Eideard

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered and received a patent for a naturally occurring lantibiotic — a peptide produced by a harmless bacteria — that could be added to food to kill harmful bacteria like salmonella, E. coli and listeria.

The U of M lantibiotic is the first natural preservative found to kill gram-negative bacteria, typically the harmful kind. “It’s aimed at protecting foods from a broad range of bugs that cause disease,” said Dan O’Sullivan, a professor of food science and nutrition in the university’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. “Of the natural preservatives, it has a broader umbrella of bugs that it can protect against.”

The lantibiotic could be used to prevent harmful bacteria in meats, processed cheeses, egg and dairy products, canned foods, seafood, salad dressing, fermented beverages and many other foods. In addition to food safety benefits, lantibiotics are easy to digest, nontoxic, do not induce allergies and are difficult for dangerous bacteria to develop resistance against.

O’Sullivan discovered the lantibiotic by chance, while researching the genome of bacteria. He then collaborated with Ju-Hoon Lee, a U of M graduate student, to continue the research…

Salmonella and E. coli, both gram-negative bacteria, account for more than half of all food recalls in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, salmonella contributes to an estimated 28 percent of more than 3,000 deaths related to foodborne illness each year.

As an aside, this is one more example of collateral discoveries made in the course of basic research. Not as uncommon as journalists believe. This is part of the whole process requiring the broadest possible outlook, an open mind throughout any basic research.

It’s why there are researchers and scientists who spend their time searching out just such side roads – and taking the time and effort to develop and add them into the sum of human tools.

More than 36 million pounds of fresh and frozen ground turkey are being voluntarily recalled by food giant Cargill because of the possibility of salmonella contamination.

Health authorities say the poultry could be contaminated with Salmonella Heidelberg, a strain of salmonella that killed a California man and caused the illness of 79 others.

Cargill said the ground turkey was produced at the company’s Springdale, Ark., facility between Feb. 20 and Aug. 2. Production at the plant has been suspended…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said an investigation “determined that there is a link between the Cargill ground turkey products and the illness outbreak.” The recalled products have the number P-963 inside the USDA inspection mark.

“This is, if not the largest, one of the largest class-one food recalls to happen in U.S. history,” said William D. Marler, a Seattle attorney who specializes in food safety litigation. A class-one recall involves a health hazard that has a reasonable probability of causing health problems or death.

Over the last six months, local and state health department authorities in 26 states have reported dozens of cases of people falling ill after eating ground turkey. Salmonella Heidelberg is resistant to many commonly prescribed antibiotics and is often difficult to treat…

Salmonella can cause fever, diarrhea and abdominal pain. It can be fatal to young children, older people and those with compromised immune systems.

Cargill owns four turkey-processing facilities in the U.S., and no products from the other three are involved in the recall, the company said.

Well, golly gee – then they still might meet their production and profit targets. Let’s continue to live up to historic American standards.

A nice pasta primavera

A California firm has been notified that the grape tomatoes supplied for its salads may be contaminated with salmonella…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the prepackaged salads from Taylor Farms Pacific, Inc. of Tracy, Calif. were sold to Albertson’s, Raley’s, Safeway, Sam’s Club and Walmart.

The salads have “use by” dates of late April and early May and were distributed to stores in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana and Utah.

The suspect grape tomatoes were supplied to Taylor Farms Pacific by a California grower, Six L’s, the FDA said. No illnesses have been reported but Six L’s issued a voluntary recall of the tomatoes.

Questions about the recall? Contact the company directly at 209-835-6300.

Crap! One of my favorite items for a spring salad. I think I’ll stick to the organic varieties from the Mennonite farms down in Mexico.

A North Carolina produce company has issued a recall for cucumbers because they could be contaminated with salmonella.

Raleigh-based L&M Companies, Inc. said it distributed 1,590 bulk cartons of the cucumbers in question between March 30 and April 7 to New York, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Nebraska. Texas and Wyoming.

The recalled cartons are marked Nature’s Delight and contain the Lot # PL-RID-002990 on the side of the carton. Only this one lot is being recalled.

