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You have a continual contamination problem that’s costing you money.

Now the biggest question is how do you solve it?

Unfortunately, most people try to fix it themselves because it’s lower cost. But is it? The scatter gun approach is one of the most commonly used tool where you fire everything at the problem hoping that it will disappear. Unfortunately, it does not work that way.

The solution is to bring in someone with technical expertise in a similar field and most importantly a strong technical microbiological background (not QA background). The initial costs may be high ($200 per hour), but it’s worth it in the end. By using their microbiological tracking skills – they’ll use tools to track the microorganism and along with their knowledge of the growth characteristics of the specific microorganisms – devised controls points to stop them and remove them.

Fix it, don’t risk it.

Have you ever wondered why you pay so much for an environmental listeria test in a NATA accredited laboratory.

It’s because NATA has put so much emphasis on the quality of the laboratory that only a few labs has taken up their standards. It seems that if you can afford to get a qualified microbiologist, get the correct documentation implemented, train the staff, perform endless checks, sign off everything, pay their auditors to pick on you, have the auditor to tell you that you need $100,000K equipment and so forth. Then I think $30 – $40 for a listeria test is reasonable price to pay.

If only they look back to what they did in the 1980′s and realised why there were so many accredited labs back then compared to now. You see costs is a big part and most places want NATA accreditation, however the lab staff must focus on running their business rather than spend 50% of their time on NATA. It just does not make any economical sense which is why only commercial NATA accredited laboratories survive.

It’s a real shame as company run labs provides real technical knowledge that no commercial lab can provide. That’s why there’s so many problems in the food industry as the technical skills are gone.

And to the cost of a listeria test, it’s only $5.00. But remember, it’s only a presumptive result and still needs to be conformed, however if you are expecting negative results – then it’s a very low cost test and it’ll save you lots of money.

This is an interesting test – detecting protein residue. I know that regulators love this test as it proves that the equipment surface in a food manufacturing or precessing plant is clean. However theres been a push into smaller food manufacturers and even the local butcher, deli and restaurant. The Protein Residue Test consist of a sterile swab in side a plastic tube.

You remove the swab, smear it onto the cleaned surface and then re-insert it back into the swab holder. Break off the bulb to release the special liquid and within 10 minutes you’ll know whether the surface is cleaned or not. if it’s green, it’s clean. If it’s purple it’s dirty.

Hey it’s a good way to check if cleaning staff are actually cleaning!

The Protein Residue Test is a simple but easy test to tell if you have cleaned your premises properly. Thats way the food regulators are insisting on everyone testing for it as a verification on their cleaning.

All I can say is that Pro-clean is a quick and easy way to accurately monitor the cleanliness of food equipment surfaces to help ensure food safety and product quality. The cost is cheap ($3.60 each) and there’s no equipment needed. Simply swab a surface, release the reagent and if food residue is present the reagent will turn purple. The color change provides a semi-quantitative measure of the surface cleanliness.

The more contamination present, the quicker the color change to purple and the darker the color. PRO-Clean quickly validates the hygiene of a surface, allowing immediate corrective action to be taken if necessary.

It seems that contamination is a big issue in the food industry, however stopping it from happening is not an easy task. Most experts talk about putting sanitised footbaths in place, but how many of them really know what they are talking about.

Well, I finally found this great a site with a bootwasher that works. it not only scrubs the boots, but also sanitises them as well. With harder and stronger brushes, its guarantee to work.
You don’t expect anything less from German Engineering. http://www.heute.com.au

Listeria is a commonly found in food manufacturing environment.

The only reason it exist is that it is commonly found in drains and even the surrounding areas – and controls to reduce the levels are not functioning.

Controls that are commonly found in entrances such as sanitized footbaths are not as effective as some you may think.

What you need is an effective sanitizer and something that physically scrubs the shoe and boot such as bootwasher to not only remove organic matter, but also sanitise the boots as well. A good quality boot washer is more effective and recommended.

The bacterium Listeria monocytogenes lives happily in soil and in your compost heap, but also in water, processed meats, milk and cheese. When humans eat food contaminated with Listeria, they can develop listeriosis, an infection that triggers miscarriage in women and kills people whose immune systems are weak. Scientists would like to understand the molecular mechanisms that transform this bacterium from a harmless soil-dweller to a dangerous human pathogen.

Now, a team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris has taken a major step towards realizing that goal, by mapping the genes that Listeria expresses under different environmental conditions. The research is reported in an advance online publication in the journal Nature on May 17, 2009.

