COVID Times - News Shorts for May 14, 2020

FDA Issues Alert on Accuracy of Allergen Test - FDA issued an alert that they have data that suggests potential inaccurate results from using the Abbott ID NOW point-of-care test to diagnose COVID-19. Specifically, the test may return false negative results. FDA has received 15 adverse event reports about the Abbott ID NOW device that suggest some users are receiving inaccurate negative results.  Of course, false negatives are worse than false positives in that someone has the infection but is told they don't.

CDC Report on High Infection Rate Following a Choir Practice - Following a 2.5-hour choir practice attended by 61 persons, including a symptomatic index patient, 32 confirmed and 20 probable secondary COVID-19 cases occurred (attack rate = 53.3% to 86.7%); three patients were hospitalized, and two died. Transmission was likely facilitated by close proximity (within 6 feet) during practice and augmented by the act of singing.

Why Bats Can Carry Bad Viruses and Not Get Sick - Super Immunity - “Instead of killing bat cells as the virus does with human cells, the MERS coronavirus enters a long-term relationship with the host, maintained by the bat’s unique ‘super’ immune system,” 

The Virus Can Also Infect Cats, Minks, and Ferrets - This article discusses the virus's protein pike structure, but states that "Cats, ferrets and minks are also susceptible: In order to infect a cell, features of the spike protein must bind with a receptor on the host cell’s surface, and cats have a receptor binding site that closely matches that of humans."

COVID Virus's Cellular Targets Are In More Than Just Respiratory System - The COVID-19 "virus's  “spike” protein binds to a receptor on human cells known as angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Another human protein, an enzyme called TMPRSS2, helps to activate the coronavirus spike protein, to allow for cell entry."  Epithelium cells that line the airway have these receptors, and so this is the primary means of infection.  But these cell types are found in other parts of the body including the intestines.  This is the reason we see a wide variety of symptoms, including that "approximately one third of COVID-19 patients experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, and the fact that the virus often can be detected in stool samples ."  

Unfortunately for men, they have a higher concentration of ACE2 in their blood.

How Does COVID-19 Become Deadly - A lot of news articles have detailed the "cytokine storm”. that occurs after an infection starts.  "This storm is an over-activation of white blood cells, which release too-great amounts of cytokines – inflammation-stimulating molecules – into the blood."  "The rapidly increased cytokines attract an excess of immune cells such as lymphocytes and neutrophils, resulting in an infiltration of these cells into lung tissue and thus cause lung injury".

Hot Dog Sales are Up - "American households continue to turn to hot dogs as a convenient and kid-friendly solution with many more at-home meal occasions. The week ending May 3 marked the ninth week of multi-digit year-over-year sales gains for hot dogs vs. a nearly flat performance in 2019." 

Farmers' Markets Are Busy, But They Endure Higher Operating Costs  - Farmers' Markets have done an excellent job at providing a safe shopping experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their higher costs of operations have severely cut into profitability.

Basil Imported from Columbia Recalled Due to Cyclospora

United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) is recalling their  Wild Harvest® Organic Basil because of the potential to be contaminated by Cyclospora cayetanensi.  The product was distributed out of their  MN distribution center.  The recall comes after routine sampling found the pathogen.  The product is out of Columbia.

Cyclospora cayetanensis is a parasite that causes intestinal illness when consumed.  There have been a number of outbreaks associated with fresh RTE greens such as basil and cilantro.  It gets on these items from the irrigation water used for growing the product.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/unfi-voluntarily-recalls-wild-harvestr-organic-basil-due-possible-health-risk
UNFI Voluntarily Recalls Wild Harvest® Organic Basil Due to Possible Health Risk
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  May 11, 2020
FDA Publish Date:  May 11, 2020
Product Type:  Food & Beverages  Vegetable Products
Reason for Announcement:  Contaminated by Cyclospora cayetanensis
Company Name:  United Natural Foods, Inc.
Brand Name:  Wild Harvest
Product Description:  Organic Fresh Basil

Updated Handout for Food Handlers and COVID-10

Penn State Extension updated it's handout for food employees regarding COVID-19.  This is available as a PDF handout and will be available in a one page poster.

