In the news

The FDA reported that A&M Farms (Lyons, Georgia) recalled select whole Vidalia onions packed on a single packing line between June 20 – June 23, 2022, due to the potential of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled Vidalia Onions are sold in bulk in the produce section of retail stores. The recalled Little Bear onions were available for sale to consumers on June 23 and 24 at Wegmans stores in the Rochester area, Massachusetts, and at the Erie West and Erie Peach Street Wegmans stores in Pennsylvania. The onions were also available for sale June 22 – 24, 2022, at Publix stores in the state of Florida and Publix stores in Georgia in Barrow, Clarke, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Oconee, and Walton counties. No illnesses or adverse events have been reported. The company shipped the recalled product directly to retailer distribution centers in Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The distribution centers further distributed the recalled product to retail stores in Florida, Georgia, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. The recall comes after internal company testing detected Listeria on a single pack line. @ https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/am-farms-initiates-recall-specific-little-bear-brand-whole-vidalia-onions-sold-pound-retail-because

Reuters reported that Barry Callebaut stopped production at its Wieze plant in Belgium, the world’s biggest chocolate factory, after discovering salmonella in a production lot, the Swiss chocolate maker said on Thursday. “Barry Callebaut informed the Belgian food authorities (FAVV) about the incident and has taken the precautionary measure to stop all chocolate production lines and to block all products manufactured since the testing time. The chocolate production in Wieze will remain suspended until further notice,” was reported on its website. Since lecithin is used in all chocolate production, the company has taken the precautionary measure to stop all production lines and block all products manufactured since the testing. At the same time, Barry Callebaut continues the root cause analysis and risk assessment. The company shares fell 2.6% by 1150 GMT. @ https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/barry-callebaut-halts-output-belgian-plant-after-salmonella-outbreak-2022-06-30/

The FDA, CDC, and state and local partners investigate consumer complaints of gastrointestinal illness, and abnormal liver function that may be attributable to eating Daily Harvest French Lentil & Leek Crumbles frozen product. On June 17, 2022, Daily Harvest voluntarily initiated a recall of the product in response to consumer complaints submitted to the company. The FDA initiated an investigation in response to Consumer Adverse Event Reports (CAERS) and Consumer Complaints submitted to the FDA. As of June 28, the FDA has received 133 CAERS reports and Consumer Complaints related to this product. Forty-two people were hospitalized. States with Adverse Illness Events: CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, IA, IN, MA, MD, MI, MO, MT, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, WA, and WI. From April 28 to June 17, 2022, approximately 28,000 units of the recalled product were distributed to consumers in the continental United States through online sales and direct delivery, as well as through retail sales at the Daily Harvest store in Chicago, IL, and a “pop-up” store in Los Angeles, CA. Samples were also provided to a small number of consumers. @ https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigation-adverse-event-reports-french-lentil-leek-crumbles-june-2022?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

The European Union (EC) tasked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to implement and manage the system Whole Genome Sequence(WGS)for food pathogens. The pathogens include Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes, and Escherichia coli,  including Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) from humans and food, feed, animals, and the related environment. In response to this mandate, EFSA has developed the EFSA One Health WGS System that interoperates with the ECDC Molecular Typing system exchanging core genome Multi Locus Sequence Typing (cgMLST) profiles and minimum metadata. The technical report describes the EFSA One Health WGS system, including its architecture, the users, and their relative data visibility, as well as data ownership and intellectual property. @ https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/sp.efsa.2022.EN-7413