Tag Archives: Uk

If it tests positive for Salmonella in duck, it’s Salmonella in duck: UK’s Natural Instinct recalls several products

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The Food Standards Agency says Natural Instinct Ltd is recalling several dog food products containing duck because salmonella has been found in the products.

Product details

Working Dog Duck

Pack size   1kg and 2x500g

Use by       08 January 2022 15 January 2022 22 January 2022 13 February 2022 20 February 2022 11 March 2022 18 March 2022

Pure Duck

Pack size   1kg and 2x500g

Use by       08 January 2022 15 January 2022 22 January 2022 13 February 2022 20 February 2022 11 March 2022 18 March 2022

Working Dog Puppy

Pack size   1kg and 2x500g

Use by       15 January 2022 22 January 2022 13 February 2022 20 February 2022 11 March 2022

Duck Carcass

Pack size   Pack of 2

Use by       08 January 2022 15 January 2022 20 February 2022

Duck Necks

Pack size   Pack of 6

Use by       15 January 2022 22 January 2022

Risk statement

The presence of Salmonella in the products listed above.

In humans, symptoms caused by salmonella usually include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Infected animals may not necessarily display signs of illness, but symptoms can include diarrhoea.

Action taken by the company

Natural Instinct is recalling the above products. Point of sale notices will be displayed in all retail stores that are selling these products. These notices explain to customers why the products are being recalled and tell them what to do if they have bought the product.

Natural Instinct recall notice(Opens in a new window)

Our advice to consumers

(Pet owners) If you have bought any of the above products do not use them. Instead, return them to the store from where they were bought for a full refund. When handling and serving raw pet food it is always advised to clean utensils and feeding bowls thoroughly after use. Consumers should wash hands thoroughly after handling raw pet food, bowls, utensils or after contact with the faeces of animals. Raw pet food should be stored separately from any food (especially ready to eat foods). Care should be taken when defrosting to avoid cross contamination of foods and surfaces.

UK toddler left fighting for life with organ failure after eating seagull poo

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Harri Evans of Lancaster Live writes a toddler was left fighting for his life at a North West hospital and suffering kidney failure after eating seagull poo as he played in the garden.

Jaydon Pritchard, who is just 18 months old, is now doing much better after his ordeal, but is still “not out of the woods” according to his grandparents Arwel and Christine, who look after him along with his mother Tiffany at their home in Amlwch in Anglesey, off the north west coast of Wales.

Jaydon started to feel unwell in early April but was discharged by doctor after they thought he was suffering from a virus.

But Jaydon (below) continued to be sick and sleep lots and then his grandfather said they heard a “horrible noise coming from his cot”.

Mr Pritchard said: “He was having a fit, so we called for an ambulance straight away.

“He had another fit before the ambulance arrived and another three fits on the way to the hospital. It was like he was looking through you. He didn’t recognise anyone.

“There was a point where we really thought we were going to lose him. It was horrific.”

After being rushed to Ysbyty Gwynedd for the second time, a team from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool was sent to pick up Jaydon within a few hours – reports North Wales Live.

He was hooked up to a dialysis machine and received three blood transfusions during his 19-day stay at the children’s hospital.

Mr Pritchard said: “The doctors diagnosed him with kidney failure and told us that he had E. coli poisoning from having ingested the seagull faeces.

“We were fearing the worst at the time, seeing his little body hooked up to the dialysis machine and his face turned yellow.”

Sewage leak and mouse droppings at takeaway in south London

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Tristan Kirk of MSN writes a south London takeaway has been shut down after inspectors discovered a mouse infestation and raw sewage on the kitchen floor (that’s late 1980s great hair, right).

Chicken wings were being defrosted in the filthy kitchen at Dallas Chicken & Ribs despite sewage leaking from broken drain pipes, Wimbledon magistrates’ court heard.

A routine inspection by Wands­worth council uncovered used toilet paper on the floor, mouse droppings at the back of the kitchen and on a chopping board and ­“visible faecal matter” coming from the drains.

Environmental health official David Stupples, who served a prohibition notice on the business last week, told the court: “We found that there was an imminent risk to public health. It was flooded with raw sewage, including visible faecal matter.

“The drain pipes could be seen emanating with raw sewage, there was also evidence of mice droppings in the rear section of the kitchen.”

He supplied photos of the filth, including a dirty mop bucket containing sewage next to the sink where the chicken wings were being defrosted.

Referring to the photos shown to magistrates, Mr Stupples said: “Faecal matter was visible in the sewage and there was faecal matter around the working area.”

 

33 sick: English outbreak of shigella in 2018 likely caused by contaminated coriander

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An outbreak of Shigella in England in 2018 was most likely caused by coriander that was contaminated, according to researchers from the journal Epidemiology and Infection.

Food Safety Magazine reports that in April 2018, Public Health England was informed of cases of Shigella sonnei, of people who had eaten food from three different catering outlets. Initially, the outbreaks were investigated separately, but whole-genome sequencing (WGS) showed that they were caused by the same strain. 

