The risk of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) survival in blade-tenderized beef is a concern for beef processors. This study evaluated the internalization and post-cooking survival of individual STEC serogroups (O157:H7, O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145) in blade-tenderized beef steaks with different quality traits.
Strip loins representing four combinations of USDA Quality Grade (Choice or Select) and pH category (High pH or Normal pH) were inoculated (106 log CFU/cm2 attachment) with individual STEC serogroups before storage (14 days), blade tenderization, and cooking (50, 60, 71, or 85 °C).
Serogroup populations on raw steak surfaces and internal cores were determined. Rapid-based methods were used to detect the internal presence of STEC in cooked steaks. Internalization and post-cooking survival varied among STECs. All serogroups, except O45 and O121, were detected in the internal cores of steaks cooked to 50 °C, while O103, O111, and O145 STEC were detected in steaks cooked to 50, 60, and 71 °C.
The influence of beef quality characteristics on the internalization and thermal susceptibility of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in blade-tenderized beef steaks
Meat Science, Volume 110, December 2015, Pages 85–92, doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2015.06.014
Corliss, J.C. Brooks, J.N. Martin, A. Echeverry, A.R. Parks, S. Pokharel, M.M. Brashears
Reynolds, an Athens, Georgia native, went home after five days in the hospital as she continued to wait for the illness to subside. Typically, this type of bacteria runs its course after about a week.
Georgia athletic trainer Anna Randa noticed that Reynolds was not progressing as she should and requested another blood test. The E. coli had created a different issue, and Reynolds headed back to the hospital.
“It seemed like for a while, everything that could go wrong, did,” said Sharron Casola, Reynolds’ mother.
The bacteria developed into hemolytic uremic syndrome, which causes red blood cells to clog the kidneys. Reynolds said each time the doctors arrived with a new report, the situation appeared to be getting worse.
“There was a time in late fall [when] we just wanted her to have a normal life,” head coach Danna Durante said. “We wanted to make sure she was going to be a healthy person, and gymnastics was not even a concern.”
Reynolds was transported to Athens Regional Medical Center, where she was given dialysis and a new medicine called Soliris. Her health began to move in the right direction, and she finally went home the night before Thanksgiving.
Last season, Reynolds never scored below a 9.8 in her six floor routines and tallied a season-high 9.9. She hasn’t competed once this year. Her recent illness turned her focus to other small, but still meaningful victories.
She said sitting up by herself the day she got out of the intensive care unit was an important milestone. Her mother said that after three weeks of not eating, Reynolds finally asked for and ate a grilled chicken sandwich.
As for gymnastics, she has embraced a new role so far this year.
Bradie Perkins, who lives with his parents in Earl Shilton, Leicester, was 13-years-old when he travelled to a notorious “super-sized” beachfront complex with his family in Sarigerme in October 2010.
But the teen started to feel lethargic and tired during his last few days staying at the Holiday Village Turkey – which has featured on the BBC’s Watchdog programme.
After returning home to Britain, Bradie had to be rushed to hospital twice because of severe diarrhoea, stomach cramps, dehydration and other gastric symptoms.
He was eventually diagnosed with E. coli and giardiasis as well as a kidney condition known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
Bradie was forced to have dialysis treatment but tests in June 2014 found his kidneys had been left functioning at just two-thirds of their normal ability because of thedamage caused by the illness.
Tour operator TUI UK Limited – trading as First Choice Holidays and Flights Limited – initially denied liability throughout the five-year claim.
But the case was eventually settled last month just four weeks before a trial was due to begin.
Bradie, who is now 18, has now received a substantial six-figure settlement after medical experts concluded that his kidneys were so badly damaged there’s a possibility they could fail in the future.
His family told lawyers that food from previous meals was often re-used at the Holiday Village Turkey the next day and that cold food was sometimes topped up with hot food.
They found that meals were often undercooked and left uncovered while flies, insects and even cats were seen in the restaurant.
The family said there were also instances where the pool was closed due to children defecating in the water but the family never saw the pool drained and re-filled.
The lawsuit was against XL Foods Inc., which operated a meat-packing plant in southern Alberta during the tainted beef recall in the fall of 2012.
Lawyer Clint Docken says hundreds of people in Canada and the United States could apply by the Aug. 17 deadline.
