Listeria clue links firm to third death

January 21, 2006

The Australian

Verity Edwards

THE smallgoods company at the centre of the fatal listeria outbreak in South Australia has been linked to a third death.

The state Health Department said there was evidence a Victorian woman ate meat from Conroy's Smallgoods before a massive recall of its products when they were linked to two other deaths in early December.

The monocytogenes strain of listeria that led to the January 8 death of the elderly woman at Adelaide's The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (TQEH) was the same one that killed Royal Adelaide Hospital patient Richard Formosa in October and Gawler Hospital cancer patient David Davies-Colgate in November.

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FMC tightens up on listeria

January 14, 2006
The Advertiser (Australia)
Kara Phillips
http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,17815890%255E2682,00.html
PROCESSED cold meats and salads have been removed from the menu for pregnant women at Flinders Medical Centre, following the recent listeria outbreaks across SA.
FMC dietics and nutrition manager Liz Kellett said the new menu was introduced to further protect pregnant women.
"Listeriosis can result in miscarriage, premature birth, or stillbirth in rare cases," Ms Kellett said.
"Foods which are known to be at risk of carrying the infection are not offered as food options for pregnant women at FMC."
Ms Kellett said the hospital had taken the "extra precaution above food standard requirements" in response to the recent listeria-related deaths.
Independent testing at FMC showed the bacteria was not present in the hospital.
Meanwhile, the lawyer acting for the Formosa family says the family will be seeking a settlement from the Conroy's

Cleared Conroy's back on shelves

January 6, 2006
The Advertiser (Australia)
Sam Riches

CONROY'S Smallgoods products rolled off the production line and into supermarkets yesterday, with shoppers confident stringent quality control, following the listeria outbreak last month, no longer is an issue.

While only selected products, including fritz and cabana, were available at retail outlets, it was expected 95 per cent of the range would be back in shops by Wednesday. Joint managing director Pat Conroy was "delighted" to see products rolling out again as the company attempted to recover from losses estimated at nearly $2 million after a forced shutdown.

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EU rapid alert finds listeria monocytogenes in smoked salmon

January 5, 2006
FishUpdate.com

THE EU rapid alert for week 52 found Listeria monocytogenes in smoked salmon fillets from Denmark, notified by Italy. The same was found in sliced smoked salmon from Spain, also notified by Italy. Norway notified that it had detected unauthorised nitrates in its smoke salmon, and Cyprus notified that it had found listeria monocytogenes in its marinated salmon ėgravlax" slices. Listeria monocytogenes were found in frozen pangasius fillets from Vietnam via Belgium, notified by Italy.

Germany notified that they had found ethoxyquin in frozen Atlantic salmon fillets from Chile, and high content of iodine in dried seafood from Japan.

Finally, Italy also had detected listeria monocytogenes in sliced smoked salmon from Denmark.

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