Fw: [BITES-L] bites Oct. 14/10

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Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 09:44:51 -0500

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Subject: [BITES-L] bites Oct. 14/10

bites Oct. 14/10

8 cases of salmonella confirmed at OHIO school

Listeria-positive Tyson plant in Buffalo shut down by USDA

Doping body dismisses Contador's contaminated meat claims

Brit kids avoid school toilets because of dirt and bullies; hard to wash hands

MISSOURI: Man stricken with salmonella begins long road to recovery

COLORADO: Restaurant high chairs dirtier than public toilets

Role of gloves examined in food contamination prevention

US: Funds not there for FDA to update food safety technology

Targeting non-O157 E. coli serotypes

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8 cases of salmonella confirmed at OHIO school
14.oct.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144563/10/10/14/8-cases-salmonella-confirmed-ohio-school
Clearview High School in Ohio sounds like the ideal setting for a Proactiv commercial. Katy Perry or Avril Lavigne (right, pretty much as shown) could shoot their next acne removal spot at the high school while disinterested teens go about their business – or barf in the background like 100 students from the school did a couple of weeks ago.
In one of the slowest investigations of a possible foodborne illness outbreak,
The Morning Journal reports Lorain County Health Department officials have confirmed eight cases of Salmonella B at Acne-High, believed to be connected with a dinner served to the football team two weeks ago.
Health Commissioner Ken Pearce said,
"Our focus is on that little football dinner. But it's not confirmed that that's what caused it."


Last week, health investigators interviewed Clearview students to find any commonalities in sickness and collected voluntary stool samples. Pearce said not all the illnesses were related to diarrhea and norovirus has been discounted.
http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2010/10/14/news/mj3482631.txt

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Listeria-positive Tyson plant in Buffalo shut down by USDA
14.oct.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144566/10/10/14/listeria-positive-tyson-plant-buffalo-shut-down-usda
The Buffalo News reports that a Tyson meat processing plant on Perry Street has been shut down by federal regulators after inspectors found violations during follow-up testing stemming from an August recall of deli meat produced at the Buffalo facility.
The plant suspended operations Tuesday after an inspection by the U. S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, the federal agency said Wednesday.
The shutdown was triggered by the results of sampling that the federal inspectors conducted during a food safety assessment, the agency said. That assessment was linked to the USDA's activities at the Perry Street plant since the deli meat recall, said Gary Mickelson, a Tyson spokesman.
The plant employs 560 workers. About 480 workers are affected by what Mickelson described as a "temporary suspension of operations."
In August, about 380,000 pounds of deli meat produced at the plant and sold at Walmart was voluntarily recalled after a sample tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
The plant had two similar recalls in 2004. Tyson first voluntarily recalled 442 pounds of cooked ham in August 2004 after a sample tested positive for Listeria. In November 2004, the company recalled another 50,000 pounds of hot dogs, prompted by an unspecified customer complaint. There were no reports of consumer illnesses in either case.
http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article219362.ece

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Doping body dismisses Contador's contaminated meat claims
14.oct.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144567/10/10/14/doping-body-dismisses-contador%E2%80%99s-contaminated-meat-claims
Hot off the presses from today's issue of Cycling News, World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman has dismissed Alberto Contador's claims that his positive test for Clenbuterol at this year's Tour de France was caused by contaminated meat bought in Spain.
Speaking to journalists during a meeting at the WADA headquarters in Montreal, Howman pointed out that the contaminated meat excuse has been used in the past but rejected during anti-doping hearings.
WADA is reportedly monitoring the Contador case very closely and is ready to step in if a disciplinary hearing is not arranged swiftly by the UCI and the Spanish Cycling Federation.
Howman added, "It took a year to set the Landis hearing up the first time around. … At some stage somebody is going to have to say, 'here is the hearing date'."

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wada-dismisses-contadors-contaminated-meat-claims

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Brit kids avoid school toilets because of dirt and bullies; hard to wash hands
14.oct.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/144568/10/10/14/brit-kids-avoid-school-toilets-because-dirt-and-bullies-hard-wash-hands
U.K. children are deterred from using school toilets in secondary schools because they are dirty - and occupied by smokers and bullies, a survey warns.
BBC reports that a quarter of the 300 children surveyed by experts from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said they avoided toilets if at all possible.
Speaking before Friday's Global Handwashing Day, the scientists said facilities were "dirty and inadequate."
More than a third (36%) said their toilets were never clean, with 42% saying soap was only available sometimes, and almost a fifth (19%) said there was never any soap.
Nearly 40% of secondary school girls reported ''holding it in'' so they didn't have to go to the toilet.
And 16% of secondary school boys reported "bad things" happening in the toilets, making them wary of going in there.
Around 150 primary school children were also questioned in the survey, but they reported far fewer problems with their toilets.
Dr Val Curtis, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's Hygiene Centre, who led the research, said,
"It would be easy to blame laziness on the part of the kids for this state of affairs, but clearly the problem lies with inadequate and dirty facilities, particularly in secondary schools."
Proper handwashing requires access to proper tools.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11539933

