News Headlines: 17 - 23 April 2010


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home | News | News Headlines: 17 - 23 April 2010

News Headlines: 17 - 23 April 2010

Update on Listeria outbreak linked to Austrian cheese; Beef recalled in the USA; EFSA publishes new scientific opinions; Global food testing laboratory opens in Germany; Raw poultry the source of Listeria in cooked chicken plants; Incidence of key foodborne pathogens in the USA continues to fall

Update on Listeria outbreak linked to Austrian cheese

The Austrian health and food safety authorities have issued an updated report on a multinational outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infection linked to 'Quargel' curd cheese produced in Austria.

The updated report states that two different strains of L. monocytogenes serotype 1/2a may have caused outbreaks linked to the same product. The previously reported outbreak caused 14 cases (five fatal) in Austria and Germany. The second strain found in the cheese could be linked to a further 13 cases in Austria, six in Germany and one in the Czech Republic (three fatal) between December 2009 and February 2010.

A full report is published in Eurosurveillance and can be found at the link below.

http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19543

Beef recalled in the USA

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced that Beltex Corporation, Fort Worth, Texas, is recalling around 135,500 pounds of beef trim products because of possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7.

16 different products are included in the recall, all packed in boxes of various weights for distribution to wholesalers and federal establishments in seven states. The problem was discovered during a routine safety assessment by FSIS at the plant, but no associated cases of illness have been reported.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_025_2010_Release/index.asp

EFSA publishes new scientific opinions

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has recently published new scientific opinions relating to food colours, the risk of Salmonella from pig meat, the health implications of lead in food and a technical report on veterinary drug residues in animals and food.

The opinion on the colours Brilliant Black BN, Brown HT and Brown FK are the latest in an ongoing re-evaluation of food colours and other additives. No particular safety concerns were identified, although there was insufficient data to reach a conclusion on Brown FK.

The BIOHAZ Panel opinion found that pig meat could be responsible for 10-20% of all human cases of salmonellosis in the EU and recommended a number of measures to reduce this figure, including Salmonella-free feed, improved cleaning and sanitation of holdings and avoiding contamination during slaughter.

The CONTAM Panel opinion on lead found that current levels of the heavy metal in food present a negligible health risk for adults, but registered potential concern over possible neurodevelopmental effects in young children.

The technical report on veterinary drugs provides the results of EU monitoring for these substances in food of animal origin in 2008. Less than 2,000 samples out of over 750,000 were found to have residues above the legal limits.

All EFSA opinions and reports can be found in full on the Authority's web site via the link below.

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs.htm

Global food testing laboratory opens in Germany

Thermo Fisher Scientific has recently opened a new global food testing laboratory, the Food Safety Response Centre, in Dreieich, Germany. The new laboratory is designed and equipped to responds rapidly to chemical contamination emergencies worldwide.

In the event of a contamination crisis, the laboratory will be available to helps governments and businesses by developing analytical methods and supplying workflow instructions along with recommendations for equipment and supplies so that other labs can quickly begin to detect contaminants.

The Food Safety Response Centre has a web site at the link below.

http://www.thermo.com/fsrc

Raw poultry the source of Listeria in cooked chicken plants

A new study carried out by the USDA Agricultural Research Service has identified incoming raw poultry as the primary source of Listeria monocytogenes in commercial chicken cooking plants.

The researchers were able to study a brand new chicken cooking facility before and after operations took place, so that they were able to track sources of contamination. They investigated a number of potential contamination sources, including staff, air and soil and water in the surrounding environment, but tests found that the only consistent source of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes was incoming raw meat.

The plant was free of contamination before it began operating, but became partially colonised within four months, with contamination being found in drains, but not in other areas. The researchers hope to be able to use their findings to help direct sanitation procedures more effectively to reduce cross contamination.

The findings are published in the Journal of Food Protection and an abstract can be found at the link below.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2010/00000073/00000002/art00009

Incidence of key foodborne pathogens in the USA continues to fall

Preliminary data for 2009 from the US Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) reveals a "sustained decline" in the incidence of infections caused by Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157, Shigella and Yersinia since the period from 1996-1998.

The biggest falls in incidence for these six pathogens occurred before 2004. By contrast, the incidence of Vibrio infections showed a continued increase over the same 15-year period, particularly since 2001.

FoodNet collects data from 10 US states and in 2009 recorded a total of 17,468 laboratory-confirmed cases of foodborne infection. Salmonella was the most commonly isolated pathogen (7,039 cases), closely followed by Campylobacter (6,033) and Shigella (1,849).

The full FoodNet report has been published in MMWR and can be found online at the link below.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5914a2.htm