CDC Issues Final Report on Chipotle E. coli Outbreak

The CDC issued the final report indicating that there have been no further E. coli O26 illness associated with the outbreak.  Overall, 60 people were infected in 14 states with 22 requiring hospitalization.

 Chipotle has taken a beating, with it stock price dropping 33% over the past year.  It went up 4.8% on Monday.  Chipotle stated that it will close for a few hours (11AM to 3PM) on February 8th in order to do a company wide staff meeting where executives will answer questions.  This does not appear to be a food safety training event as much as it is an opportunity to let employees executives are engaged on food safety.
 

CDC Outbreaks

http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2015/O26-11-15/index.html

Multistate Outbreaks of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 Infections Linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill Restaurants (Final Update)

Posted February 1, 2016 12:00 PM ET

Dry Organic Shake Powders Recalled Due to Potential for Salmonella

Garden of Life is recalling its RAW Organic Meal Shakes due to the potential to be contaminated by Salmonella.  As reported by the Minnesota Department of Health, there is as many as 8 cases in 7 states.

The company seems to be taking the approach that their product is not to blame. “In an overabundance of caution we are taking this extreme measure because we want to ensure that you never have to wonder about the purity of any Raw Meal product.” said Brian Ray, President of Garden of Life.  In their release published by FDA, they state that all product is tested.

Upon evaluating the ingredient statement (pic below), we see that there is sprouted seed sprout items present.  If it is indeed raw, it can be the source of Salmonella.  Testing is not full proof, especially when there are low levels of the contaminate.  Even with large sample size testing, it may be difficult to find contamination levels below 1%.  It is important to remember that Salmonella can survive in dry products like this for months or even years.

Cottage Food Laws - Sidestepping Food Safety Regulations

Many states are enacting Food Cottage Laws to enable people to sell food that they made in their own kitchen without any oversight by government health and safety professionals.  The intended goal is to help support budding food entrepreneurs and support the local economy.  But at what cost? 

One example is the recently passed Cottage Food Laws of Idaho. The law does limit the type of food to non-potentially hazardous foods (excluding low acid and acidified canned foods) so the risk is lower, however there is little in the regulation that address food safety including the condition of the kitchen in which the food is handled and prepared.  Once made, the food can be sold through a number of channels including farmers' markets and online.

Update on Listeria Outbreak Associated with Salad

CDC provided an update on the number of listeriosis cases linked to Dole's packaged salads.  There are now 15 cases and 1 death.  Dole has shut down its Ohio processing facility and does not plan to restart until at least February.   With regard to impacted product, Dole initially called its action a voluntary withdrawal.  It changed that status to a voluntary recall on January 27th.

CDC Update - Salmonella Cases Associated with Cucumbers Continue to Trickle In

 Since CDC's last report in November, 50 more people from 16 states have been reported becoming ill with a specific strain of Salmonella associated with cucumbers from one distributor in California.  The current total is 888 cases in 39 states. 

Food safety requires the pessimism of intelligence and the optimism of will

This is based off a quote in the Independent from Donald Rumsfeld, the former US Defense Secretary,    “As my friend Andre de Staercke once put it to me, “What one needs in life are the pessimism of intelligence and the optimism of will.”. I thought this statement was even more applicable to food safety and the duties of the food industry professional with responsibilities for food safety.

Food safety requires the pessimism of intelligence and the optimism of will.

The challenges for food safety occur all the time - whether it is RTE product being run in a facility that was built long before there was consideration for organisms like Listeria, or the company's marketing guru pushing a more natural / minimally processed product to be sold as fresh refrigerated, or a restaurant entrepreneur wishing to produce a vacuum packaged, fully cooked meal.  For the person tasked with ensuring the safety of products, they must recognize the risks and apply sound judgment based upon scientific facts or historical reports of past outbreaks or recalls.  Then they must either be willing to apply necessary controls to prevent those risks or squash poorly designed, high risk projects before excessive investments are made.  The force of will comes from knowing that in the end, that customers will not harmed, and with that, the company's future is more secure.

Depending upon the company's culture, the food safety professional has often been looked at as the naysayer or worrywart.  But with numerous examples of food safety issues where food safety issues have cost company's lost millions, or in some cases, resulted in executives being sentenced to jail time, the food safety professional's job is becoming more valued.

