Superbugs, Antibiotic Resistance, and Foster Farms Chickens

The term “Superbug”, a label coined by the US media, refers to those bacteria that cause serious disease in humans. Infections from these pathogens are difficult to treat in that those organisms have resistance to a number of commonly used antibiotics (multi-antibiotic resistance). Every time the discussion of superbugs comes up, people immediately identify food as the/a major issue. Primarily they identify meat and poultry as a source in the development and dissemination of superbugs. While there are antibiotic resistant bacteria associated with meat and poultry, the following facts should help clarify some of the myths associated with multi-drug resistant pathogens.

  

• According to the CDC, the most important source of antibiotic resistant organisms is in hospitals. Along with this, is the over prescribing of antibiotics to people by doctors.
• The use of antibiotics in animals is regulated - the administration of those drugs if limited to prevention and control of illness in the herd or flock, and that administration provides sufficient time so that there are no residues in the meat at the time of slaughter. The use of antibiotics for growth is not permitted.
• The classes of antibiotics used in animals are generally different than those used in people.
• Having antibiotic resistance does not necessarily mean an organism is a superbug - many organisms can have resistance to antibiotics and not cause illness, or in other cases, pathogens can have resistance to antibiotics that are not normally used to treat human illness.
• Many bacteria have naturally occurring antibiotic resistance, so to have raw meat or poultry with no antibiotic resistance microorganisms is impossible.
• If people properly handle and prepare / cook meat, they will eliminate all potential pathogens that may be present. Antibiotic resistance does not give organisms the ability to survive proper cooking or cleaning.

Now this is not to say that people can’t get ill from multi-antibiotic resistant pathogens. There has been the ongoing case of Foster Farms chicken in California that had been a source of severe illness. Some product was recalled – that was product that was cooked at a Costco store and then most likely mishandled leading to cross contamination. Foster Farms, the producer of the chicken, has what appears to be an on-going issue with consumers getting ill from the raw chicken parts that are purchased by consumers through retail stores. While USDA has worked with the facility to put in an action plan, it did not force the company to issue a recall.   

  

Much of the debate is whether Salmonella should be considered an adulterant. To this point in time, it is not considered an adulterant provided the company has safe handling instructions labeled on the product, and the company is following standard accepted practices. But will consumers properly handle and cook poultry?

  

There is a push to make those multi-antibiotic resistant strains of Salmonella an adulterant, but this is a slippery slope. Not all multi-antibiotic strains are responsible for making people ill. In fact, the Salmonella strain in the Foster Farms case have antibiotic resistance to antibiotics that are rarely used to treat people for salmonellosis. So what can the science support? What is practical, considering that Salmonella has been associated with birds much longer than modern man has been around?

 

Hemp - coming to a store near you...by the way of Canada

 Hemp, a variety of cannabis , has been highly restricted for being grown in the United States because the other varieties of cannabis, marijuana, are illegal...and it is not always obvious which form one is growing.   

But hemp, the varieties with lower THC levels, can be used for a variety of products including hemp seed foods, hemp oil, wax, resin, rope, cloth, pulp, paper, and fuel.  In fact, there is a long history of using hemp for making fiber and paper.

As for nutrition (as per Wikipedia)

Approximately 44% of the weight of hempseed is edible oils, containing about 80% essential fatty acids (EFAs); e.g., linoleic acid, omega-6 (LA, 55%), alpha-linolenic acid, omega-3 (ALA, 22%), in addition to gamma-linolenic acid, omega-6 (GLA, 1–4%) and stearidonic acid, omega-3 (SDA, 0–2%). Proteins (including edestin) are the other major component (33%). Hempseed's amino acid profile is "complete" when compared to more common sources of proteins such as meat, milk, eggs and soy.[11] Hemp protein contains all nutritionally significant amino acids, including the 9 essential ones[12] adult bodies cannot produce. Proteins are considered complete when they contain all the essential amino acids in sufficient quantities and ratios to meet the body's needs. The proportions of linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid in one tablespoon (15 ml) per day of hemp oil easily provides human daily requirements for EFAs.

A Canadian firm has taken a lead in moving the hemp hearts, a highly nutritive component into the US.  According to the Bloomberg article below, the company is looking to triple its production to meet the increasing demand. 