The nationwide recall Friday came after the U.S. Food & Drug Administration inspectors in mid-April found salmonella on a randomly selected sample of cucumbers in a cooler at Four Seasons Produce of Central Florida.

“Despite the limited direct distribution of the one recalled lot, L&M Companies is issuing a nationwide recall out of an abundance of caution because the company recognizes the possibility that wholesale customers could have redistributed the product in states beyond those listed above,” a company statement said.

Salmonella infection is a common bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract. People become infected most frequently through contaminated water or food sources. Or cucumbers from North Carolina?

The possible discovery of salmonella has prompted a limited recall of Skippy reduced-fat peanut butter spreads sold in 16 states.

Unilever issued a press release detailing a voluntary recall of Skippy’s “Reduced Fat Creamy” and “Reduced Fat Super Chunk” brands. The recall applies only to these branded items distributed in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

While there have been no known illnesses, the recall was issued for fear that some of the peanut butter now in stores had salmonella…

The recalled products are sold in 16.3-ounce plastic jars, have UPC codes of 048001006812 or 048001006782 and have best-if-used-by-dates of May 16-21, 2012, on the top, the company statement said. Those with such jars should throw them away and call Skippy at 1-800-453-3432 to get a replacement coupon, according to Unilever…

Salmonella is a bacterial infection that usually lasts four to seven days. About 40,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported each year in the United States, according to the CDC.

Those who get it typically develop fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea between 12 and 72 hours after becoming infected. Most people recover on their own, without needing significant treatment. But salmonella in very young and very old people, as well as those with weakened immune systems, can lead to severe illness and even death.

Cripes. This prompts a couple of thoughts.

Hmmm?

Holiday greetings from a salmonella culture

A Texas distributor has expanded a recall already involving thousands of cases of produce over fears of salmonella cross-contamination in its processing facility…

The “precautionary, voluntary recall” pertains to cilantro and parsley packed between November 30 and December 6, the Edinburg, Texas-based company said in a statement. The produce…processed and branded as Little Bear between those dates can be taken to retailers for a full refund.

The company is also recalling 19 other types of produce that were run on the same packing lines, because the salmonella may have spread to those products as well.

“It’s imperative to protect public health, even if that means being overzealous in expanding the scope of the products we’re calling back,” said James Bassetti, president of J&D Produce. “We will work closely with regulators, health officials and our customers in bringing back the products.”

No one has reported getting sick from eating the vegetables, according to J&D Produce…

The company’s products are sold retail as well as to wholesalers, who may then distribute them to restaurants and other establishments, according to Sharon McNerney, a public relations consultant for the company…

In addition to cilantro and parsley, the Texas company gathers, packs and distributes a variety of fruits and vegetables such as carrots, limes, eggplants, peppers, greens, onions, melons, mangoes and asparagus, according to its website.

You can find a listing of the recalled produce over here at the company’s website.

Sensible folks work at getting people to eat more veggies. It’s painful to provide another excuse for those who would copout on decent nutrition.

Faced with a crisis more than a decade ago in which thousands of people were sickened from salmonella in infected eggs, farmers in Britain began vaccinating their hens against the bacteria. That simple but decisive step virtually wiped out the health threat.

But when American regulators created new egg safety rules that went into effect last month, they declared that there was not enough evidence to conclude that vaccinating hens against salmonella would prevent people from getting sick. The Food and Drug Administration decided not to mandate vaccination of hens — a precaution that would cost less than a penny per a dozen eggs.

Now, consumers have been shaken by one of the largest egg recalls ever, involving nearly 550 million eggs from two Iowa producers, after a nationwide outbreak of thousands of cases of salmonella was traced to eggs contaminated with the bacteria.

The F.D.A. has said that if its egg safety rules had gone into effect earlier, the crisis might have been averted. Those rules include regular testing for contamination, cleanliness standards for henhouses and refrigeration requirements, all of which experts say are necessary.

However, many industry experts say the absence of mandatory vaccination greatly weakens the F.D.A. rules, depriving them of a crucial step that could prevent future outbreaks.