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MISSOURI: Man stricken with salmonella begins long road to recovery
14.oct.10
KFVS
Kathy Sweeney
http://www.kfvs12.com/Global/story.asp?S=13319482
SIKESTON, MO -- More than a year after being stricken by a salmonella infection, a Mississippi County man is taking encouraging steps toward his recovery.
We all saw how a common infection could have critical results back in May, when we met LD Stidham and his wife, Molly.
I caught up with the Stidhams Wednesday morning at Sikeston Rehab, where LD receives therapy.
It took two months of effort, physical therapist Tracy Davied says, but Stidham now sits up nearly on his own. He works hard at moving each limb to strengthen his trunk.
Stidham spends an hour a day, three to four times a week, trying to regain what a salmonella infection took away. He communicates with a nod or a raised eyebrow, Molly clearly reading each signal as she encourages his every move, here and at home.
"She follows through with anything that we are working on, she will follow through with that when he leaves this setting," Davied said.

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COLORADO: Restaurant high chairs dirtier than public toilets
13.oct.10
NBC
http://www.nbc11news.com/home/headlines/Restaurant_high_chairs_dirtier_than_public_toilets__104803724.html
Parents may want to think twice before putting their child in a restaurant high chair.
A new study finds the amount of bacteria on restaurant high chairs is significantly higher than public toilets.
The research was conducted by experts at Microban, a company that makes antibacterial products.
After swabbing thirty high chairs researchers found the bacteria levels varied from restaurant to restaurant, but the bugs were bad -- e-coli and staph were just a few they found.
They even found bacteria on chairs that looked clean.
Researchers say parents should take it upon themselves to clean high chairs before their kids use them -- so the only thing going in their mouth is their food!

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Role of gloves examined in food contamination prevention
14.oct.10
Meatingplace
Dani Friedland
http://www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/webNews/details.aspx?item=19064
Gloves, compulsory in many places for people producing and preparing food, may themselves become a source of contamination and can give people handling food a false sense of security, according to an article published in the Journal of Food Protection.
Most importantly, the researchers say, glove usage can give employees a false sense of security, and that can lead to cross-contamination if they are not adequately trained. "The false sense of security associated with gloves may cause users to engage in risky food handling practices or activities that result in cross-contamination and possible contamination of food or food contact surfaces, e.g., workers may wash their hands less frequently when gloved," the authors wrote.
The article's authors, led by Michigan State University's Ewen Todd, said the improper use of gloves can lead to food contamination and outbreaks. In fact, one study cited in the article found more microorganism contamination on gloves than on bare hands.
Additionally, rings, watches and artificial nails can puncture gloves, and research suggests that more microorganisms live under rings and watches than on other parts of the hand. Additionally, long-term usage of gloves can foster the warm, moist atmosphere microbes like, potentially leading to increased transfer of microbes to food during glove removal or in the case of contact with exposed skin.
"Although gloves provide an important barrier against food contamination, they cannot be used as a stand-alone hygienic measure," the article's authors concluded.

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US: Funds not there for FDA to update food safety technology
14.oct.10
Top WireNews
http://news.topwirenews.com/2010/10/14/Funds-Not-There-for-FDA-to-Update-Food-Safety-Technology_2010101410156.html
The Food and Drug Administration is calling for an improvement in scientific tools to ensure the safety of food products, according to a recently released FDA report. FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg said that an investment in science could help them catch food safety breaches earlier.
The report emphasizes the necessity of making certain that food safety protocol keeps up with changing threats, such as improved testing methods for seafood from the Gulf of Mexico after the oil spill.
What the FDA doesn't have for this project is push for better technology is more money. Although the Obama administration proposed a 23 percent increase in the FDA budget, Congress failed to grant the additional funding and instead will keep funding for the agency at the current level.

