News Headlines: 01 - 08 January 2010


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home | News | News Headlines: 01 - 08 January 2010

News Headlines: 01 - 08 January 2010

FDA acts to shut down cheese manufacturer; Melamine contamination prompts new milk recall in China; Case of human listeriosis caused by Listeria ivanovii reported; US beef-related E. coli outbreak - update

FDA acts to shut down cheese manufacturer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced intentions to ask a federal court to shut down a New Jersey cheese manufacturer with an alleged history of operating under insanitary conditions and producing cheese contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint for permanent injunction against Quesos Mi Pueblito and two of its officers. The complaint alleges that recent inspections by the FDA and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services found Listeria-contaminated cheese and insanitary conditions at the company. If entered by the court, the injunction would stop the company and its officers from manufacturing and distributing food until they can bring their operations into full compliance with FDA food safety regulations and produce cheese that does not test positive for the presence of Listeria.

Quesos Mi Pueblito currently manufactures and distributes a variety of soft, semi-soft, and hard Mexican cheeses in grocery stores and supermarkets in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm196119.htm

Melamine contamination prompts new milk recall in China

According to press reports from China a dairy company in Shanghai has been shut down and milk products have been recalled in seven provinces following the discovery of melamine contamination in samples of condensed and powdered milk.

The Shanghai Panda Dairy Co Ltd has been closed down and three of its executives have been arrested in connection with the contamination. Some reports have suggested that the company may have been selling contaminated condensed milk that was previously recalled, and should have been destroyed, during the 2008 melamine contamination scandal that resulted in six deaths and at least 300,000 cases of illness in infants. Shanghai Panda Dairy was one of more than 20 companies implicated in that scandal and was closed temporarily at that time.

Melamine is an industrial by-product produced in the manufacture of plastics and is thought to have been added to milk as an adulterant in order to increase the apparent protein content and thus the value of the milk. It can cause kidney problems in babies fed with contaminated milk powder.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126255525849313997.html

Case of human listeriosis caused by Listeria ivanovii reported

A French research team have reported a case of human listeriosis in a 55-year-old Parisian man caused by the species Listeria ivanovii, rather than L. monocytogenes. L. ivanovii is normally considered to infect only ruminants, but the case suggests that it may also be an opportunistic human pathogen.

The man, who was a kidney transplant patient and therefore immuno-compromised, suffered from symptoms of gastroenteritis and bacteraemia. Listeriosis was suspected and Listeria sp. was isolated from blood cultures, but further identification and typing showed the isolate to be a strain of L. ivanovii normally associated with sheep and goats. Although not confirmed, the infection is thought to have been foodborne and may have been acquired from goats cheese made from raw milk.

The researchers concluded that L. ivanovii may not in fact be specific for ruminants, but can also infect humans, although only three other cases have ever been reported. The reason for this may be that L. ivanovii is much less common than L. monocytogenes in the environment and in foods.

The findings are reported in a paper published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases (Guillet, C. et al, Volume 16, Number 1). The full paper can be found on-line via the link below.

http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/16/1/136.htm

US beef-related E. coli outbreak - update

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released an update on the reported outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infection that is thought to be associated with beefsteaks eaten in restaurants. A total of 21 cases in 16 states had been reported by 4 January.

The USDA announced on 24 December that National Steak and Poultry, an Oklahoma-based meat processor, was voluntarily recalling almost a quarter of a million pounds of beefsteak products that may be associated with some of the cases. The USDA statement described the recalled products as "non-intact steaks (blade tenderised prior to further processing)" with over 20 different products being included in the recall. All carry the establishment code EST. 6010T and packaging dates of 10/12/2009, 10/13/2009, 10/14/2009 or 10/21/2009. The steaks were distributed to restaurants nationwide.

This incident has caused questions to be raised over the safety of steaks tenderised by blades or needles, which may carry bacterial contamination from the surface of the steak into the muscle tissue. It has been suggested that these products need to be cooked more thoroughly to destroy pathogens and should not be eaten unless they are well done.

http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2010/index.html