Salmonella Blog - Surveillance & analysis on salmonella news & outbreaks

A total of 116 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bareilly have been reported from 20 states and the District of Columbia.

The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2), Arkansas (1), Connecticut (5), District of Columbia (2), Florida (1), Georgia (5), Illinois (10), Louisiana (2), Maryland (11), Massachusetts (8), Mississippi (1), Missouri (2), New Jersey (7), New York (24), North Carolina (2), Pennsylvania (5), Rhode Island (5), South Carolina (3), Texas (3), Virginia (5), and Wisconsin (12).

12 ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

Collaborative investigation efforts of state, local, and federal public health agencies indicate that a frozen raw yellowfin tuna product, known as Nakaochi Scrape, from Moon Marine USA Corporation is the likely source of this outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly infections. Nakaochi Scrape is tuna backmeat that is scraped from the bones of tuna and may be used in sushi, sashimi, ceviche, and similar dishes. Moon Marine USA Corporation (also known as MMI) of Cupertino, Calif. is voluntarily recalling 58,828 lbs of a frozen raw yellowfin tuna product, labeled as Nakaochi Scrape AA or AAA. Nakaochi Scrape is tuna backmeat, which is specifically scraped off from the bones, and looks like a ground product.

Consumers should not eat the recalled product, and retailers should not serve the recalled raw Nakaochi Scrape tuna product from Moon Marine USA Corporation.

This investigation is ongoing. CDC and state and local public health partners are continuing surveillance to identify new cases.

Asks Congress to Give USDA Recall Authority

Yonkers, N.Y.—Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, today called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to drastically tighten its present Salmonella standard, which allows almost half the samples tested at a ground turkey plant to be contaminated with this disease-causing bug. Consumers Union also called on Congress to give the USDA mandatory recall authority, as it just did for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Food Safety Modernization Act.

“The current USDA ground turkey standard, which allows 49.9 percent of samples in a test run to be positive for Salmonella is unacceptable and clearly ineffective as a tool for food safety,” said Jean Halloran, Director of Food Policy Initiatives at Consumers Union.

The Center for Disease Control has identified 77 illnesses and one death so far, associated with a strain of Salmonella Heidelberg, found in ground turkey from one processing plant in Arkansas. On August 3, Cargill recalled 36 million pounds of turkey manufactured at the plant since February.

The ground turkey industry generally meets the current very lax USDA standard. USDA tests of 121 samples of ground turkey at 22 ground turkey facilities in the first quarter of 2011 show that 10.7 percent were contaminated, about the same number as for 2010. Consumers Union believes this level is too high and a tighter standard is needed.

“For one in ten packages of ground turkey to potentially be contaminated with disease-causing Salmonella is simply too great a risk,” Halloran said. “The current USDA standard, which allows almost 50 percent to be contaminated, is completely ineffectual as a tool for reducing this level.”

USDA recently reduced its acceptable level of Salmonella in whole turkeys from 19 percent to 1.7 percent contaminated in a given series of tests. “USDA should make a similar drastic reduction in its performance standard for ground turkey,” Halloran said.

Consumers Union points out that similar problems exist with ground chicken, where salmonella levels are even higher—about one third contaminated in USDA’s 2011 first quarter tests—and the USDA standard for acceptable contamination is 44.6 percent of samples. Consumers Union periodically has tested whole chicken and found high levels of bacterial contamination since 1998.

Consumers Union urges consumers to be sure to cook all poultry products well done, to an internal temperature of 165 degrees measured by a meat thermometer and to be very careful to keep packages of raw poultry of any kind away from all other foods in the kitchen.

“Knives and cutting boards used on poultry should go straight into the dishwasher. Turkey burgers on the grill must be well done,” advised Halloran.

According to Oklahoma press reports, State health officials are investigating a salmonella death in Ardmore, Oklahoma. 72-year-old Dewey Teeg died recently of salmonella poisoning, according to the reports. Officials would not confirm where Teeg was infected, but say its an ongoing investigation.