Epidemiological data was analyzed, as well as the food chain and microbiological examination of food samples. WGS was used to determine the phylogenetic relatedness and antimicrobial resistance profile of the outbreak strain. 

Thirty-three cases were linked to the outbreak, and the majority of people involved had eaten food from seven outlets specializing in Indian or Middle Eastern cuisine. Five outlets were linked to two or more cases, all of which used fresh coriander, although a shared supplier was not able to be identified. An investigation at one of the outlets found that 86 percent of cases reported eating dishes with coriander, either as an ingredient or a garnish. Four cases were admitted to the hospital, and one had evidence of treatment failure with ciprofloxacin. 

Phylogenetic analysis proved that the outbreak was part of a wider, multidrug-resistant group of organisms, associated with travel to Pakistan. Likely contributing factors were poor hygiene practices during cultivation, distribution, or preparation of fresh produce.

TikTok is bad for public health: People are using the toilet backwards so they can eat and drink at the same time

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There’s been a lot of crap published on TikTok but this one actually involves crap.

Faima Bakar of Metro reports that on TikTok, viral videos showed people sitting backwards and facing the flush while watching Netflix and munching on crisps. The trend started with TikTokker @AmyWoahh who said she had a life hack for her 11.6million followers. She told viewers the trick would change their lives forever.

‘You have been pooping wrong,’ she says. ‘What I want you to do is poop backwards. Get your favourite snacks, get your favourite show and that’s how you poop. It’s the best of all times. You just sit there jamming and poopin.’

Karla from Texas joined in, adding in her iPad to watch Netflix while drinking Corona and eating crisps. We just hope it was satire. While most viewers were disgusted, some said the sitting backwards and watching Netflix wasn’t a terrible idea. Amy’s video has been viewed more than three million times. Many people commented saying they would never eat in the bathroom. One person quipped: ‘My food can’t tough bathroom air,’ while another said: ‘I refuse to let food in the bathroom, it’s like adding the odour to it.’ ‘This is cool and all, but who eats in the bathroom?’ asked another. One doctor commented on the video advising against it.

Listeriosis in England and Wales: Summary for 2019

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This report summarises the number and characteristics of confirmed cases of listeriosis in England and Wales in 2019:

  • 142 cases of listeriosis were reported in England and Wales;
  • incidence rates of listeriosis were highest in people aged 80 years and over;
  • the crude incidence of listeriosis was lower in men than women, but reported cases among men aged 60 to 69 were 7 times higher than in women aged 60 to 69;
  • pregnancy-associated infections accounted for 17.6% of all reported cases and, a third of pregnancy-associated cases resulted in stillbirth or miscarriage;
  • among non-pregnancy associated cases of listeriosis, death was reported for 23 cases (19.7%), of whom 15 (12.8%) were known to have listeriosis recorded as a cause of death on the death certificate
  • incidence of listeriosis varied geographically, with the lowest incidence in East of England (0.14 per 100,000 population) and the highest in London (0.39 per 100,0000 population); and,
  • there were 4 listeriosis outbreaks investigated in England, including a national outbreak associated with the consumption of prepacked hospital sandwiches.

Food safety management: the UK version

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My 28-year-old music therapist came over for her one hour session this morning which is the highlight of my week. I sing and play guitar like no one is watching. And I introduce her to 50-year-old songs, like those on Workingman’s Dead, which we played this morning in its entirety (Oh, and Chapman, she likes Jimmy Buffett, so suck it).

This paper forms part of an ongoing project studying various approaches to the management of hazards and risk in the food industry with implications for other areas of risk management where cooperation and collaboration between organisations are of a potential benefit. In this paper we give particular focus to the Food Standard Agency’s proposed Regulating Our Future that requires closer cooperation and collaboration between the public enforcement authorities and the industry organisations that police food hygiene and food safety management. The forming of a Primary Authority between Cornwall Council and Safe and Local Supplier Approval (SALSA) emerged as a potential means of contributing to this by improving trust between all parties involved, sharing of information, assessing risk, reducing inspection times and frequency of inspections from Primary Authority. Attention is given to the current relationship between the various organisations involved from the perspectives and viewpoints of Local Authority Enforcement Officers from Preston City Council, Cornwall Council and SALSA and other experienced food safety professionals. The research is qualitative and grounded, including a review of the extant literature and interviews with food safety and food standards professionals from the private and public enforcement sectors.

Approaches to the management and policing of food safety: The food standard agency’s regulating our future, 2019

International Journal of Management and Applied Research vol. 7 no. 2

Richard Bradford-Knox, Kevin Kane, Simon Neighbour

http://ijmar.org/v7n2/20-012.pdf

Fancy food ain ‘t safe food: UK restaurant fined £10,000

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An award-winning Fishguard restaurant and its two directors have been ordered to pay more than £15,200 for food safety offences, with one of them prohibited from operating a food business.

