Tag: E. coli O157:H7

Recalls and Alerts: March 17, 2012

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: LSG Sky Chefs (San Jose, CA) recalls 7-Eleven Fresh to Go Grilled Chicken Caesar Wrap (8″ x 4.5″ x 2.5″ pkgs; Est. P-44745; Freshest Before dates of 3/15/2012 through 3/18/2012), due to the presence of undeclared egg. The recalled sandwiches were distributed to 7-Eleven stores in Northern California.
  • Allergy Alert: Troyer Cheese, Inc. recalls Backroad Country Caramel Puffcorn, 8 oz bags (UPC 0 49646 90176 0; Sell by date/Lot codes 03/07/12 C1P16, 03/21/12 B2Y16 , 05/16/12 B1X16, 05/30/12 B1X16, and 06/13/12 A3K16) and Backroad Country Caramel Puffcorn, 16 oz bags (UPC 0 49646 90157 6; Sell by date/Lot codes 03/07/12 C1P16, 03/21/12 B2Y16, 05/16/12 B1X16, 05/30/12 B1X16, 06/13/12 A2R16, and 06/13/12 A3K16), because the products may contain undeclared milk. The recalled products were distributed between 1/06/2012 and 03/12/2012 through mail orders and in retail stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.
  • OTC Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall: Wegmans advises its customers that Medtech Products Inc. (part of Prestige Brands, Inc.) has recalled PediaCare Infants Fever Reducer Pain Reliever, cherry (1 fl oz; UPC 8-14832-01094; All lot codes), because the acetaminophen in the product may separate from the liquid and sink to the bottom of the bottle, resulting in an unreliable dosage of acetaminophen.

Canada

  • Food Safety Recall: AllJuice International Inc. (Thornhill, ON) recalls Aljuice Key Lime Fruit Beverage (Code beginning with BB 2014 JUN 15), Aljuice Strawberry Kiwi Fruit Beverage (Code beginning with BB 2014 JUN 16), Aljuice Cranberry-Raspberry Cocktail Fruit Beverage (Code beginning with BB 2014 JUN 16), Aljuice Mango Fruit Beverage (Code beginning with BB 2014 JUN 16) and St. Maarten Mangos & Carrots Fruit Beverage (Code beginning with BB 2014 JUN 16), because the products may contain harmful glass fragments. The recalled beverages were distributed in Ontario.
  • Food Safety Alert/Outbreak Alert: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has expanded its earlier warnings and now warns the public not to consume any ground beef products from Establishment 761 that were manufactured between July 1, 2011 and February 15, 2012, because the products may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The affected products may bear a Best before date from BB 2012 JA 01 up to and including BB 2013 FE 15, bear a production code with a format of 11 JL 01 up to and including 12 FE 15, or bear a 5-digit lot code where the last four digits are 1831 or greater. The products have been distributed nationally to retail stores, restaurants and institutional establishments. There has been one reported illness associated with the consumption of these products.

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.

Guest Blog: In Defense of Food Safety Leadership

The following Guest Blog first appeared on Food Safety News, and is reproduced here with the kind permission of its author, Nancy Donley.

In Defense of Food Safety Leadership

by Nancy Donley

My only child, Alex, died from hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by eating E. coli O157:H7-contaminated ground beef back in 1993 when he was only 6 years old. It was the most horrendous experience possible.

His first symptoms were severe abdominal cramping and bowel movements that consisted strictly of blood and mucus. Alex suffered terribly as his organs shut down one by one. At one point one of his lungs collapsed, requiring bedside surgery. His brain swelled so horribly that shunts were drilled into his head in an effort to relieve the pressure, but to no avail.

My brave little boy’s last words to me before slipping into a coma were, “Don’t cry, Mommy” as I couldn’t stop the tears from silently flowing. His last gesture to his dad was to blow him a kiss. I was with him when he suffered a grand mal seizure and was put on a ventilator. My little boy, my only child, was dead.

Alex had wanted to be a paramedic when he grew up so that he “could help others” — his words. So when he died we hoped to be able to donate his organs so that he could fulfill that wish of helping others, but his organs were unsalvageable because of the damage caused by the E. coli toxins.

There was no cure for this awful disease then and there still isn’t today. Doctors can only hope to support bodily systems until the toxins pass through. It is for this reason that it is critically important for meat and poultry companies to put into place prevention strategies and technologies to ensure that contaminated meat doesn’t make its way into the marketplace.  That’s why we need to support innovations and advances that enhance food safety.

After Alex’s death, I felt compelled — really more like obligated — to fulfill his wish of helping and protecting other consumers by being his voice and working with federal regulating agencies and with companies to see to it that we did a better job as a country in generating a safer food supply. In the process, I have visited numerous meat and poultry plants, have provided input on public policies and food safety laws, and have served on the National Advisory Board for Meat and Poultry Inspection.

One of the many plants I visited was Beef Products, Inc. I got to know the owners, Eldon and Regina Roth, and was impressed by their complete commitment to the safety and wholesomeness of the meat products they produced. I was also impressed by the food safety culture they instilled throughout their company. We shed tears together over what happened to Alex and realized how we share the common goal of preventing illness and death from foodborne pathogens. Ever since that moment, BPI has generously supported STOP and has never asked for anything in return.

That said, one point that needs to be perfectly clear is this:  After what I personally experienced watching my son suffer and die, I am very skeptical and cynical about for-profit meat companies and their professed commitment to food safety. Not all companies “walk their talk.” BPI does.

