RV: [BITES-L] bites Aug. 31/10

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bites Aug. 31/10

Salmonella in eggs outbreak: an eerily repetitive story involving lots of sick people, food, filth and faith; where are those supplier audits?

IOWA Senator says market should punish egg violators; hard to tell eggs apart at retail

Salmonella is no danger to vaccines

2010 infections in SCOTLAND

KENYA: Man dies after eating meat infected with anthrax

INDIANA: Test finds E. coli in beef faster, could better trace outbreaks

SOUTH DAKOTA: Researchers exploring 'fusion strategy' against E-coli

Hyperspectral imaging speeds detection of campylobacter

P&G recalls small number of bags of cat food From stores in Loveland, COLORADO

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Salmonella in eggs outbreak: an eerily repetitive story involving lots of sick people, food, filth and faith; where are those supplier audits?
31.aug.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/143893/10/08/31/salmonella-eggs-outbreak-eerily-repetitive-story-involving-lots-sick-people-foo
In January 2009, Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) was linked to a growing outbreak of illness across the U.S. caused by Salmonella serotype Typhimurium. Eventually, all peanuts and peanut products processed at PCA's Blakely, Georgia, plant since January 1, 2007 were recalled, including over 3,900 peanut butter and other peanut-containing products from more than 350 companies. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 691 people were sickened and nine died across 46 U.S. states and in Canada from the outbreak.
By Feb. 15, 2009, The Washington Post described the business culture at PCA from the viewpoint of a former buyer for a major snack manufacturer -- a filthy plant with a leaky roof and windows that were left open, allowing birds to enter. The company purchased only low quality, inexpensive peanuts and paid food handlers the minimum wage lawfully allowed. The lack of a food safety culture was most evident in the description of how PCA dealt with finished product that tested positive for Salmonella spp. A report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration identified many instances in which the product was retested until a negative result was achieved; in other instances PCA shipped the product to their customer despite the positive test or before the test result was received.
FDA further noted there were inadequate controls at the PCA plant to prevent contamination and insufficient cleaning and sanitation. Facilities for handwashing were also used to clean utensils and mops, increasing the potential for recontamination of washed hands. Equipment settings -- for example, roasting temperature and belt speed -- had not been evaluated to ensure that the roasting step was sufficient to kill bacteria. Raw and roasted peanuts were stored directly next to one another, allowing for potential contamination of the roasted finished product. Gaps in the physical integrity of the building were observed around the loading bays and the air conditioning intakes in the roof that provided pests with open access to the plant. Despite these deficiencies, PCA maintained the highest possible rating from auditing firm AIB International.
Earlier this year, Basic Food Flavors Inc., the Las Vegas company at the center of a recall of more than 100 food products containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP, continued to make and distribute food ingredients for about a month after it learned salmonella was present at its processing facility, according to a Food and Drug Administration report.
Yesterday, similarly eerie details started to emerge from investigators going through the salmonella-in-eggs mess that has sickened almost 1,500 over the summer and led to the recall of about 550 million eggs. Highlights of the reports (called 483s) and public comments by FDA-types include:
• David Elder, director of the FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs, told a press conference Monday the 483 forms show "significant objectionable conditions;"
• at Wright County Egg facilities, live mice were found inside laying houses at four sites, and numerous live and dead flies were observed in egg-laying houses at three locations;
• chicken manure accumulated 4 to 8 feet high underneath the cages at two locations, pushing out access doors, allowing open access for wildlife and other farm animals;
• at one location, uncaged birds were using tall manure piles to access egg-laying areas;
• inspectors saw employees not changing or not wearing protective clothing when moving from laying house to laying house;
• three Hillandale Farms locations contained unsealed rodent holes with evidence of live rodents at one of the facilities, with gaps in walls and doors at other sites.; and,
• uncaged chickens were observed tracking manure into the caged hen areas.
Dr Michael Taylor, the FDA's deputy commissioner for foods, told reporters that though the FDA has no reason to believe the practices that investigators turned up are common at all egg-producing facilities, inspectors will be inspecting about 600 large egg producers, those that have 50,000 or more laying hens, over the next several months starting in September with what it believes may be the highest-risk facilities.
Kenneth E. Anderson, a professor of poultry science at North Carolina State University said,
"That is not good management, bottom line. I am surprised that an operation was being operated in that manner in this day and age."
How did this happen? A gap in federal or state inspection requirements may be partly to blame – but only partly.
What firms and retailers were buying these eggs? Don't they require internal or third-party food safety audits of their suppliers? Who were the auditors and where are their reports? Has any buyer looked at owner Jack DeCoster over the years and said, your farm's a dump, I'm not buying your eggs?
While waiting for government and Godot, it's the thousands of American egg farmers who are going to suffer if sales decline, so why not unleash the power of food safety marketing and let consumers choose at retail.
Repeated outbreaks have shown that all food is not safe: there are good producers and bad producers, good retailers and bad retailers. As a consumer, I have no way of knowing. Telling me an egg is local and grown with love is food marketing but has nothing to do with food safety and salmonella.
Tell consumers about salmonella-testing programs meant to reduce risks; put a URL on egg cartons so those who are interested can use the Internet or even personal phones to see how the eggs were raised. Boring press releases in the absence of data only magnify consumer mistrust.
Food producers should truthfully market their microbial food safety programs, coupled with behavioral-based food safety systems that foster a positive food safety culture from farm-to-fork. The best producers and processors will go far beyond the lowest common denominator of government and should be rewarded in the marketplace.
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/140139/09/04/27/broken-links-food-safety-chain-hid-peanut-plants-risks
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/141240/10/03/10/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-speak-no-evil-who-was-salmonella-plant%E2%80%99s-auditor
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/140117/09/04/14/audits-do-not-enhance-food-safety-culture
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-08-31-eggrecall31_ST_N.htm?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/business/31eggs.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1283228163-OTGxoIJakpo6+z+Et45lRA
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/143892/10/08/30/usa-today-says-egg-recalls-fit-pattern-negligence-lax-oversight-industry-says-n
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703369704575461881721525848.html?mod=rss_US_News
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/138949/09/10/22/faith-based-food-safety-market-microbial-food-safety-directly-retail-so-consumehttp://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/140027/09/02/16/times-food-safety-editorial-nutty

