Questions
and Answers on Hepatitis A Outbreaks
Associated with Eating Raw or Undercooked
Green Onions (Scallions) FDA
Supported pages
FDA
following Hepatitis A outbreaks
IFT
Daily News
http://www.ift.org/news_bin/news/news_home.shtml
11/17/2003-FDA
is advising consumers that several recent outbreaks of the liver disease hepatitis
A have been linked to raw or undercooked green onions (scallions). The agency
says consumers can minimize the possibility of getting hepatitis A from green
onions by cooking the onions thoroughly and avoiding foods at restaurants that
contain raw or lightly cooked green onions. Hepatitis A outbreaks linked to green
onions have occurred in Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia. An outbreak in
Pennsylvania is still under investigation. Press release: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2003/ANS01262.html
Questions and answers about the outbreaks:
http://www.fda.gov/opacom/faqs/hepatitisa.html
CPC
urges food industry to be aware of new US anti-terrorism regulations
November
17, 2003
Farmscape for (Episode 1385)
The Canadian Pork Council is urging
anyone who markets food products into the US to be aware of their responsibilities
under new US anti-terrorism regulations. The US Bioterrorism Preparedness Act
was drafted in response to the events of 9-11, 2001 and it will take effect December
12. CPC
Communications Officer Anita DeCoste says two regulations being addressed
now deal with registration of facilities and prior notice of shipment.
Clip-Anita
DeCoste-Canadian Pork Council
The US FDA, the Food and Drug Administration,
is requiring that owners, operators or agents in charge of domestic or foreign
facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food for human or animal consumption
register that facility with the FDA. One of the exceptions they have listed to
this rule is farms, so facilities that are devoted to the growing and harvesting
of crops or the raising of animals including seafood or both. The second regulation
deals with prior notice of shipments and that will require the FDA to receive
advance information about import shipments. As the interim final rule is now reading,
notice of shipment must be given no more than five days prior to the arrival in
the US of shipments and, depending on how the shipments arrive, that will determine
the very last minute limit. For shipments by truck you can supply prior notice
up to two hours before your shipment arrives, by train or airplane up to four
hours before the arrival of the shipment or by boat up to eight hours before your
shipment is intended to arrive.
DeCoste says, as the interim rule reads currently,
meat, food products, poultry and egg products fall under the jurisdiction of the
USDA and are not covered under this regulation but live food animals will be considered
food and will be subject to prior notice. For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.
*Farmscape
is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council
Seeing
salmonella move through pigs
November 18, 2003
ARS News Service
Imagine
being able to photograph a salmonella infection as it moves through a live pig
and show the process as patches of colors. That's what's being proposed by Donald
C. Lay, research leader at the Agricultural Research Service's Livestock Behavior
Research Unit in West Lafayette, Ind., and Scott T. Willard of Mississippi State
University. Willard is an expert in biophotonics, a new technology that uses light
to mark molecular changes.
About two million salmonella cases are found in
livestock in the United States each year, costing an average $1.4 billion. Certain
swine seem prone to shedding Salmonella bacteria in manure when stressed by the
transport and mixing with different herds that's associated with going to market.
Scientists don't know how bacteria migrate through an animal's body, including
where they might "hide" and what causes them to be suddenly shed. These
gaps are largely due to an inability to follow the progression of infection in
live animals.
Lay and Willard have shown they can treat bacteria to give off
light, making it possible to track infections in living piglets and through tissues
of adult pigs after slaughter. Now they've received a U.S.
Department of Agriculture
grant to further pursue the work. Their goal:
to adapt the technique so cameras
can see through the denser mass of live, 250-pound, market-ready pigs, which is
more difficult than seeing through five-pound piglets.
Lay and Willard will
research ways to improve swine management by identifying animals that are more
susceptible to infection, and by designing techniques to prevent those swine from
spreading infection to their herd mates.
ARS is the USDA's chief scientific
research agency.
[FOODSAFE]
new USDA Consumer Food Safety and Food Security Guidelines to be released
November
14, 2003
American Public Health Association Press Release
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=148-11132003
WHAT:
News Conference: USDA Releases New Consumer Food Safety Guidelines
USDA releases
new consumer food safety and food security guidelines, such as food handling,
foodborne illness and reporting suspected food tampering. WHO: Dr. Gary McKee,
administrator, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service; Dr. Georges Benjamin,
executive director, APHA.
