Category: Clostridium

Profiling Clostridium botulinum

Clostridium botulinum produces a toxin so deadly that it could be used as a biological weapon.

Some history

Sausage poisoning, one of the earliest recognized forms of food poisoning, was first described in the 18th and early 19th centuries and was likely due to Clostridium botulinum. Infant botulism, a different form of illness, was described for the first time in California in 1976.

What is Clostridium botulinum, and where is its natural habitat?

Clostridium botulinum is a spore-forming bacterium that is only able to grow in the complete absence of molecular oxygen (anaerobic conditions), such as conditions found inside a hermetically sealed, processed can or jar of food. The spores are able to withstand normal cooking temperatures, but not the very high temperatures reached during the processing of most canned foods. Spores of Clostridium botulinum are found in soil and water around the world.

How is Clostridium botulinum transmitted? What is the incubation period of the infection?

Clostridium botulinum food poisoning results when an individual eats food in which the microbe has germinated, grown and produced its lethal toxin. In the case of infant botulism, the infant (one year old or less) ingests the spores that are in a food – honey is a typical vehicle – and the toxin is formed when the spores germinate and grow in the baby’s intestine. The incubation period for infant botulism is 3 to 10 days; for the more typical form of botulism, it is 12 to 72 hours.

What is botulism? How long does it take to develop?

Botulism is the syndrome produced by the action of Clostridium botulinum toxin on the body’s nervous system.

What are the symptoms of botulism?

Initial symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, difficulty in swallowing, blurred vision and muscle weakness. Early symptoms of infant botulism include lethargy, weakness, poor muscle tone, constipation, difficulty feeding and a poor gag reflex. As the action of the toxin progresses, breathing becomes more difficult.

What is the prognosis of botulism?

Botulism can be fatal in 10 to 60% of cases, usually due to respiratory failure. Infant botulism, if treated appropriately, has a survival rate nearing 100%.

What foods carry Clostridium botulinum and its toxin?

Clostridium botulinum is associated with foods where molecular oxygen is absent – typically, processed low-acid canned foods. Because the microbe cannot grow in a very acid environment or in the presence of high levels of salt or sugar, botulism is not a risk in most canned tomato products or in jams or jellies containing sugar. Cases of botulism have been traced to a variety of foods, including home-canned vegetables, improperly stored foil-wrapped baked potatoes, and garlic packed in oil. Approximately 20% of infant botulism cases are traced back to honey that contains Clostridium botulinum spores.

How can people protect themselves from botulism poisoning?

The toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum is inactivated by boiling. Home-canned vegetables should be heated to a boil and simmered for 10 minutes before being served. Leftovers – especially thick sauces and stews that probably contain little or no oxygen – also should be heated to a boil and simmered for 10 minutes before serving.

Never taste a food to see whether it is “off”; Clostridium botulinum can grow and produce its toxin without altering the appearance, taste, or odor of a food, and even a minuscule quantity of toxin is enough to make a person very ill.

Always cool leftovers promptly in the refrigerator or freezer. Do not let food stand at room temperature for extended periods of time. When thawing a frozen dish, do so in the refrigerator – not at room temperature.

Always pay attention to recall notices, and return any recalled item to the store, or discard it in a sealed bag.

For more information on Clostridium botulinum and other food-borne pathogens, visit the CDC website or read Food Safety: Old Habits, New Perspectives.

Recalls and Alerts: October 29, 2011

Here is today’s list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals, allergy alerts and miscellaneous compliance issues. The live links will take you directly to the official recall notices and company news releases that contain detailed information for each recall and alert.

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United States

  • Allergy Alert: Gardenburger, LLC (Clearfield, UT) recalls Eating Right™ Soy Protein Burgers (4-count, 10-oz carton; UPC 79893 80071; Lot codes NOV 17 12 WT A and NOV 17 12 WT B), because the burgers may contain undeclared milk, due to a packaging error. The recalled frozen burgers were distributed by Lucerne Foods (Pleasanton, CA) and sold in Safeway, Carrs, Dominick’s, Genuardi’s, Pak ‘N’ Save, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Vons, and Pavilions retail stores nationwide.
  • Food Safety Alert: Pennsylvania’s Departments of Agriculture and Health advise consumers and retailers to immediately discard milk purchased from Brunton Dairy (Aliquippa, Beaver County, PA), as a sample of pasteurized, homogenized fat-free milk from the dairy was found to be contaminated with Yersinia enterocolitica. The alert refers to milk with a Sell-by date of Oct 25 or later. Production at the Dairy has been suspended pending the completion of additional testing.
  • Food Recall: Food City reports that the manufacturer has recalled Kern’s 8′ No Sugar Added Cherry Pie and Kern’s 8′ No Sugar Added Blueberry Pie. No details are indicated.
  • Outbreak Alert: The North Carolina Division of Public Health is investigating 26 cases of E. coli in Wake (14), Sampson (6), Durham (1), Franklin (1), Johnston (1), Orange (1) and Wilson (1) counties. Ten of the cases are confirmed, and 16 are still under investigation. Five people – 4 children and 1 adult – are hospitalized. Twenty-three of the 26 outbreak victims attended the State Fair earlier this month.

