Listeria Info
Here is some good information on Listeria from The Cooking Blog
Macaroni Salad, Slaws Recalled
Containers of macaroni salad, sweet slaw and cole slaw produced by Ballard's Farm Sausage Inc. have been recalled because they could be contaminated with listeria, health officials said.
Listeria can cause seriously and sometimes fatal infections in the young, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems, officials said.
The affected brands include Ballard's Farm 24-ounce Amish macaroni salad, Ballard Farm's 24-ounce Amish sweet slaw, Ballard's Farm 12-ounce cole slaw and Food City 12-ounce cole slaw.
Ballard's Farm Recalls More Products
WAYNE, W.Va. -- Ballard's Farm is recalling more of its products after last week's recall of egg salad.
The most recent recall includes the 24 oz. Amish Macaroni Salad, the 24 oz. Amish Sweet Slaw, the 12 oz. Cole Slaw and the Food City 12 oz. Cole Slaw. The foods could be contaminated with Listeria.
The recall affect North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
Warning issued for meat store's items
BELLVILLE — Customers were being warned by the state health department on Wednesday not to consume any ready-to-eat or smoked meat products purchased from the Bellville Meat Market on or after Oct. 6. The warning comes after a product tested positive for listeria monocytogenes. The bacterium can cause listeriosis, with symptoms including fever, muscle aches and sometimes diarrhea or nausea. The incubation period is usually from 12 hours to three weeks but can be longer.
From http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4288156.html
Egg Salad Recalled in 17 States
Ballard's President David Ballard said the company has temporarily suspended producing egg salad while it investigates the contamination. Consumers can return the 12-ounce containers of egg salad for a refund. The company did not say where the containers were sold.
Ballard's Farm Sausage Inc. said Saturday it is recalling its egg salad in 17 states because of possible contamination.
The company said tests showed mixed results for Listeria monocytogenes. The bacterium can cause serious or fatal infections in young children or elderly people. It also can cause miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women.
Ballard's President David Ballard said the company has temporarily suspended producing egg salad while it investigates the contamination. Consumers can return the 12-ounce containers of egg salad for a refund.
Alternatives to heat processing viable say scientists
Techniques such as high-pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, radio-frequency electric fields, ultraviolet light, and irradiation have been shown to be faster and less disruptive to quality than traditional thermal processing techniques, say researchers.
Food safety concerns and regulation have driven the food industry to explore different methods of killing harmful pathogens while maintaining quality. Heat sterilisation techniques are common. However heat can also lower quality.
Researchers at the US agriculture department are currently investigating several alternative non-thermal processing technologies, including high-pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, radio-frequency electric fields, ultraviolet light, and irradiation.
Officials recall egg salad sold at Va. Wal-Marts
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A company has recalled egg salad sold in Virginia and seven other states because of possible contamination.
The egg salad was made by Ballard's Farm Sausage and was sold in 12-ounce containers as Ballard's Farm Egg Salad at Wal-Mart and other food retailers. The recall includes salads marked with a use-by date of November Seventh.
North Carolina health officials ordered the recall after a sample in North Carolina tested positive for Listeria, which can cause serious or fatal infections in young children or elderly people.
Keep reading
Phage product found effective against Listeria
A dose of bacteriophages can help ready-to-eat meat producing companies meet food safety standards for Listeria, according to a university study.
To food pathogens like Listeria, bacteriophages are the viral hit squads of the microscopic world. Bacteriophages are viruses that target bacteria, rather than human, plant or animal cells. For every bacteria, there is a phage that likes to latch on to them, take over their life processes and multiply. The baby phages then burst out to attack other nearby targets, thus killing the host cell.
They have the potential to be the next big technological advance in anti-bacterial agents processors can use in ensuring their products do not leave the plant loaded with dangerous pathogens like Listeria, Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli
Keep reading
Officials recall egg salad after contamination in NC
State health officials have announced a recall of egg salad made by Ballard's Farm Sausage Incorporated because of possible contamination.
The salad was sold in 12-ounce containers as Ballard's Farm Egg Salad at Wal-Mart and other food retailers across North Carolina. The recall includes salads marked with a use-by date of November Seventh.
The recall was issued after a sample in Wake County tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause serious or fatal infections in young children or elderly people.
USDA recalls 1,178 pounds of listeria infected pork from Herman Falter
Another Listeria Recall
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and Herman Falter Packing
Co., a Columbus, Ohio, firm, are recalling approximately 1,178 pounds
of various pork products that may be contaminated with Listeria
monocytogenes.According to authorities, the following products are subject to recall:
1-pound approximate weight packages of "Falter's Purity Brand, SMOKED
PORK NECK BONES." Each package bears the establishment number "EST.
21054" inside the USDA mark of inspection, as well as the package
code, "9-19."1-pound approximate weight packages of "Falter's Purity Brand, SMOKED
PORK JOWL." Each package bears the establishment number "EST. 21054"
inside the USDA mark of inspection, as well as the package code,
"10-27."
Read on here
New Methods for Detecting Listeria
Scientists in Wyndmoor, Pa., are improving methods to detect foodborne pathogens
"Listeriosis, the illness caused by L. monocytogenes infection, affects around 2,500 people in the United States every year, and kills about 500. Newborns, seniors, pregnant women and individuals with compromised or weakened immune systems are particularly susceptible.
Most methods for detecting harmful foodborne bacteria rely on antibodies, which are proteins used by the immune system to fight infections and foreign bodies. Because these antibodies target very specific infections, researchers can use them to identify and locate specific pathogens."
