April 25, 2012
BSE Cow Poses No Threat to US Food Supply
A cow in California was diagnosed with BSE, or Mad Cow. This is the fourth documented case of BSE in a cow in the US.
It poses no real risk to human health or the US food supply because the slaughtered animal did not enter the food supply. Further, this was a dairy cow and BSE is not transmitted through milk. The cow, more than 30 months of age, had died and was to be rendered. It was tested for BSE because it had died.
The US has an active monitoring system for all suspect animals and older animals as well as controls for the removal of SRMs (specific risk materials), including spinal and brain tissue, during slaughter.
For more information on the disease, see the EDEN BSE topic page.
February 24, 2012
Subject: Food Safety News - Norovirus Outbreaks in the News
The leading cause of foodborne disease is making its mark this winter. Just this February, Norovirus caused more than 200 attendees at a cheerleader camp in Washington State to become ill. In St. Maarten, a cruise ship returned to port as 31 became ill. In Virginia, an elementary school was closed because so many students were ill. And in New Jersey, more than 400 college students become ill at three universities located in the same county.
There are some important reasons that lead to so many people becoming ill from Norovirus. One is the virus’s low infectious dose. It is estimated that it may take only 10 viral particles to make someone ill. Then, there is the ability of the virus to survive for up to two weeks on dry surfaces and in water for months. The virus can be spread through a number of ways including through contaminated food or water, from contaminated surfaces, directly from a sick person, or from the intake of aerosolized droplets of vomitus.
The main symptom of Norovirus infection is another factor for its spread – acute-onset vomiting. This prevents people from becoming sick in a secure location. Rather, rapid onset can occur at a dinner table, on a carpet, or on the bus. People usually become ill within 24 hours of exposure, although longer incubation periods do occur. Once someone is sick, they can experience symptoms for 24 to 72 hours, and can remain contagious for up to 3 days.
Because of this short incubation time, low infectious dose, and ease of spread, one can see why it spreads through a school or a cruise ship so quickly. While rarely fatal, people who become ill need to watch so that they do not become dehydrated.
The most important key in preventing infection is frequent, but correct hand washing – scrubbing hands with soap and warm water. Additionally, it is important for people to stay home when ill, especially when they may have been exposed to someone who has had the illness. They should also stay home for at least 48 hours after systems have subsided. Contaminated surfaces must be cleaned using a strong chlorine bleach solution, 1 cup of bleach o one gallon of water. Cooking will destroy the organism.
CDC link for additional information
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus.htm
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January 13, 2012
CDC has updated their Multistate Foodborne Outbreak listing for 2011 (http://www.cdc.gov/outbreaknet/outbreaks.html). This is a nice reference page for reviewing major food outbreaks that have occurred over the past 6 years. (An outbreak, as defined by CDC is "When two or more people get the same illness from the same contaminated food or drink”)
A few things to note:
This does not include recalled products – products recalled due to only the presence of pathogens (pathogens were detected in the product, but there were no illnesses reported). There have been many recalls that have occurred due to positive analysis for a pathogen, especially now with the Reportable Registry (http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety/foodsafetyprograms/rfr/default.htm). And so it follows, it does not include recalls for allergens – the major cause for companies to conduct recalls.
- This list does not include single state outbreaks – so this list is manly large companies that produce products. This does not mean that smaller establishments do not have issues.
- A few items were actually not food, but rather pets (frogs and chicks/ducklings in 2011, and water frogs and frozen rodents, which are used to feed slithering pets, in 2010). One item was dog food, which we will count as food .
- There appears to be an increase in the number of entries each year on this listing. I don’t suspect things are getting worse, but rather detection and reporting are getting better.
- Of the 41 entries over the 6 year period where a cause can be found (dropping the pet related entries and the laboratory entry), fresh ground meat had 6 entries, alfalfa sprouts had 5, leafy greens had 5, and cantaloupe had 3.
- Salmonella related outbreaks accounted for roughly 2/3 of the entries. This is due to the wide prevalence of Salmonella in the enviornment.
- FDA regulated product entries accounted for 25 entries, USDA for 11, and I suspect that two of the outbreaks were from facilities that had both USDA and FDA oversight.
- Roughly 27 are what one would consider ready to eat (no required consumer cooking step). 14 entries were products would be considered products that required cooking, that if done sufficiently by the consumer, would have prevented illness (reasons why vary - cookie dough traditionally eaten raw, pot pies – poor cooking instructions, raw meat – no thermometer use).
2011 Postings