A Pennsylvania firm is recalling breaded chicken product after the Colorado State Department of Agriculture discovered Staphylococcal enterotoxin present in the product during routine testing. There have been no reported illnesses.
As you know, when Staphylococcus aureus grows to high levels in food, it can produce an enterotoxin. A person suffers the illness when they eat the food with the toxin, not the bacteria. The symptoms. vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea, are seen in 1 to 4 hours after consuming, but can be within 30 minutes up to 10 hours after consumption.
The toxin is heat stable, and will survive any cooking done by the consumer.
S. aureus does not grow at refrigeration temperatures, so generally, growth and toxin production is seen in temperature abused products. The level of S. aureus to get levels of toxin needed for illness is >10E5.
In this particular case, we can assume the product was battered, breaded and then par-fried to set the breading. Following that thinking, the organism would have either grown in the batter (which is a common issue when batter is not properly temperature controlled), or in the finished product, if that product was temperature abused. In the first case where it formed in the batter, par-frying would have eliminated the vegetative organism leaving only the toxin. If it formed on the finished product, again because if that finished product had been temperature abused, we would expect to see the organism as well as the toxin on the frozen product. We are not able to tell from this report which was more likely the case.
Is Staph enterotoxin a routine test for regulatory laboratories? Not sure.
USDA News Release
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2014/recall-074-2014-releasePennsylvania Firm Recalls Chicken Products Due to Staphylococcal Enterotoxin Contamination Class I Recall 074-2014
Health Risk: High Oct 25, 2014
Congressional and Public Affairs Megan Buckles (202) 720-9113
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2014 – Murry’s Inc., a Lebanon, Pa. establishment, is recalling approximately 31,689 pounds of gluten free breaded chicken products that may be contaminated with Staphylococcal enterotoxin, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.