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The EU and US positions at a Codex meeting to set international standards on food safety foreshadow future legislation that would affect hygiene control measures in manufacturing plants, and the manufacture of powdered formulae, ready-to-eat foods, and pasteurised liquid eggs.

In the six day meeting which ended on the 4 November in New Delhi, India, national representatives to Codex’s food hygiene committee also decided to start work on drafting safety guidelines setting standards to control Campylobacter and Salmonella specie in broiler chicken meat.

At the New Delhi meeting they discussed various positions, including those relating to proposed standards for pasteurized liquid whole eggs, hygienic practice for processing powdered formulae for infants and children, pathogen control measures for Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods & guidelines for evaluating manufacturing control measures.

Codex is a multilateral body set up to develop food safety and other standards that would apply to all member countries.

It operates under the aegis of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation.

The standards are recognised as international benchmarks by one of the multilateral agreements of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and aim to eliminate many of what the UN calls “unjustified technical barriers” to food imports set up by some countries.

The standards also serve to harmonise food safety laws globally, aiding multinational processors in following the law no matter where they trade.

The standards on each particular topic and food type can undergo a huge revision process at various levels of Codex decision making bodies, over a number of years. Member countries must then transcribe the standards into their national laws.

The proposed standard setting what pathogen controls for Listeria monocytogenes ready-to-eat food processors must put in place is based in the main on US risk assessments, according to Codex documents.

Based on the risk assessments, a working group led by Germany concluded that a zero tolerance standard for L. monocytogenes have a proportional reduction in the rates of illness from foods contaminated with the pathogen.

A study commissioned by the food hygiene committee showed that the application of microbiological criteria at a given point of the production chain is only one of the measures that need to be applied, to bring down contamination rates.

The committee proposes to exclude from the criteria foods that are processing in such a way to ensure the killing of L. monocytogenes and for which recontamination is not possible.

The foods must also be processed and handled under systems adhering to good hygienic practice (GHP), a separate international standard.

Such foods include those given a listericidal treatment in the package and those that are produced through aseptic processing and packaging.

The group includes dehydrated products such as powdered milk, dehydrated soup mixes, herbs and spices, fresh, uncut and unprocessed vegetables and fruits, soft drinks, beer and spirits.

At the meeting the EU delegation also proposed that the standard should specifically include ready-to-eat foods for infants and those with medical conditions.

The EU supports a 100 colony forming units per gram (cfu/g) limit on the pathogen for ready-to-eat foods, if the food manufacturer is able to demonstrate the maximum would not be exceeded throughout the shelf-life.

The EU delegation also noted that setting a zero tolerance standard, where a negative reading is set at 25g = 0.04 colony forming units per gram (cfu/g) “might cause misunderstandings”.

The EU also wants clarification on foods not covered by the testing standard, pointing out that previous discussions had also discussed products for which Listeria monocytogenes is “very unlikely” to be detected.

Clarification is also needed about the proposed exclusion of foods for which there is less than ‘1 log’ growth during 1.3 times the expected shelf life, the EU stated in its submission. Various definitions of ’shelf-life’ might confuse the issue.

At the meeting the Codex committee also set its priorities for proposed standards, with those for egg products topping the list.

Other priorities in order are standards for infant and children foods; combining two codes of practice for various nuts into one; setting a single hygienic code for fruits, vegetable and products made from them; quick frozen foods, spices and aromatic plants; low-acid and acidified low-acid canned foods and aseptically processed and packaged low-acid canned foods, natural mineral waters, frog legs, catering, and street-vended foods.

The WTO’s Codex Alimentarius Commission is the body set up to harmonise food safety and other export requirements around the world.

Member countries’ representatives meet regularly to debate a common position or standard on every aspect of such requirements, from the holding temperatures in frozen meat should be kept at, to processing requirements for specific types of cheeses.

Agreements forged at Codex meetings could eventually affect the way processors operate worldwide as they become incorporated into national laws in various countries around the world.

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While America’s food supply is the safest in the world, food poisoning is responsible for approximately 76 million illnesses in the United States each year. In fact, it is estimated that 60% or more of the raw poultry sold today probably has disease-causing bacteria. Anyone eating food contaminated by certain bacteria, parasites, or viruses can get food poisoning. Certain factors such as age and physical condition can make certain people more susceptible to food poisoning than others. Infants, pregnant women, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are at greatest risk.

