlawed.

Sam Clark, the food writer, chef and proprietor of the award winning Moro restaurant in London, told The Daily Telegraph that the ban would stop him serving his customers specially selected Spanish olive oil in dipping bowls with bread when they are seated at their table.

“This will affect us. It is about choice and freedom of choice. We buy our oil, which we have selected from a farm in Spain, to serve our customers,” he said

“Yet more packaging is not going to be eco-friendly and will limit choice to more mass produced products.”

The European Commissions justification for the ban, under special Common Agriculture Policy regulations, is “hygiene” and to protect the “image of olive oil” with a measure that will benefit struggling industrial producers in Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal.

From the beginning of next year, Britain, which abstained during a vote of national food experts on the issues on Tuesday, must enforce the ban via local authority food inspections of restaurants.

Officials defended the ban as a protection for consumers who would know that they were getting a safe, guaranteed product with proper labeling of its origin and with tamper-proof, hygienic dispensers.

“This is to guarantee the quality and authenticity of the olive oil put at the disposal of consumers. The aim is to better inform and protect consumer. We also expect hygiene to be improved too,” said an official.

Then I want space-aged smartphone food verification labels on every item ordered at a restaurant.

Have there been any microbial outbreaks to support such a ban?

Dumb rules: EU sets out post-horsemeat food standards

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Douglas Powell

EU Health Commissioner, Tonio Borg said May 6, 2013, the European political environment needs to loosen its ties on the agri-food sector, if is to be competitive in the future, while simultaneously creating a farm-to-fork food safety revolution to curb future horse-heads-in-bed-burgers incidents.

Speaking in Brussels, Borg announced the terms of the commission’s proposals on what is termed “smarter rules for safer food.” The package of legislative proposals covers a series of topics, such as labeling and food chain safety. The message is the same as that touted out during the recent horsemeat scandal; that European food sources are impeccable – it is labelling fraud that undermines consumer confidence.

EU types may want to check out those suppliers.

Also, health head Borg earned himself a spot in the barfblog.com we-have-the-safest-food-in-the-world hall of shame by stating, Europe has the highest food safety standards in the world.”

There’s little evidence anyone is following those standards, as shown by horsehead Europa.

The European Commission itself proclaimed in writing the package it has adopted “provides a modernized and simplified, more risked-based approach to the protection of health and more efficient control tools to ensure the effective application of the rules guiding the operation of the food chain.

“The package responds to the call for better simplification of legislation and smarter regulation thus reducing administrative burden for operators and simplifying the regulatory environment. Special consideration is given to the impact of this legislation on SMEs and micro enterprises which are exempted from the most costly and burdensome elements in the legislation.”

These people can’t write a clear press release, how can they be expected to write clear legislation?

“In a nutshell, the package aims to provide smarter rules for safer food.”

No one actually writes, in a nutshell” and it sounds creepy when someone says it. No one thinks these rules are smarter just because Borg says they are. And when repeatedly talking about a package, I’m thinking Borat’s bathing suit.

The package will introduce a single piece of legislation to regulate animal health in the EU based on the principle that “prevention is better than cure.”

Don’t write with dick fingers; it’s unbefitting such a moral and scientific authority as the EU.

If passed by EU member governments and the European Parliament, the proposed revamp, boiling down existing legislation and sharpening testing regimes, will introduce:

— financial penalties directly related to profits from “fraud”;

— and mandatory spot-check testing, as opposed to the power only to recommend inspections, as now.

But the changes will not affect, in the main, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or micro-businesses, a large part of the post-industrial food chain.

Neither will stipulations governing the important seed sector be applied to “private gardeners,” who will still be able to buy seeds “in small quantities” on open markets.

That should doom any efforts to control raw sprout safety. After 53 deaths and 4,400 illnesses from E. coli contaminated sprouts in 2011, maybe the Eurocrats sould focus on the entire food system, not just the political expediency of big ag.

71 sick; ongoing multi-strain foodborne hepatitis A outbreak with frozen berries as suspected vehicle

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Douglas Powell

I love the frozen berries. Almost every night I put some in a bowl with oatmeal and milk or yoghurt, and by morning it’s all thawed and yummy and just really fabulous for my colon.

But there’s been this on-going outbreak in European countries that raises the risk specter.

Gillesberg et al. report in Eurosurveillance this week that a foodborne outbreak of hepatitis A in Denmark was notified to other countries on 1 March 2013. A case–control study identified frozen berries eaten in smoothies as potential vehicle. In the following weeks, Finland, Norway and Sweden also identified an increased number of hepatitis A patients without travel history. Most cases reported having eaten frozen berries at the time of exposure. By 17 April, 71 cases were notified in the four countries. No specific type of berry, brand or origin of berries has yet been identified.

