Tag Archives: Sushi

Producto crudo y congelado de atún de aleta amarilla enferma a 116 personas. La causa fué Salmonella en el sushi

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 Traducido por Gonzalo Erdozain

Resumen del folleto informativo mas reciente:
– 12 de los 116 casos, requirieron hospitalización
– El producto implicado, procesado y distribuido por Moon Marine USA Corporation (conocida como MMI) de Cupertino, Calif., esta hecho con “tuna backmeat.” Según la FDA, dicha carne es rascada de los huesos, y parece carne molida.
– El producto no es vendido al publico, pero pudo haber sido usado por restaurantes y establecimientos para hacer sushi, sashimi, ceviche, y/u otros platos similares.
– Moon Marine USA Corporation o MMI y Nakaochi Scrape AA o AAA, aparecen en las cajas del producto vendido a los distribuidores mayoristas. Dichas cajas pudieron haber sido divididas y a su vez vendidas a otros establecimientos.

Los folletos informativos son creados semanalmente y puestos en restaurantes, tiendas y granjas, y son usados para entrenar y educar a través del mundo. Si usted quiere proponer un tema o mandar fotos para los folletos, contacte a Ben Chapman a benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.
Puede seguir las historias de los folletos informativos y barfblog en twitter
@benjaminchapman y @barfblog.

New Food Safety Infosheet: 116 illnesses linked to frozen raw yellowfin tuna product; Salmonella in sushi source of illnesses

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The newest food safety infosheet, a graphical one-page food safety-related story directed at food businesses, is now available.

Food Safety Infosheet Highlights:

– Among the 116 illnesses are 12 hospitalizations.

– The implicated product, processed and distributed by Moon Marine USA Corporation (also known as MMI) of Cupertino, Calif. is made of tuna back meat, which is  scraped off the bones and looks like ground product.

– The product is not available for sale to individual consumers, but may have been used in food service and retail to make sushi, sashimi, ceviche and similar dishes.

– Moon Marine USA Corporation or MMI and Nakaochi Scrape AA or AAA were printed on boxes of the product when it was initially sold to distributors. Boxes may have been broken into smaller lots for further sale.

Food safety infosheets are created bi-weekly and are posted in restaurants, retail stores, on farms and used in training throughout the world. If you have any infosheet topic requests, or photos, please contact Ben Chapman at benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.

You can follow food safety infosheets stories and barfblog on twitter @benjaminchapman and @barfblog.

Click here to download the infosheet.

Sushi eaters face their own pink slime

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Amy likes the sushi. I can’t stand the stuff.

As part of that Salmonella-in-sushi outbreak that has now caused 116 confirmed illnesses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control yesterday fingered the culprit: frozen raw yellowfin tuna product, known as Nakaochi Scrape, from Moon Marine USA Corporation.

Nakaochi Scrape is tuna backmeat that is scraped from the bones of tuna and may be used in sushi, sashimi, ceviche, and similar dishes. The product looks like raw ground tuna. Often it’s sold as spicy tuna sushi. The raw yellowfin tuna product may have passed through several distributors before reaching the restaurant and grocery market and may not be clearly labeled.

Did you know that’s what you may be getting when you get your fancy pants sushi? Amy didn’t.

I tried to explain to Amy and dozens of reporters over the past few days, why it’s sometimes a good idea to use technology to get whatever protein is available from whatever source: but a McRib isn’t actually a rib; it’s the scrapped and gathered pieces of pork mixed with secret spices and formed into a familiar shape of deliciousness to not scare people off; sorta like how religious deities appear. Same with a lot of chicken thingies. And many have now heard of pink slime.

But sushi is for the refined crowd, who don’t lower themselves to other proteinly indulgences. At least that’s what foodies tell me.

Kill steps to control dangerous bacteria are important. So is consumer choice and buyer beware. I’m going to visit my fish monger later today. The muddies are ripe, and the barramundi are plentiful.

Keeping count; raw food, animals can transmit disease

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Don’t touch that turtle! Don’t touch that one either! And stop touching yourself!

Second City TV: great or greatest show ever?

But good advice for those who want to hang around raw food and live animals of various kinds. Bacteria happen. Biology happens. “It’s not a deal, nor a test nor a love of something fated.”

