News Archive
- NEW MEXICO: Diego's: Salmonella probe a 'wi...
- TORONTO: Deadly listeriosis outbreak traced...
- BARFBLOG: Maple Leaf cold-cuts confirmed as...
- CANADA: KAP makes big strides in food safet...
- TEXAS: Lack of Dallas pool inspections is m...
- CANADA: Five things: Food recalls...
- CANADA: More deaths confirmed: But medical ...
- BARFBLOG: Death toll from listeria in Canad...
- TORONTO: Maple Leaf warned distributors pri...
- CANADA: Health Hazard Alert – Shopsy’s deli...
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NEW MEXICO: Diego's: Salmonella probe a 'witch hunt'
8/23/2008
Santa Fe New Mexican
Sue Vorenberg
www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Restaurant--Salmonella-probe-a--witch-hunt-
Diego's Café and the Simons & Slattery law firm, which represents it, have issued a response to claims by the state Health and Environment departments that 12 people who ate at DeVargas Center restaurant contracted salmonella bacteria infections.
The response calls information released by the Health Department to be an "ill-advised witch hunt" against the restaurant, which has been in Santa Fe for 20 years.
"Despite repeated attempts to obtain the facts which the Health Department has based its erroneous allegations against Diego's, the department has not provided any evidence that there is, or has been, salmonella in the restaurant at any time," the statement said.
For the complete news item, please visit http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Restaurant--Salmonella-probe-a--witch-hunt-
TORONTO: Deadly listeriosis outbreak traced to Maple Leaf meats
8/23/2008
Canwest News Service
Nicole Baer
www.canada.com/story.html?id=222b628d-8dc8-46af-b1dd-540864db14b8
OTTAWA -- Testing has confirmed that an outbreak of listeriosis that has claimed at least four lives (probably several more – dp) across Canada has now been positively linked to processed meats produced at Maple Leaf Consumer Foods, a senior government official said Saturday.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Public Health Agency of Canada have been testing samples of recalled meat for the past week to determine the source of a fatal outbreak of listeriosis. They were to make details public later Saturday evening.
Earlier Saturday, the Public Health Agency of Canada upped to 21 the number of cases of a deadly listeriosis outbreak that have been confirmed so far in four provinces. The agency said in a statement that 16 of the cases were found in Ontario, three in British Columbia, and one each in Saskatchewan and in Quebec.
For the complete news item, please visit http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=222b628d-8dc8-46af-b1dd-540864db14b8
BARFBLOG: Maple Leaf cold-cuts confirmed as listeria source in Canada: at least 5 dead, dozens ill
8/23/2008
barfblog
Doug Powell
barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/listeria-1/
Canwest News Service is first out of the block, citing a senior government official as saying Saturday that testing has confirmed that an outbreak of listeriosis that has claimed at least four lives – and probably several more -- across Canada has now been positively linked to processed meats produced at Maple Leaf Consumer Foods.
http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=222b628d-8dc8-46af-b1dd-540864db14b8
Earlier Saturday, the Public Health Agency of Canada upped to 21 the number of cases of a deadly listeriosis outbreak that have been confirmed so far in four provinces. The agency said in a statement that 16 of the cases were found in Ontario, three in British Columbia, and one each in Saskatchewan and in Quebec.
Three deaths in Ontario - St. Catharines, Hamilton and Waterloo - have been officially tied to the deadly strain of the food-borne listeria bacterium, and a fourth death on Vancouver Island has also been attributed to the strain.
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/tmp-pmv/2008/listeria080820-eng.php
For the complete blog post, please visit http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/listeria-1/maple-leaf-coldcuts-confirmed-as-listeria-source-in-canada-at-least-5-dead-dozens-ill/index.html
CANADA: KAP makes big strides in food safety initiatives
8/23/2008
Coastal Plains Herald Leader
Rob Swystun
www.cpheraldleader.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1169077
The province’s farmer lobby group has moved with lightning speed over the past couple of weeks to act on a food safety resolution passed last month by the organization’s members.
“We’ve done several things since our general council meeting,” said Keystone Agricultural Producers president and Central Plains-area farmer Ian Wishart.
