Salmonella dominated hazards dealt with by a global food safety network in the third quarter of 2020. The International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) was involved in 37 events from July to September compared to 29 incidents in 2Q 2020. Ten of 18 biological hazard incidents involved Salmonella while the next highest was E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes with two each. Norovirus, Pseudomonas spp., Clostridium botulinum, Bacillus cereus, Campylobacter spp. and Enterococcus faecalis were linked to one event each. Six events involved…

Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) is an underestimated source of domestically acquired illness in the United States, according to researchers. A study, published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection, looked at ETEC infections reported to the Minnesota Department of Health during 2016 and 2017. Although travel is a risk factor for ETEC infection, the study found domestically acquired infections made up a substantial proportion of all cases; 68 percent of ETEC patients reported no travel outside the…

Nine people from the same family have died in China after consuming homemade corn noodles. The family had eaten a local dish known as suantangzi earlier this month in the northeastern Heilongjiang province. All nine people fell ill several hours after having the food which is made from fermented corn flour. Three younger members of the family did not eat the meal. It is thought the homemade food had been frozen in the family’s refrigerator…

Sometimes lawyers talk about being able to use a knothole in the law that allows them to pull through much more of their own arguments than one might ordinarily expect. California has managed to rely on just such a “knothole,” with requirements for housing chickens and now pigs that must be adhered to for access to the California market for animals not raised in the state. That’s because the North American Meat Institute (NAMI)  lost…

The head of the Food Standards Agency has said she is increasingly worried about the impact of local authority funding shortages on food safety. Emily Miles said the coronavirus pandemic has served as a reminder of the financial problems local authorities have had to contend with in recent years. The FSA chief executive spoke on day two of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) food safety conference, which runs through today. For highlights of …

More than 120 people are part of a multi-country Salmonella outbreak linked to Brazil nuts. Since August 2019, the outbreak, caused by Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Anatum, has affected three European Union countries, the United Kingdom and Canada. The United States was one of more than 30 countries that received Brazil nuts from Bolivia contaminated with Salmonella. In total, 123 cases of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported, of which 105 were in the UK, 14…

ROSEMONT, IL — Yesterday’s Food Safety Summit’s annual Town Hall Q&A featured top regulators and agency leaders from FDA, USDA, AFDO and CDC. They talked about their agency’s work during the past year, with a special focus on how their work has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Frank Yiannas Deputy Commissioner Food Policy and Response FDA Frank Yiannas, Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the Food and Drug Administration. Yiannas is the…