In the news

For the first time in 50 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that it is modernizing egg products inspection methods. The Egg Products Inspection Regulations final rule will be consistent with current requirements in the meat and poultry products inspection regulations. Under the new regulation, federally inspected egg products plants are required to develop and implement HACCP systems and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs). FSIS will continue to test for Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) in egg products. Under the HACCP system, plants will be able to tailor a food safety system that best fits their particular facility and equipment. By removing prescriptive regulations, egg products plants will have the flexibility and the incentive to innovate new means to achieve enhanced food safety. FSIS will be assuming regulatory authority over egg substitutes and freeze-dried egg products that were previously under the FDA. Regulations governing the importation and inspection of foreign egg products will be adjusted to more closely with the rules governing the importation of foreign meat and poultry products. @ https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/newsroom/news-releases-statements-transcripts/news-release-archives-by-year/archive/2020/nr-09092020-01

The FDA announced on its website that Sunshine Mills, based in the rural north Alabama town of Red Bay, has issued a voluntary recall of dog food products due to potentially unacceptable levels of Aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring mold by-product from the growth of Aspergillus flavus and can be harmful to pets if consumed in significant quantities. Aflatoxin levels above the acceptable limit were discovered by routine sampling performed by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. No illnesses have been reported. Family Pet Meaty Cuts beef chicken & cheese flavors premium dog food, Heartland Farms grilled favorites beef chicken & cheese flavor, and Paws Happy Life butcher’s choice dog food has been affected by the recall. The affected products were distributed in retail stores nationally.   @ https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/sunshine-mills-inc-issues-voluntary-recall-certain-dog-food-products-due-potentially-elevated-levels?utm_campaign=Sunshine%20Mills%2C%20Inc.%20Issues%20Voluntary%20Recall%20of%20Certain%20Dog%20Food%20Products&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

Giant Food grocery stores announced that it recalled its squash noodle medley out of an “abundance of caution” after a sample of the product sold in mid to late August tested positive for Listeria by its supplier. The recall is related to a product with UPC # 68826718585. The recalled squash noodle medley was sold in Giant stores between Aug. 8 and Aug. 19, 2020, and is now past its Aug. 19 “best enjoyed by” date. However, a news release from the company indicated that some consumers might have frozen packages of the medley. Giant Food Grocery is a local grocery store with headquarters in Landover, Maryland. It operates 164 supermarkets in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. @ https://sauconsource.com/2020/09/02/giant-recalls-squash-noodle-medley-over-listeria-concerns/#:~:text=Giant%20said%20it%20has%20recalled,who%20develop%20listeriosis%20from%20it

The CDC reported that since August 18, 2020, an additional 143 ill people were added to this investigation. As of August 31, 2020, the Thomson International outbreak infected a total of 1,012 people with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Newport in 47 states, and 136 hospitalizations have been reported. No deaths have been reported. The case count by state is: Alaska (21), Alabama (1), Arizona (35), Arkansas (2), California (122), Colorado (26), Connecticut (2), Delaware (2), Florida (8), Georgia (11), Hawaii (3), Idaho (37), Illinois (54), Indiana (3), Iowa (26), Kansas (2), Kentucky (1), Maine (6), Maryland (7), Massachusetts (2), Michigan (47), Minnesota (18), Mississippi (4), Missouri (11), Montana (63), Nebraska (10), Nebraska (10), Nevada (11), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (8), New Mexico (1), New York (10), North Carolina (6), North Dakota (9), Ohio (11), Oregon (101), Pennsylvania (22), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (1), South Dakota (23), Tennessee (7), Texas (2), Utah (110), Virginia (10), Washington (117), West Virginia (2), Wisconsin (10), and Wyoming (23). WGS shows that an outbreak of Salmonella Newport infections in Canada is related genetically to this outbreak in the United States. In Canada, 457 people are sick in 7 provinces. Thirty-four illness clusters, or a group of two more unrelated people who ate at the same restaurant or shopped at the same store before illness onset, have been identified. Investigations by the states and the FDA found that 23 of the 34 clusters were linked to restaurants or grocery stores. All 23 served or sold red, yellow, or white onions. The traceback information collected from several of these illness clusters identified Thomson International, Inc., of Bakersfield, California, as a likely source of red onions. @ https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/newport-07-20/index.html