Since the July 10 meeting in Brandon, KAP has wasted little time setting up a meeting with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Rosann Wowchuk for Sept. 15.
For the complete news item, please visit http://www.cpheraldleader.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1169077
TEXAS: Lack of Dallas pool inspections is making waves
8/23/2008
Dallas Morning News
Jessica Sidman and Ryan McNeill
www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/healthscience/stories/082308dnmetdallaspools.43e2826.html
Most pools and spas in Dallas do not undergo an inspection that could protect the public from at least some waterborne diseases.
City inspectors have filed more than 190 inspection reports since January. That means about 15 percent of Dallas' 1,300 commercially or city-operated pools and spas eligible for inspection were examined for safety and water quality.
Those inspectors are not even required to inspect stand-alone spray parks, which are growing in popularity and could pose a significant risk.
For the complete news item, please visit http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/healthscience/stories/082308dnmetdallaspools.43e2826.html
CANADA: Five things: Food recalls
8/23/2008
Globe and Mail
Richard Blackwell
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080823.RFIVETHINGS23/TPStory/Business
1 Terrible Tins
Unfortunately for arctic explorer Sir John Franklin and his crew, there were no food recalls back in the 1840s. Studies of the frozen corpses of some of the 128-members of the ill-fated Franklin expedition suggested that lead poisoning contributed to their demise. Food canning was a new technology at that time, and the lead likely came from the solder used in the tins of soup, vegetables and meat carried on the expedition's ships.
2 Long list
This month's scare is certainly not the first time the listeria bacterium has been blamed for tainting food and killing innocent victims. In 1981, 41 cases of listeriosis were reported in Nova Scotia, where it caused miscarriages, stillbirths and infant deaths. The culprit was identified as cabbage grown in contaminated sheep manure. In 1985, Mexican cheese was recalled after listeria killed 69 people across the U.S. And in 1998 the bacteria was found in tinned lobster from Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. In 1990, J.M. Schneider Inc. - now owned by Maple Leaf Foods - recalled 20,000 pounds of hot dogs suspected of listeria contamination.
3 Heavy Costs
Food recalls can be financially disastrous. Maple Leaf Foods says the cost of recalling its meat products and temporarily shutting down one of its Toronto plants could reach $4-million. Sara Lee Corp., which recalled 15 million pounds of hot dogs and deli meats in 1998 after the food was linked to a listeriosis outbreak, took a $76-million charge.
4 A positive?
Despite the steep costs, it is possible for a company to turn a recall nightmare into something mildly positive. New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson managed this feat in 1982 after seven people in the Chicago area died from taking cyanide-laced Extra Strength Tylenol capsules. The company yanked 31 million bottles of the painkiller, and was open with the public and media. It also introduced more secure packaging, and managed to regain most of its market share within a year.
5 Turkey Threat
One of the oddest - and recurring - food recalls involves turkeys in Vancouver. At Christmas in 1994, animal rights groups threatened to poison turkeys to avenge the "murder" of the birds. Supermarkets were forced to take tens of thousands of turkeys off their shelves, and they did it again after more threats before Thanksgiving 1996. No poison was ever found. To head off another round, the B.C. Turkey board mounted a "safe-turkey campaign" at Christmas 1996, posting 200 plain-clothes guards at meat counters to prevent any tamper of the birds. When there was another threat at Christmas 2003, the grocery industry put up a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those involved in the hoax.
CANADA: More deaths confirmed: But medical officials say risk remains 'very small'
8/23/2008
Ottawa Sun
Ian Robertson
ottsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2008/08/23/6545861-sun.html
TORONTO -- Lab tests have raised to four the death toll from an outbreak of listeriosis, which has struck 17 people across Canada, health officials said yesterday.
All those who died from the listeria bacteria were seniors living in Ontario, Sun Media learned.
In addition to the first recorded death tied to the national outbreak -- an elderly Hamilton woman -- officials said DNA "fingerprinting" tests at laboratories showed a second senior died in Waterloo of that type of listeria, a third in St. Catharines and a fourth in the Bay of Quinte area.
