Tag Archives: unpasteurized

Fancy food not safe food; Sally Jackson Cheese recalled, 8 sick with E. coli O157:H7

Posted on by
Reply

It’s the phrase every food safety type has heard; experienced investigators will convey their disdain with a wry smile, rather than the full eye-rolling and gnashing of rookie teeth: “I’ve been making cheese (substitute your favorite food) this way for 30 years and I’ve never made anyone sick.

That’s the line Oroville, Washington, farmer Sally Jackson told a state inspector a few weeks ago as preliminary evidence linked Sally’s cheese to an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak.

The Seattle Times reports this morning that over the past week, Jackson learned that eight cases of E. coli illness are likely linked with her products. On Friday, she announced a recall and is cooperating with government agencies.

It is the second time in two months that an artisan cheesemaker in Washington was connected with a bacteria that causes foodborne illnesses, though the reaction of the two cheesemakers could not have been more different.

Inspectors found Listeria monocytogenes in cheese made by the Estrella Family Creamery, and also repeatedly identified the bacteria in swabs of its Montesano facility, yet that Grays Harbor County dairy refused a request to recall its product. In October, the Food and Drug Administration obtained a court order forcing it to shut down. The creamery is battling the court action.

To her credit, Jackson said, "I do not want to be associated with their fight. The bottom line is, I don’t want to make anybody else sick."

Four cases of E. coli O157 came to the state Health Department’s attention in the fall, including the case of one woman who was briefly hospitalized. Laboratory tests confirmed the four were linked to each other. Four additional E. coli cases in Oregon, Minnesota and Vermont also were linked to the Washington outbreak via laboratory tests.

According to the state Department of Agriculture, one unopened cheese wheel tested positive for E. coli. Investigators are awaiting the results from additional lab tests that will compare the strain of E. coli from the illnesses with that found in the cheese.

For years, Jackson operated with few problems, however in the last year, inspectors have noted several violations at her facility, including finding that she did not sanitize equipment after use. She has worked to fix the problems.

She and a part-time helper milk 40 sheep, 12 goats and a cow named Renata. They sell to high-end restaurants, as well as retail stores across the country, and the cheeses are distinctively wrapped in grape leaves from neighbors’ farms.

Over the years, her products have been served in most Seattle fine-dining establishments, including Douglas’ Palace Kitchen. Gourmets rave about the quality, so news of the problem and the listeria issue at Estrella came as a shock.

Get over it. Fancy food doesn’t mean safe food.

Listeria and cheesemaking are often together

Posted on by
Reply

The New York Times reports this morning that listeria can pose special challenges for artisan cheesemakers. Many make their cheese right on the farm, where the bad bacteria are right outside the cheese room door (or inside – dp). And small producers often lack the safety training and resources available at bigger companies.

For example, Sharon McCool got a shock last year as she prepared to begin selling the first batch of cheese she had made from milk produced at her family’s organic dairy, Rosecrest Farm, in Chehalis, Wash. State inspectors told her the Swiss cheese she had labored over for months was contaminated with listeria.

Tests showed that the bacteria was contained in a mixture of wine, water and salt, called a smear, that Ms. McCool had been brushing on her cheese each day as it aged. Without knowing it, she was dosing the cheese with listeria.

Ms. McCool threw out 900 pounds of cheese, changed some of her practices, got rid of the smear and started over.

Ms. McCool and her husband, Gary, have for years operated a dairy, where sanitation is paramount, so she thought she was well versed in food safety. But she now sees that she had overlooked some obvious pitfalls.

Before, Ms. McCool said, she had been so proud of her new business that she had often showed visitors around, possibly introducing listeria through their shoes or clothing.

Now, visitors are kept out. “Pretty much everything is really a whole lot stricter,” Ms. McCool said.

The number of small-scale, artisan cheesemakers has boomed in recent years but little or no formal training is required. Safety rules and enforcement also vary from state to state.

Soft cheeses — including brie, mozzarella and queso fresco — are more likely to become contaminated with listeria because they have a relatively high moisture content and low acidity, creating a more hospitable environment for the bacteria. In addition, listeria grows well at low temperatures, so even it can thrive even in a refrigerator.

The F.D.A. said it is inspecting both raw-milk and pasteurized cheese facilities for listeria, and recalls this year have been for both types of cheeses.

The agency also said it was reviewing the aging rules in light of evidence that the 60-day period might not be effective.
 

Health officials confirm E. coli in cheese samples

Posted on by
1

The New Mexico Department of Health has confirmed an outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 in an intact sample of cheese sold at Costco stores.