For most people in good condition, food poisoning is usually neither long lasting nor life-threatening. However, to less healthy individuals it can become a serious health threat, accounting for approximately 5,000 deaths each year.

The good news is that by taking simple precautionary steps while purchasing, handling, and preparing food you can prevent most cases of food poisoning in the home.

What causes food poisoning? Food poisoning is most commonly caused by bacteria, parasites, or viruses that may be present in the food that you have eaten. You may have heard the names of many of these organisms. They include Escherichia coli (E coli), Campylobacter jejuni, Clostridium botulinum, Shigella, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Trichinella, and Hepatitis A virus, just to name a few. They can be present in a wide range of food including red meat, poultry, milk and other dairy products, eggs, unpasteurized vegetable juices and ciders, spices, chocolate, seafood, and even water.

These organisms may be present on your food when it is bought or can get into the food, including cooked food, if the food comes into contact with raw meat juices on dirty utensils, cutting boards, or countertops used to prepare contaminated food. That’s why it is important not only to thoroughly cook your food, but to wash your hands, utensils, and countertops, before and after you handle raw foods.

What are the symptoms? Symptoms will vary depending on the type and amount of contaminants eaten. Some people may get ill after ingesting only a small amount of harmful bacteria, while others may remain free of symptoms after eating larger quantities. The most common symptoms of food poisoning include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain (cramps), fever, headache, and fatigue. Symptoms may develop as soon as 30 minutes after eating tainted food, but more commonly do not develop for several days or weeks. Symptoms of viral or parasitic food poisoning may not appear for several weeks, while some toxins in fish may take only a few minutes to cause symptoms.

If you have botulism, you probably will not have a fever and the symptoms may include blurred vision, fatigue, dry mouth and throat.

How food poisoning is diagnosed Food poisoning is often suspected when several people become ill after eating the same meal. To diagnose the cause of the illness, your doctor will need to know the symptoms and what was eaten right before the illness occurred. The doctor may need samples of the food, bowel movements, or vomit. These samples can be tested in a laboratory to determine if the food was contaminated and identify the organism causing the illness.

How is it treated? If the symptoms are severe, the victim should see a doctor or get emergency care. Treatment depends on the severity and cause of the food poisoning. Generally, for mild cases of food poisoning, the doctor will recommend for you to rest, drink fluids to prevent dehydration due to vomiting or diarrhea, and to follow a specific diet. It usually only takes about 1 to 5 days to recover from food poisoning.

If you have botulism, your doctor will prescribe an antitoxin. Other types of food poisoning have no antidote. Antibiotics are usually not helpful in treating food poisoning. Medicine to stop vomiting and stomach cramping may be given.

Prevention is the best approach to avoid food poisoning Most cases of food poisoning can be prevented. Below is a list of a few simple Do’s and Don’ts to help you avoid food-borne illness in the home.

● Do wash your hands, utensils, cutting boards, and countertops between different foods ● Do hrefrigerate or freeze perishables right away (Refrigerator temperature should be 41Ëš F and freezer 0ËšF) ● Do thoroughly cook foods. Cook beef, lamb, and pork to an internal temperature of 160ËšF; whole poultry and thighs to 180ËšF; poultry breasts to 170ËšF, ground chicken or turkey to 165ËšF ● Do hrefrigerate leftover foods as soon as possible; leftovers shouldn’t remain unrefrigerated longer than 2 hours. ● While food shopping, do select frozen foods and perishables such as meat, poultry, and fish last- before checking out ● Do use smooth cutting boards made of hard maple or plastic that are free of cracks and crevices ● Do store raw meats in leak-proof containers or on the bottom of the hrefrigerator to prevent juices from dripping on other foods ● Don’t allow uncooked meats, meat juices, or unwashed fruits and vegetables to come in contact with either cooked or washed foods ● Don’t buy frozen seafood if the packages are open, torn, or crushed on the edges ● Don’t buy food in cans that are bulging or dented, or in jars that are cracked ● Don’t ever buy outdated food. Check the “use by” or “sell by” dates ● Don’t buy unpasteurized milk or dairy products ● Do not buy hrefrigerated or frozen products that are not displayed at the proper temperature ● Do not let small children put foods away unsupervised

More information about this important health subject can be obtained from the following sources: Gateway to Government Food Safety Information www.foodsafety.gov U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/wh-food.html Food Safety and Inspection Service United States Department of Agriculture www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/consumerpubs.htm

Supported as an educational service by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. This information is not intended for use as medical advice. You should discuss this information with your doctor.