As head of the Pasteur Institute’s Unit of Bacteria-Cell Interactions, Howard Hughes Medical Institute international research scholar Pascale F. Cossart is proud of what she refers to as the first complete bacterial operon map. Pasteur scientists François Jacob and Jacques Monod first described the concept of the operon in 1960. Both were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1965 for their seminal work on operons. Operons are functional units of DNA that consist of several adjacent genes controlled by a common promoter—a piece of DNA that determines where and when a gene is active. The genes in operons are transcribed into a single piece of messenger RNA (mRNA).

Since Jacob and Monod first coined the term operon, scientists’ understanding of gene regulation has evolved considerably. Researchers now know, for example, that what was once called “junk” RNA because it wasn’t translated into protein, can nevertheless fulfil important functions. Cossart’s group had previously identified a piece of such non-coding RNA that regulate Listeria’s ability to infect cells, which suggested to them that RNA regulation might be widely exploited by Listeria to aid survival. Cossart and her colleagues decided to map Listeria’s transcriptional program in a systematic way in order to identify as many of those RNA switches as possible.

The biotechnology company Affymetrix built Cossart customized tiling microarrays—that is, arrays of DNA probes that correspond to overlapping stretches of the Listeriagenome. Armed with these arrays, a small army of researchers from Cossart’s and other labs, led by postdoctoral fellow Alejandro Toledo-Arana, compared bacteria grown in the lab with bacteria extracted from the intestine of Listeria-inoculated mice or with bacteria from inoculated samples of human blood. They also compared normal or wild-type bacteria with mutants that had been genetically altered so that they lacked certain known virulence factors.

Their analysis turned up many surprises, one of the biggest of which was how the bacterium’s transcriptome shifts between its soil-dwelling and intestinal modes. “When it arrives in the intestine it turns up the activity of many genes and turns down others, so we see a dramatic reshaping of the transcriptional programme. Strikingly, a series of non-coding RNAs are expressed more often in the intestine or in the blood,” Cossart says. The researchers identified one particular protein, SigB, that controls a series of genes that are needed for Listeria to adapt to the human gut, whereas a different protein, PrfA, switches on genes needed for survival and replication in the blood. By comparing mutant and wild-type bacteria, they identified two non-coding RNAs that appear to contribute to the virulence of L. monocytogenes.

And there were more surprises to come. The researchers found very long untranslated regions (UTRs) of RNA—that is, part of an RNA that is not translated into protein—that overlapped with several genes on the opposite strand and regulated their expression. This was the case, for example, for three genes that are involved in the manufacture of theListeria flagella, the tiny protrusions that allow it to move and find its way in different environments. A known repressor of flagellum synthesis, MogR, turns out to have one very long UTR that spans all three flagellum genes and acts as an antisense RNA, which can block mRNA from being transcribed into a protein

Cossart’s team also identified about 40 riboswitches, RNA structures at the front of genes that act as sensors, stopping translation or expression of the RNA when enough of the gene’s protein product has been made. Some of these riboswitches controlled expression of the gene downstream of them—as had previously been reported—but also the gene upstream. In other words, a riboswitch can extend its influence in both directions, a finding contrary to what anyone had suspected.

These and other regulatory mechanisms will almost certainly turn up in other microorganisms, Cossart says. She believes her group’s paper is likely to be the first of many that will describe, in increasingly minute detail, the complex transcriptional checks and balances that in the case of Listeria make it such a versatile organism.

In the next 10 years, she predicts, the study of bacteria in all their habitats—not just the pathogenic ones—will become a hot topic in research. And the concept of junk in molecular biology will finally be buried, as people realize that when it comes to the genome, nothing is wasted.

Source: http://www.hhmi.org/news/cossart20090517.html

Now if you think that Salmonella in Peanuts is making news these days - well you’re right. It seems that Barack Obama – the 44th US president may have had his own expereince that he decided to create a new Food Safety Working Group. And the best thing about it – it was officially announced at his weekly address.

That’s right –  up there with the big agenda. The economy, the war in Iraq, Recession and now the deadly peanut.

Have a read and tell me what you think.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________________________
EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET                              SATURDAY, March 14, 2009

WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Barack Obama Announces Key FDA Appointments and Tougher Food Safety Measures
 

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama announced the appointments of Dr. Margaret Hamburg as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and Dr. Joshua Sharfstein as the Principal Deputy Commissioner, as well as the creation of a new Food Safety Working Group.  This Food Safety Working Group will be chaired by the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture and it will coordinate with other agencies and senior officials to advise the President on improving coordination throughout the government, examining and upgrading food safety laws, and enforcing laws that will keep the American people safe.

In addition, the President also announced two other measures to protect the American people.  The Department of Agriculture will close a loophole to prevent diseased cows from entering the food supply.  And, the government will invest in the FDA to substantially increase the number of food inspectors and modernize food safety labs.
 