The Alamogordo Daily News and Associated Press say the outbreak strain had been isolated at other laboratories in already opened packages of cheese, but this is the first confirmation from an intact cheese sample.

The findings confirm what scientists have found in the past: 60-days don’t mean much when the cheese is made from unpasteurized or raw milk (see abstract below; thanks Carl).

The Bravo Farms Dutch Style Raw Milk Gouda Cheese was offered for sale and for in-store tasting between Oct. 5 and Nov. 1 at Costco stores in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and the San Diego, Calif., area.

Health officials say at least 37 people from five states have become sick with E. coli since mid-October. Cases in New Mexico include a 41-year-old man, a 7-year-old girl from Bernalillo County and a 4-year-old boy from Valencia County who are all recovering. Arizona has 19 cases reported, Colorado has 10, California has 3 and Nevada has two. Nationally there have been 15 reported hospitalizations, one case of hemolytic uremic syndrome and no deaths.

People who have any of the cheese should not eat it. People should return the cheese to the place of purchase or dispose of it in a closed plastic bag placed in a sealed trash can. This will prevent people or animals from eating it.

Survival of a five-strain cocktail of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during the 60-day aging period of cheddar cheese made from unpasteurized milk

May 2006

Journal of Food Protection, Volume 69, Number 5 pp. 990-998(9)

Schlesser, J.E.; Gerdes, R.; Ravishankar, S.; Madsen, K.; Mowbray, J.; Teo, A.Y.L.

Abstract:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Standard of Identity for Cheddar cheeses requires pasteurization of the milk, or as an alternative treatment, a minimum 60-day aging at ‰¥2°C for cheeses made from unpasteurized milk, to reduce the number of viable pathogens that may be present to an acceptable risk. The objective of this study was to investigate the adequacy of the 60-day minimum aging to reduce the numbers of viable pathogens and evaluate milk subpasteurization heat treatment as a process to improve the safety of Cheddar cheeses made from unpasteurized milk. Cheddar cheese was made from unpasteurized milk inoculated with 101 to 105 CFU/ml of a five-strain cocktail of acid-tolerant Escherichia coli O157:H7. Samples were collected during the cheese manufacturing process. After pressing, the cheese blocks were packaged into plastic bags, vacuum sealed, and aged at 7°C. After 1 week, the cheese blocks were cut into smaller-size uniform pieces and then vacuum sealed in clear plastic pouches. Samples were plated and enumerated for E. coli O157:H7. Populations of E. coli O157:H7 increased during the cheese-making operations. Population of E. coli O157:H7 in cheese aged for 60 and 120 days at 7°C decreased less than 1 and 2 log, respectively. These studies confirm previous reports that show 60-day aging is inadequate to eliminate E. coli O157:H7 during cheese ripening. Subpasteurization heat-treatment runs were conducted at 148°F (64.4°C) for 17.5 s on milk inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 at 105 CFU/ml. These heat-treatment runs resulted in a 5-log E. coli O157: H7 reduction.

Cider strikes again; seven sick with E. coli O157 in MD

Posted on by
1

In the fall of 1998, I accompanied one of my four daughters on a kindergarten trip to the farm. After petting the animals and touring the crops –I questioned the fresh manure on the strawberries –we were assured that all the food produced was natural.

We then returned for unpasteurized apple cider. The host served the cider in a coffee urn, heated, so my concern about it being unpasteurized was abated. I asked: "Did you serve the cider heated because you heard about other outbreaks and were concerned about liability?"

She responded, "No. The stuff starts to smell when it’s a few weeks old and heating removes the smell.”

??I repeat this story, again, because more people are once again sick with E. coli O157:H7 linked to unpasteurized cider.

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene are conducting an investigation into a cluster of seven E. coli O157 infections.

There have been no deaths, although three of seven cases have resulted in hospitalization.

A potential association exists with the consumption of unpasteurized Baugher’s apple cider.

In response to the ongoing investigation, Baugher’s Orchard and Farm of Westminster, issued a voluntary recall of all its apple cider due to its potential contaminants. At this time, no other Baugher’s products are affected by the recall.
 

Oshkosh to Green Bay and apple cider

Posted on by
Reply

While watching Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings lose to the Green Bay Packers last night (for about 5 minutes), and while wondering if Brett was a naughty boy with those text messages (for about 12 seconds), the Sunday Night Football broadcast crew paid homage to fall in Wisconsin with apple cider.

A series of vignettes showed a dude with a small apple press, lovingly grinding up the apples and them pressing the pulp into cider. Yummy. But I prefer mine mulled, pasteurized or fermented.
 