Avaraham Henoch, MD 564 West 160th Street New York, NY 10032 Phone: (212) 740-6400

Over the past twenty years, the rapid emergence and increased prevalence of opportunistic Gram-negative bacilli demonstrating resistance to the β-lactam class of antibiotics has become a major health care crisis.

The production of β-lactamases, the innate capabilities of these organisms to genetically adapt structural and regulatory genes and the ease with which resistance genes are transferred via plasmids, transposons and integrons between different species, have broadened the ability of Gram-negative bacteria to inactivate the β-lactam antibiotics. This diminishes the clinical utility of these key anti-microbial agents making them resistant.

Extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESβLs) hydrolyse the penicillins, first-, second- and third-generation cephalosporins, especially cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime and cefpodoxime, and the oxyimino-monobactam, aztreonam.

ESβLs are inhibited by β-lactamase inhibitors, such as clavulanic acid, and are susceptible to the carbapenems (imipenem, meropenem and ertapenem) and the cephamycins (cefoxitin and cefotetan), though there have been a number of reports stating that ESβL-producing organisms can become resistant to the cephamycins due to the loss of an outer membrane porin protein (Martinéz-Martinéz et al 1996).

Since their discovery following the clinical introduction of the third-generation oxyimino-cephalosporins in 1981, there are now approximately 160 Temoneira (TEM), 100 sulfhydryl-variable (SHV), 64 cefotaxime-hydrolysing (CTX-M) and 102 oxacillinase (OXA) variant enzymes, along with a number of minor ESβL variants (Jacoby and Bush 2007).

Extensive laboratory and clinical experience exists regarding the detection and treatment of ESβL-producing Gram-negative bacilli. This suggest that the knowledge of their existence via means of antibiotic selective pressure, adaption and dissemination, may have an impact on therapeutic choices and the health and well-being of patients via targeted pragmatic antimicrobial selection and infection control practices.

It is unclear; however, if ESβL-producing organisms are being accurately detected 100% of the time. Furthermore, with the recent emergence of metallo β-lactamase-producing Gram-negative bacilli, it is also unclear whether the same mandate exists for the accurate detection, treatment and control of metallo β-lactamases. Metallo β-lactamases (MβLs) are a therapeutic disaster.

These enzymes hydrolyse all β-lactam antibiotics (except the monobactams), including the “drugs of last resort” the carbapenems (imipenem and meropenem), thus requiring the use of alternative, potentially more toxic classes of antibiotics to circumvent the hydrolytic actions of these β-lactamases.

Metallo β-lactamases, which are found in organisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter specie and members of the Enterobactericeae group such as salmonella and especially Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. They all utilise metal ions (usually zinc) to coordinate water molecules that serve as nucleophiles and hydrolyse the amide bond of the β-lactam ring, rendering the β-lactam antibiotic inactive.

These enzymes are divided into four genetically mobile variants: the older imipenem-hydrolysing (IMP) and Verona integron-encoded metallo β-lactamase (VIM) enzymes; and the more recently described Sao Paolo metallo β-lactamase (SPM) and GIM types (Poirel et al 2004).

Gram-negative bacteria that produce extended-spectrum and metallo β-lactamases are being discovered and isolated at a significant rate worldwide, while the development of new synthetic and natural antimicrobial agents to combat and elude the hydrolytic actions of these β-lactamases has significantly decreased in recent years (Valenzuela et al 2004).

Clinicians prescribing antibiotics need to know, understand and appreciate the short and long term outcomes of the inappropriate use of antibiotics for their patients, which, if not controlled and decreased, will inevitably reduce or eliminate the therapeutic options available in the future.

References

Franklin, C., Liolios, L., Peleg, A.Y. (2006). Phenotypic detection of carbapenem-susceptible metallo β-lactamase-producing Gram-negative bacilli in the clinical laboratory. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 44: 3139-3144.