WHEN: Monday, Nov. 17, 12:30 p.m., San Francisco
Marriott, Pacific Suite E
AMI
rebuts Nebraska cancer study
by
Bill McDowell on 11/14/03 for Meatingplace.com
Dear Editor:
A
study by Dr. Sidney Mirvish of the University of Nebraska (Nebraska researcher:
Hot dogs may cause cancer, the Daily News, Nov. 12) is out of step with the body
of evidence on the safety - and indeed the benefits - of sodium nitrite. In fact,
it is illogical to suggest that nitrite in hot dogs plays any role in colon cancer
when approximately 93 percent of human nitrite intake comes from saliva and from
vegetables - the very food said to help prevent cancer. Additionally, nitrite
is produced in the body as a normal part of metabolism. In addition, the findings
in Dr. Mirvish's limited study are inconsistent with the decade long review completed
by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) in May 2000, which concluded nitrite
is not a carcinogen. NTP, considered to be the world's most authoritative toxicology
agency, evaluates the safety of a variety of chemicals and publishes reports about
its findings.
Finally, the study's conclusions stand in sharp contrast to a
study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), slated to appear
in the December issue of Nature. NIH scientists concluded that nitrite can improve
blood flow by opening blood vessels, and that the increase in oxygen in the blood
resulting from nitrite may be a potential new treatment for diseases such as high
blood pressure, heart attacks, sickle cell disease and leg vascular problems.
This finding adds to the mounting evidence that nitrite plays an important role
in a host of health issues.
In the future, we urge you not report single studies
without presenting the full body of evidence. In this case, the evidence is very
conclusive that nitrite is both safe and beneficial to human health.
Sincerely,
Randall D. Huffman, Ph.D.
Vice President, Scientific Affairs
AMI Foundation
Oxoid
Further Extends Prepared Media Range with New Oxoid Tubes
http://www.rapidmicrobiology.com/news/603h71.php
Oxoid
Media now comes in Tubes designed for use in Food Microbiology laboratories.
The
Tube has a specially designed cap that comes off in one twist for ease of use.
It is elongated, making it easy to grasp and reducing the chance of contaminating
the mouth of the Tube during testing. Designed to fit standard test-tube racks,
Oxoid Tubes bring convenience to the food testing laboratory. Key
food testing media are available, including the selective enrichment broths, such
as Rappaport Vassiliadis Soya Peptone Broth, Selenite Cysteine Broth and Buffered
Listeria Enrichment Broth, along with diluents and selective indicator broths,
such as Maximum Recovery Diluent and MacConkey Broth Purple. Manufactured
and certified to the highest standards, using high quality Oxoid dehydrated media,
Oxoid Tubes provide the quality and reliability that is essential for accurate
food testing.To find out more
about Oxoid Tube Media and other prepared media products from Oxoid:
Tel:
+44 (0) 1256 841144
Fax: +44 (0) 1256 329728
Email: val.kane@oxoid.com
Web:
www.oxoid.com
USDA
Announces New Food Safety And Security
Guidelines For Consumers
Chi-Chi's,
Inc. voluntarily extends closure of Beaver Valley Restaurant for 60 days: No other
Chi-Chi's locations involved in outbreak of Hepatitis A
November
12, 2003
From a press release
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Chi-Chi's, Inc., a Mexican
restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, today announced that the
Company had decided to voluntarily extend the closure of its Chi-Chi's restaurant
at the Beaver Valley Mall to a minimum of 60 days.
"From the point that
we first became aware of this outbreak, our primary concern has been to protect
the health, safety and well being of our employees and the local community,"
said Bill Zavertnik, Chief Operating Officer of Chi-Chi's, Inc. "This decision
reflects the high standard of caution that we have taken in responding to this
outbreak and the overriding importance we place on food safety."
According
to the Company's medical advisor, the maximum incubation period for Hepatitis
A is 50 days. All of Chi-Chi's employees have been tested for the infection.
"We
have voluntarily decided to extend the closure of this location until at least
60 days from our initial closure on November 2nd, 2003. We will not reopen until
we have total confidence that the location is safe, every employee has been definitively
cleared of the infection and we have consulted with all the participating public
health authorities," said Zavertnik.
