Tag Archives: tomato

Salmonella transfer potential onto tomatoes during laboratory-simulated in-field debris removal

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Florida Tomato Good Agricultural Practices (T-GAPs) mandate the removal of dirt and debris from tomatoes during harvest but do not provide any specific regulations or guidance; thus, the current practice of using cloths needs to be evaluated. This study examined Salmonella transfer from inoculated green tomatoes to uninoculated cloths and from inoculated cloths to uninoculated tomatoes, upon single and multiple touches.

food-art-tomatoTomatoes were spot inoculated with a rifampin-resistant Salmonella cocktail (107 CFU per tomato) and were touched with cloth (clean, dirty-dry, dirty-wet) at 0, 1, or 24 h postinoculation. Salmonella was enumerated on tryptic soy agar, followed by enrichments when necessary. The transfer direction was then reversed by touching freshly inoculated cloths with uninoculated tomatoes. Transfer coefficients (TCs) were then calculated. Salmonella TCs from inoculated tomato and cloth were highest when the inoculum was wet (0.44 ± 0.13 to 0.32 ± 0.12), regardless of the condition of the cloth. Although Salmonella TCs from inoculated tomato to uninoculated cloth decreased significantly when the inoculum was dried (0.17 ± 0.23 to 0.01 ± 0.00), low levels of Salmonella were detected on cloth even after 24 h of drying. Inoculated dirty cloth did not transfer more Salmonella compared with inoculated clean cloth, and Salmonella survival was not higher on dirty cloth. When inoculated clean cloth (wet) was touched with 25 tomatoes, significantly higher levels of Salmonella were transferred to the first, second, and fourth tomatoes (0.03 ± 0.10 to 0.09 ± 0.02). However, inoculated dirty-wet (below limit of detection) and dirty-dry (0.00 to 0.04 ± 0.01) cloths transferred similar levels of Salmonella to all 25 tomatoes.

Results indicate a low risk of potential Salmonella contamination when the same cloth is used multiple times for debris removal, especially under high moisture levels. Results also show that the use of dirty cloths did not increase the risk of Salmonella cross-contamination.

Journal of Food Protection®, Number 7, July 2014, pp. 1052-1240, pp. 1062-1068(7)

Sreedharan, Aswathy1; Schneider, Keith R.2; Danyluk, Michelle D.3

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2014/00000077/00000007/art00002

Unlabeled irradiated Australian tomatoes now on NZ shelves

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New Zealanders are being urged to once again ask their retailer if their tomatoes have been treated with radiation, as, according to this story, large volumes of unlabelled irradiated Australian tomatoes hit local shelves.

tomato.irradiationThe story says currently there are tonnes of irradiated Australian tomatoes being imported into New Zealand vegetable markets and food retail outlets nationwide, according to Tomatoes New Zealand.

Food retailers and the hospitality sector are legally required to label or indicate where imported irradiated Australian tomatoes are sold or served. However many are unaware that they have a responsibility to their customers to label the produce as irradiated.

Alasdair MacLeod, Chair of Tomatoes New Zealand, said; “We are asking all food and hospitality retailers, including catering companies, to clearly label their irradiated produce at point of sale and on their menus to avoid any public confusion.”

“We are also urging people to register their complaints with the Ministry for Primary Industries via their hotline number and/or email should they believe irradiated Australian tomatoes are being sold without any labeling or signage provided.”

Tomatoes New Zealand is calling on those importing, selling or serving tomatoes to comply with the New Zealand Food Standards Code, which states all food that has been irradiated, or food that contains irradiated ingredients or components, be labeled or have a label displayed on or close to it stating that it has been treated with ionizing radiation.

Unlike Australia, New Zealand does not have mandatory country of origin labeling of fresh produce – so unless retailers clearly label irradiated Australian tomatoes, consumers won’t be able to distinguish irradiated tomatoes from New Zealand tomatoes which are never irradiated.

New Zealand already accepts a number of irradiated tropical fruit from Australia that we don’t grow in New Zealand such as mango, papaya and custard apple. These fruits are required to have mandatory labelling.

