William Reed Business Media (WRBM), the publisher of NutraIngredients.com, has taken control of two leading European probiotic conferences – Probiotech and Microbiota – from French firm Gate2Tech.
William Reed Business Media (WRBM), the publisher of NutraIngredients.com, has taken control of two leading European probiotic conferences – Probiotech and Microbiota – from French firm Gate2Tech.
After two people were sickened by Campylobacter, the New York state departments of health and agriculture on Thursday warned consumers in Tompkins County and surrounding areas not to drink unpasteurized milk produced at Jerry Dell Farm in Freeville, due to possible contamination.
The state Health Department said it notified the farm on Sept. 22 that two people who had consumed its raw milk were infected with Campylobacter enteritis.
Tests completed Thursday at the New York State Food Laboratory found that the unpasteurized milk produced at Jerry Dell Farm, and collected on Sept. 22, contained Campylobacter, the health department said.
The farm had voluntarily suspended milk sales and will be prohibited from selling raw milk until subsequent sampling indicates that the product is free of pathogens.
The health department advised anyone who still has milk purchased from Jerry Dell Farm to discard it immediately, and said individuals experiencing gastrointestinal illness symptoms after consuming milk purchased from Jerry Dell Farm should contact their health care provider.
Jerry Dell Farm holds a permit to legally sell raw milk at the farm. Producers who sell raw milk to consumers in New York must have a permit and must sell directly to consumers on the farm where the milk is produced. These producers must also post a notice at the point of sale indicating that raw milk does not provide the protection of pasteurization. Farms with permits to sell raw milk are inspected monthly by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Marketing.
Raw milk does not provide the protection of pasteurization, which eliminates all pathogenic bacteria, including Campylobacter. Campylobacter can cause diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, nausea, headache, and muscle pain. The illness usually occurs two to five days after ingestion and generally lasts for seven to 10 days, but severe cases can lead to complications, including paralysis.
A California grower is recalling 2,498 cartons of chopped or shredded romaine because it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
Church Brothers of Salinas, CA. said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration informed it Thursday that a sample of its True Leaf Farms chopped romaine, taken as part of a random check from a single bag, tested positive for Listeria. The test was part of an FDA research program to understand the prevalence of Listeria in produce, particularly lettuce and leafy greens.
No illnesses have been reported.
This recall is not related to the cantaloupe Listeria outbreak associated with Jensen Farms of Colorado.
Initially, the recall involved romaine shipped Sept. 12 and 13 to an institutional food service distributor in Oregon, which further distributed it to at least two additional states, Washington and Idaho. At the request of the FDA, the recall has been expanded to cover additional product shipped to wholesale food service distributors in 19 states and Alberta, Canada. The states are Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Vermont.
The recalled bags of chopped romaine were packed in True Leaf Farms cardboard cartons. The 2# bags have a “use by date” of 9/29/11 and the bag and box code B256-46438-8.
The only outlets where the romaine was available for direct consumer purchase were Unified Grocers, Inc. Cash & Carry Smart Food Service stores in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The product at those outlets was packed in True Leaf Farms cardboard cartons.
In the recall news release, True Leaf Farms said it is working with FDA to inform consumers of this recall and with its food service distribution customers to ensure that other romaine products that may be implicated are pulled from the market.
“We are fully cooperating with the FDA, and we are contacting all of our customers to ensure prompt removal of any product potentially associated with the recall,” said Steve Church, True Leaf Farms. “We are committed to conducting this recall quickly and efficiently to reduce any risk to public health.”
Anyone with the recalled romaine should not consume it, and should either destroy it or call Church Brothers for product pick up.
Consumers may call Church Brothers, LLC, the sales agent for True Leaf Farms, at 1-800-799-9475, or may visit www.churchbrothers.com for updates.
Listeria monocytogenes can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
In Seattle, America’s capital of coffee, much is expected. But Zoka Coffee Company, LLC had in the past 15 years dealt only with inspectors from the Washington State Department of Agriculture — until last April.
That’s when inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration showed up at Zoka’s Seattle coffee roasting facility, after an unusually cold winter had caused some outdoor pests to move indoors. FDA inspectors said Zoka was being overrun.
FDA inspectors also said they observed poor hand-washing practices by employees, and criticized the company for not handling containers, equipment and utensils in a manner that would protect against contamination.
FDA’s findings prompted the coffee company to close down for four days for a top-to-bottom cleaning, during which it threw out any product that even looked questionable.
Zoka management says only those areas where its green coffee is stored were involved, and coffee roasting — 450 degrees for 20 minutes — is a pretty certain “kill step.”
According to a Sept. 8 warning letter sent to Zoka by FDA, rodent activity was found in 10 different locations in the production room, four areas in the training room, three locations in the break room and on the floor and shelving units of the tea packing room. The letter acknowledged that in April Zoka had voluntarily destroyed two 132-bags of green coffee beans that were contaminated with rodent filth.
Zoka responded to the FDA’s Form 483 on the inspection with a plan to respond to the rodent infestation, which a spokesman says has been carried out.
However, FDA’s warning letter said the plan did not say how corrective actions would be documented.
Zoka has since passed a state re-inspection and is confident it is now in compliance with FDA’s requirements.
Zoka, which has three retail outlets in the Seattle area, was given 15 business days to respond to the FDA warning letter.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will hold a public summit on pre-harvest food safety on November 9 in Washington, DC, Under Secretary of Food Safety Elisabeth Hagen said Wednesday.
“We’re not looking to go on the farm, but we have to sponsor the discussion,” Hagen said in her remarks at an Ogilvy food safety event in Washington, DC. “We think we have to be looking at food safety all the way through.”
Again, Hagen emphasized: “We are not looking to go on the farm, we are not looking to regulate producers at FSIS, but everything that happens on the farm impacts what we do, it impacts the amount of risk that has to be handled throughout the system.”
Hagen also pointed to the 2010 pre-harvest E. coli guidance for beef slaughter establishments, a resource for producers. The compliance guide discusses several known practices for pre-harvest management to reduce E. coli contamination in cattle and focuses on the prevention of E. coli O157:H7 through reduced fecal shedding on the farm and during live animal holding before slaughter.
“What we’ve really been engaged in is this grassroots type of discussion with packers, with producers, with scientists, we have this huge research portfolio at USDA on pre-harvest food safety.”
During the event, Hagen also hinted at strengthening Salmonella standards for poultry, in light of the recent antibiotic resistant Salmonella outbreak that sparked a massive recall of Cargill ground turkey.
“You’re going to see some steps from the agency on ground poultry,” said Hagen, noting that FSIS will take be taking a “proactive approach” to prevent human illness.
Also see: FSIS Issues Guidelines on Cattle Shedding, May 17, 2010.