In February 2013, Denmark registered a higher than usual number of notified patients with hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection who had no travel history 2–6 weeks before symptom onset or other known risk factors for HAV infection. Concurrently, viruses from six hepatitis A patients who had been notified since October 2012 were shown to be genotype IB with the same sequence across 1,231 nucleotides of the capsid protein VP1 gene, including the VP3/VP1 and VP1/2A junctions (GenBank accession number KC876797). An outbreak investigation was initiated and an urgent enquiry was posted through the European Epidemic Intelligence Information System for food- and waterborne diseases (EPIS-FWD) on 1 March 2013, asking if any other countries had also seen an increase in the number of domestic patients with HAV infection. The sequence was also shared within the International HAV laboratory network managed in the Netherlands.

Following the urgent enquiry, Finland, Norway and Sweden also reported an increase in the number of patients with HAV infection who had no history of foreign travel. Each country identified one or more cases with HAV genotype 1B that had identical sequences to the HAV of the Danish cases. The outbreak is still ongoing.

The following outbreak case definition was defined in Denmark and applied in all four countries, except that Sweden only includes cases from 1 December 2012 onwards and Finland is not excluding cases with other potential risk factors.

A probable case is defined as a person living in Denmark, Finland, Norway or Sweden with clinical illness compatible with HAV infection and positive for HAV IgM antibodies, no travel history outside of Nordic countries two to six weeks before onset of symptoms or having other known HAV risk factors, such as intravenous drug use, homelessness or male-to-male sexual contact and symptom onset on 1 October 2012 or later.

The full report is available at:

http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20467

It’s here; it’s here: EFSA and ECDC 2011 zoonoses report shows rise in human infections from Campylobacter and E. coli, while Salmonella cases continue to fall

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Campylobacteriosis remains the most reported zoonotic disease in humans [1], with a continuous increase in reported cases over the last five years.

The trend in reported human cases of verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC/STEC) has also been increasing since 2008 and was further strengthened due to the outbreak in the summer of 2011.

Salmonella cases in humans have continued to fall, marking a decrease for the seventh consecutive year. These are some of the main findings of the annual report on zoonoses and food-borne outbreaks in the European Union for 2011 produced jointly by the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

In 2011, a total of 220,209 Campylobacter cases were reported in humans, 2.2% more than in 2010. This bacterium can cause diarrhea and fever, and the most common foodstuff in which Campylobacter was found was chicken meat.

VTEC/STEC bacteria accounted for 9,485 human disease cases in 2011. The strong increase observed in 2011 was primarily due to the large outbreak of the rare strain O104:H4 in Germany and France associated with sprouted seeds; however, an increasing trend had already been reported in previous years. Infection with VTEC strains can lead to bloody diarrhea and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, a serious complication that can be fatal. With respect to the presence of this bacterium in animals and foodstuffs, VTEC was most often reported in bovine meat products and cattle.

Although salmonellosis has declined significantly in the last years, in 2011 it was still the second most frequently reported zoonotic disease in humans, accounting for 95,548 reported cases. The continued decrease in human cases reflects the results of the Salmonella control programmes put in place by EU Member States and the European Commission which have led to a decline in Salmonella infections in poultry populations, particularly laying hens (and hence eggs) and chickens. Salmonella, which can cause fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps, was most often found in fresh chicken meat, as well as minced chicken meat and chicken meat preparations.

The report also shows a total of 5,648 foodborne outbreaks recorded across the EU in 2011. Foodborne outbreaks include two or more human cases in which the same contaminated food has been consumed. These affected 69,553 people and caused 93 deaths. Salmonella continued to be the most frequently reported cause of the outbreaks with known origin (26.6 % of all outbreaks), followed by bacterial toxins (12.9%) and Campylobacter (10.6%).

The most common food sources of the outbreaks were eggs and egg products, mixed food, fish and fish products.

Horse head in lasagna?

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Douglas Powell

Fictional movie director Jack Woltz, after refusing to cast a part to The Godfather’s godson, Johnny Fontane, woke up with a horse head in his bed.

Europeans are waking up to horsemeat in food – some with horror, some with delight.

Food fraud and hucksterism is as old as human trade.

But given the depth, the cultural variations and the criminal element involved in substituting cow with horse, one wonders – what were all those food inspectors doing all along?

The New York Times reports that few things divide British eating habits from those of Continental Europe as clearly as a distaste for consuming horse meat, so news that many Britons have unknowingly done so has prompted alarm among shoppers and plunged the country’s food industry into crisis.

A trickle of discoveries of horse meat in hamburgers, starting in Ireland last month, has turned into a steady stream of revelations, including, on Friday, that lasagna labeled beef from one international distributor of frozen food, Findus, contained in some cases 100 percent horse meat.

