March 29, 2024

FDA’s Annual Warning About Consuming Raw Flour

It's time for the FDA's annual warning about consuming raw flour, since the holiday season is a traditional time for a lot of baking. There have been many outbreaks linked to raw flour and products made with raw flour, such the Salmonella outbreak linked to recalled Gold Medal flour earlier this year, and the E coli outbreak linked to cake mix two years ago. Because it is dry, flour seems so innocuous. But pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli can easily survive in low water foods. And flour is a raw agricultural product made from raw grains, which means that it can be contaminated with pathogens in the field, during harvest or transport, or during processing. The only thing that makes flour safe to eat is heat. Do not eat any uncooked cookie dough or batter. And do not make … [Read more...]

More FDA Outbreak Investigations Closed With No Answers

There are more FDA Outbreak Investigations closed with no answers, in the just updated FDA CORE Outbreak Investigation Table. So far nine outbreaks this year have ended unsolved. For the Cryptosporidium outbreak that sickened at least 11 people, the outbreak is over and the investigation has ended. The only action the FDA took in this outbreak was to conduct traceback. For the two Cyclospora outbreaks, the outbreaks are over and the investigations have closed with no answers. One of the outbreaks sickened at least 72 people, and the other sickened at least 140 people. The FDA conducted traceback and collected samples for analysis, but could not find the source of the parasite. There is a new Salmonella Thompson outbreak on the table. The product responsible for these illnesses … [Read more...]

Another Reoccurring E. coli O157:H7 Strain Linked to Leafy Greens

The CDC has identified another reoccurring E. coli O157:H7 strain that is linked to leafy greens outbreaks, according to the September issue of that agency's Emerging Infectious Diseases Dispatch. This strain is in addition to the other reoccurring strain that was mentioned by the CDC in August's Dispatch. Bacterial strains can be identified as reoccurring, emerging, or persisting (REP). Reoccurring strains repeatedly cause acute outbreaks, separated by periods when no illnesses are reported. Emerging strains are previously novel or rare strains that increasingly cause illness. And persisting strains cause illnesses consistently over a long time frame. Whole genome sequencing, which maps a pathogen's DNA, is used to find people sickened by the same bacterial strain. And WGS is … [Read more...]

Sick Restaurant Employees Cause 40% of Outbreaks

Sick restaurant employees cause 40% of foodborne illness outbreaks, according to an article in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for the week of June 2, 2023. Hundreds of foodborne illness outbreaks associated with retail food establishments are reported every year to the CDC. The period of time included in this study was 2017 to 2019. In 2014, CDC launched the National Environmental Assessment Reporting System (NEARS) to compliment the surveillance conducted by the National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS). State and local health departments enter data from their outbreak investigations of retail food establishments. The data entered include characteristics of outbreaks, including factors contributing to the illnesses, … [Read more...]

Study Confirms that Raw Milk Is Linked to Foodborne Illness

A new study has confirmed that raw milk is linked to foodborne illness. During the time period of 2013 to 2018, 75 outbreaks that caused 675 illnesses were linked to unpasteurized milk. Of these illnesses, almost half were among children and teenagers aged o to 19 years. Given that the consumption of raw milk is low in this country, with only about 1 to 2% of the adult population buying it, these numbers are shocking. The study points out that almost 80% of those outbreaks occurred in states where the sale of raw milk is allowed. Raw milk and raw milk products are a public health challenge in the United States. And laws that encourage availability of unpasteurized milk are associated with more illnesses and outbreaks. Raw milk can be contaminated with many different pathogens, … [Read more...]

FDA Issues Final Rule on Food Traceability Under FSMA

The FDA has issued the final rule on food traceability under the Food Safety and Modernization Act of 2011 (FSMA). Traceability is the ability to identify foods that may be contaminated, especially if that food is suspected as being part of an outbreak. The rule establishes traceability record keeping requirements for anyone who manufacturers, processes, packs, or holds foods that are on the Food Traceability List. Companies and people subject to this rule must maintain records containing Key Data Elements associated with specific Critical Tracking Events. They must provide information to the FDA within 24 hours or some other time frame to which the FDA has agreed. Foods that are on the Food Traceability List include: cheeses other than hard cheeses, specifically soft and … [Read more...]

How Many Outbreaks Are Linked to Fast Food Restaurants?

In the past ten years, there have been many food poisoning outbreaks linked to fast food restaurants. The outbreaks slowed significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic, however. This year, there was only one fast food outbreak that was allegedly associated with Wendy's restaurants in several states that may have been caused by romaine lettuce. These outbreaks can be very large simply because there are so many restaurants in these fast food chains. Now that people are no longer staying at home, and are eating out more, will there be more food poisoning outbreaks linked to fast food restaurants? Only time will tell. How many outbreaks are linked to fast food restaurants? In 2022, an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak was allegedly associated with romaine lettuce served on Wendy's hamburgers and … [Read more...]

Some Outbreaks Ended on FDA CORE Outbreak Table

Some outbreaks ended on FDA CORE Outbreak Investigation Table, and some case counts have increased in some of the still active outbreaks. There are no new outbreaks to announce. As usual, there is very little information about each outbreak until the government identifies some action consumers can take, such as discarding food or avoiding a particular restaurant. For the Salmonella Mississippi outbreak (ref# 1097) in a not yet identified product, the case count has increased from 99 to 100 cases. For the Salmonella Senftenberg outbreak (ref# 1087) in a not yet identified food, the case count has increased from 22 to 27 cases. For the mystery Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak (ref# 1095), the case count has increased from 73 to 78 cases. For the Cyclospora outbreak (ref# 1080) … [Read more...]

States With More Public Health Funding Track More Foodborne Outbreaks

States with more public health funding track more foodborne illness outbreaks, according to a study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases. The study was conducted by scientists at the Colorado School of Public Health with assistance by the University of Minnesota, the CDC, the FDA, and the US Department of Agriculture Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). Foodborne illness surveillance in states is critical to identifying multistate outbreaks. Unfortunately, not all outbreaks are detected and investigated. This study looked at 8,131 single-state outbreaks reported during the years 2009 to 2018. Multistate outbreaks were not included in this analysis. Overall, high-reporting states reported four times more outbreaks than low reporting states. And low reporting states are less … [Read more...]

FDA Closes Listeria and Norovirus Outbreak Investigations

The FDA closes Listeria and norovirus outbreak investigations on its CORE Outbreak Investigation Table, while the alleged cereal outbreak case count increased. There are now only three active food poisoning outbreak investigations being conducted by the FDA. The Listeria monocytogenes outbreak that closed has sickened at least 20 people. A vehicle was not identified, even though traceback was initiated, an on-site inspection was initiated, and samples were collected and analyzed. The outbreak status is still listed as "ongoing" because the most recent illness onset date was April 20, 2022. It can take up to 70 days for the symptoms of listeriosis to manifest. The CDC will continue to monitor for more illnesses. This investigation will be reopened if more new illnesses are reported … [Read more...]

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