Effects of post-harvest handling conditions on internalization and growth of Salmonella Enterica in tomatoes

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Journal of Food Protection®, Number 3, March 2014, pp. 352-521 , pp. 365-370(6)

Zhou, Bin; Luo, Yaguang; Nou, Xiangwu; Yang, Yang; Wu, Yunpeng; Wang, Qin

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2014/00000077/00000003/art00003

Salmonella internalization in tomatoes during postharvest handling is a major food safety concern. This study was conducted to determine the effect of immersion time, immersion depth, and temperature differential between bacterial suspension and tomato pulp on the internalization of Salmonella enterica in tomato fruits. The effect of storage temperature and tomato.dump.tankduration on the survival and growth of internalized Salmonella cells was also evaluated. Overall, immersion time significantly affected the incidence and extent of S. enterica internalization (P < 0.0001), with a linear correlation between immersion time and Salmonella internalization. The depth of Salmonella internalization in tomato tissues also increased with increasing immersion time. Immersion time also significantly influenced the degree to which the temperature differential affected Salmonella internalization. With an immersion time of 2 min, the temperature differential had no significant effect on Salmonella internalization (P = 0.2536). However, with an immersion time of 15 min, a significantly larger Salmonella population became internalized in tomatoes immersed in solutions with a –30°F (–16.7°C) temperature differential. Internalized S. enterica cells persisted in the core tissues during 14 days of storage. Strain type and storage duration significantly affected (P < 0.05) both the frequency detected and the population of internalized Salmonella recovered, but storage temperatures of 55 to 70°F (12.8 to 21.1°C) did not (P > 0.05). These findings indicate the importance of preventing pathogen internalization during postharvest handling.

 

Regardless of regulation, actually employing best practices matters

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A lot of folks in the food system are concerned about the potential for FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), and associated rules, to negatively impact businesses. There’s been a bunch of rhetoric and uncertainty around the final rules and what will be needed to comply. The majority of the content of the proposed Produce and Preventive Controls Rules summarizes the industry’s best practices and lists the references behind decisions.tomato_dump_tank

Not much in there that’s a surprise for folks who have been paying attention.

The focus of FSMA is on identifying hazards, putting steps in place to manage them and actually doing it. The best businesses are already doing this.

There are some specifics like manure incorporation and what a qualified individual is (who is supposed to be responsible for written plans) that need to be worked out. But employing practices and putting systems in place based on the best available science goes a long way in the absence of a regulation.

Back in the day when we were working with produce farmers and packers in Ontario (that’s in Canada) that’s what we tried to do – to stay ahead of the market requirements and regulation.

It’s not a unique approach – the almond industry took a similar path, so did Florida tomato growers and leafy greens producers in California and Arizona to some extent.

According to Lancaster Online, Pennsylvania farmers, through ag educators might be focusing on the uncertainty.

Ag educator Jeff Stoltzfus said he has learned a lot about food safety in the past five years.

But when it comes to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s efforts to overhaul food safety regulations, he’s still trying to figure out the impact it will have on the growers he works with.

“What we don’t know is more than what we do know,” he told a group of growers gathered recently at Yoder’s Restaurant for New Holland Vegetable Day.

Keeping good records, he said, could be the most important thing for growers to protect themselves in case a problem arises.

“Records are going to be very important and policies will be even more important, especially if you’re taking stuff from other growers.”

I disagree – actually employing the correct risk-reduction practices based would top my list. The documentation is nice and shows a regulator or a buyer that you know what you’re talking about – but doing it is more important.

Do audits and inspections make food safer? Sometimes, or not; Florida tomato growers look to harmonized audits

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Florida tomato grower, packers and shippers may, according to The Grower,  finally get some relief from audit fatigue caused by having to undergo several different food safety inspections required by multiple buyers.

Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Maitland-based Florida Tomato Exchange, said he hoped that with the beginning of this year’s tomato season in late fall that buyers ben-corn-300x184will opt for a single harmonized audit.

“It would be just one audit and it would include the fields and the packing facilities,” Brown said.

But do audits or inspections enhance food safety? Or is there another way? Are some companies better?