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IOWA Senator says market should punish egg violators; hard to tell eggs apart at retail
31.aug.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/143896/10/08/31/iowa-senator-says-market-should-punish-egg-violators-hard-tell-eggs-apart-retai
I can get dolphin-free tuna and animal-friendly beef and table eggs raised under all kinds of conditions, but how can I avoid eggs from salmonella offenders? There's so much reselling and rebranding at retail that the brand name is often meaningless.
Iowa Senator Chuck "Chuck" Grassley told Philip Brasher of the Des Moines Register today that the government probably can't shut down egg-beater Jack DeCoster short of finding criminal activity, but, "the marketplace is making the determination if the law doesn't. Probably in this case the company may be hurt in the marketplace to the extent to which people are going to look and not buy eggs that have the word W-R-I-G-H-T on it," referring to the name of Jack DeCoster's Galt-based company, Wright County Egg.
Brasher notes though that DeCoster eggs have been packaged under a variety of names, including supermarket brands and the names of competing egg producers such as Sparboe Farms, who used Wright County Egg to augment their supplies.
Grassley also called on the Senate Democratic leadership to pass a food-safety bill that would increase the Food and Drug Administration's oversight of other segments of the food industry, including fruit and vegetable production.
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2010/08/31/grassley-market-not-feds-may-punish-decoster/

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Salmonella is no danger to vaccines
31.aug.10
The Wall Street Journal
Betsy McKay
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703369704575462051041922326.html
This year's flu vaccine has some consumers worried. While it might protect them against a potentially deadly virus, could they end up infected with salmonella instead?
The answer is no, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and vaccine manufacturers.
Flu vaccine is made by growing the virus in chicken eggs, and eggs are the source of a salmonella outbreak this summer that has led to nearly 1,470 illnesses and prompted a nationwide egg recall.
But the eggs used to make flu vaccine come from different farms than those sold to consumers as food. Considered an important part of the government's arsenal against a flu pandemic, they're also tested vigorously for pathogens, officials say.
Eggs used for vaccines are fertilized, while those sold for eating are not. A "seed virus" is injected into eggs, then grows in the egg white and is later harvested for use in vaccine.