Under the agreement, which refers to possible E. coli O157 contamination, XL Foods does not accept any wrongdoing or liability (it was all documented in a report).
XL Foods recalled more than 1.8 million kilograms of beef in Canada and the United States, and the plant in Brooks, Alta., was later sold to JBS Canada.
A new study suggests that a molecule found in green, leafy vegetables such as spinach contains bacterium-fighting ingredients that could prove a cure to common cases of food poisoning .
Veg are essential for good human gut health because of the presence of an unusual sulphur-containing sugar molecule.
The molecule , known as sugar sulfoquinovose or SQ, is essential for feeding good gut bacteria, limiting the ability of bad bacteria to colonise the gut by shutting them out of the prime “real estate.”
But now researchers have discovered an enzyme in the foods which are used by good bacteria to feed on these sugar molecules.
The discovery of enzyme YihQ could now be exploited to develop new strains of antibiotics to counteract E.coli and Salmonella.
And it also breaks the food down to turn it into sulphur, which re-enters the atmosphere to be reused by other organisms.
In response, we want to first acknowledge our respect for the work of the artisan cheesemakers who produce a wide variety of flavorful, high-quality cheeses using raw milk and our appreciation for the great care that many take to produce raw milk cheeses safely. We understand the concerns expressed by some cheesemakers, as well as lawmakers, and intend to engage in a scientific dialogue on these issues.
The agency’s role in this area, and with respect to food safety generally, is to work with the industry, consumers, government partners, and experts to be sure the right science-based, prevention-oriented standards and safety criteria are in place and that there is widespread compliance in the interest of food safety and consumer confidence.
Some question testing raw milk cheese for the presence of non-toxigenic E. coli, which has long been used by FDA and other public health agencies in the U.S. and other countries to indicate fecal contamination. Specifically, the concerns include the application of the test results and scientific foundation of these criteria.
The FDA’s reason for testing cheese samples for non-toxigenic E. coli is that bacteria above a certain level could indicate unsanitary conditions in a processing plant. Our surveillance sampling shows that the vast majority of domestic and imported raw milk cheeses are meeting the established criteria.
The agency will re-evaluate its criteria in the context of the overarching framework for the oversight of food production provided by the 2011 FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The Preventive Controls for Human Food rule mandated by FSMA, which became final in September, requires that food producers identify hazards in their product and operations and put controls in place to prevent or minimize those hazards.
Looking ahead, with the FSMA preventive controls rule now final, we will be taking another look at what role non-toxigenic E. coli should have in identifying and preventing insanitary conditions and food safety hazards for both domestic and foreign cheese producers.
The FDA will also consider and update, as appropriate, the 2010 Compliance Policy Guide, which outlines safety criteria. Any changes will be informed by our engagement with stakeholders and experts on such issues as the use of a single bacterial criterion for both pasteurized and raw milk cheese, and the use of non-toxigenic E. coli as an indicator organism.
The agency will continue to inspect cheese-making facilities and test for pathogens in domestic and imported cheese but, in the meantime, FDA is in the process of pausing its testing program for non-toxigenic E. coli in cheese. We will also continue working with all stakeholders to benefit from their expertise about safe cheese-making practices and achieve the mutual goal of food safety.
I used to have this prof, who insisted RNA – ribonucleic acid – was the cornerstone of civilization.
I would argue, we’re all hosts on a viral planet, and that RNA didn’t mean shit.
Maybe that’s why I didn’t do my PhD with him.
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, report the capacity to distinguish between living and dead cells is an important, but often unrealized, attribute of rapid detection methods for foodborne pathogens.
In this study, the numbers of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 after inoculation onto Romaine lettuce plants and on plastic (abiotic) surfaces were measured over time by culturing, and quantitative PCR (qPCR), propidium monoazide (PMA)-qPCR, and reverse transcriptase (RT)-qPCR targeting E. coli O157:H7 gapA, rfbE, eae, and lpfA genes and gene transcripts. On Romaine lettuce plants incubated at low relative humidity, E. coli O157:H7 cell numbers declined 107-fold within 96 h according to culture-based assessments. In contrast, there were no reductions in E. coli levels according to qPCR and only 100- and 1000-fold lower numbers per leaf by RT-qPCR and PMA-qPCR, respectively. Similar results were obtained upon exposure of E. coli O157:H7 to desiccation conditions on a sterile plastic surface.
