FDA and CDC Update Cyclospora Outbreak Associated with Bagged Produce, Organism Found in Irrigation Water

FDA and CDC provided an update on the Cyclospora outbreak associated with produce items sold by Fresh Express.  The outbreak, centered in the upper midwest, now has 690 total illness and 37 hospitalizations.

In the investigation of farms, FDA did find the parasite in irrigation water samples taken near Port St. Lucia, FL.  "FDA investigated multiple farms identified in the traceback. In Florida, FDA analyzed water samples from two public access points along a regional water management canal (C-23), located west of Port St. Lucie, Florida. These samples tested positive for Cyclospora cayetanensis using FDA’s validated testing method."   

At this point, this may be as good as it gets for finding the source.  When in irrigation water, this can be a very difficult organism to control.

https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-cyclospora-bagged-salads-june-2020
Outbreak Investigation of Cyclospora: Bagged Salads (June 2020)

CDC reports additional cases. FDA finds Cyclospora in irrigation canal.

The FDA, along with CDC and state and local partners continue to investigate a multistate outbreak of Cyclospora infections potentially linked to salad products that were made by Fresh Express containing iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and carrots and that were sold in several regions of the United States. The investigation includes Fresh Express branded products as well as products made by Fresh Express for retail store brands sold at ALDI, Giant Eagle, Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco, ShopRite, and Walmart.

Case Counts
Total Illnesses: 690
Hospitalizations: 37
Deaths: 0
Illness Onset Date Range: 5/11/2020 – 7/20/2020
States with Cases: GA (1), IA (206), IL (209), KS (5), MA (1), MN (86), MO (57), NE (55), ND (6), OH (4), PA (2), SD (13), WI (45)

Imported Cooked Shrimp Recalled After Salmonella Found in Sample

Kader Exports is recalling certain consignments of various sizes of frozen cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp sold in 1lb, 1.5lb., and 2lb. retail bags due to the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. The product has been distributed nationwide from late February 2020 to Mid-May 2020

According to the recall notice, "There have been no reports of any illnesses to date associated with these cooked shrimp distributions. However, cooked shrimp imported by Kader Exports was tested by the FDA and found to contain Salmonella. Kader Exports did not distribute and have agreed to voluntarily destroy cooked shrimp found violative. The probable root cause for this recall is cross contamination. The company has eliminated the source of contamination and preventive steps were taken."

Kader Exports is based in Mumbai. 

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/kader-exports-recalls-frozen-cooked-shrimp-because-possible-health-risk
Kader Exports Recalls Frozen Cooked Shrimp Because of Possible Health Risk..

Summary
Company Announcement Date: August 11, 2020
FDA Publish Date: August 12, 2020
Product Type: Food & Beverages Shellfish
Reason for Announcement: Potential for Salmonella
Company Name: Kader Exports pvt. ltd
Brand Name: AQUA STAR RESERVE, CENSEA, FRESH MARKET, and Others
Product Description:
Frozen cooked, peeled and deveined, tail on shrimp

Retailers Recall Cheese Dip and Salsa Made with Recalled Onions

Kroger, Meyer, and Smiths are recalling cheese dip under the brands MURRAY'S, JARLSBERG, DELI because they were made with onions recalled for Salmonella. "On July 31, the company was notified by supplier Onions 52 that it had received red, yellow, and white onions from Thomson International, Inc., which had been implicated in the salmonella-related outbreak. On August 1, bulk onions sourced from Thomson International, Inc. were removed from sale in stores that had been identified as receiving the affected product. Subsequently, it was determined that several in-store made cheese dips may have used red onions from the produce department as an ingredient. The dips, which are in plastic containers, were sold between May 15, 2020 and August 6, 2020.:

Spokane Produce, Inc. of Spokane, WA is recalling salsa products containing onions as part of the onion recall initiated by Thomson International, Inc.

Kroger Recalls Cheese Dips Because of Possible Health Risk
https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/kroger-recalls-cheese-dips-because-possible-health-risk

Kroger Delta Division Recalls Cheese Dips Because of Possible Health Risk
https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/kroger-delta-division-recalls-cheese-dips-because-possible-health-risk

Kroger Mid-Atlantic Recalls Cheese Dips Because of Possible Health Risk
https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/kroger-mid-atlantic-recalls-cheese-dips-because-possible-health-risk

Fred Meyer Recalls Cheese Dips Because of Possible Health Risk
https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/fred-meyer-recalls-cheese-dips-because-possible-health-risk

Fry’s Food Stores Recalls Cheese Dips Because of Possible Health Risk
https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/frys-food-stores-recalls-cheese-dips-because-possible-health-risk

Smith’s Recalls Cheese Dips Because of Possible Health Risk
https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/smiths-recalls-cheese-dips-
because-possible-health-risk

Spokane Produce Inc. Issues Recall of Products Containing Onions Because of Possible Health Risk
https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/spokane-produce-inc-issues-recall-products-containing-onions-because-possible-health-risk

Are Modern Varieties of Wheat Linked to The High Number of People with Wheat Issues? Probably Not

With what seems to be an increasing number of people having issues with wheat, mostly gluten from the wheat, researchers looked to see whether this increase was related to modern varieties of wheat.  Looking at 120 years of wheat (taken from historical archive of wheat samples), investigators determined that this is not related.

"Analyses by the team of scientists show that, overall, modern wheat varieties contain slightly less protein than old ones. In contrast, the gluten content has remained constant over the last 120 years, although the composition of the gluten has changed slightly. While the proportion of critically viewed gliadins fell by around 18 percent, the proportion of glutenins rose by around 25 percent. In addition, the researchers observed that higher precipitation in the year of the harvest was accompanied by a higher gluten content in the samples." 