Martinéz-Martinéz, L., Hernández-Allés, S., Albertí, S., Tomás, J., Benedi, V., Jacoby,G.A. (1996). In vivo selection of porin-deficient mutants of Klebsiella pneumoniae with increased resistance to cefoxitin and expanded-spectrum cephalosporins. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 40, pp. 342-348.

Poirel, L., Heritier, C., Spicq, C., Nordmann, P. (2004). In vivo acquisition of high-level resistance to imipenem in Escherichia coli. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 42 (8), pp. 3831-3833.

Valenzuela, J., Thomas, L., Iredell, J. for Australian Society of Microbiology (ASM). (2004). Beta-lactam resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing: Methods and Practices with an Australian Perspective, 5, pp. 127-157.

United Food Group, LLC, a Vernon, California establishment is expanding it’s voluntarily recall of ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

There has been a link between illnesses in several states and the ground beef subject to recall was determined through an investigation carried out by the California Department of Health Services and the Colorado Department of Health, in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The expanded recall totals approximately 370,000 pounds.

The ground beef products in the expanded recall were produced on April 13, while the products subject to the original recall were produced on April 20. The ground beef products were shipped to retail distribution centers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. The very young (children), aged (seniors) and persons with compromised immune systems such as people with Aids are the most susceptible to food borne illness.

Any questions about the recall should contact company Customer Service Representative James Turner at (800) 325-4164. Media with questions about the recall should contact company Vice-President for Sales and Marketing Brian Levy at (323) 588-5286.

The identity labels of the products subject to recall bear the establishment number “EST. 1241″ inside the USDA mark of inspection or printed on the package. All of the products bear a sell-by date of “APR/29/07,” “APR/30/07″ or “May/06/07,” a freeze-by date of “APR/28/07,” “APR/29/07,” “APR/30/07″ or “May/07/07,” or a produced on date of “APR/13/07″ or “APR/20/07.”

The following ground beef products are subject to recall.

The list is inclusive of products included in both the original and expanded recall actions.
5-pound chubs of “1ST STREET 73/27 ground beef.”
3-pound chubs of “BASHAS 73/27 ground beef.”
1-pound chubs of “SIR BASHA 90/10 ground beef.”
5-pound chubs of “INTER-AMERICAN PRODUCT 73/27 ground beef.”
1-pound chubs of “INTER-AMERICAN PRODUCTS 80/20 ground beef.”
2-pound chubs of “INTER-AMERICAN PRODUCTS 93/7 ground beef.”
1-pound chubs of “STATER BROS. MARKET 73/27 ground beef.”
3-pound chubs of “STATER BROS. MARKETS 73/27 ground beef.”
1-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 73/27 ground beef.”
3-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 73/27 ground beef.”
5-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 73/27 ground beef.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S All Natural, 73/27 fine ground beef.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S 73/27 coarse ground beef.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S 75/25 fine ground beef.”
3-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 80/20 ground beef.”
1-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 80/20 ground chuck.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S 80/20 coarse ground chuck.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S 80/20 fine ground chuck.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S All Natural 81/19 fine ground beef.”
2-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 85/15 ground beef.”
3-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 85/15 ground beef.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S 85/15 coarse ground beef.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S 85/15 fine ground beef.”
1-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 85/15 ground round.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S All Natural 85/15 coarse ground round.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S All Natural 85/15 coarse ground sirloin.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S All Natural 85/15 fine ground sirloin.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S 90/10 fine ground beef.”
1-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 90/10 ground sirloin.”
1-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural, 90/10 fine ground sirloin.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S All Natural, 90/10 fine ground sirloin.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S 90/10 coarse ground sirloin.”
2-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 93/7 ground beef.”
2-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 93/7 fine ground beef.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S 93/7 coarse ground beef.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S 93/7 fine ground sirloin.”
5-pound chubs of “MORAN’S 95/5 fine ground beef.”
1-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 96/4 ground beef.”
2-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 96/4 ground beef.”
10-pound casings of “MORAN’S All Natural 96/4 fine ground beef.”
5-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 96/4 fine ground beef.”

Consumers with food safety questions can “Ask Karen,” the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day.

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According to Food Navigator USA, food illness due to food contaminated by E.coli and salmonella were higher in 2006 than previous years. This was could be due to outbreaks in foods previously unaffected such as peanut butter and spinach.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) findings, which reverse the progress made in 2003 and 2004, will concern food processors already forced to implement stringent food safety procedures.

