Salmonella Outbreak Linked to MA Restaurant Now With Over 50 Cases

There are now 56 cases of Salmonella infection linked to Los Amigos Taqueria of Brighton, MA.  Many of the people have already contacted a lawfirm to represent them as part of a lawsuit.  The lawyer stated that "he believes improper handwashing could be to blame. He noted that the reported cases have all been tied to the Brighton restaurant and not the chain’s four other locations, which could share food suppliers."

Boston.com
https://www.boston.com/news/restaurants/2023/05/26/salmonella-cases-tied-brighton-los-amigos-taqueria-rising/
Salmonella cases tied to Brighton Los Amigos Taqueria on the rise

State health officials say 56 confirmed cases of salmonella have been linked to Los Amigos Taqueria. A food safety attorney believes the real number is likely far higher.
By Abby Patkin

May 26, 2023

Got Wood Milk? Mocking Ad Ruled Illegal

Got Wood Milk?  An ad mocking plant milk was cited as unlawful for depicting agricultural products in a negative light, in this case, plant-based milks such as almond milk and soy milk.

It is worth a watch.....sort of.....
https://youtu.be/C4klWmwC2ds

Business Wire
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230525005754/en/USDA%E2%80%99s-Dairy-Ad-Featuring-Aubrey-Plaza-Violates-Federal-Laws-Physicians%E2%80%99-Complaint-Alleges

USDA’s Dairy Ad Featuring Aubrey Plaza Violates Federal Laws, Physicians’ Complaint Alleges
May 25, 2023 01:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service unlawfully approved an ad last month that features The White Lotus actress Aubrey Plaza mocking plant milk. The now-viral “Wood Milk” ads violate laws forbidding federal agricultural promotions from depicting products in a negative light, according to a complaint filed today with the USDA Office of Inspector General by the Physicians Committee, a nonprofit public health advocacy organization.

OR Creamery Recalls Mispackaged Ice Cream That Resulted in Undeclared Allergens

Tillamook County Creamery Association (Tillamook, Ore.) is recalling a limited quantity of family-size 1.5qt cartons of Tillamook Waffle Cone Swirl ice cream mistakenly packaged in a Tillamook Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream carton, lot TL-41-80, BB041324, due to undeclared wheat and soy. The Waffle Cone Swirl ice cream contains wheat and soy, which are not declared on the Chocolate Peanut Butter label.  The product in question is packaged with a Tillamook Chocolate Peanut Butter carton sidewall but with a Tillamook Waffle Cone Swirl lid.  So the lid is correct, but the carton is wrong.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/tillamook-issues-allergy-alert-undeclared-wheat-and-soy-tillamook-waffle-cone-swirl-ice-cream
Tillamook Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Wheat and Soy in Tillamook Waffle Cone Swirl Ice Cream Packaged in Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Carton
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  May 31, 2023
FDA Publish Date:  May 31, 2023
Product Type:  Food & Beverages  Ice Cream/Frozen Dairy
Reason for Announcement:  Undeclared wheat and soy
Company Name:  Tillamook County Creamery Association
Brand Name:  Tillamook Waffle Cone Swirl Ice Cream
Product Description:  Ice Cream

TX Firm Recall Onion Flavored Rings After Filling Packages with Puffed Wheat Product Resulting in Undeclared Allergens

Rudolph Foods, based in Dallas TX,  is recalling 39 cases of Rudolph’s OnYums “Onion Flavored Rings” in 3 oz. packages, because they may contain undeclared wheat and other sensitive ingredients, including monosodium glutamate and artificial colors yellow 6, yellow 6 lake, blue 2 lake, blue 1 lake, and red 40 lake.  The recall was initiated after a retailer/customer discovered that the manufacturer inadvertently placed a Chile & Limon puffed wheat chip product in packaging that does not reflect the presence of the wheat ingredient.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/rudolph-foods-issues-allergy-alert-undeclared-wheat-rudolphs-onyums-onion-flavored-rings-3-oz
Rudolph Foods Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Wheat in Rudolph’s OnYums “Onion Flavored Rings”, 3 oz. Packages
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  May 31, 2023
FDA Publish Date:  May 31, 2023
Product Type:  Food & Beverages  Snack Food Item  
Reason for Announcement:  Undeclared Wheat
Company Name:  Rudolph Foods
Brand Name:  OnYums
Product Description:  OnYum Onion Flavored Rings

MA Dairy Recalls Soft Cheese Product After Consumer Infection by Listeria

Cricket Creek Farm of Williamstown, MA is recalling 165 units of Sophelise cheese and 149 pounds of Tobasi cheese because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. One hospitalization due to Listeria monocytogenes has been reported to date. Following this customer notification of illness, products purchased by this individual were tested by Biotrax Testing Laboratory and the current batch of Sophelise was determined to be positive for Listeria monocytogenes. The three batches of Tobasi are being recalled due to their proximity during storage to the exposed product.