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Targeting non-O157 E. coli serotypes
14.oct.10
IFT, Volume 64, No.10
Neil H. Mermelstein
http://www.ift.org/food-technology/past-issues/2010/october/columns/food-safety-and-quality.aspx?page=viewall
Scientists at DuPont Qualicon (www.qualicon.com) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service are working together to develop a rapid method for detecting and identifying hard-to-detect strains of Escherichia coli that have been causing increased instances of foodborne illness around the world.
Rising Concern
Some strains of E. coli produce Shiga toxin, which can result in foodborne illness ranging from diarrhea to hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can be deadly. The most commonly identified Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) serotype is O157:H7, but there are more than 200 other STEC serotypes that have been associated with human illness. O157 is referred to as the serogroup, and when the H type is also known (e.g., H7), O157:H7 is referred to as the E. coli serotype.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that non-O157 STEC bacteria are responsible for 36,000 illnesses and 30 deaths each year in the United States. The majority of these infections have been associated with six serogroups: O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145. The most recent out-break was in spring 2010, when the O145 serogroup was found in shredded romaine lettuce.
Since the reporting of all STEC illnesses to CDC began in 2001, instances of non-O157 STEC illnesses have steadily increased. USDA research microbiologist/research leader Pina Fratamico said that in the past 25 years there have been at least 30 outbreaks associated with non-O157 STEC serotypes in the United States. Foods involved have included pasteurized milk, punch, lettuce, pasteurized cider, berries, and lettuce; ground beef has also been suspected. In addition, outbreaks have been associated with drinking and recreational water, animal contact, and person-to-person transmission.
The non-O157 STEC serotypes are not as well understood as the O157:H7 serotype partly because such outbreaks are rarely identified, many infected people do not seek medical care, and many clinical laboratories do not test for STEC infection since this group of bacteria are more difficult to identify than E. coli O157.
To prevent human infections with non-O157 STECs, Fratamico said, it is important to have reliable methods for detecting these pathogens in food. The test being developed with DuPont Qualicon will be rapid and simple to perform and will be useful for screening the top six non-O157 STEC serogroups in food.
Testing for E. coli O157:H7
Diagnosis of O157 STEC illnesses involves taking a stool specimen, testing for Shiga toxins, isolating a colony on sorbitol-MacConkey agar, agglutinating with O157 antiserum, and then conducting pulsedfield gel electrophoresis. Food testing requires a similar method, which is time-consuming and requires trained microbiologists. Consequently, DuPont Qualicon technical and regulatory specialist Amy Smith said, the company developed its BAX® System to bring high-tech capabilities to food laboratories that may not have highly skilled scientists on staff.
The system uses simplified sample preparation, tableted reagents, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to detect specific bacteria. It was introduced for detection of Salmonella in 1995, and the company has since developed applications for detection of many other pathogens (see table below).
In 2005, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) began using the BAX System E. coli O157:H7 MP assay to monitor meat and poultry. A few years later, DuPont Qualicon began working with USDA scientists to develop a new assay that used real-time technology to detect E. coli O157:H7. The BAX System Real-Time PCR Assay for E. coli O157:H7 was introduced in 2009 and has been certified by the AOAC Research Institute as a Performance Tested MethodSM for detection of E. coli O157:H7 in raw ground beef, beef trim, lettuce, and spinach.
The assay uses PCR to amplify (replicate) specific sequences of bacterial DNA that are unique to E. coli O157:H7. The company simplified the PCR process, Smith said, by combining the required reagents into a dry tablet that is hydrated with a prepared sample and processed in the BAX System instrument. The instrument amplifies the targeted DNA fragments through a series of heating and cooling cycles. During each cycle, the instrument measures the change in fluorescence of the Scorpion® probes (see sidebar) and translates that information into a visual indication of presence or absence of the targeted organism within an hour of loading samples. The time to results, Smith said, can be as quick as the same day as sample collection; other methods can take days.
Developing an Assay for Non-O157 Serotypes
Detection methods for non-O157 STEC serotypes are extremely limited, Smith said, because these serotypes are very hard to identify. Some grow much more easily than others, and there are few outstanding characteristics to differentiate them from one another or from background flora.
Fratamico said that the current testing for STEC serotypes relies on culture-based methods, namely enrichment followed by plating onto selective agar, confirmation of presumptive colonies by biochemical tests, and serotyping to identify the O somatic and H flagellar antigens. PCR-based methods targeting Shiga toxin genes and other virulence genes have also been used to screen enrichments for STEC, followed by plating onto selective agars and confirmation of presumptive colonies.
