Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/02/food-safety-scan-feb-24-2014
Food Safety Scan for Feb 24, 2014
Listeria outbreak in 2 states; FDA adulteration rule
Filed Under:
Foodborne Disease; Listeria
Two-state Listeria outbreaks sickens 8, kills 1
Eight people of Hispanic ethnicity in Maryland and California have contracted listeriosis, possibly from soft cheese, and one has died, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Feb 21.
Seven of the Listeria monocytogenes cases were in Maryland, and the fatal case was in California, the CDC said. Five cases were related to a pregnancy, with two mother-newborn pairs being affected and one case in only the newborn. The other three cases were all in adults.
Illness-onset dates ranged from Aug 1 to Nov 27 of last year, and seven of the patients were hospitalized.
All the Maryland patients reported eating soft or semi-soft Hispanic-style cheese, and all had shopped at different locations of the same grocery store chain. The FDA did not name the chain, but a Food Safety News (FSN) story today said that fresh cheese curd "likely produced" by Delaware-based Roos Foods and repackaged by a Maryland-based Megamart store in Virginia is the source of the contamination.
The CDC said that about 800 lab-confirmed US listeriosis cases and three or four outbreaks are reported each year. The agency added that recent outbreaks have involved Mexican-style cheeses, soft ripened cheeses, other cheeses, and other foods.
Feb 21 CDC update
Feb 24 FSN story
FDA estimates that attack on food system could cost $130 billion
During the first public meeting last week on its proposed rule on intentional adulteration under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimated that the rule would be cost effective if it prevented a catastrophic attack on the US food system once every 350 years, FSN reported today.
An FDA official said during the Feb 20 meeting in College Park, Md., that one such attack would cost the United States $130 billion, whereas the rule will cost an estimated $370 million per year. The rule, one of six under FSMA, will require domestic and foreign food facilities to address hazards that could be intentionally introduced by acts of terrorism and is slated to take effect May 31, 2016.
Don Kraemer with the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition said the agency is particularly interested in hearing how the proposed rule could be better focused, whether it would be feasible to require measures to protect against adulteration only in the event of a "credible threat," and what the appropriate level of public health protection is for intentional food adulteration.
The next public meetings are scheduled for Feb 27 in Chicago and Mar 13 in Anaheim, Calif. Those meetings will also cover the sanitary transportation rule.
Feb 24 FSN story
Food Safety Scan for Feb 24, 2014
Listeria outbreak in 2 states; FDA adulteration rule
Filed Under:
Foodborne Disease; Listeria
Two-state Listeria outbreaks sickens 8, kills 1
Eight people of Hispanic ethnicity in Maryland and California have contracted listeriosis, possibly from soft cheese, and one has died, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Feb 21.
Seven of the Listeria monocytogenes cases were in Maryland, and the fatal case was in California, the CDC said. Five cases were related to a pregnancy, with two mother-newborn pairs being affected and one case in only the newborn. The other three cases were all in adults.
Illness-onset dates ranged from Aug 1 to Nov 27 of last year, and seven of the patients were hospitalized.
All the Maryland patients reported eating soft or semi-soft Hispanic-style cheese, and all had shopped at different locations of the same grocery store chain. The FDA did not name the chain, but a Food Safety News (FSN) story today said that fresh cheese curd "likely produced" by Delaware-based Roos Foods and repackaged by a Maryland-based Megamart store in Virginia is the source of the contamination.
The CDC said that about 800 lab-confirmed US listeriosis cases and three or four outbreaks are reported each year. The agency added that recent outbreaks have involved Mexican-style cheeses, soft ripened cheeses, other cheeses, and other foods.
Feb 21 CDC update
Feb 24 FSN story
FDA estimates that attack on food system could cost $130 billion
During the first public meeting last week on its proposed rule on intentional adulteration under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimated that the rule would be cost effective if it prevented a catastrophic attack on the US food system once every 350 years, FSN reported today.
An FDA official said during the Feb 20 meeting in College Park, Md., that one such attack would cost the United States $130 billion, whereas the rule will cost an estimated $370 million per year. The rule, one of six under FSMA, will require domestic and foreign food facilities to address hazards that could be intentionally introduced by acts of terrorism and is slated to take effect May 31, 2016.
Don Kraemer with the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition said the agency is particularly interested in hearing how the proposed rule could be better focused, whether it would be feasible to require measures to protect against adulteration only in the event of a "credible threat," and what the appropriate level of public health protection is for intentional food adulteration.
The next public meetings are scheduled for Feb 27 in Chicago and Mar 13 in Anaheim, Calif. Those meetings will also cover the sanitary transportation rule.
Feb 24 FSN story