In a recent press release from the USDA’ Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), new procedures and sampling techniques are being compiled into data in order to decrease the growing prevalence of Salmonella in our nation’s beef and poultry supply. According to a CDC report in 2006, Salmonella accounted for 38.6% of human foodborne illnesses, the greatest of all such pathogens. FSIS also launched their new protocol to deal with Salmonella in 2006. The initiative grouped production establishments into categories based on their rates of Salmonella with current regulations.

The categories for establishments are as follows, as stated in the report:

Category 2 establishments are those with sample set results above half but not exceeding the current standard for one or both of their most recent sample sets and Category 3 are those that are exceeding the current standards. Category 1 establishments have the lowest Salmonella rates of the three categories with sample set results at or below half of the current standards.

All the collected data from the establishments will be posted on the FSIS web site on March 28, 2008. The new compilation of data will shed more light on data already analyzed which shows differences in the third quarter of 2007 with the first quarter.

Eighty-four percent of turkey slaughter establishments are now Category 1, the other 16 percent are in Category 2. These numbers represent significant improvement from the first quarter of 2007 where 53 percent of establishments were in Category 1, 38 percent in Category 2 and three percent at Category 3. For broilers, the percentage of establishments in Category 1 is 73 percent and the percentage of establishments in Category 2 is 23 percent. This figure is up by ten percent from the first quarter of 2007. This is compared with only 35.5 percent of broiler establishments performing in Category 1 after the first quarter of 2006.

New technology such as new equipment, procedures, and processing techniques are also being tested at Category 1 establishments to measure their effectiveness at combating the presence of Salmonella. The partaking establishments take samples during every shift to be sent to FSIS for analysis.

Along with all of the data being collected and analyzed, FSIS has reexamined how to deal with smaller ground beef establishments that produce very little of the beef supply. Rather than taking the majority of test samples from these establishments, more samples are being taken from the larger establishments, while random testing of the smaller establishments continues. FSIS is also looking into sub-groups of establishments, such as ratite or religious-exempt establishments, to make sure that all possible sub-groups are documented and tested so that it can be clearer where contamination is coming from. All data is being compared to data on the CDC’s PulseNet so that the FSIS can have a clearer picture of which facilities are producing products that lead to foodborne illness.

Labels: beef, food safety, FSIS, poultry, Salmonella

A New York company is recalling 114,540 pounds of concentrated chicken base products because they were ineligible for import to the United States from China.

In a news release today by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, the agency said the products distributed nationwide by Perk-up Inc., of White Plains, New York, did not meet inspection requirements and weren't exempt from inspection.

The products being recalled are:

• 5-pound pails of "PANDA BRAND CHICKEN BASE CONCENTRADO DE CALDO DE POLLO." Each container also bears the case code "2700031."
• 5-pound bags of "PANDA BRAND CHICKEN BASE CONCENTRADO DE CALDO DE POLLO." Each package also bears the case code "2700200."

The chicken base products were imported from China on various dates from May 2008 to September 2008. No illnesses have been reported in connection with the food safety recall.

Labels: E coli lawyer, food poisoning lawyer

Well water tests are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday this week as part of the state of Oklahoma's investigation into last year's E. coli O111 outbreak at Country Cottage restaurant.

In a report issued late last week,the office of Oklahoma Attorney General W.A. Drew Edmondson said the likely source of the outbreak was poultry waste scattered on fields within a five-mile radius of the restaurant.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health said it hasn't been able to find such a link and an area poultry industry source has called the attorney general's report speculative and "irresponsible.''
The Country Cottage E. coli O111 outbreak was one of the worst food poisoning outbreaks of 2008. One person died and 314 were sickened by the outbreak strain of bacteria. Most who were stricken had eaten at the independent restaurant in Locust Grove, Oklahoma, from Aug. 15 to Aug. 17.

The attorney general's report identified the restaurant's private well as the vehicle for transmission of the pathogen. According to the report, 39 active poultry houses are located within a five-mile radius of the restaurant. Each year, fields in the area are sprinkled with 5,000 to 7,000 tons of chicken litter. The report said E. coli O111 has been found in poultry waste in the past and that the land around the restaurant is at a gradient which provides a pathway for bacterial transport.

Moreover, the restaurant normally uses municipal water. But for two hours each day on Aug. 9 and 10 it switched to well water because pressure dropped in the municipal water supply, according to the AG's report.

Edmondson told the Pryor Daily Times: "The goal is to protect the public. We thought there were questions not being asked and answers not being provided.''

The state health department last year found E. coli contaminants at the restaurant's private well, but not the O111 strain that was active in the outbreak.

The health department's Leslea Bennett-Webb told the Pryor Daily Times that the agency is still investigating.

The attorney general asked the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry to ban application of poultry waste in the area around the restaurant, but the request was denied.
The well inspections that are to begin Wednesday will be conducted by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.

Labels: Country Cottage E coli, Oklahoma E coli

A Pennsylvania food company is recalling 983,700 pounds of frozen chicken entrees because they contain peanut products recalled by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) for possible Salmonella contamination.

The recall by Hain Celestial Group Inc. was announced by the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which said the products may be linked to the ongoing outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium caused by peanut butter and other peanut products made at the Blakely, Georgia, plant of PCA.

The FSIS classified the Hain Celestial recall as Class I with high health risk. The recall pertains to:

• 10-ounce cartons of Ethnic Gourmet Chicken pad Thai, which contains peanut sauce and peanuts as garnish. UPC code# 18687-70054, lot codes "WC7" and "WC8."


• 12-ounce bowls of Trader Ming's Spicy Kung Pao Chicken, which contains crushed and whole peanuts as garnish. UPC code 0379526, lot codes "WC7M" and "WC8."

The shipping containers bear the establishment number "P-9744" printed on the side of the boxes.

PritzkerOlsen Attorneys represents the families of two Minnesota woman who have died in the Salmonella outbreak -- Shirley Mae Almer, 72, of Perham and Doris Flatgard, 87, of Brainerd.

Fred Pritzer, president and founder of the national food safety law firm, has already filed a wrongful death lawsuit against PCA on behalf of Mrs. Almer's heirs. A second lawsuit for the family of Mrs. Flatgard is pending.

For the complete recall list related to the Salmonella outbreak, click here.

Labels: peanut butter salmonella products, Peanut Corporation of America lawsuit, Peanut Product Recall List