Cricket Creek Farm is a small, grass-based cow dairy located in Williamstown, MA.  They produce raw milk, grass-fed beef and whey-fed pork, and 7 farmstead cheeses.   Sophelise cheese, according to the company's website, "is a soft cheese in the washed rind family, with an identity all its own. A pungent rind for fans of Reblochon, and a texture for lovers of Brie. A Cricket Creek Farm original, that even the experts can’t define. Made from pasteurized milk."

Listeria is a definite challenge for small dairy operations that produce cheese along with doing a lot of other stuff (in this case...producing raw milk, beef, pork, conducting tours, hosting weddings).  One could guess is that if Listeria in one lot of cheese, then it likely be in more product.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/cricket-creek-farm-recalls-sophelise-and-tobasi-cheeses-because-potential-listeria-monocytogenes
Cricket Creek Farm Recalls Sophelise and Tobasi Cheeses Because of Potential Listeria Monocytogenes Contamination
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  May 30, 2023
FDA Publish Date:  May 30, 2023
Product Type:  Food & Beverages  Cheese/Cheese Product
Reason for Announcement:  Potential Contamination with Listeria monocytogenes
Company Name:  Cricket Creek Farm, LLC
Brand Name:  Cricket Creek Farm
Product Description:  Sophelise Cheese and Tobasi Cheese

CDC MMWR - Foodborne Illness Outbreaks at Retail Food Establishments

In CDC MMWR, a report titled Foodborne Illness Outbreaks at Retail Food Establishments — National Environmental Assessment Reporting System, 25 State and Local Health Departments, 2017–2019 provides insight into outbreaks associated with retail food establishments.

The top four issues and most probable contributing factors (from Table 2 below):

• Norovirus (261 incidents) and the need to have a food health policy, and more importantly, to enforce that policy.  
• Salmonella (103 incidents)- Preventing cross contamination and cooking to correct temperature.
• Vibrio (39 incidents) - contaminated raw food eaten raw or undercooked
• Clostridium perfringens (36 incidents) - improper cooling or holding

Items from the report:

• During 2017–2019, a total of 800 foodborne illness outbreaks associated with 875 retail food establishments were reported to NEARS by 25 state and local health departments. 
• Among outbreaks with a confirmed or suspected agent (555 of 800 [69.4%]), the most common pathogens were norovirus and Salmonella, accounting for 47.0% and 18.6% of outbreaks, respectively.
• Of the 725 managers interviewed, most (91.7%) said their establishment had a policy requiring food workers to notify their manager when they were ill, and 66.0% also said these policies were written. 
• Only 23.0% said their policy listed all five illness symptoms workers needed to notify managers about (i.e., vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, sore throat with fever, and lesion with pus). 

CDC provided this interpretation - "Norovirus was the most commonly identified cause of outbreaks reported to NEARS, and contamination of food by ill or infectious food workers contributed to approximately 40% of outbreaks with identified contributing factors. These findings are consistent with findings from other national outbreak data sets and highlight the role of ill workers in foodborne illness outbreaks. Although a majority of managers reported their establishment had an ill worker policy, often these policies were missing components intended to reduce foodborne illness risk. Contamination of food by ill or infectious food workers is an important cause of outbreaks; therefore, the content and enforcement of existing policies might need to be re-examined and refined."

"Only 16.1% (117 of 725) of establishments had policies that included the four recommendations of the FDA Food Code that were assessed. These recommendations were to have a policy that required workers to tell a manager when they are ill, a policy that specified all five symptoms workers need to tell a manager about, a policy that restricted or excluded ill or infectious workers from working, and a policy that specified all five symptoms requiring restriction or exclusion. Fewer than half (316 of 725 [43.6%]) of managers said their establishments provided paid sick leave to any workers."

The top five contributing factors to foodborne illness outbreaks were all contamination related (Box 2).

•  The most common contributing factor was other mode of contamination (excluding cross-contamination) by a worker who was suspected to have an infectious illness (104 [20.8%]). 
• Other sources of contamination included contaminated raw food (88 [17.6%]), bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat (RTE) food by a food worker suspected to have an infectious illness (72 [14.4%]), cross-contamination of ingredients (68 [13.6%]), and other unspecified source of contamination (62 [12.4%]) (Table 2). 
• Contributing factors associated with ill workers (i.e., bare-hand contact with RTE food, gloved-hand contact with RTE food, and other contamination by workers suspected of having an infectious illness) were identified in 205 (41.0%) outbreaks.
•  The most common proliferation contributing factor was improper or slow cooling of hot food (53 [10.6%]), and the most common survival contributing factor was insufficient time or temperature during cooking or heat processing (33 [6.6%]).

