In the news

On July 19, Rachel Drori, CEO of Daily Harvest, explained the voluntary recall of French Lentil + Leek Crumbles to its users. Working with many experts, the company ruled out Hepatitis A, Norovirus, a range of mycotoxins, including aflatoxins, food-borne pathogens including Listeria, E. coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, B. cereus, and Clostridium Species. They also ruled out major allergens, including egg, soy, milk, and gluten. The company ruled out processing issues or infection and the presence of heavy metal levels that would have caused the reported adverse effects. Drori claimed that Daily Harvest had identified tara flour as the cause of the issue. Attorney Bill Marler, who retained many of the ill people as clients, pointed to tara flour a couple of weeks ago. Drori claims that the company only used this ingredient in French Lentil + Leek Crumbles. The investigation team will continue working with the FDA and others to help determine what specifically made people sick.  @ https://www.daily-harvest.com/content/french-lentil-leek-crumbles-advisory#

The Department for Health and Wellbeing’s Food Safety and Regulation Branch reported that it had received confirmation of Listeria monocytogenes in Harris Smokehouse Everyday Smashed Smoked Salmon, Premium Smoked Salmon, Hot Smoked Ocean Trout, Hot Smoked Barramundi, and Smoked Salmon Trimmings. As a result, Harris Smokehouse has initiated a recall of five of its smoked fish products produced in South Australia and is working closely with SA Health and the District Council of Mount Barker to isolate the source of the contamination. This recall affects all states and territories of Australia, except Tasmania. The products are sold through independent food retailers, including IGA and Foodland stores. All affected products have now been removed from store shelves. Approximately 1,836 units of these products were sold to consumers. To date, there have been no cases of listeriosis linked to this product. @ https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/about+us/news+and+media/all+media+releases/listeria+detected+in+harris+smokehouse+products#:~:text=People%20in%20South%20Australia%2C%20particularly,the%20detection%20of%20Listeria%20monocytogenes

The CDC updated the numbers for backyard poultry Salmonella outbreaks. There were 572 cases of Salmonella related to backyard poultry, 92 hospitalizations, and 2 deaths. Forty-eight states had cases of Salmonella in backyard poultry. @ https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/backyardpoultry-06-22/index.html#:~:text=Be%20safe%20around%20backyard%20flocks,coop)%20outside%20of%20the%20house

The FDA proposes extending compliance dates for the pre-harvest agricultural water provisions. The FDA is now proposing extended compliance dates for those proposed pre-harvest requirements and providing clarifying information about the enforcement discretion policy for the harvest and post-harvest agricultural water requirements. The proposed rules compliance dates for the pre-harvest agricultural water requirements for covered produce other than sprouts are 2 years and 9 months after the effective date of a final rule for very small businesses; 1 year and 9 months after the effective date of a final rule for small businesses; and 9 months after the effective date of a final rule for all other businesses. FDA recognizes that adequate training and technical assistance are needed to recognize the benefits of the harvest and post-harvest requirements fully. @ https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-proposes-compliance-date-extension-pre-harvest-agricultural-water-requirements