Bloomburg BusinessWeek
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-22/hemp-lands-in-supermarkets-sheds-its-stoner-stigma
Hemp Enters the Mainstream
By Matthew Boyle May 22, 2014

The sachets of hemp hearts on the shelves at Costco (COST), Safeway (SWY), and Whole Foods Market (WFM) are Mike Fata’s last laugh. The founder of Manitoba Harvest has spent the past decade working to transform hemp—a variety of cannabis—from the butt of weedy jokes into a supermarket staple. Fata’s investors are particularly happy about the mass-market breakthrough. “Our customers are bright enough to know that it does not have dope in it if Costco’s selling it,” says Jim Taylor, a founding partner of Avrio Capital, a Calgary-based venture capital company that was one of Manitoba Harvest’s early backers.

Looser cultivation restrictions and the food industry’s hunger for produce that packs a protein punch have helped distance hemp from its more notorious relative. Hemp contains less than 0.5 percent of the mind-bending compound tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, that gives marijuana its potency. Earlier this year the U.S. government finally recognized hemp as distinct from cannabis. A federal ban on commercial cultivation, however, is still in force.

Walnuts Recalled Due to Positive Listeria Test

 FDA released three recall notices for walnuts after FDA testing found a sample positive for Listeria at the supplier, Golden State Foods.  Walnuts from California, were sold in MO, KS, and IL.

 Walnuts would not be considered high risk for Listeria - walnuts are shelf stable - dry (low moisture) are stored at ambient temperatures.  It is unlikely that Listeria would support the growth of Listeria, but if walnuts were used an ingredient in a higher moisture product, such as a salad, then the walnuts could be a source of Listeria.

It is hard to tell why walnuts were tested in the first place outside the fact that it may be used as an ingredient in a moister refrigerated RTE product.

 What we don't know was the level of contamination on the walnuts to start.  Generally absence/presence testing is done.  Do the level of contamination may have been low and thus the associated risk would be low.  According the FDA Risk Assessment for Listeria , there would be very low risk, even for susceptible populations, when the contamination rate is less than 100 CFU/meal.  Certainly testing will be able to detect below this level

FDA Recall Notices

Sherman Produce Recalls Bulk and Packaged
Walnuts Due to Possible Health Risk

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm398734.htm

Contact Consumer: 314-231-2896

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 21, 2014 - St. Louis-based Sherman Produce is voluntarily recalling walnuts comprising of 241 cases of bulk walnuts packaged in 25 lb bulk cardboard boxes and Schnucks brand 10 oz trays with UPC 00338390032 with best by dates 03/15 and 04/15 because the products are potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Using Yelp Reviews to Help Fight Foodborne Illness

A study was done to use Yelp, a restaurant review website, as a way to identify restaurants that may have caused foodborne illness.  Investigators went through about 300,000 reviews using word identification software to identify roughly 500 that may have had an illness. From this, investigators further refined the list to 129, of which 27 individuals agreed to answer a survey.

 Great?  I am not seeing it that way.

1. People are not always truthful when writing reviews, especially if they had a bad experience. What a better way to exact revenge on a mean restaurant owner then to complain that you got ill from eating there.   Could this explain the low level of people willing to answer a survey?  Seriously, if you had gotten sick from eating at a restaurant, and then authorities asked me if you would answer a survey, I think most would be more than willing to provide some information.
2. Competitors will also write fake reviews.
3. People attribute illness to the last thing they ate, or an memorable event where they ate, but this is not necessarily what made them ill.   Granted the survey tries to take this into account, but not may miss one way or the other.
4. Yelp is just one of the review websites...so investigators would need to expand the search to include a number websites.

Here is an idea...why not place a health department link on these review websites where one can report an illness if they feel they get it from a certain establishment.  So instead of taking a passive approach that requires numerous employee hours (spending tax payer dollars) to evaluate hundreds of thousands reviews for certain key words that may indicate illness, we add a link to those review websites that states....'If you believe you have gotten ill from eating at this specific restaurant, or have noticed a situation that could lead to foodborne illness, please click on this link'.

No one will report unless that really feel the restaurant was truly at fault.  In fact, a person reading the reviews and seeing a claim of illness could see if someone was truthful enough to actually report the illness to authorities....now that is something you would take that pretty seriously when reading reviews.     I am sure that the review websites  (Yelp, TripAdvisor, UrbanSpoon, etc) would be happy to help.

