Dairy products were the most common source of Listeria outbreaks that occurred between 1998 and 2012, according to a new federal study by the Food Safety Analytics Collaboration of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The study was conducted to provide information that can be used to develop better food poisoning prevention measures. Of the 952 outbreaks attributed to one pathogen during the 14-year study period, 24 were Listeria outbreaks. Dairy products were the source of half them. Turkey was the source of four; pork and sprouts each caused two; and beef, chicken, fruit and row crop vegetables each caused one. The fruit outbreak, the cantaloupe Listeria outbreak of 2011, sickened 147 … [Read more...]
Cheese Listeria Outbreak Caused 2013 Shutdown of Crave Brothers
On July 3, 2013, Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese Company of Waterloo, Wisconsin, voluntarily recalled its Les Frères, Petit Frère, and Petit Frère with Truffles cheeses with make dates of July 1, 2013, or prior. The recalled cheeses were distributed nationwide through retail stores that included some Whole Foods outlets, restaurant supply carriers and mail orders. Investigators in Minnesota and elsewhere, including food safety and infectious disease experts at the FDA and CDC, associated the cheese with a multi-state outbreak of listeriosis from the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. This food poisoning outbreak killed a person in Minnesota and caused a pregnant woman to have a miscarriage. Four other people were hospitalized and the outbreak touched Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Texas. The … [Read more...]
Roos Listeria Outbreak in Maryland Only the Latest From Queso
Cheese Listeria outbreaks, including the FDA's ongoing legal case against Roos Foods for food poisoning in Maryland and California, have resulted in six U.S. deaths in the past 18 months and 35 hospitalizations, federal food safety reports indicate. The trend, in which three out of the past four national Listeria outbreaks have been linked to soft cheeses, provides public health agencies further confirmation that Mexican style cheese and other soft cheese products are foods to avoid if you are pregnant or in any other well-defined group at higher risk for contracting Listeriosis. The CDC said two mothers and three newborns are among those injured in the Listeria outbreak that the government has linked to Delaware-based Roos Foods, maker of brands like Mexicana and Santa Rosa de Lima. A … [Read more...]
CDC Issues Report on Crave Brothers Listeria Outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a new report on the multistate outbreak of listeriosis linked to Crave Brothers soft-ripened cheese in the summer of 2013. The Minnesota Department of Health notified the CDC about the outbreak on June 27, 2013, when two patients with invasive Listeria monocytogenes infections were sickened with Listeria bacteria that had indistinguishable PFGE patterns. The outbreak, which sickened six people, killed one person, and caused one miscarriage, was linked to one of three varieties of Crave Brothers cheese, including Les Frères, Petit Frère, or Petit Frère with truffles. Three patients bought the cheese at three different restaurants; two purchased the cheese at two different grocery stores. The cheeses had been purchased as … [Read more...]
Largest Multi-State Food Poisoning Outbreaks of 2013: #11
A Listeria outbreak linked to Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese was the eleventh-largest multi-state food poisoning outbreak of 2013. It was also one of the two multi-state outbreaks of 2013 that included a fatality. Six people contracted listeriosis after eating the cheese, all of them were hospitalized. One person died, and one woman suffered a miscarriage. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the outbreak on July 3. Initial onset of illness dates ranged from May 20 to June 17. By state, the case count was as follows: Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Minnesota (2), Ohio (1), and Texas (1). The fatality occurred in Minnesota. Local, state and federal public health investigators, including officials from the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), … [Read more...]
Crave Brothers Listeria Outbreak Ends
The Listeria outbreak linked to pasteurized cheese from Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese Company in Wisconsin has ended after sickening six people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One person died and one woman suffered a miscarriage. The outbreak was announced July 3. Onset of illness dates ranged from May 20 to June 17. All six of those sickened were hospitalized. By state, the case count was as follows: Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Minnesota (2), Ohio (1), and Texas (1). The fatality was in Minnesota. A joint investigation by local, state and federal public health investigators including the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established a link between the illnesses and three cheeses made by Crave Brothers: Les Frères, Petit … [Read more...]
Texas Cheese Listeria Update Highlights Advanced Technique
Now that a Texan has contracted listeriosis linked to the Crave Brothers cheese Listeria outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced a new phase of its investigation into the dangerous cluster of food poisoning illnesses. In an announcement from Atlanta this week, the CDC said it has employed the advanced technology of whole genome sequencing to more accurately define the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes. This highly discriminatory subtyping method will help clarify which patients' illnesses across the country are related to the outbreak, which now has six confirmed case patients. Listeria lawyer Fred Pritzker, whose food poisoning law firm has been conducting its own investigation of the outbreak, applauded the move as a potential harbinger of better … [Read more...]
Crave Brothers Cheese Linked to Six Listeria Cases; One Death in Minnesota
Six people have been sickened in a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak linked to Crave Brothers Farmstead cheeses. The outbreak case count is: Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Minnesota (2), Ohio (1), and Texas (1). One person in Minnesota has died. All six people were hospitalized as a result of their illness. In addition, one pregnant women suffered a miscarriage. The case in Texas is new to the outbreak since the last update in July 2013. An investigation by local and state public health officials, the CDC, and the FDA indicates that Les Frères, Petit Frère, and Petit Frère with Truffles cheeses made by Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese Company are the likely source of this outbreak. The cheese was recalled on July 3, 2013. The firm has stopped production and the FDA is monitoring … [Read more...]
Les Freres Cheese Listeria Inspection Involves Two Agencies
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture has joined the Food and Drug Adminstration in an inspection of Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese Company in Waterloo, Wisconsin. The dual-agency review of Crave Brothers' facilities is part of a "fast-breaking investigation'' of a multi-state outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes that has resulted in one miscarriage and the death of an older adult from Minnesota. The linkage between the health threat and Crave Brothers soft cheese was drawn to a point by preliminary pathogen testing of cheese samples taken from separate retail locations by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Crave Brothers Les Frères cheese and Petit Frère with Truffles were the two cheeses where Listeria was found. Listeriosis, a life-threatening foodborne disease, is especially … [Read more...]