Food-related illnesses can prove costly for food manufacturers in terms of product recalls and loss of brand trust. Nationwide outbreaks however can be disastrous, especially when people are killed.

The increase, which takes the illness rates back to the levels, experienced during data collections from 1996 to 1998.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC director said recent outbreaks demonstrated that too many people were falling sick from food borne illnesses.

“For instance, the outbreaks involving tomatoes, lettuce and spinach underscore the need to more effectively prevent contamination of produce,” she said.

Gerberding also said during a press conference on the findings that while the hamburger, for instance was “safer than it has ever been”, more needed to be done to prevent pathogen cross-contamination that can lead to large outbreaks.

The findings are from 2006 data reported to the CDC as part of the agency’s Food borne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (also known as Food Net). Food Net collects data from 10 US states regarding diseases caused by enteric pathogens transmitted commonly through food.

Food Net quantifies and monitors the incidence of these infections by conducting active, population-based surveillance for laboratory-confirmed illnesses, following a victim’s visit to a hospital of clinic.

Data collected from the 10 states, which have a combined population of 45 million and make up around 15 per cent of the nation, gives a snapshot of the level food related illness across the US.

The CDC identified 17,252 laboratory confirmed cases of food poisoning in 2006, including 6,655 cases of Salmonella and 590 cases of E.coli O157.

The report also found that vibrio parahaemolyticus infections, which often relate to the consumption of raw shellfish like oysters, have increased 78 per cent to 154 cases in 2006 - the highest level since Food Net began conducting surveillance in 1996.

However, Campylobacter, Listeria, Shigella and Yersinia show a sustained decline in incidence compared to 1996-1998, although the CDC said that most of the present decrease was due to falls experienced between 1999 and 2002.

Gerberding said that the CDC would further co-operate with its Food Net partners, including United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state surveillance sites, to improve service levels.

“We’re also working to strengthen our ability to quickly detect and identify food borne illnesses. We know the faster we can detect an outbreak, the faster we can take actions that will help protect people.”

The possible causes of the rise to previous figures, suggested by the CDC follow a serious of food borne outbreaks in the US recently.

This year ConAgra was forced to recall Peter Pan and Great Value branded peanut butter products linked to a contaminated plant in Georgia.

The products are linked to a salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 425 people in 44 states.

Meanwhile an outbreak of E coli in September last year was traced back to packaged cut spinach originating from California. The outbreak killed three people and sickened more than 200 people across the US.

The outbreak has since been traced back to a 50 acre spinach plot. The contaminated strain has been found in a nearby stream and in cattle feces and in wild pigs, officials said.

During November to December 2006, lettuce contaminated with E. coli was blamed for infecting at least 48 Taco Bell customers in five states.

Source

Did you know that money can be a source of micro-organisms. Although low, the cross-transmission of micro-organisms to foods can occur through food handlers.

A group of researchers in Ballarat , Australia screen 400 coins and 350 notes for the presence of bacteria. The money was sourced locations where staffs are likely to handle money. This included small food outlets such as corner shops, cafes and bakeries.

From the findings and as expected, the most common bacterium isolated was Staphylococcus aureus; a micro-organism commonly present on the skin and nasal passages of a third of the human population.

Pathogens were also isolated with E.coli dominating a high proportion of the coins. Only 2 coins had salmonella.

Although the majority of the money contained micro-organisms, the levels were very to cause direct infections.

The biggest risk is the cross contamination of low levels of micro-organisms to foods that support the growth. This is the reason why food handlers must wash their hands properly and regularly or glove wearers to changes gloves frequently.

According to the New York Daily News, a mother has filed a lawsuit against Taco Bell saying her teenage son was severely sickened by E. coli bacteria and hospitalized three months ago after eating food from the restaurant.

The lawsuit was filed in the Manhattan Supreme Court. Edwina Mooney brought the food home from the Taco Bell in Hempstead on 18th November 2006.

She claims her son James Robinson, 16, was the only family member to get sick.

Mooney’s lawyer Eric Richman said yesterday that James fell ill about four or five days after eating the Mexican meal from Taco Bell. He said the youth was hospitalized with symptoms such as severe abdominal pain, dehydration and stomach flu.

Richman said an official of the Nassau County Department of Health, Steven Jacob, “called my client after he was released from the hospital and told him he had food poisoning caused by E. coli.”