"I would like to stress that
none of our other restaurants are involved, where we continue to offer our guests
a fun and safe environment to enjoy great Mexican food."
www.chi-chis.com
Microsens
announces licensing of its unique prion disease diagnostics technologies
November
17, 2003
Microsens Biotechnologies??Press Release
Microsens?unique diagnostics
technologies will be a key component in the new prion disease test kits to be
developed and commercialised by two leading diagnostics companies.
Microsens
Biotechnologies, the London based research and development company, has announced
the licensing of its unique Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) detection
technologies to the US company IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. and the Japanese company
Sanko Junyaku Co. Ltd.
IDEXX, a world leader in veterinary diagnostics, has
been granted the exclusive, worldwide rights (excluding Japan) to Microsens?Seprion
technologies in the animal health and food safety market sectors. The agreement
with Sanko Junyaku is exclusive for the use of Seprion in the same market sector
within Japan. Access to Microsens?technologies is now enabling both companies
to develop and commercialise the next generation of diagnostics for the detection
of TSEs in animal tissues and blood, particularly Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
(BSE) in cattle, Scrapie in sheep and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer.
Trials
already completed by Microsens and its licensing partners have proven Seprion
to offer extremely high selectivity for the capture of the abnormal form of the
prion protein (PrPres), believed to be the infectious agent in these diseases.
There is considerable interest in the prion disease field in the development of
highly selective PrPres binding reagents as they allow major improvements to be
made to the complex and potentially unreliable post-mortem test kits currently
used in the detection and diagnosis of BSE and other TSEs. At present the market,
primarily in Europe and Japan, for post mortem BSE test kits for cattle exceeds
100 million USD and, with the development of more effective post-mortem tests,
together with the Seprion-based blood test currently in development this could
grow significantly within the next 3 to 5 years. In North America there is increasing
concern over Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer which, together with the recently
announced first case of BSE in Canada, may cause the level of testing by the US
and Canadian governments to increase significantly.
Under the terms of the
two licensing agreements, Microsens will receive both up front and milestone payments
and royalties on sales of products incorporating its Seprion technologies.
According
to Christopher Stanley, Microsens?Chief Executive, ever the past four years we
have been developing technologies that are now at the forefront of TSE diagnostic
research. These agreements with two of the world leading diagnostic companies
provide a strong endorsement of our R & D programme.He adds, this is only
the first phase of our licensing programme. We are now researching the application
of our Seprion technologies in new human clinical diagnostic areas - such as screening
donated blood for vCJD and developing diagnostic kits for early detection of other
CNS disorders, including Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease.
New
Company Targets E.coli O157:H7 Contamination in Cattle with its First Product
http://www.rapidmicrobiology.com/news/1609h0.php
GangaGen
Life Sciences is a new company involved in developing phage based control of pathogenic
bacteria in food animals and their wastes.
With
the use of antibiotics in animals increasingly coming under pressure, the development
of bacteriophages to target particular pathogenic bacteria would seem an ideal
solution. Pathogens such as E.coli, Campylobacter and Salmonella contribute to
millions of cases of human illness every year and typically these originate from
cattle, poultry or swine. The company has initially chosen E.coli O157:H7 as its
first priority.
As
phages focus exclusively on specific bacteria there are many advantages over the
use of broad spectrum antibiotics commonly used today.
In
additional to phage treatment of food animals GangaGen is also looking at the
treatment of these bacteria in wastewater and animal waste, including manure used
for liquid fertilizer. GangaGen expect their first phage product to be available
commercially in late 2005.
Current
Food Safety Informaiton
11/18.
Bad Food Live! with Richie and Bernard
11/18. Seeing salmonella move through
pigs
11/18. Capers class action certified lawsuit covers over 6,400 Brit
11/18.
Questions and Answers on Hepatitis A Outbreaks
11/18. USDA Hotline: A Food
Safety Resource for Millions
11/18. USDA Hotline: A Food Safety Resource for
Millions [Espanol]
11/18. Pittsburgh-area restaurants await impact of Hepatitis
A outb
11/18. Berlin/Germany: 5th World Congress Foodborne Infections and
11/18.
CPC urges food industry to be aware of new US anti-terrorism
11/18. Kansas
lawmakers propose food safety overhaul
11/18. Japan to ban cattle backbone
in food products
11/18. Obeying the law
11/18. Milk Allergy Diet
11/18.