From November 2 through November 29 and on December 20, 2010, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed records of your shell egg production operation. The review was initiated after 13 FDA environmental samples from four of your egg layer sites were confirmed positive for Salmonella Enteritidis (SE). We found that you have serious deviations from the Prevention of Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs During Production, Storage, and Transportation regulation (shell egg regulation), Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 118 [21 CFR 118]. The failure to adequately implement the requirements in 21 CFR 118 causes your shell eggs to be in violation of the Public Health Service Act, (the "PHS Act"), Title 42 U.S.C. Section 264(a). In addition, your shell eggs are adulterated within the meaning of Section 402(a)(4) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the "Act"), 21 U.S.A. 342(a)(4), in that they have been prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have become contaminated with filth, or whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health. You can find the Act, the PHS Act, and the shell egg regulation at www.fda.gov.

The significant deviations were as follows:

1. You failed to divert eggs to a treatment that achieves a 5-log destruction of SE upon receiving notification that any of your four egg tests were positive for SE, as required by 21 CFR 118.6(d). Specifically, your firm’s egg testing at Site (b)(4), House (b)(4) resulted in two consecutive SE-positive egg tests. Your firm became aware of the first SE-positive egg test result on October 4, 2010. However, your firm shipped 798 cases of eggs from House (b)(4), on October 7, 2010 to a table egg processor, rather than an egg treatment facility. After our investigators brought this to your attention, you initiated a recall of the eggs on November 5, 2010.

2. You failed to label the pallet, case, or other shipping container, containing eggs being diverted to treatment, with the statement, "Federal law requires that these eggs must be treated to achieve at least a 5-log destruction of Salmonella Enteritidis or processed as egg products in accordance with the Egg Products Inspection Act, 21 CFR 118.6(f),” as required by 21 CFR 118.6(f). Specifically, you diverted eggs from the following locations without the required labeling:

Site # House # Circumstances of Diversion

(b)(4) (b)(4) + SE egg sample 10/04/2010 – 10/28/2010

(b)(4) (b)(4) + SE environmental sample and no subsequent egg testing under § 118.6(a) 10/26/2010 – 11/07/2010

(b)(4) (b)(4) + SE environmental sample and no subsequent egg testing under § 118.6(a) 10/26/2010 – 11/02/2010

(b)(4) (b)(4) + SE environmental sample and no subsequent egg testing under § 118.6(a) 09/22/2010 – 09/28/2010

(b)(4) (b)(4) + SE environmental sample and no subsequent egg testing under § 118.6(a) 09/22/2010 – 10/04/2010

This letter may not list all of your firm's deviations. You are responsible for ensuring that your firm operates in compliance with the Act and all regulations. You also have a responsibility to use procedures to prevent further violations of the Act and all applicable regulations.

Within fifteen working days of receipt of this letter, please notify this office in writing of the specific steps that you have taken to correct violations. Include an explanation of each step being taken to prevent the recurrence of violations, as well as copies of related documentation. If you cannot complete corrective action within fifteen working days, state the reason for the delay and the time within which you will complete the corrections.

You should take prompt action to correct the violations cited in this letter. Failure to promptly correct these violations may result in legal action without further notice, including, without limitation, seizure, and injunction. Other federal agencies may take this Warning Letter into account when considering the award of contracts.

A series of Food and Drug Administration inspections at the nation's largest egg farms has found at least one operation contaminated with salmonella.

The FDA is inspecting the country's 600 largest egg farms in the wake of a salmonella outbreak in eggs last summer that sickened at least 1,900 people. The agency said Tuesday it has completed 35 inspections and found 76 positive swabs of salmonella in facilities owned by one producer.

The agency declined to name the farm and a spokeswoman said the FDA doesn't yet know if any illnesses were connected to the contamination. The agency said the farm has taken corrective action.

The FDA says it will be done inspecting the farms early next year. The 600 farms represent about 80 percent of the nation's egg supply.