The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that the outbreak of Salmonella infection linked to contaminated chicken livers has sickened 93 people in New York and 64 people New Jersey. The CDC is collaborating in the outbreak investigation with health departments in those and other, unnamed states.
At least 21 people have been hospitalized, the CDC reported. The illnesses began on or after March 13. The ill people range in age from younger than 1 to 97 years old. The median age is 10. No deaths have been reported.
According to earlier reports from state health departments, 9 cases in Maryland are part of the outbreak and Pennsylvania has 7. New York health officials have said Minnesota is one of the affected states. If these cases are indeed linked to the outbreak, there may be as many as 174 illnesses.
The CDC said in August it noticed a “sustained increase” in the number of Salmonella Heidelberg isolates with the outbreak strain reported by New York and New Jersey to PulseNet, the national foodborne illness surveillance system. Those states typically would report about 5 illnesses with the Salmonella Heidelberg strain per month, but from June through August they reported 30 to 40 cases a month.
No such increase was identified in other areas of the U.S. during that time, the report said. The outbreak strain has a genetic pattern that is common in the United States, and some cases may not be related to the outbreak, it noted.
Lab tests in New York identified the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg in samples of the “kosher broiled chicken livers” and chopped liver made from the chicken livers processed by Schreiber Processing Corp. of Maspeth, NY. The company does business as Alle Processing Corp/MealMart Co.
Customers may have incorrectly thought the use of the word “broiled” in the label meant the chicken liver was ready-to-eat, however they were supposed to be fully cooked before eating, the CDC said. The “kosher broiled chicken livers” were sold at retail stores and may have used as an ingredient in other prepared foods, including chopped liver sold in delis.
On Nov. 8, Schreiber Processing recalled an undetermined amount of the chicken liver products that had been distributed to retail stores and institutional users in Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
CDC Epi Curve Chart:
The 21-page case questionnaire used by the North Carolina Division of Public Health to crack an outbreak of E. coli helped investigators to quickly focus on the Kelley livestock building on the State Fair grounds.
They have concluded that the Kelley livestock building, a permanent round-roofed structure where sheep, goats and pigs were exhibited, was the source of the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak at the North Carolina State Fair, which attracted more than one million attendees during its Oct. 13-23 run.
State Epidemiologist Megan Davies said animal contact at the Kelley building was the likely cause of the E. coli infections suffered by 27 fairgoers. She did not name any specific breed as the source.
No other fair exhibits, foods, or activities were found responsible for the illnesses.
Two of the 27 victims of the state fair outbreak remained in the hospital Thursday.
The 2011 E. coli outbreak at the North Carolina State Fair is at least the third to occur in recent years. In 2004 the petting zoo was responsible for infecting 108 fairgoers with the pathogen. Two years later in 2006, three others were stricken with the O157:H7 strain from contamination thought to have occurred at the pita stand.
After its 2004 run, the state fair installed its first public hand-washing stands around the petting zoo and other animal exhibits. It also double-fenced bedding areas to help keep people out.
In its case questionnaire this year, North Carolina public health officials asked fairgoers to recall if they or their children touched sheep, goats or pigs; allowed animals to nuzzle, nibble, or lick them; or whether they stepped in or touched “manure or poop” during their visit to the Kelley livestock building.
Investigators also asked whether children going through the building were carrying toys or blankets, sucking their thumbs or Sippy cups, or riding in strollers.
North Carolina public health investigators interviewed 114 fairgoers, including the 27 who got sick.
The Children’s Barnyard, the Graham Building, the State Fair Ark, the Rabbit Barn, the Amazing Animals Petting Zoo, the Hog way Speedway, and the Gov. Kerr Scott building were other fair locations that investigators asked specific questions about.
In addition, they required victims to answer questions about the foods they ate. Foods checked out included hamburgers and cheeseburgers, barbeques, hot dogs, turkey legs, ham, sausage, game meat, raw vegetables, salads, finger foods like popcorn and peanuts, ice cream, cotton candy, candy and caramel apples. The investigators also asked about beverages, including fresh squeezed lemonade.
Steve Troxler, North Carolina’s Agricultural Commissioner since 2005, is ultimately responsible for the state fair. With the Kelley livestock building named as the source of the latest outbreak, Troxler is promising to put additional safeguards in place.
“Our goal is to put on the safest fair we can,” he said.
Troxler said visitors are not supposed to touch animals in the Kelley building, and it is cleaned and disinfected after each livestock event. He said it “is not a petting zoo.”
But the Kelley livestock building was suspected from the beginning of the outbreak when a Sampson County, NC family named it as the fair location they’d visited before becoming ill.
Troxler acknowledged visitors attend the fair based on a “certain amount of trust.”
“We certainly want to keep that trust with the public and be proactive in doing anything we can do,” the commissioner said.
That the Kelley livestock building was the source of the outbreak came as no surprise to Davies, the state epidemiologist. She noted that pathogenic E. coli bacteria are shed in the feces of ruminant animals such as cows, goats, and sheep.
Tim Hortons Inc. said new products, like Specialty Bagels and Real Fruit Smoothies, as well as operational improvements, contributed to a positive third-quarter financial report, including a 40-percent increase in profit.
For the quarter ended Oct. 2, Tim Hortons reported net income of $103.6 million, or 65 cents per share, in Canadian dollars, compared with earnings of $73.8 million, or 42 cents per share. Revenue increased 8.4 percent to $726.9 million.
Same-store sales for Tim Hortons’ 3,225 units in Canada increased 4.7 percent during the quarter. At its 645 U.S.-based units, same-store sales rose 6.3 percent. The company opened 41 new restaurants in Canada and 23 new units in the United States during the quarter, it said.