For the complete news item, please visit http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2008/08/23/6545861-sun.html
BARFBLOG: Death toll from listeria in Canada climbs
8/23/2008
barfblog
Doug Powell
barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/listeria-1/
Depending on what sources are cited, there are now four confirmed deaths in Ontario and one in B.C. from the same strain of listeria. Several more deaths are being investigated, and the number of ill will continue to rise.
http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2008/08/23/6545861-sun.html
The spin that various social actors and politicians are putting on this listeria outbreak is beyond gross – it’s set a new low for unwarranted aggrandizing.
While preparing to do a live interview with CBC NewsWorld on Thurs., the host introduced the program by saying that the first case of listeria was in a 36-year-old pregnant woman in late June. As a pregnant Amy looked on – she’s very supportive of my media activities and viciously edits much of my writing, and vice-versa – I tried not to go, WTF, as the cameras were rolling.
For the complete blog posting, please visit http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/listeria-1/death-toll-from-listeria-in-canada-climbs/index.html
TORONTO: Maple Leaf warned distributors prior to full recall
8/23/2008
Globe and Mail
Matthew Trevisan and Bill Curry
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080822.wrecall23/BNStory/National/home
TORONTO, OTTAWA — Four days before Maple Leaf Foods Inc. warned the public that two varieties of sliced meat may have been contaminated with listeria, the company told its distributors to stop shipping three different products and that federal health authorities were investigating its Toronto plant.
On Aug. 13, Maple Leaf sent a letter to its distributors requesting that, as a precautionary measure, they stop shipping the company's Sure Slice roast beef, corned beef and Black Forest ham because the processing plant in Toronto where the meat was produced was under investigation by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Maple Leaf spokeswoman Linda Smith said yesterday.
On Aug. 17, Maple Leaf recalled its Sure Slice roast beef and corned beef after the roast beef tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, a food-borne bacterium that can cause serious illness in pregnant women and the elderly.
Then on Aug. 20, after being informed that both the Sure Slice roast beef and corned beef tested positive for listeria in later tests, the company recalled more than 20 deli meats and shut down its Toronto plant for sanitization, at a total cost of $2-million, as Ontario health officials announced an outbreak of listeriosis.
For the complete news item, please visit http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080822.wrecall23/BNStory/National/home
CANADA: Health Hazard Alert – Shopsy’s deli-fresh Classic Reuben sandwich may contain Listeria monocytogenes
8/22/2008
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Ottawa -- The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Royal Touch Foods are warning the public not to serve or consume the Shopsy’s deli-fresh Classic Reuben sandwich described below because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
The affected product, Shopsy’s deli-fresh Classic Reuben, is sold in a 180 g package bearing
UPC 7 76393 17001 8 and Best Before dates AU 22 and AU 24 .
A small number of these sandwiches were sold only in Ontario from the following locations:
Store Name/Location
Shoppers Drug Mart/390 Queens Quay, Toronto
Shoppers Drug Mart/388 King Street West, Toronto
Shoppers Drug Mart/10 Dundas Street, Toronto
Shoppers Drug Mart/465 Yonge Street, Toronto
Shoppers Drug Mart/4990 Yonge Street, Toronto
Shoppers Drug Mart/5776 Yonge Street, Toronto
Bloor Superfresh Mart/186 Bloor Street, Toronto
This recall is being initiated as this product contains sliced corned beef, one of the ready-to-eat deli meat products recalled by Maple Leaf Consumer Foods, Burlington, ON. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these sandwiches.
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/2008listeriae.shtml
Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled. Consumption of food contaminated with this bacteria may cause listeriosis, a foodborne illness. Listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk. Infected pregnant women may experience only a mild, flu-like illness, however, infections during pregnancy can lead to premature delivery, infection of the newborn, or even stillbirth.
The manufacturer, Royal Touch Foods, Toronto, ON, is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.
For more information, consumers and industry can call one of the following numbers:
Domenic Ruso, Royal Touch Foods at 1-800-661-2360, Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).
For information on Listeria monocytogenes, visit the Food Facts web page
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/causee.shtml.
For information on receiving recalls by e-mail, or for other food safety facts, visit our website at www.inspection.gc.ca.