Nut and Peanut Allergy Diet
11/18. Poland reports new mad cow case
11/18.
Hyogo cows test negative for BSE
11/18. State opens first botulism lab
11/18.
Produce Items Are Vulnerable to Biological Contamination
11/18. Hepatitis Inquiry
Moves Deliberately From Farm to Plate
11/18. Hepatitis news affecting Beaver
County residents in differen
11/17. Public workshop: Bacterial Contamination
of Animal Feed and
11/17. "Active" and "intelligent" food
packaging: Commission propos
11/17. Dirty dining? ¡®Dateline¡¯ hidden cameras
investigate cleanlin
11/17. Canada's Mad Cow Costs Industry C$3.3 Billion-Study
11/17.
Drug fear prompts call for honey tests
11/17. Super C warns of metal in food
11/17.
[FOODSAFE] new USDA Consumer Food Safety and Food Security G
11/17. Hungarian
researchers find substitute for antibiotics to spu
11/17. Green Onions Pulled
From Menus
11/17. FDA following Hepatitis A outbreaks
11/16. Workshop
on animal feed in relation to human foodborne illne
11/16. QAI launches food
security program
11/16. E. coli best practices unveiled
11/16. AMI rebuts
Nebraska cancer study
11/16. Focus on safety at FiE
11/16. Food from cloned
animals, the debate goes on
11/15. Oxoid Further Extends Prepared Media
Range with New Oxoid Tu
11/15. Small-molecule inhibitors of botulinum neurotoxin
identified
11/15. In fight against outbreaks, green onions present layered
res
11/15. Food Safety Tips for Holiday Meals
11/15. Reuse Your Water Bottle?
Better Think Twice
11/15. Image Experts Say Mexican Restaurant Chain Needs
Help to Rec
11/15. Belgian schools in food safety alert
11/14. Food
inspectors probing nutritional supplements
11/14. Rat Poison: Murder Weapon
of Choice in Rural China
11/14. The Joy of Giving Food Safely
11/14. Food
Safety and Security: What Consumers Need to Know
11/14. FDA Advises Consumers
That Recent Hepatitis A Outbreaks Have Been Associated With
11/14. USDA Announces
New Food Safety And Security Guidelines For Consumers
11/14. Inocuidad Alimentaria
y Seguridad Alimentaria: Lo que Deben Saber los Consumidores
Current
Recall Information
Current
USDA/FDA NEWS
Toxicological
Principles for the Safety of Food Ingredients: Redbook 2000
Questions and
Answers on Hepatitis A Outbreaks
USDA Hotline: A Food Safety Resource for
Millions
USDA Hotline: A Food Safety Resource for Millions [Espanol]
Food Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
FDA Advises Consumers That
Recent Hepatitis A Outbreaks Have Been Associated With Onions
USDA Announces
New Food Safety And Security Guidelines For Consumers
Food Safety and Security:
What Consumers Need to Know
Current
Outbreaks
11/18.
Gastroenteritis, staphylococcal - China (Guangzhou)
11/17. Hepatitis A, schools
- Russia (Ekaterinburg)
11/17. Miserable illness is hitting harder
11/16.
Tally of salmonella victims rises to 35
11/16. Kodiak illnesses are salmonella
11/15.
Bennington Rallying Around 2-Year-Old E. coli Patient
11/15. Community Is Reeling
From Hepatitis Outbreak
11/14. HC seeks report on food poisoning in hostel
for blind
11/14. Poison scare spoils wedding festivities
11/13. Chi-Chi's,
Inc. voluntarily extends closure of Beaver Valley
11/13. Pa. hepatitis outbreak
affects 340
11/13. Hepatitis A - Russia (Omsk): waterborne ?
Current
New Methods
11/18.
Microsens announces licensing of its unique prion disease di
11/17. New Company
Targets E.coli O157:H7 Contamination in Cattle w
11/13. GangaGen Life Sciences
unveils phage technology for treatment
11/10. Mexico Approves Vicam AflaTest
Aflatoxin Testing Method
11/07. Cold Storage Facility in Northeast Now Offers
Irradiation to
11/07. New Peanut Test Kits Approved for Food Industry
11/03.
Lab-on-a-CD Developed for Use in Space Station
10/31. FDA approves peanut detection
kits
