Archive of July, 2025

The Botulism Outbreak According to California state and local officials 10 people were hospitalized after they had contracted botulism from eating nacho cheese sauce served at the Valley Oak Food and fuel gas station in Walnut Grove, California. According to CNN the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a statement that the cause of the illness “appears to be prepared food, particularly nacho cheese sauce” from a gas station in Walnut Grove. On May 8, health officers from the state Department of Health impounded four bags of Gehl’s cheese sauce and reopened the store to sell prepackaged food items...

More environmental Listeria testing is being conducted due to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), resulting in more recalls due to Listeria monocytogenes found in the environment, not necessarily in the product. The FDA announced that Pinnacle Foods Inc. is voluntarily recalling a variety of flavors of Aunt Jemima Frozen Pancakes, Frozen Waffles & Frozen French Toast Slices,distributed nationally in the United States and one product distributed into Mexico. The recall is due to the potential of the products being contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, as Listeria monocytogenes was found in the production plant environment. Two additional products (Aunt Jemima French Toast & Sausage, and Hungry Man Selects Chicken...

The CDC report describes surveillance data for 2016 nine pathogens (Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Listeria, Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia). The data of 2016 is compared with the data from 2013-2015. FoodNet identified 24,029 infections, 5,512 hospitalizations, and 98 deaths caused by these pathogens. The data include both incidents confirmed by culturing the organisms and culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs). CIDT can identify (by rapid diagnostic tests) the general type of bacteria causing illness within hours, without having to culture or grow the bacteria in a laboratory. This is the first time that the CDC report also includes CIDTs (total number of infections from bacterial infections diagnosed only by...

Rapid methods for pathogen testing have been gaining acceptance in the food industry. Recent advances in technology result in faster detection and identification of pathogens, more convenient, more sensitive, more reproducible, and more specific than conventional methods. Many new methods are available involving antibody-based assays, genetic amplification methods, and newer sensor development methods. However, the industry is always looking for faster, simpler and cost effective new methods. An article in ACS Central Science describes the work of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that are developing a new method for pathogen detection, utilizing Janus emulsions. The team is lead by Timothy...