Food Handlers and COVID-19
https://extension.psu.edu/food-handlers-and-covid-19
PDF available

The novel coronavirus responsible for the current pandemic is a specific strain from a large family of viruses that includes those that cause the common cold. This strain, SARS-CoV-2, causes a respiratory illness designated COVID-19, and symptoms include high fever, intense headache, and difficulty breathing, among others. These symptoms can be more severe in populations considered to be high risk, such as the elderly or people with underlying health conditions, where pneumonia and even death can result.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread from person to person through respiratory droplets. It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.
Currently, there is no evidence to support that transmission of COVID-19 is associated with food. However, before preparing or handling foods, food handlers should follow these practices.

When sick, stay home from work.
Symptoms specific to COVID-19 include:

Preparing Food Service Establishments to Reopen During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This Penn State Extension fact sheet is intended to help food service establishments prepare to reopen and remain safely operational; tips for employees are also provided.

https://extension.psu.edu/preparing-food-service-establishments-to-reopen-during-the-covid-19-pandemic  (a PDF is provided as well).
Preparing Food Service Establishments to Reopen During the COVID-19 Pandemic

As local and state municipalities allow restaurants to resume dine-in services, these establishments need to think about how they can open while still providing a healthy environment that incorporates social distancing and other disease preventive controls. Based on the recently published COVID-19 Reopening Guidance: A Guide for the Restaurant Industry by the National Restaurant Association, Penn State Extension has developed this fact sheet for small and local operations in Pennsylvania. It is important to note that these establishments

Before Reopening:

• Deep clean the entire facility. Remember to use approved sanitizers on food-contact surfaces. Disinfectants can be used on non-food-contact surfaces. Deep cleaning should not only be completed before opening but also on a set schedule for regular detailed cleaning (weekly or more depending on use).

CDC Issues 2019 FoodNet Report

CDC issued their FoodNet Report for 2019 which looks at data from 10 sites in the US over time.
"The report summarizes preliminary 2019 data and describes changes in incidence compared with that during 2016–2018. The incidence of enteric infections caused by these eight pathogens reported by FoodNet sites in 2019 continued to increase or remained unchanged, indicating progress in controlling major foodborne pathogens in the United States has stalled. "
 But they also state, "Recent increases in foodborne illness might be due, in part, to increased testing and improved technologies. Quick and easy culture-independent diagnostic tests continue to reveal infections that might not have been diagnosed in the past because of limited testing. At the same time, whole genome sequencing and other new laboratory technologies have enhanced our ability to identify outbreaks, emerging strains, and sources of infection."

So comparing year to year may not be valid because more tests are being completed and the tests are more accurate.    Table 1 from that document gives number of infections which shows Campylobacter and Salmonella as the two most prevalent types of foodborne pathogens.

FDA Issues Warning Letters to Companies Selling COVID-19 Remedies - The New Era of Snake Oil Salespeople

FDA has been issuing a number of Warning Letters to companies which are marketing and selling products with claims that it can prevent or treat the novel Coronavirus.  Here is a few of the Warning Letters which were issued over the past few days.

• Dr. Dhole's Sushanti Homeopathy Clinic -  claims homeopathy medicine which is selected as Genus Epidemicus is given to healthy people to prevent Coronavirus
• Honey Colony LLC - sell a chealated silver product with claims as a prevention from coronavirus.
• Antroids.com and Foxroids.com - offers lopinavir + ritonavir, marketed as “Lopimune 200mg/50mg,” under the heading “Coronavirus Treatment.” While there are FDA-approved versions of lopinavir + ritonavir on the market in the U.S., there are no approved drug applications offered by either company  In addition, no drug has yet been approved by the FDA for use in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, mitigation, or cure of COVID-19
• Hopewell Essential Oils - Claims that using essential oils to make breathing easier with Coronavirus related pneumonia.
• Santiste Labs LLC - Created a transdermal patch with that claims to boost your immune system and provide antiviral support all day,
• Prefense LLC - marketing and online sales for hand sanitizers with claims that it works against COVID-19 and that the sanitizer lasts all day.

