Author: Tony Coveny, Ph.D

Maytag Dairy Farms, maker of Maytag blue cheese, temporarily closed its plants after a massive recall of its products because of possible listeria contamination. After the state Dairy Products Control Bureau discovered the contamination during routine testing, the Newton-based company voluntarily began pulling its product from restaurants and store shelves February 13, said Dustin Vande Hoef, communications director for the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Approximately 896 pounds of cheese – already distributed to restaurants and stores in central Iowa and sold direct to customers from Maytag Dairy Farms – was recalled; the recall was then expanded to include additional products…

Ohio: Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County is investigating an outbreak of illness associated with eating at Lucky’s Taproom & Eatery. The restaurant is located at 520 East Fifth Street in Dayton. The agency received an initial complaint of illness on Monday, February 29 and inspected the business the same day. The outbreak – linked to consumption of “house-made” mayonnaise – has sickened up to 77 individuals and has Drew Trick, the owner of Lucky’s, promising that the eatery will never make its mayonnaise in-house again. Trick wrote, “Well, it seems our efforts to source locally and make our food from scratch has failed…

After becoming infected with listeria, Ms. Kiki Christofield fell into a coma on January 31st. Ms. Christofield remains in the same state.  One of the 18 Americans and 11 Canadians – 29 individuals in total – known to have contracted Listeria from contaminated Dole salad mixes produced at a processing plant in Springfield, Ohio, Christofield first felt ill on January 23rd. Four days later, on January 27, she was taken to Cincinnati’s Bethesda North Hospital; however, she was discharged soon after. On January 31, Ms. Christofield returned to the hospital again, and proceeded to fall into a coma before the end of the day. Constance…

CDC Announces Recall, Outbreak Linked to Wonderful Pistachios The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local officials are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Montevideo infections linked to consumption of contaminated pistachios. The illnesses are connected to pistachio nuts produced by Wonderful Pistachios, located in Lost Hills, California. The FDA collected product samples of pistachios produced by Wonderful Pistachios in January 2016. Whole Genome Sequencing confirmed the samples were highly related to cases of ill people. Following a conference call with the FDA and the CDC, Wonderful…

Starbucks recalled certain breakfast sandwiches from 250 of the company’s locations nationwide­­, citing fear of potential listeria contamination. The recall comes after in-house testing procedures yielded a positive result for Listeria monocytogenes on a contact surface within the production facility. Starbucks franchises sell the six-ounce sausage, egg and cheddar cheese English muffin sandwiches; however, a different corporation – Progressive Gourmet Inc. of Wilmington, Massachusetts – actually produces, packages and distributes the breakfast muffins. The corporation and the Massachusetts Department of Health are “working closely with FDA” to investigate the source of the problem, the federal agency confirmed Tuesday. Texas, Arkansas…

Consent Decree Imposes Ban on Henry Farms’ Bean Sprouts The federal judiciary blocked the sale of bean Sprouts from Henry’s Farm, Inc., a Woodford, Virginia corporation, this Thursday afternoon. Sprouts from Henry’s Farm have been subject to multiple recalls since 2012, and once again are being recalled due Listeria contamination. Federal officials have a good case for the ban, given the fourth reappearance of the potentially deadly disease that can often spread through the food supply. Pervasive Rodent Infection, Dirty Food Equipment and Track Record of Violations Makes Easy Case for FDA Pursuant to the Court’s ruling, which the Court handed down after…

Berkeley Investigates Norovirus Outbreak on Campus The University of California at Berkeley may be next in the long line of Universities that have experienced an outbreak of norovirus during the first two months of 2016. Other universities and colleges that have experienced a norovirus outbreak since January 1st include Miami University of Ohio (200), University of Michigan (150-200), Michigan State University (375), Ursinus College (200). Three cases have been confirmed by microbiological testing, and many others have been reported ill but were not tested or are awaiting test results. The potential outbreak comes on the heels of a December warning by…

Oregon Oysters sicken at least 17 in East Coast Norovirus Outbreak The Oregon Health Authority announced an ongoing outbreak of norovirus tied to consumption of oysters harvested by Oregon Oyster Farms from Yaquina Bay. All of the individuals with confirmed outbreak cases were part of one of three different groups that ate at restaurants between February 12 and 14th. Of the 32 total restaurant-goers in the three groups, 17 contracted the highly-infectious virus. All 17 ate oysters during their time at the restaurants. One person had to be hospitalized due to the severity of their illness. Tracing an Invisible Culprit Identifying the source of…

Lethal Listeria Outbreak: 3 more ill as Dole Lettuce Outbreak Spreads to Ohio The outbreak of a potentially lethal illness with a 100% hospitalization rate  would usually command  the attention of the public at large. This time, it isn’t. The lack of awareness in light of the ongoing outbreak can easily be attributed to a number of factors including length of the outbreak, which has been ongoing since May 2015; the low number of confirmed cases -18, according the the CDC – geographically distributed among the 9 states with confirmed outbreak cases; and until very recently, the lack of a confirmed outbreak source. The…

Over 1.5 tons of chicken salad product recalled amidst fear of listeria contamination Check those Chicken Salads – Class I Recall Underway A “Class I” Recall, classified as such by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – has been voluntarily initiated by Sally Sherman Foods due to concerns among public health officials that the products may be contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes. The problem was discovered in the course of in-plant product sampling that yielded a positive result for Listeria. FSIS and the company have received no reports of illness due to consumption of these products to date; however, cases may still be reported.…