Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Unnamed Restaurant Chain

A Mexican-style restaurant chain has been linked to an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections that affected 68 people in 10 US states between October 13th and December 1st, 2011. Thirty-one percent of the confirmed outbreak victims were hospitalized.

CDC has declined to identify the chain, which it refers to simply as Restaurant Chain A in its first – and final – report on this outbreak.

According to CDC, the outbreak affected consumers in Texas (43 confirmed reports), Oklahoma (16), Kansas (2), Iowa (1), Michigan (1), Missouri (1), Nebraska (1), New Mexico (1), Ohio (1) and Tennessee. Victims range in age from less than one year to 79 years old, with a median age of 25. Slightly more than one-half (54%) of the victims were female. There were no deaths.

An investigation carried out by CDC, FDA and state public health officials determined that eating at Restaurant Chain A (described as a Mexican-style fast food restaurant) was significantly associated with illness. Sixty-two percent (62%) of outbreak victims reported eating at the implicated chain in the week before becoming ill; only 17% of well people ate at that chain in the week before being interviewed.

Although no single food or ingredient was associated with the illnesses, 90% of outbreak victims reported eating lettuce, 94% ate ground beef, 77% ate cheese and 35% ate tomatoes. After reviewing the handling and cooking processes used by the restaurant chain, CDC concluded that ground beef was not the likely source of this outbreak.

For now, CDC has the following advice to share:

At this time, there is no specific advice to consumers.
Consumers are not warned to avoid any specific foods or restaurants.
If a food source is identified for this outbreak and if there is evidence of continued risk of infection, public health officials will advise the public and take the necessary steps to avoid risk of additional illnesses.
To facilitate successful traceback efforts and outbreak investigations, retail establishments should maintain detailed records of food suppliers and distributors.

Or, in a word, NOTHING!

FDA Finds Salmonella Enteritidis in Sparboe Farms Poultry House

FDA detected Salmonella Enteritidis in the environment of more than one poultry house at Sparboe Farms’ Litchfield, MN egg producing operation during the agency’s inspection of the farm.

After being informed of the Salmonella-positive results, the company initiated testing of eggs from those poultry houses. None of the eggs were positive for Salmonella.

Sparboe Farms – according to the company’s website – is the fifth largest producer and marketer of shell eggs in the USA, serving retail, wholesale and foodservice customers in 26 states.

The company maintains seven egg production and grading facilities in three states – Minnesota, Iowa and Colorado.

Late last week (November 17th and 18th), FDA posted the results of its inspections of the seven facilities. The inspections, which were carried out between April and July, 2011 revealed a number of deficiencies at one or more of the locations, including:

Inaccuracies and inadequacies in the company’s written Salmonella Enteritidis Prevention Plan,
Failure to conduct required environmental testing for Salmonella Enteritidis,
Failure to use approved methods for conducting environmental sampling and Salmonella testing,
Inadequate procedures for preventing cross-contamination between poultry houses,
Failure to prevent stray animals – including stray poultry from entering the poultry houses; and
Deficiencies in rodent control and/or insect control.

FDA issued a comprehensive Warning Letter to Sparboe Farms Owner Beth Sparboe Schnell on November 16th, detailing all of the “serious violations” observed during inspection of the various egg facilities. It was in the Warning Letter that FDA revealed the Salmonella-positive findings.

Last Friday evening (November 18th), ABC’s 20/20 aired a report on Sparboe, including an undercover video from Mercy for Animals, alleging animal cruelty and insanitary conditions in the company’s poultry houses.

Shortly after the ABC report aired, two major Sparboe customers – McDonald’s and Target – announced that they would no longer purchase eggs from Sparboe, and Target removed Sparboe eggs from its stores.

Although Sparboe Farms was relatively unaffected by last year’s massive Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak and egg recall, eFoodAlert received a number of reports from consumers who believed that they had become ill after consuming Target’s Market Pantry eggs – supplied to Target by Sparboe Farms. Consumers identified eggs from several Sparboe facilities, including the Litchfield, Minnesota location. At the time, there was never enough evidence to convince FDA or CDC to identify Sparboe-produced eggs as part of the problem.

