In the news

CDC and public health and regulatory officials in several states are investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Reading linked to raw turkey products. As of July 11, 2018, 90 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Reading have been reported from 26 states. Forty people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Reading has been identified in samples from raw ground turkey for pets, from raw turkey products from 19 slaughter and 6 processing establishments, and from live turkeys from several states. WGS showed that the Salmonella strain from these samples is closely related genetically to the Salmonella strain from ill people. This result provides more evidence that people in this outbreak got sick from preparing raw turkey products. Antibiotic resistance was not identified in 68 isolates from 28 ill people and 40 food and animal samples. However, 33 isolates from ill people and 49 isolates from food and animal samples contained genes for resistance to all or some of the following antibiotics: ampicillin, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, gentamicin, and kanamycin. @ https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/reading-07-18/index.html

Belgium based Greenyard, is a producer of fresh, frozen and prepared fruits and vegetables. Its facility in Hungary is linked to an outbreak that has sickened 47 people in five European countries. Nine people have died. After insurance, Greenyard estimates that the total costs of the recall of frozen vegetables linked to Listeria monocytogenes to be €30 million ($35millions). Trade in the Greenyard share on Monday morning, opened at 8 euro, in the afternoon the stock even dropped to 7.5 euro: a loss of 35 percent. This is the lowest level since the summer of 2012. The company has now closed the Hungary plant and is conducting an investigation into the root cause of the contamination. @ https://www.freshfruitportal.com/news/2018/07/17/greenyard-listeria-cost-hungary-frozen/

Win Opportunity Knocks, doing business as Ottomanelli Wholesale Meats Inc., from St. Petersburg, Fla., recalled approximately 6,020 pounds of fresh and frozen, raw ground beef products that may be contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O45, O103 and O145, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The fresh and frozen, raw ground beef products were produced from June 18, 2018 through July 11, 2018. The problem was discovered when FSIS was notified that the product was tested by the establishment and found positive for E. coli under their sampling program. @ https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2018/recall-064-2018-release

Hy-Vee, Inc., based in West Des Moines, Iowa, recalled its Hy-Vee Spring Pasta Salad due to the potential that it may be contaminated with Salmonella. The potential for contamination was brought to Hy-Vee’s attention last night when approximately 20 illnesses in Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa were potentially linked back to customers consuming the salad. The voluntary recall includes Hy-Vee Spring Pasta Salads in both 1 pound (16 oz.) and 3 pounds (48 oz.) containers produced between June 1, 2018, and July 13, 2018, and available from the deli service case. The pasta salad was distributed to all of Hy-Vee’s 244 grocery stores across its eight-state. The product comes in a plastic container with a plastic lid. The expiration date range is between June 22, 2018, and Aug. 3, 2018. The expiration date can be found on the side of the container. @ https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm613777.htm