Canada

  • Food Withdrawal: Madrona Specialty Foods withdraws Hannah’s Naturals Halloween Cookies (Costco Item #321233; Best before 2012 JA 13), because some of the cookies have developed mold growth. The Halloween Cookies were sold at Costco Wholesale stores in Western Canada between September 14th and October 8th, 2011.

Europe

  • Food Safety Recall (Italy): Bio Gaudiano recalls Organic Olive alle mandorle/Almond-Stuffed Olives (314ml glass jars; all batch codes), due to the risk of Clostridium botulinum contamination and potential development of botulinum toxin.
  • Outbreak Alert (Norway): The Food Safety Authority has received a report from the Department of Public Health of three cases of shigellosis in Østfold. The agencies are cooperating to determine whether these cases may be linked to a number of cases reported in Tromsø earlier in October.

Some supermarket chains post recall notices on their web sites for the convenience of customers. To see whether a recalled food was carried by your favorite supermarket, follow the live link to the supermarket’s recall web site.

*The Kroger umbrella encompasses numerous supermarket, marketplace and convenience store chains, listed on the Kroger corporate home page.
**Includes Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Dominick’s, Genuardi’s, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs and Pak N’ Save.

Botulism Update – Gaudiano Olives Shipped To 3 Continents

One elderly Helsinki woman is dead and a second patient – an adult member of the same household – is recovering in hospital after both ate from the same jar of almond-stuffed organic olives manufactured and packed by Gaudiano, an Italian food company.

Botulinum toxin was found in the opened jar by the Finnish National Institute of Health and Welfare laboratory.

Approximately 900 jars of the incriminated olives were imported into Finland by Kespro in September 2010; most were sold at supermarkets belonging to the K-chain in Espoo (Iso Omena), Vantaa (Jumbo) and Rovaniemi (Eteläkeskus). Some of the olives also were served to customers in four restaurants in the Greater Helsinki area: Kolme Seppää (Helsinki), La Famiglia (Helsinki and Vantaa), and Rafaello.

Kespro has withdrawn the olives from retail sale, and EVIRA (the Finnish Food Safety Authority) has issued a warning to the public against eating the potentially toxic olives. The recall encompasses Gaudiano Organic Olives Stuffed With Almonds (314 ml glass jars; see sample jar, above; Best before dates 08/2012 and 09/2012; Batch numbers H2510X or L1810X).

EVIRA has continued to analyze unopened jars of the stuffed olives, but has not yet discovered botulinum toxin in any jar except for the opened jar consumed by the two Helsinki victims. During its investigation, however, EVIRA has observed that the lids of some of the jars were not tightly closed and had leaked.

After receiving notification of the problem via the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), Italian health authorities instructed the manufacturer (Società Cooperativa Agricola G.M.G. a r.l. dei F.lli Gaudiano) to suspend production and quarantine all outstanding products (not just the olives) pending an investigation of their manufacturing and packing operations. The company has withdrawn all production lots of its Almond-Stuffed Olives from the market.

Based on the trace-forward investigation carried out at Gaudiano’s facility, the incriminated batch of stuffed olives was shipped to one or more destinations in the following countries (see RASFF Notification #2011.1479): Armenia, Barbados, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the USA.

Government food safety sites in Finland, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany have issued consumer alerts and/or recall notices for the incriminated batch of olives.

Olive-lovers around the world should check their pantries and refrigerators for Gaudiano products, and return the Almond-Stuffed Olives to the store or discard them in a sealed bag. And, until the Italian investigation is complete and the outcome is known, it would be wise to abstain from eating other Gaudiano products that are packed in hermetically-sealed jars.