The widening scandal has now touched producers and potentially millions of consumers in at least five countries — Ireland, Britain, Poland, France and Sweden — and raised questions of food safety and oversight, as well as the possibility of outright fraud in an industry with a history of grave, if episodic, lapses despite similarly episodic efforts at stricter regulation and reform. Already, tens of millions of hamburgers from several suppliers have been recalled.

Though public health is not at issue now, government oversight is, and the latest developments have echoes of earlier European food safety crises, including mad cow disease in Britain and dioxin in eggs and poultry in Belgium. Those tended to mushroom once investigators traced products through the Continent’s complex web of producers, food makers and suppliers.

The Guardian notes the eating of horses has a long history. Many prehistoric cultures both ate and sacrificed horses, and the ban on horse meat by Pope Gregory III in 732 was in part an attempt to eradicate pagan rituals in the Germanic states.

Bowing to cultural concerns, the UK Food Standards Agency didn’t say horse meat was safe as long as it was piping hot, but rather issued interim advice to public institutions, such as schools and hospitals, caterers, and consumers purchasing from caterers, reminding public of their responsibility for their own food contracts. We expect them to have rigorous procurement procedures in place, with reputable suppliers.

Sweden’s National Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) is considering reporting food giant Findus to the police over the horse meat lasagne scandal, and France is very, very angry, blaming Romanian butchers and Dutch and Cypriot traders as part of a supply chain that resulted in horsemeat disguised as beef being sold in frozen lasagna around the continent.

At some point, maybe a retailer will take responsibility for the food it sells.

The following animation is over the top, but indicative of what’s out there.

Maggots in the pasta: Europe screens tainted Chinese food

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Douglas Powell

Cypriot inspectors found arsenic in the frozen calamari. The Italians discovered maggots in the pasta. There were glass chips in the pumpkin seeds bound for Denmark, and Spanish regulators blocked a shipment of frozen duck meat because of forged papers. It has been a rough year for Chinese food exports to Europe.

At least German kids can eat their Chinese strawberries again.

Health authorities have given the all-clear after a recent poisoning of 11,000 children at hundreds of schools in Berlin and four other German states. A norovirus outbreak from a shipment of frozen Chinese berries led to severe diarrhea and vomiting, and 30 people were hospitalized.

German consumer agencies traced the outbreak to a single batch of berries. School cafeterias in eastern Germany were primarily affected, and improper food handling at industrial kitchens was seen as a possible cause.

The agencies’ strawberry statement did not identify the source country, although a spokesperson for the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety told Food Production Daily that the berries “all came from the same batch imported from China.”

And a news report said the strawberries were grown, harvested and frozen in Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius, in Shandong Province.

It was the latest episode in China’s ongoing food-safety nightmare, which Rendezvous has chronicled, and the German newspaper Der Spiegel has now followed up with an investigation of Chinese food exports to Europe.

Those exports are growing widely and rapidly. The newspaper said Chinese food exports to Europe nearly doubled between 2005 and 2010. In Germany, food imports from China are up 26 percent since 2009.

Zhou Li, a food-safety expert and lecturer at Renmin University in Beijing, told Der Spiegel that Chinese farmers used to eat the same food that they grew and sold.

“But now that they are aware of the harmful effects of pesticides, fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics,” the article said, paraphrasing Mr. Zhou, “they still produce a portion of their farm products for the market and a portion for their own families. The only difference is that the food for their families is produced using traditional methods.

“In fact, many wealthy Chinese have bought their own farms so as not to be dependent on what’s available in supermarkets,” the story said, citing Mr. Zhou. “There are also reports of special plots of land used to produce food exclusively for senior government officials.”

Stealth ingredient; E. coli threat prompts EU sprouted seeds measures

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Douglas Powell

EU Member States have endorsed strict hygiene measures for readytoeat sprouted seeds to prevent incidents such as the deadly E. coli O104 outbreak in Germany and France last year.

But will these strict measures be enforced?

Food Quality magazine says the actions include tightening traceability requirements for seeds intended for sprouts and sprout production and approval by Member States of all sprouts producing plants after hygiene compliance checks by competent authorities.

The EC has also called for testing for the absence of pathogenic E. coli in sprouts on the market for each batch of seeds intended for sprouting.

Uh huh.

After the German E. coli O104 outbreak that killed 53 people last year and sickened over 4,000, along with the ridiculous public statements and blatant disregard for public safety taken by sandwich artist Jimmy John’s in the U.S., we reviewed the sprout-related literature and concluded:

• raw sprouts are a well-documented source of foodborne illness;

• risk communication about raw sprouts has been inconsistent; and,

• continued outbreaks question effectiveness of risk management strategies and producer compliance.

We document at least 55 sprout-associated outbreaks occurring worldwide affecting a total of 15,233 people since 1988. A comprehensive table of sprout-related outbreaks can be found at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprouts-associated-outbreaks.

