Category foodborne pathogens

Nordic nations had a seasonal campylobacteriosis peak in mid- to late summer while most other European countries had a smaller rise earlier in the year, according to a study. Researchers in Eurosurveillance examined how the seasonality of campylobacteriosis varied across Europe from January 2008 to December 2016, looked at associations with temperature and precipitation and... Continue Reading Read More

More than 130 people died due to Salmonella infection in Europe in 2016, according to a report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Salmonellosis is the second most commonly reported gastrointestinal infection and 95,326 laboratory-confirmed cases were reported in 2016 and 134 were fatal. Notification rates have stabilized in the last... Continue Reading Read More

Contributed Editor’s note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also urge the public to avoid eating raw meat dishes. The agency has documented numerous outbreaks in relation to the seasonal consumption of these types of foods. With each holiday season, there are hundreds of people in the Midwest who are sickened after eating cannibal... Continue Reading Read More

Cattle in Scotland have a higher level of a certain subtype of E. coli O157 which causes more severe human infections, according to a report. Scientists found that Scottish cattle have more E. coli O157 phage type (PT) 21/28, which is associated with super-shedding in cattle. Super-shedding is the passing of large volumes of the... Continue Reading Read More

Laboratory test results show what local public health officials have suspected for a couple of weeks. Food served by church members to “thousands” of people was contaminated with bacteria that thrives when food is not kept hot enough. Hundreds of people reported falling ill. Officials with the Cabarrus Health Alliance in North Carolina say the... Continue Reading Read More

Researchers from a German institute have expanded knowledge about produce harboring antibiotic resistance genes that often escape traditional molecular detection methods. These antibiotic resistance genes might evade cultivation-independent detection, but could still be transferred to human pathogens, according to a team from the Julius Kühn Institut. Fresh fruits and vegetables are increasingly recognized as a... Continue Reading Read More

Inspectors from Vancouver Coastal Health have discovered a local family-owned business did not use proper processing in the production of meat products including sausages and salami, which could allow for growth of potentially deadly bacteria. The health department on the West Coast of Canada has issued a public warning for eight different products from Polonia... Continue Reading Read More

For more than 2 1/2 years, management at the Colton, California facility of McCain Foods USA ignored positive test results for Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella, choosing to ship the potentially contaminated vegetable and fruit products without conducting confirmation tests. This pattern of behavior was discovered during an internal audit at the manufacturing location, according to... Continue Reading Read More

Many vendors at farmers markets take inadequate precautions to prevent the spread of foodborne illness, and they should be trained to reduce food-safety risks, according to Penn State researchers who completed the final phase of an innovative five-year study. Using a comprehensive three-way approach, the research assessed food safety behaviors at Pennsylvania farmers markets using... Continue Reading Read More

The United Nations’ FAO and the World Health Organization have found that the risk of histamine development in fish of the Salmonidae family is unlikely to reach the levels needed to cause food poisoning. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO) said that under appropriate time-temperature control... Continue Reading Read More