Pizza Recalled for Mistaking Pork Pepperoni for Beef Pepperoni

Whole Foods is recalling over 70,000lbs of pepperoni pizza because instead of using beef pepperoni, which is stated on the label, they used pepperoni made from pork.  According to the FSIS Notice - "The problem was discovered by FSIS during a label review at the establishment and occurred as a result of a change in ingredient suppliers."

One item of note is that this occurred during a supplier change.....a purchasing issue.  Second is that this should have been identified during the inspection of incoming materials, specifically the evaluation of the label.

There were two other recalls within the past few days where pork was included in a product where it was not on the label.  One was a ravioli product and the other was knockwurst.

FSIS News Release
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/FSIS-Content/internet/main/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2016/recall-010-2016-release
Whole Foods Recalls Frozen Pizza Products Due to Misbranding
Class II Recall 010-2016
Health Risk: Low Jan 25, 2016

Congressional and Public Affairs   Richard J. McIntire  (202) 720-9113 

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2016 – Whole Foods/North Atlantic Kitchens, an Everett, Mass. establishment, is recalling approximately 73,898 pounds of pepperoni pizza products due to misbranding, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The product is labeled as containing uncured beef pepperoni. However, the pizzas contain uncured pork pepperoni, which is not declared on the product label. Some individuals have a sensitivity or intolerance to pork.

Concern for Zika Virus - Mosquito transmitted disease of South and Central America

The Zika virus is a growing concern as it spreads throughout South and Central America as well as the Pacific Islands.  The mosquito is the primary vector.  While for most people, the symptoms of the viral infection are mild , there is a concern for pregnant women who become infected in that it may lead to microcephaly, a rare neurological condition in which an infant's head is significantly smaller which is associated with incomplete brain development.  Yikes.  (But this has not yet been totally proven.)

Cases of infection in the US have been seen in those who have traveled to areas where the virus is present.

Damn mosquitos...West Nile Virus was bad enough, now we got something else to worry about.  Mosquitos also carry other diseases including Chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever and malaria.

 

CDC Website

Zika Virus

http://www.cdc.gov/zika/index.html/

 

Zika virus is spread to people through mosquito bites. The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon.

 

Outbreaks of Zika have occurred in areas of Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas. Because the Aedes species mosquitoes that spread Zika virus are found throughout the world, it is likely that outbreaks will spread to new countries. In December 2015, Puerto Rico reported its first confirmed Zika virus case. Locally transmitted Zika has not been reported elsewhere in the United States, but cases of Zika have been reported in returning travelers.

Dole Withdrawals Salad Items Linked to Listeria Outbreak

Dole is conducting a voluntary withdrawal of salad products made in their Springfield, OH facility after being linked to a Listeria outbreak.  In this outbreak, 12 people have been infected with one death.  

According to the CDC, the evidence indicates that packaged salads produced at the Dole processing facility in Springfield, Ohio  are the likely source.   From the CDC report:

• Five (100%) of the five ill people who were asked about packaged salad reported eating packaged salad in the month before becoming ill. Two (100%) of two ill people who specified a brand of packaged salad reported eating various varieties of Dole brand packaged salads. 
• The Ohio Department of Agriculture collected a Dole brand Field Greens packaged salad from a retail location and isolated Listeria. Laboratory tests showed that the Listeria isolate from the packaged salad was highly related genetically to isolates from ill people. This packaged salad was produced at the Springfield, Ohio Dole processing facility.

 CDC began investigating this in September of 2015, but as can be seen, there has been only a few cases coming in at a time, making the investigation process more difficult with providing a specific source.

At this point, it is difficult to comment too much without knowing more information.  Did the plant have an active Listeria control program?  Was it comprehensive in terms of evaluating washing systems and food contact surfaces including buildup/biofilms in those washing systems.  In many facilities, there is a focus on noncontact surfaces (zones 2 and 3) and conducting of preoperational samples rather than operational, but if there was indeed an issue in the process, would it have been identified if the facility was not looking deeper?  Did they know that they had an issue?

 

CDC Outbreak Notice

http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/bagged-salads-01-16/index.html

Multistate Outbreak of Listeriosis Linked to Packaged Salads Produced at Springfield, Ohio Dole Processing Facility 

Posted January 25, 2016 4:15 PM ET 

   

At a Glance:

• Case Count: 12
• States: 6
• Deaths: 1
• Hospitalizations: 12
• Recall: No

Highlights