In the news

As of August 9, 2018, a total of 436 laboratory-confirmed cases of Cyclospora infection were reported in people who consumed salads from McDonald’s restaurants. Cases were reported by 15 states (IL, IA, IN, WI, MI, OH, MN, NE, SD, MT, VA, TN, ND, KY, WV, and MO). Some out of state patients got ill while traveling in the affected states. The ordeal started on July 13, 2018, when McDonald’s decided to voluntarily stop selling salads at impacted restaurants in IL, IA, IN, WI, MI, OH, MN, NE, SD, MT, ND, KY, WV, and MO. McDonald’s has since replaced the supplier of salads in those states. On July 26, 2018, the FDA completed the final analysis of an unused package of Fresh Express salad mix containing romaine lettuce and carrots, which had been distributed to McDonald’s. The analysis confirmed the presence of Cyclospora in that sample. On July 27, the FDA informed Fresh Express of the results. On July 30, 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Issued an alert relating to beef, pork and poultry salad and wrap products contaminated with Cyclospora that were distributed by Caito Foods LLC, of Indianapolis, IN. Caito Foods had received notification from Fresh Express that the chopped romaine in these products was being recalled. Fresh Express reported to FDA that the romaine from the same lot as the positive sample was not packaged for direct retail sale by Fresh Express and had already expired. @ https://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Outbreaks/ucm613513.htm?utm_campaign=Outbreak_08092018_Cyclospora&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc. recalled Dole brand Baby Spinach with Tender Reds due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The product was distributed in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island, and perhaps nationwide. The recall was triggered by Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) after finding positive pathogen test results. The CFIA is conducting a food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products. @ https://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2018-08-08/eng/1533739123858/1533739125149

Russia’s consumer rights watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor , has fined McDonald’s fast food restaurants in Moscow 5.5 million rubles ($86,500) between April and June 2018, after a mass inspection revealed a widespread health code violations. The American chain has faced increased inspections over violations of sanitary conditions. The 44 McDonald’s branches were found to be in violation of sanitary rules including poor ventilation, inadequate rodent control, waste management violations and more. None of the stores were closed. Rospotrebnadzor said that samples of salad, ice cream, and sandwich tested in a lab failed to meet minimum health standards. McDonald’s operates 648 restaurants in 100 Russian cities. @ https://themoscowtimes.com/news/mass-food-safety-violations-found-at-44-moscow-mcdonalds-62467

A lawsuit was filed making far-reaching claims of trade secret theft and fraud against Illumina (manufacturer of Next Generation Sequencing), Affymetrix (DNA microarray manufacturer), Thermo Fisher Scientific (parent company of Affymetrix), and individuals in the genomics industry. The lawsuit accuses Stephen Fodor (at the time was chief technology officer at Affymetrix) that while peer reviewing one of Barany team’s grant proposal prevented the researchers from getting the grant and then tried to re-patent the idea at Affymetrix. In addition, it alleges, that Affymetrix went on to submit and obtain a $30 million grant. The lawsuit accuses the founders of Illumina of submitting multiple patent applications that appropriated the plaintiffs’ technology. It alleges that Illumina’s SNP genotyping arrays, as well as its AmpliSeq for Illumina reagents, infringe on the zip code sequence technology as well as a number of patents originally assigned to Barany. In total, the lawsuit includes 12 counts, alleging the defendants violated the Defend Trade Secrets Act, misappropriated trade secrets, committed racketeering, breached fiduciary duties, submitted false and misleading patent applications, and deprived the plaintiffs of economic advantages, and committed civil conspiracy. @ https://www.genomeweb.com/sequencing/lawsuit-against-illumina-thermo-fisher-others-alleges-fraud-theft-trade-secrets?utm_source=addthis_shares#.W2sekShKiM_