In its November 30 update on a deadly cantaloupe Salmonella outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed the fast-growing outbreak has caused 180 illnesses, 78 hospitalizations, and three deaths in the U.S. and Canada. And that some of the patients are residents of long-term care facilities. The update also disclosed that a second Salmonella strain, Salmonella Oranienburg, has been linked to some of these illnesses. And that's notable because Oranienburg isn't a top-10 strain in the U.S. It's been linked to a handful of multistate outbreaks over the last two decades. There was a 2014 chia powder outbreak, back-to-back outbreaks linked to shell eggs produced by the same company in 2015 and 2016, and a 2021 fresh onions outbreak that sickened 1,040 … [Read more...]
Does Indiana Cantaloupe Have a Salmonella Problem?
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) closed without solving its investigation of a Salmonella Newport outbreak that sickened 11 people in August. But information the agency gathered during its probe unearthed a troubling finding. During interviews with patients, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) learned that people who got sick had eaten cantaloupe or watermelon before developing symptoms of Salmonella infections. Tracing the source of the melons back from the point of purchase, the FDA was able to determine that the melons were grown in Southwest Indiana. Three environmental samples collected from farms there matched the outbreak strain of Salmonella Newport. Other samples from a “farm of interest and surrounding areas” were positive for … [Read more...]
Does Vegan Cheese Pose a Food Safety Risk?
Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published an analysis of a Salmonella outbreak linked to vegan cheese made from cashews. The 2021 outbreak linked to Jule's cashew brie marked the second time since 2014 that illnesses in multiple states were linked to cashew cheese. Does vegan cheese pose a food safety risk? If it's made from nuts, it might. Cashews and Kill Steps The CDC's 2021 report on the Jule's brie Salmonella outbreak states that whole genome sequencing tests on the Salmonella strain cultured from patients produced the same genetic "fingerprint," meaning the patients were exposed to the same source of contaminated food. Investigators found this outbreak strain in samples of Jule's cheese, in the facility where it was made, and in the … [Read more...]
2021 Chipotle and Panera Romaine E. coli Outbreak
In 2021, health departments in Washington and Minnesota did something that doesn't happen very often. They solved an E. coli outbreak linked to leafy greens. "It is rare to be able to identify the outbreak vehicle for commercially distributed food like romaine lettuce (much less link back to a farm source) with only four laboratory-confirmed cases who consumed the romaine lettuce at four different restaurant locations in two states," Doug Schultz, an information officer at the Minnesota Department of Health told Food Poisoning Bulletin. The outbreak was never announced because, by the time investigators identified the specific grower, there was no ongoing risk to the public, he said. Stream of Unsolved Outbreaks Leafy greens recently overtook ground beef to become the leading … [Read more...]