Salmonella bacteria is passed from infected hens to the interior of eggs when they are being formed. The salmonella vaccines work both by reducing the number of hens that get infected and by making it more difficult for salmonella bacteria to pass through to the eggs…

The F.D.A. said it considered mandatory vaccination very seriously. “We didn’t believe that, based on the data we had, there was sufficient scientific evidence for us to require it,” said Dr. Nega Beru, director of the agency’s Office of Food Safety…

Unfortunately, no one decided to look beyond the prelimary studies from 1999. That seems to be as much a political decision as anything else.

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What would you expect?

The Wright County Egg company, based in Iowa, has issued a recall of 228 million eggs because of reports of salmonella-related outbreaks in several Western and midwestern states.

The eggs are sold to contract companies including Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps, according to several news reports.

In addition to those brands, NuCal Foods in California issued another notice, saying it was also recalling several brands it had packaged from Wright County Egg. The Associated Press estimated that the recall could involve as many as 380 million eggs.

The Food and Drug Administration posted Wright’s voluntary recall notice, noting that common salmonella symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. It also pointed consumers to the Web site, eggsafety.org for answers to any questions.

The F.D.A. also noted:

Eggs affected by this recall were distributed to food wholesalers, distribution centers and food service companies in California, Illinois, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. These companies distribute nationwide.

RTFA for details about the batch numbers included in the recall.

Me? I’m sticking with the free range and organic eggs I buy at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. When I used to be on the road, I used to stop in at an organic egg farm outside of Taos – they even used to give me a break on bringing back the carton.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FDA, USDA…are investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Montevideo.

Testing conducted by the Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa confirmed on Jan. 25, that this strain of salmonella is linked to the outbreak that has sickened 187 people in 39 states (one case in Iowa) since July 1, 2009. No deaths have been reported. Thirty-five people have been hospitalized.

On Jan. 23, Daniele International, of Pascoag, R.I., announced a recall of more than 1.2 million pounds of its ready-to-eat sausage products because of the possible salmonella contamination.

The Iowa Department of Public Health and public health officials in Plymouth County, Iowa, investigated the one case of Salmonella Montevideo in the state. They discovered leftover suspected sausage product frozen in the individual’s home and immediately sent the meat to the Hygienic Laboratory for testing. That patient has since recovered.

Using DNA fingerprinting, the laboratory confirmed that the meat product contained the same Salmonella Montevideo strain as the national outbreak, which also matched the salmonella isolate from the patient. The Hygienic Laboratory is the first lab in the nation to confirm this connection…

People with salmonella develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts four to seven days. Infants, elderly persons and those with weakened immunes systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness.

More information about the recalled products is available on the Food Safety and Inspection Service Web site. Go there and really scare yourself.

A Salinas, Calif., company is recalling romaine lettuce because it may be contaminated with salmonella. Tanimura & Antle issued the recall after a random test conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture tested positive for salmonella.

Salmonella infections can be fatal to the young and the elderly. The organism can cause fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

The company has instructed stores in 29 all states to destroy the lettuce. The romaine also was sold to wholesalers and food-service providers.

Also distributed into Canada.

The cartons and wrapped heads of romaine are marked with the lot code 531380. The lettuce was harvested from June 25 to July 2. Although the recalled product is past its expiration date, Tanimura & Antle said it was recalling the lettuce to ensure that it does not reach consumers.

Interesting that Tanimura had already initiated a tracking program – that works. Something the FDA/food industry is beginning to support.

Tanimura & Antle Inc.’s live code traceback system helped the company quickly locate details on a potentially contaminated lot of romaine lettuce, said Rick Antle, chief executive officer.

“We have discreet lot codes and we can trace everything back to the lot on a carton basis,” Antle said July 23, three days after the Salinas, Calif.-based company recalled the lot of romaine after a random Wisconsin Department of Agriculture test found salmonella contamination.

Antle said once the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture contacted Tanimura & Antle on July 20 with results of the positive test, the company was able to locate records showing when and where the lot of romaine was harvested June 25 through July 2.

It’s a start. When we have uniform tracking in place throughout the food chain – we may have safer mealtimes.