 "Surprisingly, environmental conditions such as precipitation had an even greater influence on protein composition than changes caused by breeding. In addition, at least on the protein level, we have not found any evidence that the immunoreactive potential of wheat has changed as a result of the cultivation factors," explains Katharina Scherf, who is now continuing her research as a professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich
https://www.leibniz-lsb.de/en/press-public-relations/translate-to-englisch-pressemitteilungen/translate-to-englisch-pm-20200811-pressemitteilung-wheatscan/

Is modern wheat off the hook?
Gluten in wheat: What has changed during 120 years of breeding?

Freising, August 11,2020

COVID-19 - 40% of Cases Asymptomatic May Point to Pre-existing Partial Immunity and Mask-related Lower Infecting Dose

An article in the Washington Post discusses the level of asymptomatic people within the population and the role of partial immunity and potential impact of infecting dose. Clearly here has been uneven transmission, especially with far less children being infected, but when we look at those who test positive, there are a high percentage who are asymptomatic, a number which CDC estimates to be about 40%. One thought is that these people have partial immunity, perhaps acquired from a past infection from the normal cold virus, or from some childhood vaccination. In fact, in samples of blood from people who had not had the disease, there was some immune reactivity to the virus by T-cells. .

Another interesting factor may be the impact of masks on how much virus a person encounters during an infection event. We had discussed infecting dose a few weeks back and now it does seem that this plays a factor. The evidence they provide is when looking at outbreaks among large groups where mask wearing was and was not used. In cases where the level of masking was high, the levels of asymptomatic infection was higher.

Washington Post - Health
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/08/08/asymptomatic-coronavirus-covid/
Forty percent of people with coronavirus infections have no symptoms. Might they be the key to ending the pandemic?
New research suggests that some of us may be partially protected due to past encounters with common cold coronaviruses.

Firms Recall Citrus and Potatoes After Finding Listeria monocytogenes on Food Contact Surface

Freshouse II LLC of Salisbury, NC, and Wegmans is recalling Valencia oranges, lemons, limes, organic limes, and red B potatoes after the company’s routine internal testing identified Listeria monocytogenes on a piece of equipment in one of the packing facilities.

This would be considered a low risk in that the items 1) will not support the growth of Listeria, although organisms may survive 2) items are likely to be washed (cirtus) or cooked (potatoes) before use and 3) the Listeria was found on equipment and not the products.  To find Listeria on fresh produce is not uncommon (Heisick etal 1989), but once you find it on a food contact surface, you have to follow your corrective action.  For this facility, it will be important to understand whether this is a transient organism or is it an established strain.

The Produce News
https://www.theproducenews.com/news-dep-menu/29719-listeria-risk-prompts-citrus-potato-recall
Listeria risk prompts citrus, potato recall 

This Week in Mislabeled Product for Week Ending August 7, 2020

Wheat Missing from Label - H-E-B is voluntarily issuing an all-store recall for Blue Cheese Salmon Burgers due to an undeclared allergen - wheat.  The package types would indicate that this was a print-and-apply label.

Almond Milk Contains Cashew - SmithFoods Inc. announced that it is voluntarily recalling 16-oz pint packages of Earth Grown Vegan Non-Dairy Almond Based Frozen Desserts because it may contain an undeclared cashew allergen. The recall was initiated following a consumer complaint. The company continues to go through root cause analysis and is conducting a detailed review of allergen controls within all aspects of operations and supply chain processes.   There has been one reported incident of an allergic reaction to date.

Companies Issue Recalls for Products Containing Recalled Thomson Onions

FDA and FSIS issued notices for companies that had manufactured and distributed products using onions that had been included in onions recalled by Thomson International as part of the Salmonella outbreak.  Taylor Farms, Amana Meat Shop and Smokehouse and Giant Eagle issued recalls of product containing the onions.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/home/!ut/p/a1/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOINAg3MDC2dDbwsfDxdDDz9AtyMgnyMDf3dDIAKIkEKcABHA0L6w_WjUJX4Wxq6AZWEBfp7OzsbWPgZwxTgtqIgN8Ig01FREQBCfym8/?
FSIS Issues Public Health Alert For Ready-to-Eat Meat and Poultry Products Containing FDA-Regulated Onions that have been Recalled due to Possible Salmonella Newport Contamination 

CDC Report - Characteristics of Meat Processing Facility Workers with Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 Infection — Nebraska, April–May 2020

In CDC MMWR, an article was posted on the investigation of an COVID-19 outbreak in a meat processing facility. There were 1,216 facility workers tested with 375 (31%) having positive results. They were able to question 241 of those who were infected.

• Approximately one third (78; 32%) of respondents reported no symptoms. Among the 163 symptomatic respondents, two were hospitalized, and no deaths were identified.  Only 24% had a cough and 34% had a measured fever.
• Close contact† with a visibly ill person (or person with diagnosed COVID-19) at work was reported by 70 (29%) workers; the most frequently reported close contact locations were production areas (74%) and cafeteria/break areas (51%).
• Most (87%) reported always having their temperature checked upon entry to work, fewer (41%) reported always being asked about symptoms.
• Thirty of 235 (13%) workers reported close contact with a visibly ill person (or a person with diagnosed COVID-19) outside of work.

What is striking in the report is the difficulty in preventing through just watching for cough and fever.   There will be many who are asymptomatic or just have minor symptoms.  In the end, screening is important (checking temperature and asking about the minor symptoms and potential exposure), but distancing and mask wearing are also very important.