 
MMWR Report
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6320a1.htm?s_cid=mm6320a1_e
Using Online Reviews by Restaurant Patrons to Identify Unreported Cases of Foodborne Illness — New York City, 2012–2013

Weekly

May 23, 2014 / 63(20);441-445

Cassandra Harrison, MSPH1,2, Mohip Jorder, MS3, Henri Stern3, Faina Stavinsky, MS1, Vasudha Reddy, MPH1, Heather Hanson, MPH1, HaeNa Waechter, MPH1, Luther Lowe4, Luis Gravano, PhD3, Sharon Balter, MD1 (Author affiliations at end of text)

While investigating an outbreak of gastrointestinal disease associated with a restaurant, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) noted that patrons had reported illnesses on the business review website Yelp (http://www.yelp.com) that had not been reported to DOHMH. To explore the potential of using Yelp to identify unreported outbreaks, DOHMH worked with Columbia University and Yelp on a pilot project to prospectively identify restaurant reviews on Yelp that referred to foodborne illness. During July 1, 2012–March 31, 2013, approximately 294,000 Yelp restaurant reviews were analyzed by a software program developed for the project. The program identified 893 reviews that required further evaluation by a foodborne disease epidemiologist. Of the 893 reviews, 499 (56%) described an event consistent with foodborne illness (e.g., patrons reported diarrhea or vomiting after their meal), and 468 of those described an illness within 4 weeks of the review or did not provide a period. Only 3% of the illnesses referred to in the 468 reviews had also been reported directly to DOHMH via telephone and online systems during the same period. Closer examination determined that 129 of the 468 reviews required further investigation, resulting in telephone interviews with 27 reviewers. From those 27 interviews, three previously unreported restaurant-related outbreaks linked to 16 illnesses met DOHMH outbreak investigation criteria; environmental investigation of the three restaurants identified multiple food-handling violations. The results suggest that online restaurant reviews might help to identify unreported outbreaks of foodborne illness and restaurants with deficiencies in food handling. However, investigating reports of illness in this manner might require considerable time and resources.

Trichinella Case Study 2013 - Wild Boar

 In this incident, a group of 9 people became infected with Trichinella after eating undercooked sausage made with ground meat from wild boar.

Trichnella infection used to be more common before the 1950s and was usually caused by ingestion of undercooked pork. The number of cases decreased beginning in the mid-20th century because of legislation prohibiting the feeding of raw-meat garbage to hogs, commercial and home freezing of pork, and the public awareness of the danger of eating raw or undercooked pork products. Commercially raised pork are fed controlled diets and the meat is inspected.

Today, infection is relatively rare. During 2008–2010, 20 cases were reported per year on average. Cases were related to eating undercooked meat from meat eating animals such as bear, cougar, and wild boar.

Abdominal symptoms can occur 1-2 days after infection after the parasite attaches to the lining of the intestine. These symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue, fever, and abdominal discomfort.

Further symptoms usually start 2-8 weeks after eating contaminated meat as the eggs develop into immature worms, travel through the arteries, and are transported to muscles. Within the muscles, the worms curl into a ball and encyst (become enclosed in a capsule). These include headaches, fevers, chills, cough, swelling of the face and eyes, aching joints and muscle pains, itchy skin, diarrhea, or constipation may follow the first symptoms. If the infection is heavy, patients may experience difficulty coordinating movements, and have heart and breathing problems. In severe cases, death can occur. 

USDA recommends cooking wild game (whole cuts and ground) o at least 160° F (71° C).

Source http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/gen_info/faqs.html


MMWR Report
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6320a4.htm?s_cid=mm6320a4_e
Notes from the Field: Trichinellosis Caused by Consumption of Wild Boar Meat — Illinois, 2013
MMWR Weekly
May 23, 2014 / 63(20);451
Yoran Grant Greene, PhD1,2, Thomas Padovani3, Jo Ann Rudroff4, Rebecca Hall, MPH5, Connie Austin, DVM, PhD2, Michael Vernon, DrPH2 (Author affiliations at end of text)

On March 6, 2013, the Cook County Department of Public Health (Chicago, Illinois) contacted the Illinois Department of Public Health regarding a diagnosis of trichinellosis in a patient who had consumed wild boar and deer meat obtained by hunting at a Missouri ranch January 16–18. Trichinellosis is a parasitic infection caused by consumption of undercooked infected meat, most commonly from carnivorous or omnivorous animals (1).

