In the news

CORE update as of April 19, 2023, The CORE list of outbreaks and adverse events as of April 12, 2023, includes 3 active cases. In the outbreak of Salmonella Hartford (ref #1144), the case count has increased from 53 to 54 cases. This outbreak has ended, and the investigation has closed without identifying a vehicle. For the outbreak of Salmonella Infantis (ref #1141), an onsite inspection and sample collection and analysis have been initiated. For the outbreak of hepatitis A virus (ref #1143), an onsite inspection has been initiated. @ https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigations-foodborne-illness-outbreaks?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

The University of Illinois partnered with Perdue Farms and Cornell University to study policy and management approaches to reduce Salmonella linked to raw poultry. The project goal is to build risk assessment models that will allow Perdue and other poultry producers to optimize Salmonella control strategies in their supply chain. The team will apply modern analytics and build risk-assessment models from their data to identify the most effective new management strategies and rationally prioritize those that should work best for risk management. Since 2015, the industry has reduced Salmonella prevalence by 65%. However, cases of Salmonellosis due to poultry have not declined at the same rate. @

https://aces.illinois.edu/news/university-illinois-partners-perdue-farms-food-safety-project-0

Under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) has warned of the presence of Clostridium perfringens in several batches of ground cinnamon from Vietnam in Spain. The brand Spices Pedroza ground cinnamon is under recall alert sent by the health authorities of Madrid’s community. The product comes in a 700-gram plastic container. At least 30 people were affected by the outbreak linked to ground cinnamon from Vietnam.@ https://spainsnews.com/alert-due-to-the-presence-of-the-clostridium-perfringens-bacterium-in-this-ground-cinnamon-distributed-in-spain/

An article was published in Sensors and Actuator B: Chemical Vol 385, 15 June 2023. Ge et al., Entitled “Label-free droplet-based bacterial growth phenotype screening by a mini integrated microfluidic platform.” Current measurements for strain growth phenotype are based on macroscopic culture and continuous turbidity monitoring followed by a growth curve with a long evaluation period. Rapid and accurate microbial screening, important in industrial breeding, enzyme directed evolution, and synthetic biology, is currently time-consulting. Fluorescence-activated droplet sorting (FADS) system offers a promising alternative for microbial screening with high-throughput analysis. For many methods, pre-labeling steps are required before use. A new, low-cost, label-free droplet-based mini integrated microfluidic platform was developed for bacterial growth phenotype screening based on the difference in droplet autofluorescence properties. Droplet provides a parallel culture unit for single cells, enabling high-throughput measurement of the growth rate of single-cell cultures in a short time. A low-cost and modularized microfluidic system is developed for bacterial growth phenotype screening in droplets, in which a flexible and on-demand droplet detector is designed to be compatible with microfluidic devices. @ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0925400523004069?via%3Dihub