More after the jump.
UK foodborne disease cases fall by 19 per cent
Here is an interesting article about the UK finding ways to reduce foodborne diseases.
UK foodborne disease cases fall by 19 per cent: "Regulation, training and public information campaigns are having a dramatic effect on the reduction of foodborne diseases in the UK, with the number of cases of people getting sick falling by 1.5 million over the five years to the end of 2005."
Not feeling so hot? Viruses may do your body good
The word "virus" carries a negative connotation because its associated the cold and flu-like symptoms that afflict us throughout our lives.
But what if you were told that consuming a combination of viruses could potentially save your life?
In a landmark decision in August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a spray that combines six bacteria-killing viruses called bacteriophages (meaning "bacteria-eating" in Greek) or phages to eliminate listeria monocytogenes bacterium on ready-to-eat meat and poultry products.
If the bacterium are consumed, they can cause listeriosis, the deadliest form of food poisoning. It most commonly afflicts pregnant women, infants and those with compromised immune systems.
More after the jump.
Illinois company recalls roast beef due to possible contamination
October 6, 2006 - Portillo's Food Service is recalling about 3,700 pounds of sliced roast beef because of possible listeria contamination, the Illinois Department of Agriculture said Friday.
Portillo's Food Service Inc. produced the cooked, sliced beef and distributed it to Portillo's restaurant outlets in the Chicago area, said the department's Bureau of Meat and Poultry. The possible listeria exposure was discovered through in-plant testing.
No illnesses have been reported because of the beef, officials said in a statement.
The recalled products were produced Sept. 27 and approximately 330 2.5-pound packages and 200 1-pound packages of roast beef have been distributed.
Seattle area company recalling turkey sandwiches
MUKILTEO, Wash. - A Mukilteo company is recalling about 1,360 turkey sandwiches, because they might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
The sandwiches made by Jumbo Foods Incorporated are called Tuscan Sun turkey sandwiches.
The Listeria micro-organism can cause serious infections in young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. It can also cause miscarriages among pregnant women. In healthy adults, symptoms include fever, headache, nausea and diarrhea.
Gent University Study Confirms: Natural Listeria Bacteriophages Enhance Safety of Ready-to-Eat Meat Products
Thursday October 5, 9:13 am ET
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, October 5 /PRNewswire/ -- A treatment with natural bacteriophages - Greek for bacteria-eaters - can offer a biological solution for the protection of certain foods against listeria. This is confirmed in the doctorate research of Lieve Vermeiren of Gent University's Department of Food Safety and Food Quality in Belgium.
Continue Reading...
Dr. Vermeiren researched and demonstrated the efficacy of the application of Listex(TM)P100 bacteriophages on luncheon meats (ham and poultry) that were artificially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium which regularly causes serious food poisoning. The concern for this pathogen results from its ability to cause listeriosis in humans, a condition known for its high mortality rate (30%). The risk group for incurring listeriosis includes people with a weak immune system as well as babies and pregnant women. Listeria incidentally occurs in unprocessed foods and is particularly renowned for its capacity to grow and reproduce even at low temperatures, at high salt- and low pH-conditions and for its tendency to occupy niches in the infrastructure of food processing companies. Contamination of luncheon meats is particularly a concern during the production process, at the slicing and packaging stage of industrial production.
Scaling the cell wall
05 October 2006
A method to probe the individual steps in bacterial cell wall synthesis will advance the search for more effective medicines.
Bacterial cell wall biosynthesis is the target for several clinically used antibiotics, but currently there are only limited methods to study the process in vitro. Timothy Bugg and colleagues at the University of Warwick, UK, have used a series of fluorescent peptides to study the way bacterial cell walls are made. These systems are ‘really hard to study,’ said Bugg, ‘since they involve complex, lipid-linked structures.’
Gram-positive bacteria, such as Listeria, are enclosed by a thick cell wall, a protective mesh of sugars and amino acids that surrounds their lipid cell membrane. The wall is made by a cycle of enzyme-catalysed steps mediated by this membrane. Bugg’s group concentrated on the early steps in the biosynthesis, occurring inside the cell.
The Lean Plate Club - Food-borne illnesses are actually declining
Still, tainted food and drink affect an estimated 76 million Americans annually, so take care
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
SALLY SQUIRES
If the recent outbreak of the E. coli infection traced to fresh spinach has left you worried about what's on your plate, breathe a little easier: Despite the recent high-profile problem, food-borne illness has been declining steadily in the United States.
Today, the odds of getting sick from tainted food "are overall about a third less than they were in 1998," says Richard Raymond, undersecretary for food safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Continue Reading...Food illnesses decline, CDC reports
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE
AP MEDICAL WRITER
SAN FRANCISCO -- Despite the recent E. coli spinach outbreak, food may be safer now than at any other time in the last decade, with illness occurring at record-low rates, new federal statistics show.
Consumers get part of the credit, for handling food more safely at home, but experts say the biggest improvement came from better industry controls and inspections.
"The food is actually cleaner to begin with," said Dr. Robert Tauxe, top food scientist at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Certain germs have dramatically declined, and "that to me is really solid progress."
However, the trend could reverse in coming years if fruit and vegetable growers do not address problems like those that led to the spinach scare, Tauxe and others said.
The Truth About Expiration Dates
Since the spinach scare, food safety is foremost on the minds of grocery shoppers nationwide. Dates on labels? Here is what you need to know.
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2006/db20061002_959305.htm?
chan=top+news_top+news+index_after+work