There was no answer yesterday at Jacob’s number at the county health agency. Mooney’s lawsuit seeks unspecified money damages for her son’s injuries.

Richman said the Hempstead restaurant was one of the Taco Bells that closed after an E. coli outbreak caused scores of cases of food poisoning in several states, including New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. It has reopened.

Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch said he was not aware of Mooney’s lawsuit and could not comment. But he added, “The health and safety of our customers is our number one priority.”

Poetsch said he had not heard of a definite cause of the outbreak since officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in December the most common factor seemed to be contaminated lettuce.

E. coli, or Escherichia coli, is a common and ordinarily harmless bacterium found in the guts of cattle and other animals. Some strains of the bacterium, however, can cause abdominal cramps, fever, bloody diarrhea, kidney failure, blindness, paralysis and even death in rare cases.

Other E. coli lawsuits have been filed against Taco Bell.

Attorneys for an 11 year old boy who became sick after eating at a Taco Bell in Riverhead filed negligence suit against the restaurant chain in early December 2006.

A Pennsylvania man who became ill with an E. coli infection after eating food from a Taco Bell restaurant sued the fast-food chain’s owner and a California scallion grower.

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In the USA, the E.coli outbreak in Spinach has claims its 4th victim on Friday 26th January. With evidence linking a death back in September the death toll could rise to 5.

The latest victim is 83 year old Elizabeth, “Betty” Howard of Richland, Wash., who died Friday of heart failure in a rehabilitation facility after close to a five month long battle with E. coli O157:H7, her son Darryl Howard said.

The other victim was June Dunning, 86, of Hagerstown, Md., who died in September 13, said Warren Swartz, Dunning’s son-in-law. She tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 at the hospital. But because the Maryland Dept. of Health lost culture samples from her illness, the state was unable to confirm the cause of her illness so she had not been officially included in the death toll.

However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed in a letter to Dunning’s family Thursday that microbiological tests on the two bags of spinach in her refrigerator were positive for a closely related and potentially fatal form of the bacteria, E. Coli 0146:H21.

The letter from Cheryl Bopp at CDC’s division of Food borne Diseases states that the E. coli strain found in Dunning’s spinach was “indistinguishable” from that found in a sample of spinach from Illinois “which also yielded the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7.”

In October Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, had sent a public letter to the CDC asking that Dunning be included in the death toll because of the strong circumstances linking her death to the others.

The outbreak was traced to pre-washed, bagged spinach from processor Natural Selection Foods of San Juan Bautista, Calif., sold by Dole. It sickened 199 people in 26 states, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Howard became ill after eating a turkey sandwich with spinach on it. She had been living independently in her own home until she became ill with the O157:H7 strain of the virus. She went into the hospital on Sept. 7 several days after eating the sandwich and never returned home.

“E. coli is like running the blood through razor blades. It devastates every part of the body,” her son said. He said his mother worked for years as a secretary at the Department of Energy’s Hanford (Wash) Nuclear site.

Howard’s medical bills in the rehabilitation center where she died were paid for by the Dole company’s insurer, her lawyer, William Marler said.

Dunning became ill after eating spinach salad on August 28 of last year. On September 2nd she was hit with “horrible, bloody liquid diarrhea,” Swartz said. She went into the hospital and never came home.

On September 6 doctors told the family that they’d gotten results back from the stool sample they’d taken when Dunning first entered the hospital and that she had E. coli O157:H7.

“We said ‘What’s that? It sounds like something from Mars,” Swartz said. “The doctor said ‘It’s very rare and in over 30 years of practice I’ve never seen it.’ “The infectious disease doctor told them that it came from hamburger.

“We said she doesn’t eat hamburger, she loves vegetables,” Swartz said.

Dunning fell into a coma that evening and died on Sept. 13.

Born in Catford, England, she married an American and moved to the United States after the end of her husband’s 20-year-career in the U.S Army, her son-in-law said.

After her death, Swartz looked up E. coli on the Internet and realized that there was a nationwide outbreak associated with spinach. In their refrigerator Swartz found a half-eaten bag of pre-washed Dole baby spinach with the same use-by date and lot number implicated in the outbreak.

He and his wife Corinne turned the bags over to the Maryland Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene, which passed them along to the CDC, he said.

