Tag Archives: scallops

Hawaii Hepatitis A seen and heard: secondary infection potential edition

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If I ran a kitchen, hepatitis A would scare me the most. I could have hired a superstar employee, the world’s best handwasher, and still end up with lines outside my operation as folks get post-exposure shots.

I’d try to figure out a way to get everyone who worked for me vaccinated. And according to Murphy et al at CDC, vaccines really matter. Following an increase in vaccination recommendations and offerings in the U.S. rates of the illness declined ‘96.6% from 1996 to 2011 (from 11.7 to 0.4 cases per 100,000 population), and the number of reported cases decreased from 31,032 to 1,398, respectively.’original

In the ongoing saga of hep A in Hawaii, where over 206 are ill following the consumption of contaminated raw scallops, the potential for secondary cases is emerging as food handlers in different settings are part of the case group. According to KRON4, a food handler in a school cafeteria has the virus.

The Hawaii Department of Health is investigating a case of hepatitis A involving a school cafeteria worker.

The patient worked at Kipapa Elementary School in Mililani and was in the cafeteria kitchen between Aug. 3-16.

The Department of Education says it’s complying with the investigation and the school will be preparing its meals off-site for the time being.

The principal sent home a letter to notify parents.

DOH officials say all students should have received a hepatitis A vaccine as part of routinely recommended childhood vaccinations.

Children who have not been previously vaccinated — a few dozen students — should be seen by their pediatrician.

Also on the list of secondary infection sources is a Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant who, according to the Hawaii Tribune Herald, is also part of the outbreak cluster.

The state Department of Health on Tuesday afternoon issued a precaution to passengers who were on the following Hawaiian Airlines flights:

• July 31 — Flight HA22 from Honolulu to Seattle.

• Aug. 1 — Flight HA21 from Seattle to Honolulu.

• Aug. 10 — Flight HA18 from Honolulu to Las Vegas.

• Aug. 12 — Flight HA17 from Las Vegas to Honolulu.

The flight attendant served in-flight food and beverages during each of the flights.

The DOH noted in a press release that risk of transmission from the Hawaiian Airlines flights is “extremely low.”

Food Safety Talk 107: Univalve Mallets

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Food Safety Talk, a bi-weekly podcast for food safety nerds, by food safety nerds. The podcast is hosted by Ben Chapman and barfblog contributor Don Schaffner, Extension Specialist in Food Science and Professor at Rutgers University. Every two weeks or so, Ben and Don get together virtually and talk for about an hour.1472063437005

They talk about what’s on their minds or in the news regarding food safety, and popular culture. They strive to be relevant, funny and informative — sometimes they succeed. You can download the audio recordings right from the website, or subscribe using iTunes.

Episode 107 can be found here and on iTunes.

Show note links to follow along at home:

208 sick: Hawaii Hepatitis A outbreak linked to frozen raw scallops from Philippines

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local officials are investigating an outbreak of hepatitis A illnesses linked to raw scallops.

scallops.hep.aThe FDA and CDC are supporting the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) in an investigation of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infections linked to scallops supplied by Sea Port Products Corp. On August 17, 2016, Hawaii Department of Health reported that 206 people have been confirmed to have become ill with hepatitis A in that state.

On August 17, 2016, the FDA, Hawaii DOH, CDC and state partners informed Sea Port Products Corp that epidemiological, laboratory and traceback information indicates their scallops are the likely source of illnesses.

On August 18, 2016, Sea Port Products Corp initiated a voluntary recall of frozen Bay Scallops produced on November 23, 2015 and 24, 2015. The products were distributed to California, Hawaii, and Nevada. The FDA is working with the recalling firm to ensure their recall is effective and that recalled product is removed from the market.

Restaurants and other retailers should not sell or serve the recalled Bay Scallops. The recalled products were not sold directly to consumers. FDA advises consumers not to eat the recalled Bay Scallops. Consumers should ask the restaurant or retailer where their scallops came from to make sure they do not eat recalled Bay Scallops from Sea Port Products Corp.

The FDA’s traceback investigation involved working with Hawaii DOH to trace the path of food eaten by those made ill back to a common source. The traceback investigation determined that Sea Port Products Corp imported the scallops that were later supplied to certain Genki Sushi locations in Hawaii, where ill people reported eating.

On August 17, 2016, FDA laboratory analysis of two scallop samples, which were collected on August 11, 2016, were confirmed positive for hepatitis A. These samples were imported by Sea Port Products Corp. 

The scallops are produced by De Oro Resources Inc., in Suba Basbas, Philippines, and imported by Sea Port Products Corp. in Washington state. Health authorities closed Genki Sushi restaurants on Oahu and Kauai late Monday because the scallops had been served there.

 

Blast from the past: hep A inactivation in scallops

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Raw scallops served at Genki Sushi have been fingered in a Hawaiian hep A outbreak. What if Genki had seared the scallops? According to some historic work, seared scallops aren’t probably hep A risk-reduced scallops either.

Inactivation of Hepatitis A virus in heat-treated mussels
Journal of Applied Microbiology
dec.99
L. CROCI, M. CICCOZZI, D. DE MEDICI, S. DI PASQUALE, A. FIORE, A. MELE and L. TOTI.1999.Hepatitis A is a widespread infectious disease world-wide. In Italy, shellfish consumption was shown to be a major risk factor for hepatitis A infection, especially when these products are eaten raw or slightly cooked. The aim of the present study was to evaluate Hepatitis A virus (HAV) resistance in experimentally contaminated mussels treated at different temperatures (60, 80 and 100 °C) for various times. The presence of HAV was evaluated by cell culture infection and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction confirmation. The experiments, carried out on HAV suspension and contaminated mussel homogenate both containing about 105 50% tissue culture infectious dose ml−1, showed that, under our experimental conditions, the treatments at 60 °C for 30 min, 80 °C for 10 min and an immersion at 100 °C for 1 min were not sufficient to inactivate all the viruses; it was necessary to prolong the treatment at 100 °C for 2 min to completely inactivate the virus. Thus it is advisable to eat only cooked shellfish, paying particular attention to the times and temperatures used in the cooking process, since evidence suggests that the shellfish body may protect the virus from the heat effect.

