The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a request for comments regarding changes to its procedure for Salmonella verification sampling of raw beef products. Among other things, FSIS stated that it will (i) begin “analyzing for Salmonella all raw beef samples that it collects for Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) analysis,” including all raw ground beef, beef manufacturing trimmings, bench trim, and other raw ground beef components; (ii) increase the raw ground beef sample used for Salmonella analysis from 25 grams to 325 grams; and (iii) discontinue Salmonella sampling set procedures in ground beef products, except in those establishments that exceeded the standard for Salmonella in their most recent tests. FSIS intends to use the results from its verification sampling program to develop new Salmonella performance standards for ground beef products and to estimate Salmonella prevalence in raw ground beef and trimmings. Comments will be accepted…
Tag Archives salmonella
A federal court in Georgia has issued an order continuing the criminal trial against former Peanut Corp. of America officials and employees, including owner Stewart Parnell, until February 10, 2014. United States v. Parnell, No. 12-12 (M.D. Ga., order entered August 15, 2013). The company was the source of a nationwide Salmonella outbreak in 2009, and the 76-count indictment charges four individuals with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, obstruction of justice and other counts related to the distribution of adulterated and misbranded food. Details about the indictment appear in Issue 472 of this Update.
In an August 3, 2013, Washington Post article, writer Kimberly Kindy suggested that some of the chemicals—notably cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), a purportedly common finishing rinse—used in U.S. poultry processing plants may be masking the presence of Salmonella and other pathogens that remain on the birds that are sold to consumers. Titled “USDA Reviews Whether Bacteria-Killing Chemicals are Masking Salmonella,” Kindy reports that academic researchers agree that “the chemicals could be overwhelming an antiquated testing process,” and she states that several of the scientists have been enlisted by U.S. Department of Agriculture food safety experts to investigate the matter. At issue, Kindy contends, is whether CPC, or other antimicrobials, might remain on the samples collected for pathogen testing at a high enough concentration to kill the bacteria on the way to the lab. If so, Food Safety and Inspection Service experts could perceive a false negative test result when the chicken may…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a request for comments, scientific data and information to use in risk assessment of human salmonellosis associated with the consumption of tree nuts, including almonds, cashews, pistachios, pine nuts, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, and walnuts. The risk assessment seeks to quantify the public health risk associated with eating tree nuts potentially contaminated with Salmonella and evaluate the impact of interventions to prevent contamination with the bacterium or to reduce contamination levels. FDA said an assessment is necessary in light of “outbreaks of human salmonellosis linked to tree nuts during the past decade, by product recalls, and by Salmonella isolation from tree nuts during surveys.” Comments will be accepted until October 16, 2013. See Federal Register, July 18, 2013.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published new guidance on Salmonella-contaminated food for animals. Titled “Compliance Policy Guide Sec. 690.800 Salmonella in Food for Animals” (CPG), the guidance finalizes the draft CPG that was announced in August 2010 and includes the following changes: (i) the title has changed from “Salmonella in Animal Feed” to “Salmonella in Food for Animals” to clarify that it covers all animal food, including pet food and animal feed, and (ii) the term “direct human contact animal feed” has been replaced with the term “pet food” and includes treats and chews. FDA has also announced (i) the removal of 21 CFR 500.35 “Animal feeds contaminated with Salmonella microorganisms,” and (ii) the withdrawal of “Compliance Policy Guide Sec. 690.700 Salmonella Contamination of Dry Dog Food.” See Federal Register, July 16, 2013.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently published its recommendations for improving meat inspection procedures in the European Union (EU) after a previous assessment found that “traditional practices... are not always suitable for detecting the main meat borne hazards such as Campylobacter and Salmonella or contamination by chemical substances.” Billed as “a major piece of work that will provide the scientific basis for the modernization of meat inspection across the EU,” the four new opinions address the potential public health risks of meat derived from solipeds, farmed game, sheep, goats, and cows, in addition to setting “harmonized epidemiological indicators” for identifying biological hazards. Looking at data on the incidence and severity of foodborne diseases in humans as well as the outcomes of various residue testing programs, EFSA’s experts ranked the biological and chemical hazards of particular concern for each species, singling out verocytotoxin-producing E. coli, dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls as…
A federal court in Georgia has overruled the government’s objections to Stewart Parnell’s representation by attorney Kenneth Hodges in the defense of criminal charges arising from a Salmonella outbreak allegedly traced to Parnell’s former company, Peanut Corp. of America. United States v. Parnell, 13-12 (M.D. Ga., order entered May 30, 2013). Because the government’s motion was sealed, further details about the objections are unknown. According to the court, Parnell “knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to object to Hodges’ potential or actual conflict.” Additional information about the criminal charges appears in Issue 472 of this Update.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) have issued their third joint report “on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic bacteria affecting humans, animals and foods.” Based on data collected by member states in 2011, the report notes the “continued presence of resistance to a range of antimicrobials in Salmonella and Campylobacter, the main bacteria causing food-borne infections in the European Union (EU),” although co-resistance to more than one critically important antimicrobial remains low overall. According to the findings, “a high proportion of Campylobacter bacteria … was resistant to the critically important antimicrobial ciprofloxacin” in addition to other commonly used antimicrobials. The data also suggested that Salmonella resistance “to at least three different antimicrobial classes[] was high overall in the EU,” with a large proportion of the bacteria in humans and animals already resistant to commonly used antimicrobials and, in the case of poultry, to ciprofloxacin. “If…
A federal court in Georgia considering the criminal charges filed against former Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell has denied his request for the return of his passport “for purposes of employment-related international travel.” United States v. Parnell, No. 13-12 (M.D. Ga., order entered April 26, 2013). Parnell apparently surrendered his passport as a condition of his pretrial release. Parnell and company managers were charged in a 76-count indictment over a nationwide Salmonella outbreak in 2009. Additional information about the charges appears in Issue 472 of this Update. According to the court, Parnell was allowed to be released “on an unsecured $100,000 bond with no pretrial supervision by the U.S. Probation Office,” and, because he did not show that he cannot find employment within the United States and no other changes have taken place since the conditions were set, the court had no basis for returning the passport.
Since the federal government filed a 76-count indictment against the owner and managers of Peanut Corp. of America, the source of a nationwide Salmonella outbreak in 2009, the defendants have entered not guilty pleas and been released on bonds ranging from $25,000 to $100,000. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-12 (M.D. Ga., Albany Div., filed February 15, 2013). Additional details about the charges appear in Issue 472 of this Update. The court has also entered orders designating the case as complex and excluding time under the Speedy Trial Act, as well as setting a scheduling conference for April 22, 2013.