Other deaths related to the outbreak include Ruby Trautz, 81, of Omaha, Kyle Allgood, 2, of Chubbuck, Idaho, and Marion Graff, 77, of Manitowoc, Wisc.

Source

According to the Daily Journal San Mateo, E. coli was launched into space.

Orbiting above the Earth in a super deluxe space laboratory aboard satellite GeneSat-1, the E. coli bacteria was launched into Earth’s orbit on Friday, NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field reports.

While E. coli can cause big problems in food products on Earth, scientists at Stanford University say this particular strain is not harmful. They believe studying the model organism’s behavior may help determine the effect outer space conditions have on human beings.

According to scientists at Stanford, when humans spend a long time in microgravity they may lose bone density, muscle tone, have decreased immune system performance and may even suffer genetic side effects.

If astronauts made the three-year long trip to Mars, they would have a high chance of getting cancer, according to a statement made by NASA.

If scientists determine which E. coli genes are impacted by radiation in outer space, they may be one step closer to determining a proper course of action to protect astronauts.

In order to determine which particular genes are impacted when E. coli endure microgravity and radiation, scientists have fused fluorescence on to the E. coli genes, causing them to glow if they are affected by outer space radiation. “If you do this you can make an organism be a living radiation meter,” said Stanford electrical engineering professor Gregory Kovacs.

Since E. coli’s genome is well known to scientists and since the bacteria can grow many generations over a short time, it was a natural candidate for this experiment, according to scientists.

However Kovacs said Stanford’s scientific team had to design a cushy home for the bacteria because “It’s difficult enough to keep a closed container of E. coli alive on Earth. It’s even harder in space. You have to keep them at the right temperature, and take out the trash,” said Kovacs in reference to the waste the bacteria produce.

The E. coli will live unattended in a shoebox-sized cube that weighs only ten pounds because according to Antonio Ricco, chief technologist for NASA’s Astrobionics Program and an architect of the mission, “getting human-tended science experiments into space is costly and too rare.”
“But with low-cost frequent space accessing using unmanned hitchhiking satellite experiments many more experiments can be done and repetition of the most important experiments can become routine,” said Ricco.

Sending the bacteria into outer space cost only $8 million, which is according to Ricco, “relatively inexpensive for a space mission like this, where we have had to invent and build much of the technology from scratch.”

The E. coli experiment will begin within 15 days of the GeneSat-1 launch and run for about four days at which point the E. coli will run out of food and likely die, according to Stanford University scientists.

GeneSat-1 will be in orbit taking space measurements for about a year until its orbit begins to decay and it burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Source

On the 07/12/2006, one of Australia’s Largest Dairy Manufacturer - National Foods has recalled several thousand litres of its Pura brand milk, citing fears that it could be contaminated with the E.coli bacteria.

The voluntary recall on Tuesday of 14 of its brands in New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory was announced after tests showed variable low levels of the bacteria.

“Retention samples indicated low but inconsistent levels so we sent them outside for further testing. When results came back they were still inconclusive but we decided to pull the whole lot just to be safe,” said spokesman Ian Greenshields.

E. coli can be fatal but typically causes abdominal pain, cramps and diarrhoea. A recent outbreak of E. coli from contaminated packaged spinach in the US led to 183 cases of illness and one death.

But when contamination is at low levels in a test sample, the bacteria may not occur in every batch of product, leading to inconsistent results and making it difficult to assess the risk. However food companies are increasingly cautious about microbiological contamination.

The Food Standards Australia New Zealand said this is the second most common reason for a product recall, after mislabelling.

“It is a growing trend and we commend them [food companies] for that,” said Lydia Buchtman, spokeswoman for the agency.

National Foods says the product contamination likely happened in the plant during manufacturing but the exact source is still being investigated. Pasteurisation is designed to kill this kind of bacteria.

It is not yet known how much the recall will cost the company but Greenshields said it involved ‘a whole day’s supply, a lot of product’ which could cost millions.

It included Pura whole milk, Pura Light Start and Woolworths and Homebrand whole milk which were manufactured on November 24 and have a best-used-before date of December 13.

Earlier this week Nestlé Australia also launched a voluntary recall of its Nan 2 HA Gold infant formula in 900g cans following the discovery of metal fragments in some cans. It is believed the contamination occurred during the production process.