Tim Hortons opened its first unit outside North America in September in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Approximately five UAE restaurants are scheduled to open this year. Tim Hortons’ master license agreement there calls for 120 units over a five-year period.
“Operating conditions in North America continued to be challenging, and the strength of our sales performance is a great testament to our strong price-value brand position with our guests,” said Paul House, Tim Hortons president and chief executive. “We continued to innovate in the third quarter and execute our strategic growth plans to build our business.”
House added that Tim Hortons soon would roll out its Tim’s Café Favourites — a line of espresso-based lattes, mochas and cappuccinos — to nearly 3,000 units in Canada and the United States. The Canadian system also will receive digital menu boards, and will soon extend breakfast hours nationwide to noon, he said.
Oakville, Ontario-based Tim Hortons has opened 77 locations in Canada and 43 units in the United States in the year to date.
Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN
Fueled by improvement in key metrics and growing franchisee confidence, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is tracking favorably with its long-term growth plans, officials of parent AFC Enterprises Inc. said today.
Cheryl A. Bachelder, AFC chief executive and president, and H. Melville Hope, the company’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, gave that news to analysts on a conference call Thursday covering results for the third quarter, which were released Wednesday.
Bachelder also spoke separately with NRN about results for the quarter that saw global systemwide sales climb 5.5 percent to $450.6 million.
Before recapping quarterly and year to date results, Bachelder told analysts, “Our culinary innovations and Bonafide [bone-in] chicken promotions continue to resonate with our guests in our restaurants.”
Popeyes’ menu additions most recently have included boneless and portable limited-time chicken products like Wicked Chicken and Rip’n Chick’, as well as the ongoing Dip ’n Chick’n promotion.
AFC said Wednesday said that third-quarter net income totaled $5.8 million, or 24 cents a share, compared with $5.9 million, or 23 cents a share in the same 2010 quarter.
Revenue rose 3.8 percent to $35.4 million, on flat company-owned restaurant sales of $12.3 million and a 6.7-percent increase in franchising revenue, to $22.2 million.
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Global systemwide same-store sales rose 1.7 percent in the latest quarter, lapping year-ago growth of 5.2 percent, AFC said. While third-quarter domestic systemwide same-store sales grew 1.7 percent, AFC-owned restaurants saw a same-store sales decline of 1.9 percent, which the company attributed to tough comparisons against 8.5-percent growth in 2010.
Popeyes ended the third quarter Oct. 2 with 1,998 restaurants worldwide, up 2.5 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Domestically, the chain ended the quarter with 38 company and 1,560 franchised restaurants, or 1,598 total locations, for year-over-year growth of 1.8 percent.
“Popeye’s strategic plan remains the organizing principle of our growth initiative and serves us well in this challenging economy,” Bachelder told analysts.
Over the next four to five years, AFC expects to deliver an average annualized basis same-store sales growth of between 1 percent and 3 percent; net unit growth of between 4 percent and 6 percent; and earnings per share growth of between 13 percent and 15 percent.
Bachelder explained that the four pillars of the plan are: “build the Popeyes brand;” “run great restaurants;” “strengthen unit economics;” and “ramp up new unit growth.”
Related to that last charge, in speaking with NRN, she noted that revised guidance on global restaurant openings and closings in fiscal 2011 had the Popeyes chain on track to open a net 60 locations for the year, which, if achieved, would almost double 2010’s net number of 34 and nearly triple 2009’s 21 new units.
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“Our marketing effort is to build the brand by balancing innovative new product news with compelling promotions of our core bone-in chicken,” Bachelder told analysts.
She added, “In the third quarter, this resulted in our sixth consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales for our domestic restaurants, and seventh consecutive quarter for our international restaurants.”
Related to the chain’s goal of improving restaurant operations and service, Bachelder said that in the third quarter, 76 percent of the guests of domestic restaurants who took part in the chain’s receipt-initiated survey program gave Popeyes the highest – or “delighted” – rating. That marked an improvement of 3 percentage points over 2010’s third quarter, she said.
“Our [in-restaurant] speed-of-service score, at the end of the third quarter, was over 70 percent ‘delighted’ – a gain of 15 percentage points since we rolled out the initiative in 2008,” Bachelder said. “Approximately 65 percent of our restaurants were reporting drive-thru [service] times at our goal of 180 seconds or less.”
Among other information shared by Bachelder:
• Third quarter commodity inflation at Popeyes was about 9 percent compared to last year, helping to force down restaurant operating profits by 2 points, to 18.3 percent of sales. The company said it would work to mitigate higher costs through restaurant efficiencies and supply chain savings
• Popeyes reported significant improvement its third annual franchisee survey. “Our franchisees let us know that despite these commodity challenges, the overwhelming majority of them feel good about the quality of the Popeyes franchising opportunity,” Bachelder said.
• To boost new unit growth, Popeyes, among other moves, has become more proactive in recruitment of franchisees, through such actions as holding seminars in priority markets, such as Florida and Southern California.
• Bachelder said Popeyes’ “strong brand,” “rigorous site selection” and high performing new units – which are generating averaging volumes of about $1.4 million, compared with the systemwide average of approximately $1 million, are “are strengthening our new unit development pipeline.”
Contact Alan Liddle at alan.liddle@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @AJ_NRN
POM Wonderful has branched out into the ingredients supply market with plans to launch its POMx pomegranate polyphenols as a functional ingredient for other manufacturers to use on a global basis.
