Posts from the "Research & Development" category

EU: Foodborne diseases associated with frozen berries consumption: A historical perspective, European Union 1983 to 2013

Eurosurveillance: Epidemiological investigations of outbreaks of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and norovirus (NoV) infections in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) in the last five years have highlighted frozen berries as a vehicle of infection. Given the increasing berry consumption in the EU over the last decades, we undertook a review of the existing evidence to assess the potential scale of threat associated with this product. We searched the literature and four restricted-access online platforms for outbreak/contamination events associated with consumption of frozen berries. We performed an evaluation of the sources to identify areas for improvement. The review revealed 32 independent events (i.e. outbreak, food contamination) in the period 1983 – 2013, of which 26 were reported after 2004. The identified pathogens were NoV, HAV and Shigella sonnei. NoV was the most common and implicated in 27 events with over 15,000 cases reported.
Click here to access the full report at Eurosurveillance.

AU: Salmonella – find out more

Food Safety Information Council: There have been a number of salmonella outbreaks, including a recent one in Melbourne. A study by the [Australian National University] ANU has found Salmonella cases have increased by 24% in Australia over the last 10 years.

Salmonella food poisoning (salmonellosis) is usually linked to consuming inadequately cooked meats or poultry, other foods contaminated by raw meats and poultry, as well as foods containing raw or undercooked eggs, unpasteurised dairy products such as raw milk or cheeses. But many other foods have been linked to outbreaks caused by Salmonella including mayonnaise (with raw eggs), fruits and vegetables, salads, milk, unpasteurised fruit juices, nuts, seeds and sprouted seeds.

US: Seasons, regions possibly linked to E. coli outbreaks

The Packer: There were more E. coli outbreaks from 2003-2012 than in the preceding 20 years, with fresh produce causing about 10% of them, but government researchers say the overall increase is likely a reflection of better testing and reporting.

Of the 390 E. coli outbreaks, 255 were caused by food, with laboratory tests linking 170 of those outbreaks to specific foods, according to a report scheduled to be published in August by epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

AU: Microbiological safety and food handling practices of seed sprout products in the Australian state of Victoria

Journal of Food Protection: Seed sprouts have been implicated as vehicles for numerous foodborne outbreaks worldwide. Seed sprouts pose a unique food safety concern because of the ease of microbiological seed contamination, the inherent ability of the sprouting process to support microbial growth, and their consumption either raw or lightly cooked.

To examine seed sprout safety in the Australian state of Victoria, a survey was conducted to detect specific microbes in seed sprout samples and to investigate food handling practices relating to seed sprouts. A total of 298 seed sprout samples were collected from across 33 local council areas. Escherichia coli was detected in 14.8%, Listeria spp. in 12.3%, and Listeria monocytogenes in 1.3% of samples analyzed.