In the news

FSIS announced that Serenade Foods (Milford, Indiana) recalled approximately 59,251 pounds of frozen, raw, breaded, and pre-browned stuffed chicken products that may be contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis. FSIS, CDC, and public health partners investigate a multistate outbreak of 28 Salmonella Enteritidis in 8 states. The frozen, raw, breaded and pre-browned, stuffed chicken items were produced on February 24, 2021, and February 25, 2021. The products include 5-oz individually plastic-wrapped packages of “Dutch Farms Chicken with Broccoli & Cheese,” 5-oz individually plastic-wrapped packages of “MILFORD VALLEY CHICKEN WTH BROCCOLI & CHEESE,” 10-oz box of two individually plastic-wrapped packages of “MILFORD VALLEY CHICKEN CORDON BLEU,” 5-oz individually plastic-wrapped packages of “KIRKWOOD Raw Stuffed CHICKEN, BROCCOLI & CHEESE,” 5-oz individually plastic-wrapped packages of “KIRKWOOD Raw Stuffed CHICKEN CORDON BLEU.” Unopened, intact packages of raw, frozen, breaded chicken stuffed with broccoli and cheese were collected from an ill person’s home and tested positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis. These items were shipped to distributors nationwide.   @ https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/serenade-foods-recalls-frozen-raw-breaded-stuffed-chicken-products-due-possible

According to the ACCC (Australian Competition & Consumer Commission), Sapro Australia (Frenchs Forest, New South Wales ) has recalled batch/lots of Assorted KOO Canned Vegetables from the Australian marketplace due to suspected microbial contamination. The recall is a result of a canning failure that could cause microbial contamination. The canned products include KOO Baked Beans in Chilli Sauce, KOO Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce, KOO Butter Beans in Flavored Brine, KOO Butter Beans in Tomato Sauce, KOO Corn Cream style Sweet corn, KOO Mixed Vegetables in Brine, KOO Mixed Vegetables in Curry Sauce, KOO Mixed Vegetables in Hot Curry Sauce, KOO Whole Kernel Sweet corn in Brine.  These Canned Vegetable products have been marketed, distributed, and sold in all Australian states.@ https://www.productsafety.gov.au/recalls/sapro-australia-%E2%80%94-assorted-koo-canned-vegetables-410g-415g-and-420g

Leafy greens contaminated with STEC are a significant public health problem and were the source of 40 outbreaks in the United States and Canada from 2009 to 2018. Scientists from the FDA and CDC share the investigation process of recent outbreaks of E. coli in leafy greens (Irvin et al., 2021. An Overview of Traceback Investigations and Three Case Studies of Recent Outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infections Linked to Romaine Lettuce J Food Prot (2021) 84 (8): 1340–1356). Traceback investigations of three outbreaks of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections linked to romaine lettuce in 2018 and 2019 were examined to demonstrate challenges, limitations, and opportunities for improvement. The three outbreaks resulted in a total of 474 illnesses, 215 hospitalizations, and 5 deaths. Challenges in the investigation included the time it took to initiate a traceback, limited product-identifying information, lack of record-keeping systems, and comingling of products from multiple suppliers. More work is needed to improve and standardize strategies to improve the speed at which sources are identified and prevent additional illnesses. @ https://meridian.allenpress.com/jfp/article/84/8/1340/463972/An-Overview-of-Traceback-Investigations-and-Three

The USDA/FSIS reported that Blount Fine Foods, a McKinney, Texas establishment, recalled approximately 6,384 pounds of chicken tortilla soup products contaminated with pieces of a gray nitrile glove. The fully cooked, ready-to-eat chicken tortilla soup was produced on July 1, 2021, and was sold in 16-oz plastic containers of “Panera BREAD at HOME Chicken Tortilla Soup” with lot code 070121-1V and “Use By 09/09/2021” on the label. These products were shipped to retail locations in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Texas. The problem was discovered after the company notified FSIS that they received several consumer complaints reporting pieces of gray nitrile glove in the product. There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to the consumption of these products. @ https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/blount-fine-foods-corp.-recalls-chicken-soup-products-due-possible-foreign-matter