Hummus and Dip Products Recalled for Potential Listeria Contamination

 A MA based company is recalling 14.000 pounds of hummus and dip products after the Texas Department of Health found Listeria during routine testing of one of the containers.  Product was shipped to Target (Archer Farms brand), to Giant Eagle, and to Trader Joes. No illnesses have been reported.

 Listeria is an organism that can become a hazard in these foods if controls are not in place.  These products are most likely cold filled, and thus have post-lethality exposure.  That is, after the product is processed, it is filled into containers.  Environmental contaminates like Listeria, if present through the absence of control, can get into containers during this time.  Because Listeria can grow at refrigeration temperatures, it can grow in the humus essentially from the time the product is shipped until the time the product is consumed.

Here again, we find a private label company having a negative impact on a larger brand, including Trader Joe's.  The processor in the case, Lansal Inc, (d.b.a. Hot Momma's Foods) had bought a hummus filler two years ago for their MA facility (according to the MassLive.com release below).

 

FDA Recall Notice
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm398106.htm
Lansal, Inc. Voluntarily Recalls Hummus & Dip Products Due to Possible Health Risk
Contact:  Consumer:  (877) 550-0694 from 8:00A.M. to 8:00P.M.
Media: Mark Kretzinger (847) 288-9183 ext. 113

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 19, 2014 - Prepared Foods manufacturer, Lansal, Inc.( d.b.a Hot Mama’s Foods), announced today that as a precaution it is voluntarily recalling approximately 14,860 pounds of hummus and dip products due to concerns about possible Listeria monocytogenes, an organism, which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Ground Beef Recalled After Linked to E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak

A Michigan company is recalling ground beef after that product was linked to 11 cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection.  Product was shipped to Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio, and was sold for foodservice use.

Z7_0Q0619C0JGR010IFST1G5B1GM1

The only way to confirm that ground beef is cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria is to use a food thermometer that measures internal temperature of 160F (Foodservice 155F).  That means you need check those burgers with a thermometer.  Touching it with your finger or looking at color is not good enough.

.

With grilling season here, don't you think it is time to buy one of those nice thermometers and put it to work for the safety of your family and friends?  Yeah, you know it is.

USDA News Release

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2014/recall-030-2014

Michigan Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due To Possible E. Coli O157:H7

Class I Recall 030-2014

Health Risk: High May 19, 2014

Congressional and Public Affairs  Lauren Kotwicki  (202) 720-9113

WASHINGTON, May, 19, 2014 – Wolverine Packing Company, a Detroit, Mich. establishment, is recalling approximately 1.8 million pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

MERS - A Quick Primer

There have been three cases of  MERS found in the US.  MERS, a severe respiratory infection, is caused by a virus and can be spread person-to-person.  It originates in the Middle East, and cases found so far have been related to two who traveled to the Middle East and one who had contact with one of those travelers.

According to CDC, there is very low risk to the general public here is the US.

USDA to Begin Testing Ground Beef for Salmonella

USDA will begin testing for Salmonella in addition to E. Coli (STEC) in ground beef this summer.  Samples found to be Salmonella positive will be analyzed for antibiotic resistance.

It will be interesting to see if any recalls are issued due to antibiotic resistant Salmonella strains.


 USDA Website - Blog
http://blogs.usda.gov/2014/05/16/food-safety-scientists-double-up-on-ground-beef-testing-this-summer/
Food Safety Scientists Double Up on Ground Beef Testing This Summer
Posted by Brian Ronholm, Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety, on May 16, 2014 at 1:00 PM


As grilling season heats up, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is enhancing our food safety testing program for ground beef. While FSIS has a range of safeguards to reduce E. coli in ground beef, this summer we will begin new testing to improve the safeguards against Salmonella as well. Salmonella is commonly found in ground beef and, in fact, caused an illness outbreak in January 2013 in six states. Salmonella is an especially difficult bacteria for food safety experts to address because it is so prevalent in almost all food sources.