USDA’s quarterly enforcement report for the period ending Sept. 30 first reported Memet  Beqiri’s guilty plea. He has since been sentenced, on Nov. 24, concluding a plea agreement reached a year ago. The Stafford Springs, CT, meat supplier was sentenced to probation and fined after he pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for Connecticut to fabricating E. coli test results.   Beqiri, also known as Matt Beqiri, 32, of Tolland, was sentenced to two years of…

Poultry meat remains a major source of Campylobacter infection in New Zealand, according to a study. Researchers looked at transmission pathways and source attribution for campylobacteriosis in New Zealand. Most patients were infected with strains attributed to a poultry source, and poultry meat consumption was common, while 14 percent were linked to cattle. The reduction in campylobacteriosis in New Zealand since 2008 has been relatively small. The decline in 2006 to 2008 was linked to interventions…

As part of its enforcement activities, the Food and Drug Administration sends warning letters to entities under its jurisdiction. Some letters are not posted for public view until weeks or months after they are sent. Business owners have 15 days to respond to FDA warning letters. Warning letters often are not issued until a company has been given months to years to correct problems. The FDA frequently redacts parts of warning letters posted for public…

Metro Ontario Inc. is recalling a broad range of Metro brand products from the marketplace because of possible Salmonella contamination. Few details are available, according to the Canadian government. “This recall was triggered by the company. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is conducting a food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products,” is the only information provided on the recall. There is concern that consumers may have some of the…

Mainly children are sick in a Salmonella outbreak in France linked to a type of dried sausage. There have been 26 cases of salmonellosis, 17 of which concern children, identified by the National Reference Center for Salmonella at Institut Pasteur and Santé publique France in October and November. Those interviewed fell ill from Sept. 22 and ate dry sausages bought in the same store. The link between Salmonella Bovismorbificans illness and consumption of dry cold…

Opinion Dear Editor, This is in regard to the FSN publication Nov. 18, 2020: “Food and drug officials weigh in on federal Salmonella rules for poultry” by Steven Mandernach, AFDO. Here is my response that I submitted Nov. 20, 2020:  It appears from the Editor’s note (on the Nov. 18 piece), that Mr. Steven Mandernach, the AFDO executive director, presented these comments on the AFDO’s salmonella position earlier this fall. (The author of this letter stated…

German authorities have highlighted the risks of drinking unpasteurized, raw milk after tests found some of it was contaminated with Listeria, Campylobacter or Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). The three pathogens were detected in up to 5 percent of about 360 raw milk samples examined, according to the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL). Results come from 2019 zoonoses monitoring. Federal and state authorities took 6,792 samples at all levels of…