Sparboe has acknowledged finding Salmonella in environmental samples, stating:

Salmonella is found everywhere from chicken barns and hog farms to your own kitchen counter and even on vegetables we buy from the store so naturally we expect to test positive for Salmonella on occasion in the environment. As part of the Egg Safety Rule, and Sparboe’s Salmonella Prevention Program, swabs are taken in the barn environment and tested for Salmonella. Since July 2010, when the rule went into effect, Sparboe has taken more than 3000 swabs and have found some environmental positives.

The rule states that when we find an environmental positive, we are to do additional testing inside the eggs. During testing, eggs from positive barns are not sold unless pasteurized. To date, Sparboe has never found Salmonella inside a hen or an egg.

The company adds that it was doing Salmonella testing long before the Egg Safety Rule was enacted in July of last year, and that it remains in compliance with the rule. “The warning letter,” Sparboe explains, “contained 34 corrective actions. Many cannot be resolved until FDA audits our farm again. The remaining open objections include 5 paperwork items, 7 relating to how we count and record mice, and 7 relating to our testing protocol, which was changed immediately upon notification.”

Strange definition of compliance!

Pine Nut Recall Expands; CDC Updates Outbreak Data

Forty-two people were infected with Salmonella Enteritidis after consuming contaminated Turkish pine nuts, according to CDC.

Illnesses have been reported by five states: Maryland (1), New Jersey (2), New York (27), Pennsylvania (8), and Virginia (4). Two people were hospitalized; the oldest victim was 94, and the youngest was less than one year old. None of the outbreak patients died.

An earlier report, issued by CDC on October 26th, included Arizona in the list of cases. But supplementary DNA profiling carried out by CDC determined that the Arizona case was unrelated to the Pine Nut outbreak, according to Dr. Robert Tauxe of CDC.

CDC reports that some of the outbreak victims consumed prepared dishes – such as homemade pesto, that contained raw pine nuts. Both Virginia and New York state agencies have recovered the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis from samples of pine nuts (purchased by outbreak victims from bulk bins at Wegmans supermarket stores), and homemade pesto made from bulk-purchased pine nuts. Wegmans recalled the implicated bulk pine nuts on October 26, 2011.

Salmonella contamination in Turkish pine nuts should not be a total surprise. In August of this year, Greece rejected two consignments of pine nuts from Turkey after samples from both consignments were found to containSalmonella (RASFF Notification #2011.BQS and 2011.BQM).

The Turkish pine nuts were imported into the USA by Sunrise Commodities (Englewood Cliffs, NJ) and distributed in bulk to various food vendors in Florida, New Jersey, New York and Canada. Sunrise recalled 4 lots – totally approximately 21,000 pounds – of pine nuts, after FDA confirmed the presence of Salmonella on the pine nuts. Testing is in progress to determine whether any of FDA’s isolates are a genetic match for the outbreak strain.

CDC offers the following advice to consumers:

Consumers should check their homes, including refrigerators and freezers, for Turkish pine nuts purchased from bulk bins at Wegmans stores between July 1, 2011 and October 18, 2011 and not eat them. Consumers should also not eat any foods prepared with the recalled product, including pesto, salads, and baked goods.
Restaurants and food service operators should not serve the recalled product.
Consumers, retailers, and others who have any of the recalled product should dispose of it in a closed plastic bag placed in a sealed trash can. This will prevent people or animals from eating it.
Persons who think they might have become ill from eating possibly contaminated recalled products should consult their health care providers. Infants, older adults, and persons with impaired immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness.

It’s very likely that additional recall notices will be posted in coming days, as the extent of the pine nut distribution is determined. Please refer to the Turkish Pine Nuts Recall Distribution List for more information on where the pine nuts were sold.