I don’t like sushi; pet turtles traumatized me as a child.

Turtles were inexpensive, popular, and low maintenance, with an array of groovy pre-molded plastic housing designs to choose from. Invariably they would escape, only to be found days later behind the couch along with the skeleton of the class bunny my younger sister brought home from kindergarten one weekend. Maybe I got sick from my turtle.

Maybe I picked up my turtle, rolled around on the carpet with it, pet it a bit, and then stuck my finger in my mouth. Maybe in my emotionally vacant adolescence I kissed my turtle. Who can remember?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports there are now 72 confirmed cases of people, primarily kids, infected with outbreak strains of Salmonella Sandiego, Salmonella Pomona, and Salmonella Poona in 17 states, up from 66.

Results of the epidemiologic and environmental investigations indicate exposure to turtles or their environments (e.g., water from a turtle habitat) is the cause of these outbreaks.

Small turtles (shell length less than 4 inches) were reported by 92% of cases.

Forty-three percent of ill persons with small turtles reported purchasing the turtles from street vendors.

Turtles with a shell length of less than 4 inches in size should not be purchased or given as gifts.

And in sushi land, there are now 100 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bareilly from 19 states and the District of Columbia, up from 93.

The investigation has not conclusively identified a food source.

The investigation is ongoing into individual food items and their sources.

Sushi suspected: multistate outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly infections

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Did health-types mean to go public yesterday about the apparent Salmonella-in-maybe-sushi outbreak? The initial reporting attributed the news to an internal e-mail at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but today, the Centers for Disease Control put out the official word.

A total of 93 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bareilly have been reported from 19 states and the District of Columbia.

The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2), Arkansas (1), Connecticut (4), District of Columbia (2), Georgia (4), Illinois (8), Louisiana (2), Maryland (8), Massachusetts (4), Mississippi (1), Missouri (1), New Jersey (6), New York (23), North Carolina (2), Pennsylvania (2), Rhode Island (4), South Carolina (3), Texas (3), Virginia (5), and Wisconsin (8).

10 ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

Among 93 persons for whom information is available, illness onset dates range from January 28 to March 23, 2012. Ill persons range in age from 4 to 78 years, with a median age of 31. Forty-six percent of patients are female.

Among 51 ill persons for whom information is available, 35 (69%) reported consuming sushi, sashimi, or similar foods in the week before illness onset. This percentage is higher than expected compared with results from a survey of healthy persons in which 5% of persons reported consuming sushi, sashimi, or ceviche made with raw fish or shellfish in the 7 days before they were interviewed. The investigation into specific types of sushi is ongoing.

The investigation has not conclusively identified a food source.

The investigation is ongoing into individual food items and their sources.
CDC and FDA are working together on the investigation and will provide updates as soon as they are available.

If a specific food source is identified for this outbreak, public health officials will alert the public and take further steps to prevent additional illnesses.

Salmonella in sushi may have sickened 90

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I don’t eat sushi. I have and it tastes like barf.

Word from JoNel Aleccia of msnbc that health tyes are investigating a growing outbreak of salmonella food poisoning possibly tied to restaurant sushi that has sickened at least 90 people in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

The outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly that has sent seven people to the hospital is mostly clustered on the eastern seaboard and the Gulf Coast, although cases have been reported as far west as Missouri and Texas, said Curtis Allen, a spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration. No deaths have been reported.

The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the outbreak, which appears to be ongoing and expanding rapidly, according to an internal FDA email. There may be a lag of more than a month from the time people ate tainted food to the time they reported it.

Allen said the outbreak appears to be tied to seafood, and possibly sushi, but it’s still far too early to identify the actual cause.

The email identified spicy tuna roll sushi as “highly suspect,” but Allen emphasized that that is a preliminary speculation that may be proved wrong later.

The federal agencies are focusing on six restaurant clusters in Texas, Wisconsin, Maryland and Connecticut, according to the email, which was distributed outside the agency.

Salmonella Bareilly is a strain sometimes associated with bean sprouts.

Venison sushi salmonella case in Hawai`i

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A bad case of salmonella poisoning suffered by a 65-year old Honolulu who ate raw venison sushi is the first documented case of its kind in Hawai`i and offers a reminder to physicians (and their patients) that there are many potential local sources of foodborne illness.