Smith said that nonculture methods such as enzyme immunoassays and PCR are used to detect non-O157:H7 STEC serotypes, but there is little standardization or uniformity to their use. Thus, there is a need for an easy, rapid method that can be used by diagnostic laboratories as well as food and regulatory laboratories. Fratamico added that enzyme immunoassays will only determine whether the sample contains one or more strains that produce Shiga toxins but will not provide information on the serotype. To do that requires isolating the organism and performing serotyping.
The scientists at DuPont Qualicon in Wilmington, Del., and USDA's Eastern Regional Research Center in Wyndmoor, Pa., are working together to design a PCR assay and determine test conditions to detect non-O157 STEC serotypes. DuPont Qualicon will incorporate the reagents needed into tablets, as in other BAX System kits, and USDA scientists will test them. Fratamico said that the test will target important STEC virulence genes as well as genes in the O antigen gene clusters of important STEC serogroups, thus identifying the O group.
"USDA continually looks for opportunities to collaborate in ways that will expedite research to assist regulatory agencies and move technologies into the marketplace," Fratamico said. "This collaborative project to develop a discriminating STEC test is a good fit with our mission."
There are three major areas of focus in the design of this assay, Fratamico said: (1) enrichment of the six serogroups, making sure that the method can allow propagation of all six non-O157 STEC serogroups to detectable levels; (2) real-time PCR detection; and (3) isolating a colony on agar medium to confirm that the non-O157 STEC serogroup is in the sample. Once a reliable test method has been developed, she said, FSIS will perform a baseline study to determine which non-O157 STEC serogroups are in a beef supply and then consider whether those serogroups will be considered adulterants in meat. At present, FSIS is concerned with whether the strain belongs to one of the top six serogroups regardless of what H type they possess. However, the strains belonging to the six serogroups must possess the Shiga toxin and eae genes.
The method is in the very early stages of development and is estimated to launch in 2011, Smith said. When the company releases the method, it will be submitted to the AOAC Research Institute for Performance Tested Method certification.
Regulatory Matters
USDA's FSIS considers E. coli O157:H7 an adulterant in ground beef, but it's the only STEC serotype considered as such. In October 2009, foodborne illness lawyer Bill Marler petitioned FSIS to declare all non-O157 STECs to be adulterants in ground beef, and in April 2010, U.S. Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) asked USDA to declare all STEC serotypes to be adulterants and to accept a petition by Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.) to expand the definition of adulterant to include E. coli O157:H7 and the six major non-O157 STEC serotypes in any type of beef, not just ground beef or beef intended for ground beef.
FSIS replied that it cannot reach a decision about the substance of the petition until it has developed additional laboratory capacity to detect and isolate various non-O157 STEC serogroups.
In May 2010, Senator Gillibrand proposed legislation (S. 3435) that would, among other things, specifically name E. coli strains O157:H7, O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145 as adulterants in beef and require USDA and beef manufacturers to test for all seven strains and dispose of meat product in which any of the strains is found. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
The American Meat Institute (AMI) stated that no confirmed outbreak of any of the six non-O157 strains in the bill has ever been associated with a meat product, there is no test currently available to easily detect them, and USDA experts have said in public meetings that food safety systems currently in place work equally well against O157 and non-O157 STEC serotypes.
AMI said that additional research is needed to quantify the prevalence and virulence of these additional strains in beef and to ensure not only that an effective test is readily available but also that the test could be easily obtained and quickly administered.
How the BAX System Works
After standard collection steps, a sample of food is added to enrichment media, homogenized, and incubated. The enrichment step takes as little as 8 hr for produce and 9 hr for ground beef. Next, a lysis reagent breaks the cell wall and releases the DNA. PCR tablets are hydrated with a sample of the lysate, and the mix is then processed in the BAX System instrument.
The BAX System Real-Time PCR Assay for E. coli O157:H7 uses Scorpions technology to target selected sequences of the DNA. The Scorpions consist of a primer (targeted DNA sequence) and a hair-pin-shaped probe with fluorescent and quencher dyes in close proximity. A series of heating cycles open the double-stranded DNA to form single strands, followed by cooling cycles that allow primer to attach to the targeted DNA sequence. Polymerase extends the DNA into a complementary strand. With the next heating cycle, double-stranded DNA separates and the hairpin structure of the probe unfolds. Then cooling causes the probe segment to bind to the amplified target sequence. This prevents the hairpin structure from reforming and allows the fluorescent dye to emit a signal, which is measured at the end of each cycle. As the process is repeated over and over, the fluorescent signal, if present, increases with each cycle to a level that is interpreted as positive by the instrument. If the target is not present in the sample, the primers do not bind and fluorescent signal is not released.
The results are presented—within an hour—as color-coded icons indicating presence or absence of the target. In validation studies, the BAX System has demonstrated extremely low limits of detection: one cell per sample volume of 65 g of ground beef, 375 g of beef trim, and 25 g of spinach and lettuce.
by Neil H. Mermelstein, a Fellow of IFT, is Editor Emeritus of Food Technology

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