‘If there’s a cow within the next galaxy, they’re not going to buy;’ tomato growers frustrated with audit fatigue, ‘shower science’

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Doug Ohlemeier of The Packer revisits an early Feb. 2012 meeting of tomato growers, shippers, repackers, buyers, regulators and auditors in Florida to pull out a few golden quotes.

Billy Heller, chief executive officer of Pacific Tomato Growers Ltd., Palmetto, Fla., expressed disappointment with what he calls “shower science,” the protocols auditors and customers come up with that may not be practical.

“The differentiation is that someone as a customer says they’re going to be different and will say if there’s a cow within the next galaxy, they’re not going to buy. I can live with almost all of it, but not the ‘shower thoughts.’ It shouldn’t be in there if they’re not supported by science. Opinions don’t work.”

In a discussion about birds roosting on electric poles near tomato field bins, Heller said Florida growers must deal with a variety of wildlife, including lizards and alligators.

If auditors regulate how close wildlife can be to fields, it should be a science-based rule, he said.

Drew McDonald, Salinas, Calif.-based vice president of quality and food safety for Danaco Solutions LLC, Highland Park, Ill., said each circumstance is different.

“What we don’t want to do is throw the baby out with the bath water and remove all poles and eliminate all birds. I’m not exaggerating when I say we had a customer saying there’s too much dirt (in the field). We can get a little crazy here but these are common-sense things. People agree they don’t want bird droppings on fresh produce, but what they disagree on is ways to prevent that.”

Salmonella-in-tomato outbreak 2006 redux

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A new paper in Epidemiology and Infection revisits a 2006 outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium linked to tomatoes served at various restaurants that sickened 190 — even a Canadian.

The authors write that “in response to the outbreak, the grower/packer made improvements in good agricultural and manufacturing practices relating to the packing house and contracted a third-party auditor to improve food-safety practices based on customer request.’’

Do auditors improve food safety practices or just evaluate?

Abstract below:

Multiple salmonellosis outbreaks have been linked to contaminated tomatoes. We investigated a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium infections among 190 cases. For hypothesis generation, review of patients’ food histories from four restaurant-associated clusters in four states revealed that large tomatoes were the only common food consumed by patients.

Two case-control studies were conducted to identify food exposures associated with infections. In a study conducted in nine states illness was significantly associated with eating raw, large, round tomatoes in a restaurant [matched odds ratio (mOR) 3·1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·3–7·3]. In a Minnesota study, illness was associated with tomatoes eaten at a restaurant (OR 6·3, mid-P 95% CI 1·05–50·4,P=0·046).

State, local and federal regulatory officials traced the source of tomatoes to Ohio tomato fields, a growing area not previously identified in past tomato-associated outbreaks. Because tomatoes are commonly eaten raw, prevention of tomato contamination should include interventions on the farm, during packing, and at restaurants.

Epidemiology and Infection, FirstView Article : pp 1-9
C. Barton Behravesh, D. Blaney, C. Medus, S. A. Bidol, Q. Phan, S. Soliva, E. R. Daly, K. Smith, B. Miller, T. Taylor Jr., T. Nguyen, C. Perry, T. A. Hill, N. Fogg, A. Kleiza, D. Moorhead, S. Al-Khaldi, C. Braden and M. F. Lynch

55 sick with salmonella from tomatoes in EU

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Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut has been investigating an outbreak caused by Salmonella Strathcona. This serotype has not previously been detected in Denmark, and it has never before been recognized as the source of an outbreak.

The outbreak included a total of 40 culture confirmed cases registered in the Danish National Laboratory Surveillance System. The cases, 24 females and 16 males, comprised children and grown-ups from all over the country. The first patient became ill on Sept. 4, 2011, and the last on Oct. 14, 2011. During the same period, 14 cases in Germany and one in Austria were reported.

Small, elongated tomatoes of the type datterino have been found to be the source of the infections. The tomatoes, deriving from a producer in southern Italy, have primarily been sold from the supermarket chain, "Rema 1000." The tomatoes are no longer available from the supermarket chain, and the outbreak has most likely now stopped.

Tomatoes have not before been recognized as the source of salmonella outbreaks in Denmark, however, the U.S. has seen several foodborne outbreaks associated with contaminated tomatoes.