President Obama announced his appointments of the following individuals today:

Margaret “Peggy” Hamburg
Dr. Hamburg is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in public health and medicine, and an authority on global health, public health systems, infectious disease, bioterrorism and emergency preparedness. She served as the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s founding Vice President for the Biological Program. Before joining NTI, she was the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to this, she served for six years as the Commissioner of Health for the City of New York and as the Assistant Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

Joshua “Josh” Sharfstein
Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein is Commissioner of Health for the City of Baltimore.  He also serves as chair of the board of four affiliated nonprofit agencies.  He has been recognized as a national leader for his efforts to protect children from unsafe jewelry and over-the-counter medication, and ensuring Americans with disabilities have access to prescription drugs. He is a member of the Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice of the Institute of Medicine.

The full audio of the address is HERE. The video can be viewed online at www.whitehouse.gov.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Washington, DC

I’ve often said that I don’t believe government has the answer to every problem or that it can do all things for all people. We are a nation built on the strength of individual initiative. But there are certain things that we can’t do on our own. There are certain things only a government can do. And one of those things is ensuring that the foods we eat, and the medicines we take, are safe and don’t cause us harm. That is the mission of our Food and Drug Administration and it is a mission shared by our Department of Agriculture, and a variety of other agencies and offices at just about every level of government.

The men and women who inspect our foods and test the safety of our medicines are chemists and physicians, veterinarians and pharmacists. It is because of the work they do each and every day that the United States is one of the safest places in the world to buy groceries at a supermarket or pills at a drugstore. Unlike citizens of so many other countries, Americans can trust that there is a strong system in place to ensure that the medications we give our children will help them get better, not make them sick; and that a family dinner won’t end in a trip to the doctor’s office.

But in recent years, we’ve seen a number of problems with the food making its way to our kitchen tables. In 2006, it was contaminated spinach. In 2008, it was salmonella in peppers and possibly tomatoes. And just this year, bad peanut products led to hundreds of illnesses and cost nine people their lives – a painful reminder of how tragic the consequences can be when food producers act irresponsibly and government is unable to do its job. Worse, these incidents reflect a troubling trend that’s seen the average number of outbreaks from contaminated produce and other foods grow to nearly 350 a year – up from 100 a year in the early 1990s.

Part of the reason is that many of the laws and regulations governing food safety in America have not been updated since they were written in the time of Teddy Roosevelt. It’s also because our system of inspection and enforcement is spread out so widely among so many people that it’s difficult for different parts of our government to share information, work together, and solve problems. And it’s also because the FDA has been underfunded and understaffed in recent years, leaving the agency with the resources to inspect just 7,000 of our 150,000 food processing plants and warehouses each year. That means roughly 95% of them go uninspected.

That is a hazard to public health. It is unacceptable. And it will change under the leadership of Dr. Margaret Hamburg, whom I am appointing today as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. From her research on infectious disease at the National Institutes of Health to her work on public health at the Department of Health and Human Services to her leadership on biodefense at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Dr. Hamburg brings to this vital position not only a reputation of integrity but a record of achievement in making Americans safer and more secure. Dr. Hamburg was one of the youngest people ever elected to the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. And her two children have a unique distinction of their own. Their birth certificates feature her name twice – once as their mother, and once as New York City Health Commissioner. In that role, Dr. Hamburg brought a new life to a demoralized agency, leading an internationally-recognized initiative that cut the tuberculosis rate by nearly half, and overseeing food safety in our nation’s largest city. 

Joining her as Principal Deputy Commissioner will be Dr. Joshua Sharfstein. As Baltimore’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Sharfstein has been recognized as a national leader for his efforts to protect children from unsafe over-the-counter cough and cold medications. And he’s designed an award-winning program to ensure that Americans with disabilities had access to prescription drugs.

Their critical work – and the critical work of the FDA they lead – will be part of a larger effort taken up by a new Food Safety Working Group I am creating. This Working Group will bring together cabinet secretaries and senior officials to advise me on how we can upgrade our food safety laws for the 21st century; foster coordination throughout government; and ensure that we are not just designing laws that will keep the American people safe, but enforcing them. And I expect this group to report back to me with recommendations as soon as possible.

As part of our commitment to public health, our Agriculture Department is closing a loophole in the system to ensure that diseased cows don’t find their way into the food supply. And we are also strengthening our food safety system and modernizing our labs with a billion dollar investment, a portion of which will go toward significantly increasing the number of food inspectors, helping ensure that the FDA has the staff and support they need to protect the food we eat.