Both directors of JT3 Restaurant in Fishguard, Daniel Wynne Jones and Lois Thomas, along with their company Me‘n’u1 Ltd, pleaded guilty to all offences at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Friday, 3 July.

They were fined a total of £10,700 with more than £4,500 costs, and Daniel Wynne Jones was also banned from operating a food business.

In a prosecution brought by Pembrokeshire County Council, the court heard that the premises was issued a Food Hygiene Rating of 0 following an inspection in March 2019 by an officer from the authority’s Public Protection Division.

During the inspection the officer found the basement kitchen to be in a poor state of cleanliness and repair, with no disinfecting cleaning products or soap available, an inadequate water supply and flies present. There was no evidence of any food safety management system in use and the business scored a 0 food hygiene rating.

Two revisits were made to check for improvements, which were made, but the business failed to display their food hygiene rating sticker and had to be supplied with a new one, along with a warning.

Subsequent visits saw the sticker being hidden behind doors and then behind an umbrella hanging from a hook above it. A fixed penalty fine for the offence of failing to display the sticker went unpaid.

On 13 December 2019 another inspection was carried out at the restaurant. On arrival officers were told that the business was closed, but once in the kitchen, they found that a substantial amount of food preparation was going on and were dismayed to find that conditions had deteriorated again, including the ongoing poor structural condition and complete lack of any implemented food safety controls in relation to the safe production of food. Again, the business scored a 0 Food Hygiene rating.

By 19 December the situation had worsened to the point that two visits had to be made that day and a Remedial Action Notice served to prevent the manufacture of chicken liver parfait and duck. Improvement notices were also served to try to address the level of training and ensure that food safety procedures were introduced and sustained.

Unfortunately these improvement notices were not complied with and the food hygiene rating sticker remained deliberately hidden.

As well as the fine, costs of £4571.11 were awarded to the county council, with victim surcharges of £240.

And, on the 50th anniversary of Workingman’s Dead, one of my favorite albums, enjoy.

 

Tough mudders beware: there is E. coli risk

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In August 2018, Public Health England (PHE) was made aware of five probable cases of Shiga toxin‐producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 among individuals reporting participation in a mud‐based obstacle race. An additional four cases, identified via routine whole‐genome sequencing, were subsequently linked to the same event. Two of the nine cases were due to secondary household transmission.

Despite an agreement between the event organizers and the local authority, to ensure that all livestock were removed from the site 28 days before the event, sheep were observed grazing on some of the routes taken by the runners 2 days prior to the race taking place. A retrospective review of incidents reported to PHE between 2015 and 2018 identified 41 cases of gastroenteritis associated with muddy assault course events. Of these, 25 cases were due to infection with STEC O157:H7, of which all but one were associated with outbreaks.

Due to the environment in which such events take place, it is impossible to entirely remove the risk of exposure to potentially pathogenic zoonoses. However, race organizers should ensure that livestock are removed from the course 28 days before the event. They should also ensure that participants are made aware of the risk of contracting gastrointestinal disease from the environment, and to stress the importance of hand hygiene post‐event and the risk of secondary transmission, particularly to children who are at risk of developing haemolytic uraemic syndrome.

An outbreak of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 linked to a mud-based obstacle course, England, August 2018

Zoonoses and Public Health

Alexander Sharp, Elizabeth Smout, Lisa Byrne, Rebecca Greenwood, Richard Abdoollah, Charlotte Hutchinson, Claire Jenkins, Nachi Arunachalam, Simon Padfield, Gareth Hughes, Mike Gent

https://doi.org/10.1111/zph.12744

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/zph.12744

Wife’s heartbreak as husband dies from Salmonella linked to duck eggs

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A wife has been left heartbroken after her “loving and caring” husband died from salmonella linked to duck eggs he bought at Messingham Show.

Jamie Waller of Grimsby Live reports Niptoon Tavakoli was hospitalised days after eating the eggs and died after two months in intensive care.

He bought six duck eggs at Messingham Show on June 2, and ate four of them five days later.

Niptoon was among thousands of people who attended the 114th Messingham show last year, one of the biggest events of its kind in northern Lincolnshire.

But after eating the eggs Niptoon suffered with sickness and diarrhea and an ambulance was called to his home in Lindholme near Doncaster on June 7. It was decided not to take him to hospital.

But paramedics were again called on June 10, and Niptoon was taken into Doncaster Royal Infirmary where doctors found evidence of salmonella.

He was admitted to intensive care, but his condition continued to deteriorate.

He died on August 12, just over two months later.

A second case of salmonella from the same strain has since been confirmed in the West Midlands.

Niptoon’s wife Cheryl has called for answers into how he contracted the salmonella as an inquest into her husband’s death opens. Niptoon was stepdad to Cheryl’s two sons Andrew and Paul.