Tag: microbiological contamination

US: Those on the lookout for Listeria are finding it this year

Food Safety News: More than two dozen food recalls so far this year due to contamination with deadly Listeria monocytogenes do not necessarily mark an increase, but they are involving a much broader range of foods and popular brands which the public has never before associated with the nasty pathogen.

Read Article →

Tag: microbiological contamination

Microbial contamination seminar by Dr Trevor Suslow (UC Davis) available for viewing online

25 March 2015
Dr Trevor Suslow, from UC Davis, and Board member of the Center for Produce Safety, presented a seminar on current issues in microbial contamination of horticultural produce at the University of Sydney on Friday 20 March at 11.00am. The seminar has kindly been made available by the University of Sydney, and is available for viewing online using Adobe Connect (free download).

Read Article →

Tag: microbiological contamination

Food safety issue or regulatory compliance issue, asks Richard Bennett

Growers are always quick to make the distinction. There’s a big difference between foodborne illness due to microbiological contamination and exceeding the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) for an agricultural chemical. The smallest traces of a human pathogen can lead to much suffering, even death, but the many-fold human safety buffer built in to the regulatory pesticide limits means that many, many kilograms, if not tonnes, of offending fruit or vegetable would need to be consumed before ill effects from the pesticide are suffered.

Read Article →

Tag: microbiological contamination

Final Report Adds Details to USA E. coli Outbreak from Trader Joe’s Salads

James Andrews writes: In October 2013, 33 people in four [USA] states were sickened by E. coli O157:H7 in an outbreak that was quickly traced back to pre-packaged salads sold at Trader Joe’s grocery locations.
On Monday, the California Department of Public Health released its final report on the outbreak with a wealth of new details on the investigation, including two previously unreported additional salad products associated with the outbreak.
Read the full article at Food Safety News
Image credit: Sakura / Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Read Article →

Tag: microbiological contamination

Green Cabbage Likely Caused Minnesota’s Recent E. Coli O111 Outbreak

Food Safety News writes: The 15 cases of E. coli O111 reported in Minnesota this summer were probably linked to green whole head cabbage, says the state’s health department.
Health officials’ routine monitoring identified the cases of illness associated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O111. Bacterial isolates from all of the cases had the same DNA fingerprint.
Read the full article at foodsafetynews.com
Image credit: Caelie Frampton / Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0

Read Article →

Tag: microbiological contamination

Hazelnut growers target pathogens, pests

Mateusz Perkowski writes: Heavily shaded hazelnut orchards may discourage salmonella from lingering on the ground, but the conclusions for growers remain uncertain, according to an orchard researcher.
Ground temperatures in heavily shaded hazelnut orchards appear to fall below the temperature range in which salmonella thrives, compared to orchards with less shade cover, said Bruce Lampinen, a tree nut specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension.
The results in Oregon hazelnut orchards were greatly different than in California almond and walnut orchards, where heavy shade cover seems to improve conditions for salmonella, he said.
Read the full article at capitalpress.com
Image credit: Jennifer C. / Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0

Read Article →