In the case, reported in the new edition of the Hawai`i Journal of Medicine and Public Health, the source of the illness is identified as venison, or deer meat, from the island of Lana`i.

A University of Hawai`i at M?noa press release quotes the article as saying, “In Hawai‘i, it has long been known that certain animals and animal products have a higher propensity to carry salmonella, particularly Hawaiian hogs and chickens. However, a search of the literature did not find data to implicate the local deer population as a source for foodborne illness.”

“The ethnic and cultural diversity of Hawai`i affords a cuisine with ample opportunities to eat raw or undercooked food, including sushi, ceviche, oysters, and clams,” wrote the researchers. “Game meat, including deer on Lana`i, is readily available to hunters. Clinicians in Hawai`i should remain alert and aware of the potential local sources of food borne illness. The deer population of Hawai‘i can potentially harbor foodborne pathogens. All persons should be reminded to thoroughly cook game meat and always adhere to safe food handling practices.”

Manhattan, famous for sushi?

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One of my great laments about Manhattan (Kansas) has been the lack of sushi. In the past few years, however, sushi has appeared on campus, in grocery stores and a Japanese restaurant is expected to open in Aggieville. Today during our regular pilgrimage to a Dillon’s grocery store (owned by Kroger), the "Sushi" sign was prominently displayed out front. While thinking to myself, "that might make a nice lunch today,"once inside the store I changed my mind. I snapped this picture (right) of an unattended rice container and decided not to buy sushi there because of the potential risk.

While most people presume that the greatest risk for foodborne illness in sushi comes from the raw fish, I’ve learned from living with Doug that rice is too often the culprit. When held at improper temperatures or temperature abused, Bacillus cereus, a soil dwelling bacterium, can germinate in the rice and create toxins. Although only responsible for 2-5% of foodborne illness, B. cereus can result in nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Diarrhea onset usually occurs between 8 and 16 hours after consumption but nausea and vomiting can occur from 1 to 5 hours after consumption. This is one of the few foodborne illnesses with symptom onset soon after consumption.

Last year when one of my students told me he got sick from eating sushi on campus, he blamed himself for eating raw fish. He was rather surprised when I told him the rice was more likely to blame.

Sydney store fined over sushi

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The NSW Food Authority has added the sushi bar at upmarket retailer David Jones, located in its famous food hall on Market Street, Sydney, to its Name and Shame list for not keeping food at the required temperature (that’s model Miranda Kerr, right, shopping at the store).

"Prawn and salmon sushi with cooked rice was found to be in the temperature range of 11.8C to 24.5C, Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan said in a statement on Saturday.

"The required temperature for retail display is 5C or less, unless a business has in place a system to ensure product is displayed for no more than four hours without refrigeration."

The department store was fined $660 fine for the breach.

Other food outlets added to the NSW Food Authority’s Name and Shame register in the past month include Koh-Ya Yakiniku Japanese restaurant, in Neutral Bay.

The restaurant was fined $660 for storing raw meat on dirty wet towels directly above ready-to-eat food.

Row over report on dodgy sushi in Australia

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Australia’s Today Tonight – get it, today’s news presented at night – ran a report that four out of five sushi samples in certain areas of Australia were crawling with bacteria including Bacillus cereus, staphylococcus and listeria, and could cause serious illness.

This caused Go Sushi Rockhampton owner Glenda Johnson’s to claim the Channel 7 show ran a sensationalist report and that the dodgy sushi bit doesn’t apply to the Rockhampton area.

Associate Professor Fabbro, an environmental scientist at CQ University, said when buying any type of prepared food people should look to see how clean the outlet was, if there was a good stocking system operating and a cabinet to keep the food at the right temperature as well as if the product looked fresh, adding,

“With rice products it’s important to keep them well chilled.”

She also said because Rockhampton was in the tropics the council had a more vigilant testing regime than those in other places.

Today Tonight state producer Rodney Lohse said,

“Yes, we are all aware bacteria are everywhere, but that doesn’t mean we should be flippant about food safety. … Sorry, if Glenda finds this sensationalist but Queensland Health doesn’t, they found it concerning. So concerning Biotech Laboratories which conducted the testing on our behalf found it necessary to report their findings to Queensland Health before even we were notified. Queensland Health then immediately sent field officers to investigate and take action.”