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In Canada, the CFIA issued a recall to the HO-YA brand Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce produced by Ran Foods Inc., which was recalled due to bursting lids as a result of microbial growth. The product was sold in a 2x900ml configuration, and it was available in Nova Scotia, Alberta, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, and Labrador. The affected products were part of LOT# SP0003 and had best-before dates of May 12, 2025, and June 6, 7, 25, and 26, 2025. One retailer carrying the product was Costco, which advised customers about the recall. @ https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/ho-ya-brand-naturally-brewed-soy-sauce-recalled-due-bursting-lids-0

President Trump decided to pick Susan Monarez as the new nominee to head the CDC, making permanent the acting role she has served at the agency. Monarez would be named in place of Dr. David Weldon, a former Florida congressman whose nomination was withdrawn by the White House due to concerns that he didn’t have the votes to clear the Senate confirmation process. She has been viewed as an unconventional pick for the role because previous interim directors have come from within the CDC’s career ranks. Past directors have also been medical doctors, while Monarez has a PhD. in microbiology. An acting director in the 1980s and 90s was also not a medical doctor, though he was a longtime career CDC official. “The CDC needs reform. That’s why I launched a Senate Republican CDC working group. I look forward to meeting Dr. Susan Monarez and learning more about her vision for the agency,” Senator Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who chairs the Senate’s health committee, said in a statement. Monarez has also been involved in decisions for steep cuts to the agency’s workforce expected in the coming days, which some managers expect could result in losing up to 30% of the CDC’s staff. @ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/susan-monarez-cdc-director-nominee-trump/

A publication in the J. Food Protection, available March 22, 2025, entitled “A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Chemical Sanitizer Efficacy Against Biofilms of Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enterica, and STEC on Food Processing Surfaces.” Chemical sanitizers are applied to food processing surfaces to inactivate bacterial pathogens. Pathogen type, surface type, sanitizer type, concentration, and contact time are important factors potentially impacting sanitation efficacy. A systematic literature review (SLR) and meta-analysis were conducted to evaluate chemical sanitizer efficacy against Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and STEC within lab-generated biofilms on food contact surfaces (FCS). The overall estimated log reduction was 2.90. The multi-level mixed effects model estimated log reductions of 2.67 to 3.82 for peracetic acid (PAA), quaternary ammonium compounds, sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide+PAA, and calcium hypochlorite, with significant differences across sanitizers. No significant differences were found between L. monocytogenes and STEC; both pathogens were significantly different from Salmonella spp. No significant differences were found between surface types. Neither sanitizer concentration nor sanitizer contact time were found to be significant predictors of estimated mean log reduction. These findings highlight the importance of specific sanitizers and tailored approaches based on surface types and pathogen considerations. @ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X2500047X?dgcid=raven_sd_aip_email

The yeast Candida auris was first identified in the U.S. in 2016. Since then, the number of cases has increased every year, jumping substantially in 2023. A study published this week, which focused on the Jackson Health System in Miami, also found cases of the fungus to have “rapidly increased.” C. auris poses “an urgent antimicrobial resistance threat,” according to the CDC, and has already been detected in 28 States. Candida auris is so concerning because it is often resistant to anti-fungal drugs, making it hard to treat infections. It can also be hard to identify with standard lab tests, making it even more difficult to treat properly and early. C. auris “spread at an alarming rate” between 2020 and 2021 in healthcare facilities, the CDC wrote in a memo released Monday and has continued to spread in 2022. By the end of 2022, more than 8,000 instances of C. auris had been identified across 28 states and Washington, D.C. The CDC said Candida auris outbreaks are a big threat in healthcare settings, where the fungus can enter patients’ bloodstreams and cause severe, deadly infections. “The rapid rise and geographic spread of cases is concerning and emphasizes the need for continued surveillance, expanded lab capacity, quicker diagnostic tests, and adherence to proven infection prevention and control,” CDC epidemiologist Meghan Lyman said in a press release. @ https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/3910245-rapidly-spreading-fungus-already-in-28-states-presents-urgent-threat-cdc-warns/