Haze strikes Minn. raw-milk producer in court

Posted on by
Reply

The StarTribune reports that farmer Mike Hartmann, who sold raw milk linked to an outbreak of illness caused by dangerous E. coli bacteria, repeatedly told government attorneys in court Wednesday that he couldn’t remember simple details about his dairy operation that is under a bitterly contested impoundment order.

Among the things he said he couldn’t remember were his home address and the address of his dairy farm and why he claimed in a dispute with the state nine years ago not to own the farm he now says he’s owned since 1974. He also said he forgot where he learned how to sterilize his milking equipment.

Hartmann has been at odds with the Minnesota Agriculture Department, which impounded several hundred tubs of milk, ice cream and other foods in June after an E. coli outbreak sickened eight people and sent some to the hospital.

Hartmann also shed little light on some sanitation issues. Hartmann said his cows’ udders were cleaned regularly to prevent infection. When Kimberly Middendorf, an assistant state attorney general, asked about photos showing blotches on the udders, he said he couldn’t be sure whether they were skin pigment, dirt or manure.

Asked about state food safety regulations, Hartmann said he considered many of them "arbitrary" rather than beneficial. He also said that, as a farmer selling products direct to consumers, he believed he was exempt from the state rules.
Middendorf said that while farmers are allowed to make some sales direct to consumers from their farms without a retail license, they aren’t exempt from any other safety regulations.

30 now sick, 2 hospitalized, from Billy Goat raw milk

Posted on by
Reply

Lab tests performed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment have confirmed that raw milk from Longmont’s Billy Goat Dairy is responsible for an outbreak of bacterial illnesses in Boulder County.

Samples of the dairy’s unpasteurized milk tested positive for the strains of Campylobacter and E. coli that have now sickened 30 people, including two children who are hospitalized.

Chana Goussetis, spokeswoman for Boulder County Public Health, said

“Our main message, over and over, is that no matter what, there’s no way to ensure that unpasteurized milk is safe.”

A table of raw-milk related outbreaks is available at ?http://bites.ksu.edu/rawmilk
 

Listeria and campylobacter contamination in raw milk from New York

Posted on by
Reply

Breese Hollow Dairy sounds like the setting of a bad Johnny Depp movie, but it’s the source of raw milk that tested positive for Llsteria monocytogenes and campylobacter on June 30, 2010.

Samples are taken monthly by the State and tested at the New York State Food Laboratory to determine that the milk is free of pathogenic bacteria. Breese Hollow Dairy also participates in a voluntary food borne pathogen bulk tank testing program through Quality Milk Production Services at Cornell University that tests our milk weekly for pathogens.

To date, no illnesses are known by the Department to be associated with raw milk from our farm and we are doing everything possible to work with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Raw goat milk sickens 16 in Colorado

Posted on by
Reply

A goat dairy in Longmont, Colorado, has been ordered to stop distributing raw milk products after 16 people became ill with both E. coli O157 and campylobacter.

Two children who drank goat milk from the Billy Goat Dairy required hospitalization, Boulder County Public Health reported Wednesday.

Of the people who reported becoming ill from consuming the milk products, lab tests confirmed the presence of campylobacter and E. coli O157, the health department said.

The Billy Goat Dairy operates a goat share program in which individuals buy a share of a goat and in return receive raw, unpasteurized milk. Health officials are contacting every household who participates in the goat share operation to determine if they became sick and to collect samples.

An updated table of raw-milk related outbreaks is available at ?http://bites.ksu.edu/rawmilk
 

Raw milk, politicians and other things not to trust

Posted on by
Reply

Sol Erdozain, the early-rising person who puts together the food safety news (left, pretty much as shown, without the lab rat) is a senior in psychology at Kansas State. She was born and raised in Paraguay (that’s in South America, not Hawaii) and has been working with Powell and the barfblog gang for a couple of years.

Sol writes:

I don’t trust politicians. Maybe it’s because I’m from Paraguay and politicians there never look after the interests of the people they are supposed to represent.

This morning, reading an article from the Houston Chronicle, I was reminded of that distrust.

The article describes a bunch of policies that Republicans want to endorse or get rid of, among them only one addressing food safety;

“Protecting the right to access raw milk directly from the farmer.”

It stuck out for the wrong reasons.

What about protecting the right to be healthy? Especially for those who depend on others for protection, like children.

Recently, and not for the first time, raw milk has been linked to an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 and sickened people. Among them young children, who are at most risk of developing complications from E. coli.






So, how about protecting their rights too?