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2010 infections in SCOTLAND
30.aug.10
Outsource Solution
Duncan Perry
http://foodsafetyuk.blogspot.com/2010/08/2010-infections-in-scotland.html
Viral and protozoal pathogens up to Week 32, 2010
Norovirus
During the first 32 weeks of 2010, 2654 reports of norovirus (NV) were received at HPS, an increase of 1632 (160%) compared to the same period in 2009 when there were 1022 reports. This large increase is due to the large number of reports in the first 12 weeks of the year.
During the first half of 2010, 274 general outbreaks of NV were reported to ObSurv, the surveillance system for all general outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease in Scotland. This is an increase of 108 (65%) compared to the first half of 2009 when 166 NV outbreaks were reported. It is however similar to the first half of 2008 during which 249 NV outbreaks were reported. Residential institutions and hospitals have been the two main locations identified in NV outbreaks in 2010, accounting for 50% and 46% of NV outbreaks respectively.
Rotavirus
During the first 32 weeks of 2010, 1684 reports of rotavirus were received at HPS, an increase of 406 (32%) compared to the same period in 2009 when there were 1278 rotavirus reports. The number of reports in 2010 is similar to 2008 when there were 1710 reports.
To date in 2010 there have been no outbreaks of rotavirus reported to ObSurv, the last such outbreak was reported in 2007.
Increased reporting of E. coli O157 infections in 2010
During the first 32 weeks of 2010, HPS received 146 reports of E. coli O157 infections, an increase of 29 (25%) from the same period of 2009. A number of factors may have contributed to this increase.
The number and proportion of secondary and asymptomatic infections, for instance, has increased substantially. In weeks 1-32 of 2010, 26 cases (18%) were secondaries and 14 (10%) were asymptomatic, compared with 15 (13%) secondaries and 2 (2%) asymptomatic in the same period of 2009.

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KENYA: Man dies after eating meat infected with anthrax
30.aug.10
Daily Nation
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/Man%20dies%20after%20eating%20meat%20infected%20with%20anthrax%20/-/1070/1000092/-/127fmwiz/-/
One person died and eight others were taken to hospital after eating contaminated meat.
The victim was identified as Chege Gathumuni, 40, from Nyanduma, Kiambu.
His widow, Jacinta, said he started complaining of stomachache shortly after arriving home from the shopping centre where he had eaten the meat.

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INDIANA: Test finds E. coli in beef faster, could better trace outbreaks
30.aug.10
Purdue University
http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2010/100830MauerBeef.html
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Infrared spectroscopy can detect E. coli faster than current testing methods and can cut days off investigations of outbreaks, according to a study at Purdue University.
Lisa Mauer, an associate professor of food science, detected E. coli in ground beef in one hour using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, much less than the 48 hours required for conventional plating technology, which requires culturing cells in a laboratory. Mauer said spectroscopy could be done in the same laboratories, just in much less time.
The spectroscopy method also differentiates between strains of E. coli 0157:H7, meaning outbreaks could be tracked more effectively and quickly. Current tests are multistep and take almost one week to get results.
"Even with all the other bacteria present in ground beef, we could still detect E. coli and recognize different strains," said Mauer, whose findings were reported in the August issue of the Journal of Food Science.
Mauer demonstrated two methods for separating bacteria from ground beef for testing. An antibody-capture method, which binds bacteria to antibodies attached to magnetic beads, gave results in four hours. A filtration method achieved results in about an hour.
Infrared spectroscopy could detect as little as one E. coli cell if the bacteria was cultured for six hours. Conventional plating techniques used for E. coli detection require culturing cells for 48 hours.
E. coli has a specific infrared spectrum that can be read with a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. Infrared light is passed over a sample. The spectrometer reads the spectrum created by the combination of energy that has been absorbed and energy that has been reflected back.
"Energy is only absorbed by certain components of a sample," Mauer said. "If that component or bacteria isn't there, the energy is reflected back."
About 70,000 Americans are sickened by E. coil each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People become infected after ingesting food contaminated with the bacteria, which comes from human or animal feces. Symptoms include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting, and in rare occasions the infection can be life-threatening.
Mauer's testing methods also can differentiate between living and dead E. coli cells, something current testing methods cannot.
"If the cells are dead, they're not harmful. But the presence of that dead population could tell you something about the quality of the product," Mauer said.
Mauer believes the ground beef tests show promise for using the technology to find other pathogens in additional types of foods. She has already shown that spectroscopy can detect melamine -- which sickened about 300,000 infants in China and killed at least six in 2008 -- down to one part per million in powdered baby formula.
Mauer next plans to assess spectroscopy for detection of more pathogens in different food products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service and the Purdue Center for Food Safety Engineering funded the study.