Sprouts present a unique food safety challenge compared to other fresh produce, as the sprouting process provides optimal conditions for the growth and proliferation of pathogenic bacteria. The sprout industry, regulatory agencies, and the academic community have been collaborating to improve the microbiological safety of raw sprouts, including the implementation of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), establishing guidelines for safe sprout production, and chemical disinfection of seed prior to sprouting. However, guidelines and best practices are only as good as their implementation. The consumption of raw sprouts is considered high-risk, especially for young, elderly and immuno-compromised persons.

From November 2010 into 2011, an outbreak linked to raw sprouts in the U.S. and involving sandwich franchise Jimmy John’s sickened 140 people. This was the third sprout related outbreak involving this franchise, yet the owner of the Montana Jimmy John’s outlet, Dan Stevens, expressed confidence in his sprouts claiming that because the sprouts were locally grown they would not be contaminated. By the end of December 2010 a sprout supplier, Tiny Greens Farm, was implicated in the outbreak. Jimmy John’s owner, John Liautaud, responded by stating the sandwich chain would replace alfalfa sprouts with clover sprouts since they were allegedly easier to clean. However, a week earlier a separate outbreak had been identified in Washington and Oregon in which eight people were infected with Salmonella after eating sandwiches containing clover sprouts from a Jimmy John’s restaurant. This retailer was apparently not aware of the risks associated with sprouts, or even outbreaks associated with his franchisees.

In late December, 2011, less than one year after making the switch to clover sprouts, Jimmy John’s was linked to another sprout related outbreak, this time it was E.coli O26 in clover sprouts. In February 2012, sandwich franchise Jimmy John’s announced they were permanently removing raw clover sprouts from their menus. As of April 2012, the outbreak had affected 29 people across 11 states. Founder and chief executive, John Liautaud, attempted to appease upset customers through Facebook stating, “a lot of folks dig my sprouts, but I will only serve the best of the best. Sprouts were inconsistent and inconsistency does not equal the best.” He also informed them the franchise was testing snow pea shoots in a Campaign, Illinois store, although there is no mention regarding the “consistency” or safety of this choice.

Despite the frequent need for sprout-based risk communication, messaging with industry and public stakeholders has been limited in effectiveness. In spite of widespread media coverage of sprout-related outbreaks, improved production guidelines, and public health enforcement actions, awareness of risk remains low. Producers, food service and government agencies need to provide consistent, evidence-based messages and, more importantly, actions. Information regarding sprout-related risks and food safety concerns should be available and accurately presented to producers, retailers and consumers in a manner that relies on scientific data and clear communications.

Erdozain, M.S., Allen, K.J., Morley, K.A. and Powell, D.A. 2012. Failures in sprouts-related risk communication. Food Control. 10.1016/j.foodcont.2012.08.022

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956713512004707?v=s5

Abstract

Nutritional and perceived health benefits have contributed to the increasing popularity of raw sprouted seed products. In the past two decades, sprouted seeds have been a recurring food safety concern, with at least 55 documented foodborne outbreaks affecting more than 15,000 people. A compilation of selected publications was used to yield an analysis of the evolving safety and risk communication related to raw sprouts, including microbiological safety, efforts to improve production practices, and effectiveness of communication prior to, during, and after sprout-related outbreaks. Scientific investigation and media coverage of sprout-related outbreaks has led to improved production guidelines and public health enforcement actions, yet continued outbreaks call into question the effectiveness of risk management strategies and producer compliance. Raw sprouts remain a high-risk product and avoidance or thorough cooking are the only ways that consumers can reduce risk; even thorough cooking messages fail to acknowledge the risk of cross-contamination. Risk communication messages have been inconsistent over time with Canadian and U.S. governments finally aligning their messages in the past five years, telling consumers to avoid sprouts. Yet consumer and industry awareness of risk remains low. To minimize health risks linked to the consumption of sprout products, local and national public health agencies, restaurants, retailers and producers need validated, consistent and repeated risk messaging through a variety of sources.

Bureaucrat (non) action 2: safest food in the world, EU edition

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Douglas Powell

Come on down, John Dalli, you’re the latest winner in the we-have-the-safest-food-in-the-world sweepstakes.

Dalli, the commissioner in charge of health and consumer policy, told FoodQualityNews.com,

"European consumers enjoy the highest food safety standards in the world. The EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed is a key tool as it allows risks to be identified and removed from the European market.”

In the actual report, Dalli writes RASFF has ensured food safety by averting or mitigating many safety risks “by triggering a rapid reaction when a food safety risk is detected” and that that the RASFF system reinforces consumer confidence in the food and feed safety system.

More faith-based food safety.

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safe food from farm to fork

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