A Salmonella outbreak at Old Country Buffet in Maple Grove, MN sickened 23 people who ate at the restaurant in late January, the Minnesota Department of Health told Food Poisoning Bulletin today. One person has been hospitalized. So far, 11 cases of Salmonella Enteritidis infection have been culture-confirmed. Tests on stool samples from those patients will identify the "genetic fingerprint" of the bacteria allowing health investigators to determine if any samples taken from the restaurant are a match. A food source has not yet been identified. State and county health officials are working together on the ongoing investigation, said Doug Schultz, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health. Salmonella infections happen when people eat food contaminated with microscopic … [Read more...]
Beans Soaked in Horse Trough at AL Church Fundraiser
Remember the Salmonella outbreak linked to the bean dinner at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center in Athens, Alabama in October 2013? Turns out the beans were soaked in a plastic lined horse trough covered with plywood, and that existing soup was mixed with new soup during the event instead of being replaced as it should have been. The News Courier in that state has obtained a nine-page study issued by the Alabama Department of Public Health. Officials determined that the beans were the source of the outbreak within a few weeks. The event was the Bean Day Athens-Limestone Foundation for Aging held at the church. Other ways the beans could have been contaminated were workers handling food without gloves, turning off the heat under the beans, not monitoring the temperature of … [Read more...]
Final Report on Muskegon County, MI Salmonella Outbreak
The final report on the Salmonella outbreak last year associated with C.F. Prime Chophouse and Wine Bar and Pints & Quarts Pub and Grill in Muskegon County, Michigan has been released. Public Health-Muskegon County (PHMC) has been investigating the outbreak, which sickened 29 customers and employees of the restaurants. The outbreak was discovered on November 7, 2013, when PHMC received notification of a positive case of Salmonella Enteritidis from the North Ottawa Community Hospital in Grand Haven, Michigan. The next day, six more people were diagnosed; all of those people had eaten at those restaurants in a four-day period from October 30 to November 2, 2013 before they became ill. There were 16 Salmonella cases in 2011 and 7 cases total in 2012, so this number of people sick in … [Read more...]
Salmonella Should be an Adulterant
In the world of food safety, many dangerous pathogens are controlled through HACCP plans, regulation, and inspections by the FDA and USDA. Of course pathogens are ubiquitous in the world. But food should not be sold to the public that is so contaminated with pathogenic bacteria that it makes people sick. At this time, just a few bacteria are considered "adulterants" in food. That means companies are not allowed to sell certain types of food that contain these bacteria. Those are E. coli O157:H7 and the other Big Six STEC bacteria; Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods, and Salmonella in ready-to-eat foods. Salmonella in all other foods? Not an adulterant. Salmonella outbreaks have become common in this country. In the latest outbreak involving Foster Farms chicken, the … [Read more...]
Tyson Chicken Linked to Salmonella Heidelberg Outbreak
The USDA has announced that Tyson mechanically separated chicken products have been linked to a Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) was notified of a cluster of Salmonella Heidelberg illnesses in Tennessee on December 12, 2013. There is a link between the mechanically separated chicken products from Tyson Foods and the illness cluster in a Tennessee correctional facility. Seven patients have been identified at the facility with illness. Two people have been hospitalized. Illness onset dates range from November 29, 2013 to December 5, 2013. An inmate sickened in this outbreak has the right to sue for Salmonella food poisoning. A recall has been issued. More than 33,000 pounds of forty pound cases of "TYSON MECHANICALLY SEPARATED … [Read more...]
USDA: Insanitary Conditions at Foster Farms Prior to Roaches, Outbreak
The cockroaches of Foster Farms grabbed all the attention this week for giving the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the technical reason is needed to close one of three plants associated with a multi-state Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 419 people: "insanitary conditions." The problem is that the USDA knew there were cockroaches and other insanitary conditions at the plant before the outbreak was announced months ago. A reasonable person might ask why producing food contaminated with antibiotic-resistant Salmonella isn't reason enough to halt production at a poultry processing plant. The answer, in part, is that Salmonella isn't considered an adulterant of meat (only seven kinds of E.coli are) so, it's not illegal to produce meat or poultry with Salmonella on it. The other … [Read more...]
USDA Closes Foster Farms Plant for Cockroaches
One of the troubled Foster Farms chicken processing plants that was associated with at least one Salmonella outbreak last year has finally been closed by the USDA. For cockroaches. The Foster Farms facility in Livingston, California was closed on Wednesday, January 8, 2013 for "egregious insanitary conditions". Inspectors found live cockroaches "in and around the processing areas, that demonstrate the firm failed to maintain an effective pest control program," according to the letter. At the time of the observation, slaughter operations were in process. Cockroaches can carry Salmonella and other pathogenic bacteria. Attorney Fred Pritzker, who is representing some of the victims in this case, said, "All food processing plants in the U.S. must be held to a high standard. Insanitary … [Read more...]
Final Report on Sandy Plains Baptist Church Salmonella Outbreak
The Cleveland County Health Department has issued its final report on the Salmonella outbreak at the Sandy Plains Baptist Church in Shelby, North Carolina. The outbreak occurred in September 13, 2013. A total of 104 cases of Salmonella were reported. Patients experienced diarrhea within seven days after eating food or beverage at the church barbecue fundraising event. The patient age range was from 3 years to 85 years; median age was 54.5 years. Fifty-four percent of the cases were female. The case count by county was: Rutherford (52), Cleveland (45), McDowell (1), Mecklenburg (1), Gaston County (2), and Spartanburg in South Carolina (1). A case control study was launched. Patients were interviewed. A list of food items served during the barbecue was provided. The PFGE pattern of the … [Read more...]
Salmonella Outbreak at Oklahoma Prisons
NewsOK.com is reporting that seven inmates in Oklahoma state prisons have been hospitalized in the the last three weeks with Salmonella food poisoning. At the women's Eddie Warrior Correctional Center in Taft, 47 people are sick. At Jim E. Hamilton Correctional Center in Hodgen, 37 inmates are ill; five of those people were hospitalized. One inmate at the Joseph Harp Correction Center in Lexington and one person at Bill Johnson Correctional Center in Alva were hospitalized. The illnesses began in late October. Officials say that the cases don't rise to the level of an outbreak, even though the definition of an outbreak is two or more unrelated persons ill with the same strain of pathogenic bacteria. Salmonella outbreaks are usually linked to food that is not properly cooked or held … [Read more...]
Salmonella Enteritidis Outbreak in Michigan Sickens 18
The Salmonella outbreak we reported on last week has been confirmed as Salmonella enteritidis, according to MLive. Eighteen cases have been confirmed in Muskegon County. The Muskegon County web site was down at the time of this report. Officials believe that a single source caused the outbreak, and that people were exposed to the bacteria from October 30 to November 2, 2013. Seventeen of the eighteen cases are related. There is no information about the source of the bacteria, where the patients ate, or what they ate. Officials are going to start studying epidemiological evidence and will conduct statistical analysis this week. Salmonella enteritidis is a common cause of food poisoning. The bacteria is found on poultry and in eggs. Other foods that have caused Salmonella enteritidis … [Read more...]
