Tag Archives: formula

European Food Safety Authority: Update on Salmonella agona outbreak

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The withdrawal and/or recall of infant formula produced by a single French processing company will significantly reduce the risk of more infants being infected by Salmonella Agona, say EFSA and ECDC as a result of a rapid outbreak assessment.

An outbreak of S. Agona linked to the consumption of infant formula has been ongoing in France since August 2017. So far the outbreak has affected 37 children under one year of age in France. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis confirmed that a Spanish case is closely related to the outbreak in France. A probable case has been identified in Greece. The last case was notified on 2 December 2017.

EFSA and ECDC recommend that competent authorities in affected Member States keep sharing information on the epidemiological, microbiological and environmental investigations and issue relevant notifications in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and the Early Warning Response System (EWRS).

To prevent infections using infant formulas, both in infants and caregivers, Member States should consider providing advice to the public regarding:

Not to use any of the infant formulas involved in this outbreak;

Hand washing before and after the preparation of the bottle;

Bottles should not be prepared in advance and the contents should be discarded if not consumed within two hours.

What is a rapid outbreak assessment?

In case of multi-country foodborne outbreaks coordination at EU level is important. A Rapid Outbreak Assessment is jointly prepared by EFSA and ECDC in close cooperation with affected countries. The ROA gives an overview of the situation in terms of public health and identifies the contaminated food vehicle that caused the infections. It also includes trace-back and trace-forward investigations to identify the origin of the outbreak and where contaminated products have been distributed. This is crucial to identify the relevant control measures in order to prevent further spread of the outbreak.

An outbreak of Salmonella Agona linked to the consumption of infant formula (powdered milk) has been ongoing in France since August 2017. As of 11 January 2018, the outbreak had affected 39 infants (children <1 year of age): 37 in France, one in Spain confirmed by whole genome sequencing (WGS) and one in Greece, considered to be associated with this event based on the presence of a rare biochemical characteristic of the isolate.

The date of symptom onset for the most recent case was 2 December 2017. Available evidence from epidemiological investigations in humans and traceability investigations in food identified seven different brands of infant formula from a single processing company in France as the vehicles of infection.

After receiving the first notification on 2 December 2017 of an unusual number of S. Agona cases in France, the French authorities carried out investigations at the implicated factory. On 4 December 2017, they notified the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) after confirming that some of the affected products were exported to other countries. Following investigations at the processing company, all products manufactured since 15 February 2017, including products other than infant formula, have been recalled and/or withdrawn, as a precautionary measure. The French competent authorities are verifying that the measures taken by the processing company in response to this event have been sufficient and appropriate. As of 15 January 2018, recalled products had been distributed to 13 European Union (EU) countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom) and to 54 third countries. Most of the batches involved in the investigation have not yet passed their expiry date. However, broad withdrawal and/or recall measures, export bans and a suspension of market distribution of these batches, implemented since the beginning of December 2017 by the French competent authority and processing company A, are likely to significantly reduce the risk of human infection. The possibility remains, however, that new cases may be detected. Third countries, where the recalled products had been distributed, have been notified by RASFF through INFOSAN. ECDC offers WGS services to EU/EEA countries that do not have the capacity for a timely sequencing and analysis as part of this investigation. A multi-country WGS analysis is under way at the Pasteur Institute.

36 sick: Lactalis offers salmonella compensation, French government says probe continues

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We’re in New Caledonia for Amy to do some French professoring stuff, with the Calgary-Carolina hockey game on in the background on a sports channel from France.

I went for a walk along the ocean this morning, sans Ted, which is the extent of my French.

While I’m surrounded by the beauty of this Pacific island, the Lactalis mess in France continues a downslide into parody (except for the sick kids and their families).

According to Reuters, France welcomed dairy group Lactalis’ pledge to compensate victims of a Salmonella contamination in its baby milk on Sunday, but said a judicial investigation to determine who was responsible would continue.

Lactalis Chief Executive Emmanuel Besnier told the weekly Journal du Dimanche his family company, one of the world’s biggest dairies, would “pay damages to every family which has suffered a prejudice.”

Is prejudice French for barfing?

Salmonella infections can be life-threatening and the families of three dozen children who have fallen sick in France as a result of the contaminated baby milk have announced a raft of lawsuits.

Besnier’s promise came two days after Lactalis widened a product recall to cover all infant formula made at its Craon plan, regardless of the manufacture date, in a bid to contain the fallout from a health scare that risks damaging France’s strategic agribusiness in overseas markets.

“Paying compensation is good, but money cannot buy everything,” government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said in an interview on BFM TV.

The health scare intensified last week after France’s biggest retailers including Carrefour, Auchan and Leclerc admitted products recalled in December had still found their way onto shelves.

“It is the job of the investigation to determine where failings occurred and who is to blame,” Griveaux said, adding that “responsibilities were shared.”

Implementing the global recall will be challenging. Privately owned Lactalis, one of the world’s biggest dairies, exports its baby food products to 83 countries across Europe, Africa and Asia.

The recall involves some 12 million tins of baby milk.

“It’s not easy to evaluate the number of items that need to be returned because we don’t know what’s been consumed already,” Besnier said in a rare newspaper interview published on Sunday.

Friday’s recall was the third in a month and Lactalis has come under fire for its clumsy response. Besnier also told the French weekly that the company had acted as quickly and efficiently as possible and denied slowing the process to curb losses.

Besnier has also been criticized for failing to speak out publicly during the salmonella scare.

While his family are France’s 11th wealthiest, according to a 2017 ranking by Challenges magazine, the dairy tycoon has long shunned the public limelight and schmoozing with politicians.

His workers nickname him the “invisible man.”

“We’re a discreet business. In this region there is a mentality of ‘work first, speak later,” he said. But he acknowledged lessons had been learned during the past few weeks.

Lactalis has become an industry giant, with annual sales of 17 billion euros ($20.73 billion) and 18,900 employees across some 40 countries.