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Findings of the Papaya Outbreak  An investigation of a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Kiambu has being conducted by the CDC, FDA and public health officials in several states. As of last Friday (7/21/17), 47 individuals from 12 states have been infected with Salmonella Kiambu, the outbreak strain. Whole genomic sequencing (WGS) shows that the Salmonella Kiambu isolated from the infected people is genetically closely related, and therefore, are more likely to share the same source of infection. More than third of the affected people were hospitalized, and one death was reported in New York City. The epidemic chart below shows the number of people who became ill each day. Illnesses that...

Although there was an extremely high number of recalls due to Listeria monocytogenes in the past three months, the majority of the FDA recalls were due to allergens many caused by mislabeling.  Undeclared allergens accounted for about 90% of labeling related recalls. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 requires that packaged food labels include declarations of the eight major food allergens: eggs, milk, wheat, peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts, fish and crustacean shellfish. Allergens are unique in food safety as they are not contaminants like Salmonellaor Listeria, but can be still dangerous to susceptible individuals.  The sole protection for allergic individuals is the...

Nature published in July 2017, an article byGwangseong Kim, Horatiu Vinerean & Angelo Gaitas on a simple novel device to concentrate and detect food pathogens (immunocapturing method). The technique has the potential of being used for both clinical applications and food testing.  System Set-Up The technique employs polymer (polydimethylsiloxane) tubes (1.02 mm in diameter) coated with an antibody. The test sample is circulating through the antibody coated tubes. The re-circulating of liquid media containing the bacteria through the antibody conjugated tubes result in the capturing of the pathogens by the conjugated antibodies. Several tubes can be used with different antibodies in each, thereby allowing the...

Listeria monocytogenes was a major reason for recalls according to “summary of recall cases in Calendar Year 2016”, by the FSIS/USDA, accounting for over 80% of the total recall cases. Food Safety Tech reported that in 2016 in the US, close to 550 food products were recalled, and around 275 were recalled due to microbial contamination. Listeria monocytogenes was the cause of 65% of the microbiological recalls.   In the last few weeks, a number of products were recalled caused by fear of Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Club Chef LLC (Castellini Group subsidiaries) According to the FDA, Club Chef LLC recalled fresh cut produce and retail Snack Kits, due to...