Last year, health officials in Oregon announced they would adopt the 2009 FDA Retail Food Code, which governs safety regulations about food workers. But last week, officials said that the Oregon Public Health Division Foodborne Illness Prevention Program will not adopt the "No Bare Hand Contact" section of the Code. Requiring food workers to use gloves is controversial. In 1999, the FDA evaluated the risks of microbiological contamination of foods by food preparation workers in 81 foodborne illness outbreaks, and found that the majority of outbreaks were caused by transmission of the pathogen to the food by worker's hands. In 66 of the outbreaks (82%), the food worker was the source of the infection. Seventy-five of the outbreaks involved food workers were infectious at the time of the … [Read more...]
Individuals and Companies Should be Prosecuted for Foodborne Outbreaks
As one of the few food safety lawyers in America, I’m often asked whether I believe that America’s food supply is the safest in the world. The short answer is: “I have no idea” – and if you’re one of the thousands of Americans sickened each year by foodborne illness, it’s no comfort knowing that some countries have food less safe than the product that shut down your kidneys or killed your loved one. The real questions about food safety have nothing to do with overweening national pride. In fact, there are only two questions that make any sense at all: “Can our food system be safer?” and “What steps have to be taken to make it so?” Since no one honestly doubts that our food safety system can and should be better, let me focus on answering the second question (based on what I’ve … [Read more...]
Shigella Outbreak in Onondaga County, New York Grows
Kathy Mogel, Program Coordinator of the Onondaga County Health Department told Food Poisoning Bulletin that there are 20 confirmed cases of Shigella in that county. There are news reports that there are as many as 34 cases, but we're reporting what the Health Department tells us. Ms. Mogel said that the age range of patients is from 2 to 84, with about 50% of the cases occurring in children under the age of 10. The Department believes that person to person transmission, also called secondary transmission, is a "significant factor" in the outbreak. The Health Department is investigating the original source but has not pinpointed one as of June 27, 2012. Shigella is a bacteria that is spread through eating contaminated food, drinking contaminated water, and person-to-person contact. … [Read more...]
Georgia E coli Outbreak Linked to Deadly Louisiana Outbreak
A Georgia E coli outbreak has been linked to a deadly Louisiana outbreak, according to public health officials in both states. This particular strain of bacteria, called E. coli 0145, has not caused a multi-state outbreak in the United States for a year. Officials said that five people have been sickened in the Georgia E coli outbreak, and 2 adults are ill in Louisiana. A toddler in Louisiana has died from the illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 26 confirmed and 7 probable cases in that May 2010 outbreak were linked to contaminated lettuce. Three of those patients developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a complication of an E. coli infection, which can cause kidney failure. E. coli 0145 is part of a group of bacteria called Shiga … [Read more...]
For Safety, Pasteurize Raw Milk At Home
Home pasteurization is a food safety measure used by some raw milk drinkers and advocated by some raw milk providers, because even if it’s produced on clean, organic farms, raw milk can contain pathogens. So far this year, there have been five foodborne illness outbreaks linked to raw milk and five raw milk recalls: Frisia Dairy in Washington state recalled raw milk on January 17, 2012 Family Cow Farm raw milk was recalled in January 2012 in Pennsylvania In California, Claravale raw milk products were recalled on March 23, 2012 On April 4, 2012, raw milk and raw cheese were recalled from the Sauder farm in Pennsylvania Organic Pastures raw milk products were recalled on May 10, 2012 At least 15 people have been hospitalized including six small children who contracted … [Read more...]
Climate Change May Affect Food Poisoning Outbreaks
Scientists predict many consequences to climate change, such as changes in weather patterns and severity of storms. But a new report titled Assessing the Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Food and Waterborne Diseases in Europe ties climate change to increases in food poisoning outbreaks. The report is an assessment of 741 peer-reviewed publications, reports, and scientific sources. From these, the researchers found 1653 "key facts" linking food and waterborne illness pathogens with climate variables. Climate scientists say that global mean air temperatures are projected to increase by 1.1 to 6.4 degrees C (2 to 11.5 degrees F) this century. Public health is affected by these changes, such as deaths in heat waves, flooding, and increases in illnesses because of shifting … [Read more...]
Meat and Poultry, Large Gatherings Tied to C Perfringens Outbreaks
Clostridium perfringens is estimated to be the third most common cause of foodborne illness in the United States and a full 91 percent of outbreaks identified with a single food are attributed to meat or poultry products. Those are among the findings that a group of CDC researchers reported recently in Atlanta at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases 2012. The bacterium causes 1 million illnesses each year, with outbreaks ranging broadly in number from year to year under no apparent trend. One of the researchers, Julian Grass, did note that that outbreaks peak during the holiday season, when people tend to gather in large groups to eat foods such as roasts, gravies, and poultry that are cooked in large batches or prepared ahead of serving. From 1998 to 2008, … [Read more...]
Tracking Outbreaks With Electronic Medical Records
Electronic medical records (EMRs) might be the key to better detection of gastrointestinal disease (GI) outbreaks, according to a study published in the current issue of Foodborne Pathogens and Disease. Researchers who wondered if passive reporting and laboratory testing delays were holding back efforts to detect GI disease outbreaks used data from EMRs to see if detection could be improved. They used 2009 zip code-specific daily episode counts from Kaiser Permanente Northern California EMRs, covering 3.3 million members and were able to detect 28 potential outbreaks using single stream analyses. They were able to discover additional outbreaks using multi-stream analyses and in one example, improved the timeliness of detection. The research team, Sharon K. Greene, Jie Huang, … [Read more...]
KDA: Raw Milk Food Poisoning Risk High
The Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) together with the Kansas Department of Health (KDH) just issued a press release recommending that consumers avoid raw milk because of the high risk of contracting a foodborne illness. The KDA referenced a study by the CDC that showed statistics proved the rate of outbreaks from raw milk and raw milk products is 150 times greater than the rate of outbreaks from pasteurized milk and pasteurized milk products. And the rate of hospitalizations from raw milk outbreaks is 13 times higher compared to hospitalizations associated with pasteurized milk outbreaks. The Kansas Department of Agriculture Dairy Inspection Program Manager George Blush said: "Consuming raw milk is an unnecessary risk. You cannot tell if milk is safe by just looking at, … [Read more...]
CDC: Outbreaks Linked to Imported Foods Increasing
According to the CDC, foodborne illness outbreaks linked to imported foods are increasing. The foods most often implicated in these illnesses are fish and spices. The experts analyzed outbreaks from 2005 to 2010. During that period, 39 outbreaks and 2348 illnesses were linked to imported food from 15 countries. Almost half of the outbreaks occurred in 2009 and 2010. Fish caused 17 of the 39 outbreaks. Spices were second, with six outbreaks. Almost 45% of the imported foods came from Asia. And half of the foods were imported from "areas which previously had not been associated with outbreaks", according to the report. Dr. Hannah Gould, an epidemiologist with the CDC's Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases and the lead author of the study, said: "As our food … [Read more...]