Claims and FDA Issues for Each with Links

Probiotic Fiber Product Recalled For Potential of Plastic Pieces from Bottle Cap

GSK Consumer Healthcare is voluntarily recalling five lots (listed below) of Benefiber Healthy Shape Prebiotic Fiber Supplement powder and Benefiber Prebiotic Fiber Supplement powder due to the potential for green plastic pieces or shavings from bottle caps to be present in the product.  As of the date of the recall announcement, GSK Consumer Healthcare has received one consumer complaint of a green particle observed inside a bottle of product.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/gsk-consumer-healthcare-recalls-benefiber-healthy-shape-prebiotic-fiber-supplement-and-benefiber
GSK Consumer Healthcare Recalls Benefiber Healthy Shape Prebiotic Fiber Supplement and Benefiber Prebiotic Fiber Supplement Due to Possible Plastic Contamination from the Bottle Cap
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  April 28, 2020
FDA Publish Date:  April 28, 2020
Product Type:  Food & Beverages
Reason for Announcement:  Potential for plastic pieces or shavings
Company Name:  GSK Consumer Healthcare
Brand Name:  Benefiber
Product Description:  Prebiotic Fiber Supplement

This Week in Mislabeled Product for Week Ending May 2, 2020

Traces of Milk Detected by Customer - Medifast, Inc. of Baltimore, Md., is recalling 24,923 boxes of OPTAVIA Essential Old Fashioned Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal because the product may contain undeclared traces of milk.  The recall was initiated after discovering that certain lots of OPTAVIA Essential Old Fashioned Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal packets inadvertently contain undeclared traces of milk. The issue was discovered when the company was contacted by a customer. 

Wrong Outer Case - Peanut Crackers In Cheese Boxes - Mondelēz Global LLC announced today a voluntary recall of a limited quantity of RITZ Cheese Cracker Sandwiches Family Size (21.6 oz. carton) product in the United States. This recall is being conducted because the outer packaging indicates that the product is Cheese variety, while the individually-wrapped product contained in the package is Peanut Butter variety. The outer carton does, however, provide an allergen advisory statement indicating that the product “May contain peanuts.” In addition, the inner package contains 16, 1.35oz. individually-wrapped six-cracker sandwiches that are properly labeled as RITZ Peanut Butter Cracker Sandwiches and declare peanut as an ingredient. The recall was initiated after it was discovered that the product containing peanut was distributed in outer packaging that did not list “peanut butter” in the ingredient statement. Corrective actions are being taken to help ensure that this issue does not recur.

Wrong Chicken Ingredient Contains Soy - Condies Foods of Kearns, UT is recalling 165 units of roll chicken salad on croissant single item# 43237 “USE THRU” 03/6/2020 - 05/6/2020, and sndw chicken sandwich on white single item.  After an inhouse audit of our ingredients by our Quality Assurance Manager it was discovered that the wrong ingredient had been purchased and used, it was decided to initiate a voluntary recall to ensure that our public would not get further exposure to an erroneous product.

Do Less Recalls During COVID-19 Mean Our Food Is Less Safe? No.

In an article from "The Hill", they ask if food is safe during the COVID-19 pandemic because they were not seeing many recalls.  They state, "Recalls, though, were flowing in regularly before February, with five in January, four in December, four in November and three in October."

I am not sure I would call this flowing when you look at the amount of product that is made by thousands of establishments across the country.  And when we look at the type of recalls over the past 6 months, only a few were due to foodborne pathogens.  Most recalls were due to foreign material (often one to three complaints, normally plastic) or allergen-related.

So to assert that our product is less safe because we are not seeing recalls because inspectors are distracted due to COVID-19, that is plain phooey.  As we have tracked recalls over the past decade, we have seen a steady decrease in the serious pathogen-related recalls, and that is because the industry is focused on food safety improvement.  

I would like to have seen one of these quoted academics actually say, 'based on the types recalls we've not seen over the past years, the meat industry has been doing a great job.'  Because it has.

Are people less likely to complain about that piece of plastic in their burrito because they are worried that someone with COVID-19 breathed on the packaging?  Probably.  I will give them that.

https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/493423-usda-under-pressure-as-food-safety-concerns-grow
USDA under pressure as food safety concerns grow
By Alex Gangitano - 04/19/20 06:00 AM EDT