Also, here’s the health department’s entire press conference on the source of the outbreak.

It was the imported scallops, served raw: 168 sick from Hep A in Hawaii

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I don‘t eat raw seafood, and I don’t trust chefs on food porn programs that who think scallops are cooked by bouncing them on the floor.

raw.scallops.dillions.aug.09I do believe in vaccines, and food porn chefs should be fully vaccinated.

The Department of Health has determined that the Hepatitis A outbreak on Oahu is likely due to imported frozen scallops served raw at Genki Sushi restaurants on Oahu and Kauai.

The restaurants were closed Monday to prevent any further illness and protect the public.

Nicole Takahashi was eating at the Waikele restaurant when it happened.

“Everything was going great until we got the news that we needed to finish and could just leave without paying for the food. We just got scared,” she told KHON2. “I had to ask why. I was scared, getting nervous, and they just got a call that there were scallops, tainted scallops, so all the Genki locations were being closed down.”

There are also Genki Sushi restaurants on Maui and Hawaii Island, but health officials say they have not been linked to any hepatitis A cases.

Health officials say the scallops were imported from another country by the distributor True World Foods, and only supplied to Genki Sushi.

As of Aug. 10, the DOH reported 168 confirmed cases of hepatitis A.

Vibrio from undercooked scallop leads to wrongful death suit

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There are certain folks who are at higher risk for foodborne illness, the young, elderly, pregnant and immunocompromised.

Food safety is about making risk decisions. When it comes to my kids, who can’t really make salient risk/benefit decisions around food safety, I’m cautious. I don’t mess around with undercooked meats and temp everything.scallops-065

Hope, faith, trust-based food safety is even riskier for those who are more susceptible to pathogens. Eating out is largely a trust-based activity; trust in the managers, food handlers and suppliers when it comes to keeping meals safe.

A San Diego man, who had a weakened immune system, died in 2014 following complications associated with Vibrio he got from an undercooked scallop dish in 2013, according to the Napa Valley Register. 

Redd restaurant in Yountville is being sued for wrongful death by the family of a San Diego man who claimed to have suffered food poisoning attributable to scallops eaten as an appetizer and as an entree.

Larry Sacknoff, 61, died Aug. 16, 2014, due to complications caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a bacteria found in estuarine or marine environments, according to court documents.

About a year earlier on July 21, 2013, Sacknoff enjoyed scallops at the Yountville restaurant, the suit alleges. He became ill with diarrhea, a symptom of Vibrio, and so did his friends, Mary and Scott Papas, who ate at Redd with him, according to the civil suit.

Sacknoff, a former television sportscaster in San Diego, had a history of heart problems and had recently undergone a heart transplant prior to visiting the restaurant. This caused him to have a compromised immune system and inhibited his ability to fight off infection, according to the complaint. “Larry’s fragile condition simply could not handle the aggressive Vibrio pathogen,” the family alleges.

He was treated in the San Diego area for the lingering effects of his infection between Aug. 2, 2013 and March 7, 2014, according to court documents. His treatment included several hospitalizations.

Redd Restaurant and Pierless Fish Corp., a scallop supplier based in Brooklyn, New York, were both named as defendants. In court papers, both denied all allegations.

A settlement with Pierless Fish Corp. was reached in September, and claims against the company were dismissed on Nov. 12, according to Pierless’ attorney Michael Burke with Vogl Meredith Burke LLP in San Francisco. Burke said the terms of the settlement are confidential.

In response to a complaint from Sacknoff’s family, Napa County’s environmental health division inspected the restaurant on Aug. 6, 2013.

Redd, which got a passing B grade, was found to be out of compliance in three food safety areas, including:

“Scallops prepared during this inspection were less than thoroughly cooked,” the inspector reported. Scallops were served between 108 and 132 degrees, failing to meet the 145-degree cooking requirement, according to the report.

The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages due to strict product liability, negligence, and breach of implied warranties. They also seek wrongful death damages and, in their complaint filed on July 16, 2015, demanded a jury trial.

A jury trial is scheduled for July 11.

FDA alleges food safety violations at New Bedford scallop plant

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found “serious” food safety violations at a seafood processing facility operated by Massachusetts-based M&B Sea Products, the FDA said in a warning letter to the company.

raw.scallops.dillions.aug.09Refrigerated, reduced-oxygen packaged raw scallops at the facility have been “prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health,” the FDA said in the Aug. 26 letter.

John Murray, president of the New Bedford-based company, did not respond to requests for comment from Undercurrent News on Tuesday. Mutahar Shamsi, director of the FDA’s New England district, declined to comment on an open case.

Sunday roast with scallops: gratuitous food porn shot of the day

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The good things about food, safely prepared, from my kitchen.

Whole beef eye fillet for two, from the extra-super clearance cheap meat section of the supermarket, with an olive oil-mustard-garlic-lime-rosemary crust, pan-seared, then slow roasted in the oven to 130F and served with a red wine beef jus, with roasted potatoes, mushrooms, leeks and asparagus, whole wheat bread (they call it whole meal here), and Saucer scallops from the waters off the Queensland coast.