Author: Tony Coveny, Ph.D

Federal Attorneys File Complaint Against Native American Enterprises LLC Federal officials at the Consumer Protection Branch of the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint with federal courts on March 21st in an attempt to stop Native American Enterprises LLC (“NAE”) from distributing food contaminated with Listeria. Federal attorneys filed the complaint in US District Court in Kansas. The company is not the only party to the complaint, which also names company production manager Robert Conner and part-owner William McGreevy. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) want the Court to issue an order permanently restraining and enjoining…

Soybean Sprouts Recalled After Another Positive Listeria Test Soybean sprouts produced by Henry’s Farm Inc. are being recalled due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The Woodford, Virginia corporation was forced to close its doors on March 3rd after inspections revealed violations of food safety regulations. The recall affects all packages of soybean sprouts distributed by the company, which has a history of Listeria-related food safety problems. Virginia state agencies discovered and identified the potential threat to public health. The contamination was initially identified through coordinated efforts of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) Food Safety Program and the Virginia Rapid Response…

PulseNet Surveillance System Used by CDC Reduces Costs, Saves Lives Founded by the CDC in 1996, PulseNet is a self-described “national network of laboratories that solves outbreaks of foodborne disease,” that rapidly identifies “outbreaks – large and small – by connecting the dots between cases of similar illness that are happening anywhere in the country.” The network is composed of 87 local, state, regional and federal public health and food regulatory agency laboratories – at least one in each state – that test foodborne disease bacteria using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and a newer method, whole genome sequencing (WGS), to detect and…

CDC Declares Outbreak Linked to Imported Cucumbers ”Over” The protracted outbreak of Salmonella Poona associated with imported cucumbers is finally over, according a final outbreak update issued by the CDC. The cucumbers, distributed by Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce, ultimately caused 907 confirmed outbreak cases of Salmonella Poona; however, though the actual number of outbreak cases is likely much higher due to the consistent and widespread under-reporting of Salmonella poisoning. The infection rapidly spread across 40 states, killing six and hospitalizing at least 204. Only 720 cases provided detailed information, including whether or not the illness required hospitalization, so the outbreak involved an effective hospitalization rate of 28%, meaning…

“Wonderful” Brand Recall May Eclipse Recalls by Additional Companies, Brands Pistachios have been in the headlines lately, but for all the wrong reasons: some of the nuts are contaminated with Salmonella, and recalls by three companies are underway. Products involved in the first pistachio recall are linked to a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Montevideo. The two additional pistachio recalls announced a day later also involve positive Salmonella tests. Officials have not yet linked these pistachios with any cases of Salmonella, but say that due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported (2 to 4 weeks on average), there may be…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a multistate outbreak alert on Friday, March 19, 2016, for a fatal outbreak of Listeriosis linked to raw milk produced by Miller’s Organic Farm in Pennsylvania. Breaking Down the Outbreak One illness involving the outbreak strain of Listeria was confirmed in Florida. A second outbreak case was confirmed in California, for a current total of two cases involved in this outbreak. The outbreak cases occurred in individuals 73 and 81 years old. The CDC has not released information regarding which case originated in Florida and which case originated in California. Both cases required hospitalization. While…

Eggs Recalled by Ohio’s Kenneth Miller Farms A statement released in the relative quiet of this late Friday afternoon may solve a question that has been lingering over a local bar and restaurant in Western Ohio for the past few weeks. The statement, released by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, originated from Kenneth Miller Farms, a small operation located in New Lebanon, Ohio. The company announced that it was issuing a voluntary recall of its raw shell eggs, citing concerns of potential Salmonella enteritidis contamination. Identifying a Pathogenic Threat Early last week, the farm received a visit from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, and according to…

Salmonella Surge in California: 50+ Sickened by Mexican-Style Soft Cheeses Since the end of last year, more than 50 cases of Salmonella illness have been linked to consumption of Mexican-style soft cheeses. The illegal cheeses, often made in unsanitary conditions and with raw milk – which is 150 times more likely to result in foodborne illness than its pasteurized counterpart – are frequently sold by street vendors. The elevated number of cases caught the attention of California public health officials, who concede that the number of new cases reported is abnormally high. The California Department of Public Health is “seeing a dramatic increase in the…

Two children, one in Nebraska and one in Kansas, were hospitalized in connection with the outbreak of E. coli linked to Pizza Ranch, a multi-state restaurant chain based in Orange City.  Both were experiencing kidney failure as a result of developing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a disease that is associated with E. coli 0157 infections, particularly – though not exclusively – in children. A total of thirteen people contracted the outbreak strain of E. coli 0157. Five of the cases were in Minnesota. The remaining nine cases came from nine different states: Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Illinois.  The cases,…

Pizza Ranch linked to Five Cases of E. coli Pizza Ranch, a restaurant chain with locations in thirteen states, including Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa, has been linked to a multi-state outbreak of E. coli. To date, there have been five cases confirmed in Minnesota and one in Kansas. Other states may be included but have not yet publicly confirmed any outbreak cases. The five Minnesota cases are associated with meals purchased as early as December 6, 2015, and as late as January 16, 2016. It is unknown when…