In the end, food safety is something I take seriously, not just as your President, but as a parent. When I heard peanut products were being contaminated earlier this year, I immediately thought of my 7-year old daughter, Sasha, who has peanut butter sandwiches for lunch probably three times a week. No parent should have to worry that their child is going to get sick from their lunch. Just as no family should have to worry that the medicines they buy will cause them harm. Protecting the safety of our food and drugs is one of the most fundamental responsibilities government has, and, with the outstanding team I am announcing today, it is a responsibility that I intend to uphold in the months and years to come.

Thank you.

It seems that the management of PCA stuffed up pretty badly. Let me say – Senior Management and the way they ran their company.

With bankruptcy and one of the biggest lawsuits against them approaching over the next few month – there’s no escape. With over 600 cases linked to them and 9 deaths, it looks like a pretty bad scenario.

there could be some good news out of this  - it might out a strong  message to the food companies out there. Start spending money on good microbiologist and place them high in the companies or risk bankruptcy. Not a bad way to approach it.

As I write – there news that the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) on Friday filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Virginia.

This comes just days after PCA’s president, Stewart Parnell, refused to answer questions from members of the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee.

That subcommittee is looking for ways to prevent (easy – have a pathogen monitoring program in place) another outbreak like this one, which has forced food manufacturers to recall more 2,000 products that contain peanut butter or paste made at PCA’s Blakely, Georgia, plant.

The bankruptcy action also comes on the heels of Thursday’s order by the Texas Department of State Health Services to recall all products PCA has ever shipped from its plant in Plainview, Texas.

During an investigation of that plant, inspectors discovered dead rodents, bird feathers, and rodent excrement in a crawl space above the production area. (Again – poor managment and focus on hygiene)

Plainview is the second PCA plant where inspectors have found unsanitary conditions.

Inspectors also uncovered documents that revealed PCA shipped peanut products that had tested positive for salmonella, including the strain linked to the current outbreak: Salmonella Typhimurium. Now if that not crimmal negligence then I’m not saure what is. 

That discovery also exposed a dirty secret in the food manufacturing industry: companies are not required to disclose internal tests to the FDA or state officials which I think is totally wrong.

PCA is now the focus of a criminal investigation for allegedly shipping tainted products. It also faces more than a dozen civil lawsuits.

Damaging evidence has already surfaced in the investigation, including e-mails that indicate Parnell ordered products he knew were tainted with salmonella to be shipped anyway.

Some of those potentially-tainted products made their way to poor school children of victims of recent disasters.

Legal experts say companies file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection to liquidate their assets and distribute the proceeds to creditors.

PCA’s bankruptcy filing reveals the company’s debt and assets both ranged between $1 million and $10 million, according to the Associated Press. The filing also states the recalls have been “extremely devastating” to PCA’s financial condition.

Legal teams handling some of the recent litigation against PCA told the Associated Press they are optimistic that victims and their families can still be compensated.

While the bankruptcy proceeding could postpone litigation against the company, the lawyers said they will push a judge to allow the civil actions to proceed.

Many lawyers have also filed lawsuits against King Nut Co. and Kellogg Co., which used PCA-tainted ingredients in their products.

“Even if Peanut Corp. doesn’t have enough insurance and enough assets to cover the damages, King Nut and Kellogg will have to step up,” attorney Bill Marler told the Associated Press. He has filed seven lawsuits against PCA on behalf of more than 40 possible victims.

None of PCA’s products were sold directly to consumers. They were distributed to long-term care facilities, universities, food service industries, and private label food companies in the United States, Canada, Haiti, Korea, and Trinidad.

U.S. food makers, however, used the company’s peanut butter and paste to make various products, including cookies, crackers, ice cream, energy bars, and dog treats. That’s why so many food manufacturers have recently recalled their products.

And the list of products pulled off store shelves continues to grow almost daily, making it one of the country’s largest food-related recalls.

The massive recall, however, does not include any of the major brands of peanut butter sold on grocery stores shelves. That’s a message the makers of Jif, Skippy, and Peanut Pan peanut butters have taken great measures to broadcast to consumers. Some have taken out ads in newspapers nationwide to reassure buyers their products are safe to eat.

The FDA now has a complete list of all products recalled in the salmonella outbreak on its website and it have over 50 recalls and counting.

All consumers can check that Web site daily to see if their favorite products are included in any recalls.

Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. In rare cases, it can cause more severe illnesses, including arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms) and endocarditis.Health officials say salmonella can also be transferred to humans who handle pet treats tainted with the organism. They advise pet owners to wash their hands after they come touch these pet treats.

Symptoms of salmonella infection in pets include lethargy, diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets, however, may have a decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.