In the news

The EU Regulation of fresh poultry meat considers only S. enteritidis or S. typhimurium as Food Safety Criteria, but not the isolation of other Salmonella spp. According to the CDC, last year in the USA, an outbreak caused by S. infantis strain, resistant to multiple antibiotics, ended with 129 sick people, 25 hospitalizations, and a death. In a study published in the European Journal of Public Health and presented at the European Public Health conference this past November in Marseille In 2019, highlighted several outbreaks caused by fresh chicken meat contaminated with S. infantis strains. 

The food control department of IZSLER analyzed 156 samples, for a total of 780 sampling units, for Salmonella spp. A total of 72 samples were positive for Salmonella. 42 strains were serotyped as S. enteritidis, 149 as S. infantis, 26 as S. newport, 4 as S. kentucky, and 1 as S. mbandaka. This study indicates that there is a trend of increasing isolation of S. infantis from poul...

The FDA announced on its website that UNFI a voluntary national recall of five-pound bags of its Wild Harvest® Organic All-Purpose Flour, Unbleached, due to the potential presence of E. coli. During routine FDA sampling of the product, positive results were found for results E. coli.     To date, UNFI has not received any direct consumer reports of confirmed illnesses related to this product. This recall only affects the following code date of Wild Harvest® Organic All-Purpose Flour, Unbleached five-pound bags currently in stores or consumers’ pantries. No other types of Wild Harvest® Flour are affected by this recall. @ https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/unfi-voluntarily-recalls-wild-harvestr-organic-all-purpose-flour-unbleached

A study was conducted to validate that a commercial baking process for plain muffins will eliminate E. coli O121 (isolated from the recent illness outbreak associated with flour). The thermal inactivation parameters (D- and z-values) of E. coli O121was compare to inactivation parameters of cocktails of four isolates of E. coli O121 and three serovars of Salmonella (Newport, Typhimurium, and Senftenberg) in muffin batter. Flour samples were spray inoculated with the E. coli O121 or Salmonella cocktails, dried back to the pre-inoculation weight to achieve ~7 log10 CFU/g, and used to prepare muffin batter. For the muffin baking validation study using E. coli O121, muffin batter was baked at 375 °F (190.6 °C) oven temperature for 21 min followed by 30 min of ambient cooling. The E. coli O121 population decreased by >7 log10 CFU/g in muffins by 17 min of baking and was completely eradicated after 21 min of baking and ambient cooling. The D-values of E. coli O121 and Salmone...

The FDA announced on its website that Hodgson Mill (Effingham, IL) recalled nationally, lots of Unbleached All-Purpose White Wheat Flour (5 lb.) due to the potential presence of pathogenic E. coli which was discovered through sampling raw uncooked flour. While E. coli is killed by heat through baking, frying, sautéing, or boiling products made with flour, some consume it raw resulting in the potential for illnesses. Consumers are reminded to wash their hands, work surfaces, and utensils thoroughly after contact with raw dough products or flour, and to never eat raw dough or batter. This lot of flour was milled at an ADM Milling Facility in St Louis, MO, and repacked at Hodgson Mill, Inc. facility in Effingham, IL, and was distributed by Hodgson Mill through retailers and distribution nationwide and sold through the website. @ https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/hodgson-mill-issues-voluntary-recall-unbleached-all-purpose-white-wheat-flour-due...