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SOUTH DAKOTA: Researchers exploring 'fusion strategy' against E-coli
31.aug.10
South Dakota State University
http://www.newswise.com/articles/researchers-exploring-fusion-strategy-against-e-coli
South Dakota State University research is exploring a "fusion strategy" for making improved vaccines to protect pigs and humans against some strains of E. coli.
The SDSU researchers altered the toxins produced by a form of E. coli and genetically fused the non-poisonous "toxoid" to a protein known to cause an immune reaction. The resulting "fusion protein" could be used to develop a vaccine.
Assistant professor Weiping Zhang in SDSU's Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Department studies a group of E. coli called enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, or ETEC. Besides causing diarrheal illness in farm animals such as pigs, ETEC strains are the main source of bacterial-caused diarrhea in human populations in the developing world, and the chief cause of traveler's diarrhea. The World Health Organization estimates that ETEC causes approximately 210 million cases of illness in humans and 380,000 deaths, mostly in children in developing countries.
Enterotoxigenic E. coli produce enterotoxins that affect the tissues lining the intestine and cause the vomiting and diarrhea associated with ETEC.
The research is one of the ongoing projects in SDSU's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccinology, which looks for new ways to diagnose and treat infectious disease in humans and domestic animals.
The ETEC project is innovative in that it uses as vaccine components, the toxins that scientists call "heat-stable enterotoxins," or STs, that are generally harmful to animals and humans and remain active even in a temperature of boiling water.
Zhang said heat-stable enterotoxins can't be used directly as a vaccine component because of their toxicity and because they are poor at causing an immune response unless coupled to a carrier protein. For that reason, many vaccine researchers working with ETEC focus their research on other disease-causing elements — the so-called heat-labile enterotoxins that are destroyed at high temperatures and the fimbriae, or appendages that help the bacteria hold on to the host and cause disease.
However, Zhang said not including STs as a vaccine component poses a problem because more than two-thirds of human ETEC diarrhea cases and more than one-fourth of ETEC diarrhea cases in pigs are caused by ETEC strains that produce a heat-stabile enterotoxin called STa.
"STa antigens must be included for developing broadly effective vaccines against ETEC infection," Zhang said.
The SDSU research explored an approach for using heat-stable enterotoxins.
"Since they are toxic, we cannot use them directly. So we mutated a gene. We only changed one amino acid for each toxin. And that change shifted them from toxic to non-toxic," Zhang said.
In the same way researchers mutated the gene that produces the heat-labile enterotoxin, which is known to produce an immune response. They then fused the two toxoids to produce a fusion protein.
Importantly, by tweaking only a few amino acids, the researchers left the protein structure of the bacterium largely intact. That is important, Zhang said, because just as the toxin has to bind to a receptor in the small intestine in order to cause the disease, the vaccine component must bind to that same receptor in order to cause an immune response.
Zhang and his colleagues published the study of their "fusion strategy" in January 2010 in the journal Infection and Immunity. Zhang's co-authors were Chengxian Zhang, David H. Francis, Ying Fang, and David Knudsen, all of SDSU; James Nataro of the University of Maryland School of Medicine; and Donald C. Robertson of Kansas State University.
In summer 2010 researchers began studying five possible vaccine components using a pig model. Once they select the best vaccine component, they'll move on to larger lab trials and field trials. The possibility of an improved swine vaccine is important because some estimates say swine producers lose $80 million a year because of illness in pigs in North America alone, Zhang said.
Meanwhile, since the toxins produced by ETEC in pigs and humans are nearly identical, Zhang and his colleagues are using the same system they've developed at SDSU for exploring a swine vaccine to explore a possible human vaccine.
Zhang has received $368,000 in grant funds for vaccine research against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli-associated diarrhea in humans using a pig model that he and SDSU professor David Francis have developed. The research is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health through its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Zhang and his colleagues at three other institutions also have received about $1 million in support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for research into strategies for optimizing the vaccine for humans. Right now they have mutated only a single amino acid. The Gates Foundation wants to know if the vaccine components would be even more effective if researchers mutate other amino acids.
If the research leads to an improved vaccine either for pigs or humans, that entire process of developing the vaccine will take about 10 to 15 years, Zhang said.

