Additional Vegetables being tracked for Salmonella
With the massive U.S. salmonella outbreak still lingering, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has broadened its investigation to include other vegetables in addition to tomatoes. In an attempt to source the outbreak the FDA safety chief Dr David Acheson stressed "Tomatoes aren't off the hook, it's just that there is clearly a need to think beyond tomatoes".
Items commonly served with fresh tomatoes is the only hint the F.D.A. has disclosed as they search for the reason that the outbreak continues, with 869 people now confirmed ill.
Kroger Recalls Possible Contaminated Beef
Kroger Co. is recalling ground beef products that may be contaminated with E.coli O157:H7 following an outbreak of cases throughout Ohio and Michigan. The products include all varieties and weights of ground beef products bearing a Kroger label sold between May 21 and June 8, 2008 at Michigan and Ohio Kroger retail stores.
The recall was initiated after test results released by the Michigan and Ohio Departments of Agriculture and Health confirmed that there was an association between the ground beef products and the illnesses.
Michigan & Ohio E.coli cases linked to ground beef
The Ohio and Michigan health departments are investigating multiple illnesses linked to an outbreak of E.coli O157:H7. There have been 19 cases in Ohio and 15 cases in Michigan, many of which resulted in hospitalizations.
Test results released by the Ohio department of Health and Agriculture have confirmed that a raw ground beef sample provided by an Ohio case is linked to the multistate outbreak.
More than half of the Michigan patients have reported purchasing and consuming ground beef from Kroger Food Stores. &Kroger is fully cooperating with sate and federal investigators,& said Michigan Department of Agriculture Director Don Koivisto.
American Meat Institute urges USDA to Require Test-and-Hold
The USDA has been requested to support a new policy which would require companies to hold product tested by the Food Safety and Inspection Service until the agency returns test results.
The American Meat Institute will give its full support to a new policy where the tested meat product will not be released for commerce until the results are available, the industry standard being a 48-72 hour wait.
The new policy would avoid potential recalls of contaminated product from reaching consumers. In 2007, 26 of the 49 E. coli 0157:H7 recalls had entered commerce while waiting for positive test results.
According to AMI: "Such a policy should not consist of agency retention of any FSIS-tested product, but rather require a company to utilize its own , effective control measures that ensure the product is not used or distributed for sale before the test results are known."
Food Safety Testing a growing World Wide Concern: Canada aids China
As world-wide concern for food safety testing raises, the Canadian Government has stepped in to aid the Chinese in better regulating their vast and troubled food industry. Financing for the project was provided from a little-known, $20-million aid program run by Agriculture Canada.
Thus far Canadian experts have helped draft new food-safety laws touted recently by China, tutored scores of Chinese food-safety authorities and even developed the first training manual for meat inspectors in a country whose livestock output is vastly larger than Canada's.
Thought being implemented in 2003, the project has gained priority due to the increase in China's tainted-food crisis. Critics argue Canada's aid may be of little value until China fundamentally overhauls a system in which millions of small suppliers still operate virtually without oversight.
There is a growing trend for tougher inspections and regulations where food safety is concerned and consumers around the world are demanding the maximum safety in food processing.
Sources:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=545920
http://www.agr.gc.ca/cb/index_e.php
Hawaiian Packing-Plant Recalls Beef Due to Possible E. coli Contamination
Beef packaging plant, Palama Holdings LLC, Kapolei, Hawaii, voluntarily recalled 68,670 pounds of ground beef once in-house testing discovered it could be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7. The Palama tests results on the ground beef products were not available till after they were already distributed to retailers, foodservice establishments and commissaries in Hawaii.
The beef products, subject to recall, were produced between April 9, 2008 through to April 21, 2008. This is a CLASS 1 RECALL1 and the health risk has been set to high.
1CLASS I Recall: This is a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences.
Sources:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_014_2008_Release
http://www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/webNews.details.aspx?item=20445
FSIS Outlines Plans to Broaden Scope of Meat Cuts Tested for Strains of E.Coli
The US Food Safety and Inspection Service ("FSIS") plans to look closely at how primal cuts are handled and tested before deciding whether it should define E. coli 0157:H7 as a compound in beef regardless of the type of product or intended use of the product.
Though no decisions have been made, it is agreed the current system is not working. Right now intact products distributed for consumption as intact product is not considered corrupt if it is contaminated with E. coli.
Says FSIS Deputy Assistant Administrator Daniel Engeljohn "I don't want to leave this problem and I don't want to have a prolonged, fruitless deliberation on this subject. We have a problem. Let's work quickly and thoughtfully to find the right prescription to solve it."
http://www.meatingplace.com /webNews/