CDC - MMWR
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/ss/ss7206a1.htm
Foodborne Illness Outbreaks at Retail Food Establishments — National Environmental Assessment Reporting System, 25 State and Local Health Departments, 2017–2019
Surveillance Summaries / June 2, 2023 / 72(6);1–11
Erin D. Moritz, PhD1; Shideh Delrahim Ebrahim-Zadeh, MS1; Beth Wittry, MPH1; Meghan M. Holst, MSPH1; Bresa Daise, MPH1,2; Adria Zern, MPH3; Tonia Taylor4; Adam Kramer, ScD1; Laura G. Brown, PhD1 (VIEW AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS)

Neb Sprouting Facility Issued Warning Letter After Salmonella Outbreak

FDA issued a Warning Letter to Rhodes Legacy Inc DBA Sun Sprouts, a sprouting operation located in Omaha, Nebraska.  The inspection comes after sprouts were linked by epidemiological and traceback evidence to an outbreak of human infections with Salmonella Typhimurium.

The FDA "inspection revealed serious violations of the Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption regulation (Produce Safety Regulation or PSR), Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 112 (21 CFR Part 112). Based on [the] inspectional findings, [FDA] determined that [the] sprout products are adulterated."

Primary inspectional findings:

• "Failed to meet the requirement to test spent sprout irrigation water from each production batch of sprouts for E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. or, if such testing is not practicable, test each production batch of sprouts at the in-process stage (i.e., while sprouts are still growing) for E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp."
• "Did not test the spent sprout irrigation water (or sprouts) from each production batch of sprouts for Salmonella spp. using either (1) the method of analysis described in “Testing Methodologies for E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella species in Spent Sprout Irrigation Water (or Sprouts),” Version 1, October 2015, FDA or (2) a scientifically valid method that is at least equivalent to this method of analysis in accuracy, precision, and sensitivity, as required by 21 CFR 112.153(a)"
• "Did not clean and sanitize food contact surfaces that you use to grow, harvest, pack, or hold sprouts before contact with sprouts or seeds or beans used to grow sprouts...investigators observed significant filth on the irrigation nozzles for your mister." 
• "Did not meet the requirement that at least one supervisor or responsible party for your farm must have successfully completed food safety training at least equivalent to that received under standardized curriculum"

https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/rhodes-legacy-inc-dba-sun-sprouts-651402-05102023
WARNING LETTER
Rhodes Legacy Inc DBA Sun Sprouts
MARCS-CMS 651402 — MAY 10, 2023

CDC MMWR - Salmonella Outbreak with Non-RTE Breaded Stuffed Chicken Products

Commercially produced non-RTE frozen breaded stuffed chicken products, such as chicken cordon bleu, have been a repeated source of Salmonella infection.  "During 1998–2022, 11 Salmonella outbreaks linked to these products were reported; 57% of samples per outbreak from patient homes and retail stores yielded Salmonella."

Although packing has cooking instructions, people continue to prepare them, or handle them as if they are fully cooked items.  The reason is that they appear to be cooked, which they are in order to set the coating, but not to the point where the chicken itself if cooked to eliminate Salmonella contamination.

CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7218a2.htm
Salmonella Associated with Not Ready-to-Eat Breaded, Stuffed Chicken Products — United States, 1998–2022
Weekly / May 5, 2023 / 72(18);484–487

Summary
What is already known about this topic?
Not ready-to-eat breaded, stuffed chicken products have repeatedly been a source of Salmonella outbreaks. On April 28, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed to declare Salmonella an adulterant in these products.

What is added by this report?
During 1998–2022, 11 Salmonella outbreaks linked to these products were reported; 57% of samples per outbreak from patient homes and retail stores yielded Salmonella. Outbreaks continue to occur, although a smaller percentage of patients reported cooking the product in a microwave after labeling changes.

What are the implications for public health practice?
Outbreaks have continued despite consumer-based interventions. Additional control measures for Salmonella contamination by manufacturers could reduce Salmonella-involved illnesses associated with these products.

Article on Salmonellosis in Infants Resulting in Increased Health Risks

An article in the journal Pediatrics titled "Epidemiology of Salmonellosis Among Infants in the United States: 1968–2015 " looks at nontyphoidal Salmonella infection in infants which results in high rates of hospitalization and death due to the increased risk of invasive infection.

The study did not provide information regarding the source of the contamination. 

 "These data do not provide information to assess sources of Salmonella or risk factors for invasive disease; demographic characteristics are described as risk indicators. Reported risk factors for infant salmonellosis include exposure to animals, exposure to a household member or attending day care with a child with recent diarrhea, international travel, riding in a shopping cart with raw meat or poultry, and other indoor and outdoor environmental exposures.15,–18 Use of infant formula and lack of breastfeeding are correlated risk markers.15,19,Salmonella has only rarely been identified in commercial formula.20,21 Breastfeeding might be protective because of immunity (eg, maternal antibodies from breastmilk) or to lack of exposure to bottles contaminated by household members."

Pediatrics

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/doi/10.1542/peds.2021-056140/191251/Epidemiology-of-Salmonellosis-Among-Infants-in-the

ARTICLE| MAY 10 2023

Epidemiology of Salmonellosis Among Infants in the United States: 1968–2015 

Julie L. Self, PhD, MPH; Michael C. Judd, MPH; Jennifer Huang, MPH; Patricia I. Fields, PhD; Patricia M. Griffin, MD; Karen K. Wong, MD, MPH