Salmonella in grape tomatoes: lotsa drama, not much data, third-party audits still don’t mean much

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Canada has to make the simplest things mindnumbingly confusing and bureaucratic. Who has four federal elections in seven years?

On April 29, 2011, Six L’s of Immokalee, Fla. voluntarily recalled a single lot of grape tomatoes, because they had the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. The contamination was detected through a random sample obtained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at a distributor in New York. The product is from a farm in Estero, Fla. that has since ceased production of that commodity.

The specific lot was packed on April 11 and was comprised of grape tomatoes that can be identified by Cherry Berry lot code DW-H in either in clam shells or 20 lbs. cardboard containers. The product was distributed to North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Georgia and Canada, and reached consumers through retail stores and restaurant distribution.

No one was sick, USDA tested and found something, at least someone was awake.

But that recall grew. It grew and it grew and it grew until Canada decided it had to do something (apologies to Bob Munsch).

On May 2, 2011, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency took time off from voting in the latest federal election to proclaim that Mastronardi Produce of Kingsville, (that’s near Leamington, in Ontario in Canada) was voluntarily recalling grape tomatoes because they may contain Salmonella anatum.

Mastronardi Produce is taking this action after they were notified by a supplier about one lot of tomatoes that was later determined to be contaminated with Salmonella anatum. The supplier was Six L Packing Company from Immokalee, Florida.

Was Mastronardi, a well-known greenhouse vegetable grower, repacking grape tomatoes from Florida? No, just redistributing.

That’s what Richard Lee, operations manager of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, told me this afternoon. He also said Mastronardi was “helping out” CFIA types, but that people are “poorly educated” about the difference between greenhouse and field grown tomatoes, so OGVG put out its own press release today.

“OGVG would like the public to be aware that this product is NOT of Canadian origin and NOT Greenhouse grown. The original supplier of these tomatoes was Six L Packing Company from Immokalee, Florida.”

(People who write in all caps are yelling; why are you yelling at me?)

“Retailers and consumers can continue to feel confident when purchasing Ontario greenhouse tomatoes,” said OGVG General Manager, George Gilvesy. “All Ontario greenhouse tomato, cucumber and pepper growers are required to pass an annual third party food safety audit as part of OGVG’s licensing regulations. This helps to ensure that all greenhouse vegetable growers are following important food safety standards.”

How often is water quality tested? How about pathogen testing? Are growers and packers notified before the auditor shows up? Are those results public? The program we designed 13 years ago for the greenhouse veggie growers had all those elements, along with round-the-clock food safety assistance and at least decent communications with buyers and consumers. But third-party auditors became the preference of the industry – the folks that enabled salmonella in peanut paste, E. coli in produce, salmonella in eggs, and virtually every other outbreak over the past decade.

At some point, people will realize that proclaiming a third-party audit in the absence of any meaningful data is groveling to the lowest common denominator.

Sorta like the way the Liberals and Bloc were annihilated in the federal election yesterday. Some Canadians woke up.
 

Subway sandwiches, where do you get your fresh ingredients? 34 sick with Subway Salmonella in 14 Illinois counties

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Fresh produce is yet again suspect as the Subway chain has voluntarily withdrawn lettuce, green peppers, red onion and tomatoes after a bunch of people got Salmonella at a bunch of Subway stores in Illinois.

Jared, this is not a weight loss strategy.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reports that 34 cases of Salmonella have been confirmed with this outbreak and all are recovering, of which 14 had been hospitalized.

Salmonella cases identified in this outbreak reported eating at Subway locations in 14 counties, including Sangamon, Schuyler, Christian, Bureau, LaSalle, Cass, Champaign, Peoria, Shelby, Warren, Macon, Ogle, Fulton and Tazewell. At this point in the investigation, no cases have reported eating at Subway restaurants in either northeastern or southernmost portions of Illinois. Illnesses are reported to have started between May 14 and May 25 and cases range in age from six-years to 88-years-old.

The specific type of Salmonella involved in this outbreak is a rare serotype called Hvittingfoss. Typically, only one to two cases of this type of Salmonella are seen in Illinois per year.