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Hyperspectral imaging speeds detection of campylobacter
31.aug.10
United States Department of Agriculture
http://www.photonicsonline.com/article.mvc/Hyperspectral-Imaging-Speeds-Detection-Of-0001?atc~c=771+s=773+r=001+l=a&VNETCOOKIE=NO
A type of high-tech imaging can be used to distinguish the foodborne pathogen Campylobacter from other microorganisms as quickly as 24 hours after a sample is placed on solid media in a Petri dish, according to a study published by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists.
The researchers, with USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), used technology called hyperspectral imaging, which combines digital imaging with spectroscopy, to provide hundreds of individual wavelength measurements for each image pixel. ARS is the chief scientific research agency of USDA.
According to the study, microorganisms grown on solid media carry unique spectral fingerprints in the specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. A hyperspectral imager identifies these fingerprints by measuring light waves that bounce off or through these objects.
Unlike the human eye, which sees only visible light, hyperspectral imaging can detect visible light as well as light from the ultraviolet to near-infrared ranges. Hyperspectral imaging may also be applicable to other pathogen detection studies.
Campylobacter infections in humans are a major cause of bacterial foodborne illness both in the United States and other countries throughout the world. Growing Campylobacter directly on solid media has been an effective method to isolate this organism, but distinguishing Campylobacter from non-Campylobacter microorganisms is difficult because different bacteria can often look very similar.
A research team led by ARS electronics engineer Seung-Chul Yoon at the agency's Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit in Athens, Ga., developed the imaging technique to detect Campylobacter colonies on solid media in 24 hours. Normally, isolation and detection for identification of Campylobacter from foods like raw chicken involve time-consuming or complicated laboratory tests that may take several days to a week.
This "sensing" technology, which was nearly 100 percent accurate with pure cultures of the microorganisms, could be used for early detection of presumptive Campylobacter colonies in mixed cultures. The researchers are working toward developing a presumptive screening technique to detect Salmonella and Campylobacter in food samples.
Other ARS team members included research leader Kurt Lawrence, agricultural engineer Bosoon Park, animal physiologist William Windham, and food technologists John Line and Peggy Feldner. Line is at the ARS Poultry Microbiological Safety Research Unit, also in Athens. Gregory Siragusa of Danisco, in Waukesha, Wis., also collaborated on the study.
Findings from this study were published in the journal Sensing and Instrumentation for Food Quality and Safety. This research supports the USDA priority of ensuring food safety.

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P&G recalls small number of bags of cat food From stores in Loveland, COLORADO
29.aug.10
FDA
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm224352.htm
CINCINNATI -- Procter & Gamble (P&G) is voluntarily recalling a small number of bags of its Iams Proactive Health Indoor Weight & Hairball Care dry cat food which may have been sold recently in one or two stores in Loveland, Colorado.
These bags have the potential to contain salmonella, although no illnesses have been reported. No other Iams pet food products are affected.
The Iams Proactive Health Indoor Weight & Hairball Care cat food in question is sold in blue 6.8-pound bags. These bags feature a code date of 02304173 (B1-B6) and the UPC number 1901403921.
If you have this product, please discard it and call P&G toll-free for a product replacement at 800-862-3332 Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST.
P&G has worked with its retailers to remove the affected product from stores in the area. P&G believes that only three bags may have been purchased recently by consumers in the area. Yet, as a precautionary measure, the company is initiating this retrieval.
People handling dry pet food can become infected with salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with surfaces exposed to this product. Healthy people infected with salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, salmonella can result in more serious ailments including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.
Pets with salmonella infections may have decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, pets may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

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