Subsequent investigation of mixtures of living and dead E. coli O157:H7 cells strongly indicated that PMA-qPCR detection was subject to false-positive enumerations of viable targets when in the presence of 100-fold higher numbers of dead cells. RT-qPCR measurements of killed E. coli O157:H7 as well as for RNaseA-treated E. coli RNA confirmed that transcripts from dead cells and highly degraded RNA were also amplified by RT-qPCR.
These findings show that neither PMA-qPCR nor RT-qPCR provide accurate estimates of bacterial viability in environments where growth and survival is limited.
RNA-based detection does not accurately enumerate living Escherichia coli O157:H7 cells on plants
Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, USA
That was a boring super bowl, full of gimmicks and a quarterback pushing Bud Light as his soundbite, but it won’t be as boring as Chipotle’s two-hour wankfest when they close their almost 2,000 outlets for a food safety pep talk.
It’s not food safety, it’s a marketing gimmick (which is how Chipotle has been getting money all along).
And they’re going to show how much they know about food safety risk communication.
Or how bad their PR consultants are.
The meeting will go over an improved farm-to-fork food safety program, which the chain implemented in January. It includes paid sick leave to make sure employees will stay home when they’re sick, DNA-based testing of ingredients before they’re shipped to restaurants and some changes in food preparation protocols.
Why didn’t they do this before?
Because there’s money to be made in marketing hucksterism.
Ask Dr. Oz.
About 500 people got sick last year from outbreaks due to Norovirus, E. coli O26 and Salmonella,, including an entire basketball team at Boston College. Some of the sickened diners have sued Chipotle. Profits plunged 44% in the fourth quarter compared to the year before. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the company for possible criminal activity.
“The creative for this campaign, with one small exception, does not mention food safety or the recent incidents,” he said. “Instead, it reinforces our commitment to high-quality ingredients and great-tasting food.”
Market food safety. High-quality ingredients don’t mean shit (literally and metaphorically).
Beating up on Chipotle and hucksterism gets tiring. So let John Oliver do it.
Julie Jargon of The Wall Street Journal reports that roughly one in six Americans, or 48 million people, get sick each year from foodborne diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Approximately 128,000 of them are hospitalized and 3,000 die from the illnesses. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. CEO Steve Ells is making an all-out effort to revive his chain’s fortunes after contaminated ingredients caused a spate of such illnesses, as The Wall Street Journal reports in a Page One article.
Here are five things to know about foodborne illnesses, according to the CDC:
Which food items account for the most illnesses?
Produce is the most common contributor to foodborne illnesses, accounting for 46% of them between 1998 and 2008, followed by meat and poultry, dairy and eggs and fish and shellfish.
Which pathogens are most responsible?
Norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illness in the U.S., followed by salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. The bacteria behind the Chipotle outbreak are called Shiga toxin-producing E.coli 026.
How dangerous is E. coli 026?
This strain of E. coli can cause diarrhea and vomiting and sometimes lead to kidney failure. No one who contracted this kind of E. coli infection in the Chipotle outbreak died or was diagnosed with kidney failure, though 21 of the 55 ill people were hospitalized. A smaller E. coli outbreak sickened five more. Kidney failure and death is more often associated with the E. coli 0157 strain, which was the pathogen in the 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak that resulted in the deaths of four children.
Is the rate of foodborne disease outbreaks growing?
Infections of E. coli O157 in 2014 decreased 32% when compared with 2006-2008. There has been no change in the number of overall Salmonella cases in 2014 versus 2006-2008. Campylobacter infections increased 13% during that time.
How can I prevent getting a foodborne illness?
Frequent hand washing and washing of surfaces where food is prepared is critical. Cooking food thoroughly is another key way to prevent contamination. A food thermometer should be used to determine when an item is done. Steaks, for example, should be cooked until they reach an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Food should be kept at a temperature of 140 degrees after cooking because bacteria can grow as food begins to cool. Microwaved food should reach 165 degrees or higher. Perishable items should be refrigerated promptly. And raw meat and eggs should always be prepared separately from other foods.
Strip loins representing four combinations of USDA Quality Grade (Choice or Select) and pH category (High pH or Normal pH) were inoculated (106 log CFU/cm2 attachment) with individual STEC serogroups before storage (14 days), blade tenderization, and cooking (50, 60, 71, or 85 °C).