There has been a lot of misinformation swirling around the Internet and on TV about lean beef trim produced by Beef Products, Inc.  As I stated earlier, I have personally visited their plant and the categorization of calling their product “pink slime” is completely false and incendiary.  Consumers need to understand that this product is meat, period, and that the use of ammonia hydroxide in minute amounts during processing improves the safety of the product and is routinely used throughout the food industry. There are many types of interventions including food-grade antimicrobial sprays which are used on all manner of foods.  Some of these things may sound icky and gross, especially when inaccurately portrayed.  These interventions are necessary in ridding meat of deadly pathogens and are required to prove they pose no threats to consumers. Companies would be prohibited by the USDA and FDA to use substances that could be harmful in human consumption.

I am very concerned that mis-categorization campaigns such as this “pink slime” campaign will cause well-intentioned companies such as BPI to cease innovations for developing better food safety technologies and strategies. Why try to do something better only to get set up as a target?  If this does in fact happen, and promising technologies get thwarted, we, the American public, will be the losers.  And tragedies like Alex will continue to go on and on and on.

About the author: Nancy Donley is recognized as a leading proponent of improvement in both government and private food safety efforts since the death of her six-year old son Alex in 1993 from consumption of E. coli O157:H7-contaminated ground beef. Alex was her and her husband Tom’s only child. Nancy works in a volunteer capacity for STOP Foodborne Illness and has served as its president for over 10 years. She has done extensive advocacy work on behalf of the organization and has been featured in numerous magazine articles, newspaper articles and television interviews in efforts to increase awareness about the risks of foodborne illness. Nancy serves on the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection. She has received numerous awards for her advocacy efforts.

Profiling E. coli O157:H7 and Other STECs

Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC) can be found in meat and in a number of different fruits and vegetables, and may cause potentially deadly infections, especially in children and in the elderly. STEC also are referred to as verocytotoxic E. coli (VTEC) or enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC)

Some history

Many decades ago, a run-of-the-mill strain of E. coli acquired the ability to produce a toxin known as stx2 – probably courtesy of a bacteriophage that transported it from a random Shigella microbe. After undergoing mutations that changed its antigenic structure and its ability to ferment certain carbohydrates, our E. coli acquired the capacity to produce a second toxin – stx1 – and shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 was born.

E. coli O157:H7 was isolated for the first time in 1970, from an Irish piglet that had developed enteritis. Five years later, the microbe was found in the stool of a California woman who was suffering from bloody diarrhea. The first confirmed foodborne disease outbreaks caused by E. coli O157:H7 took place in 1982, among patrons of McDonalds – the first on in Oregon, the second in Michigan.

E. coli O157:H7 is just one of several shiga toxin-producing E. coli strains, known collectively as STEC. Other strains include O104:H4 (the cause of a massive sprout-related outbreak in Germany in 2011), as well as O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145.

What are shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STECs) and what is their natural habitat?

E. coli O157:H7 and other STECs are members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. They are motile, rod-shaped bacteria that are capable of growing either with or without oxygen. STECs are found in the large intestines of many animals, especially in ruminants such as cattle. They are introduced into the soil and surface water through contaminated feces or the use of raw manure as fertilizer.

How is STEC transmitted? What is the incubation period of the infection?

STEC food poisoning results when an individual eats food that is contaminated with the microbe. The infection also can be transmitted secondarily by contact with stool from an infected individual. It takes only 100-200 STEC microbes to cause an infection.The incubation period varies from one to eight days, depending on the dose, and on the susceptibility of the victim.

What are the symptoms of an infection with STEC? How long do they last?

Symptoms of STEC infections include severe – often bloody – diarrhea, abdominal pain, and vomiting. Unless complications arise, symptoms typically last for 5 to 10 days.

What is the prognosis?

STEC infections are self-limiting in most cases involving healthy adults. Young children and some elderly victims are at risk of developing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe and sometimes fatal complication. HUS strikes approximately 5-10% of STEC-infected children under the age of 10 years, affecting the function of the kidneys, digestive system and other organs. HUS is fatal in 3 to 5% of cases; 12-30% of HUS victims continue to suffer long-term consequences of their illness, including hypertension or impaired kidney function.

What foods carry STEC?

E. coli O157:H7 and other STEC bacteria can be found most commonly in raw beef, unpasteurized dairy products, and raw produce.

How can people protect themselves from STEC?

People acquire STEC infections by person-to-person transmission; by ingesting contaminated food, milk or water; by coming into contact with infected animals (for example at petting zoos); or by swimming or playing in contaminated water.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer these suggestions for avoiding STEC infections:

  1. WASH YOUR HANDS thoroughly after using the bathroom or changing diapers and before preparing or eating food.
  2. WASH YOUR HANDS after contact with animals or their environments (at farms, petting zoos, fairs, even your own backyard).
  3. COOK meats thoroughly. Ground beef and meat that has been needle-tenderized should be cooked to a temperature of at least 160°F/70˚C. It’s best to use a thermometer, as color is not a very reliable indicator of “doneness.”
  4. AVOID raw milk, unpasteurized dairy products, and unpasteurized juices (like fresh apple cider).
  5. AVOID swallowing water when swimming or playing in lakes, ponds, streams, swimming pools, and backyard “kiddie” pools.
  6. PREVENT cross contamination in food preparation areas by thoroughly washing hands, counters, cutting boards, and utensils after they touch raw meat.

Additionally, 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 STECs and other food-borne pathogens, visit the CDC website or read Food Safety: Old Habits, New Perspectives.