Palama Meat Company is voluntarily recalling some ground beef products processed at its Kapolei plant in Hawaii that  between April 9-21 due to possible E. Coli contamination.  Approximately 4,500 cases of ground beef-related products are affected.  To date, Palama Meat has recovered about 40% of the product affected by this recall.

Consumers who have any of the following products are asked to return the product to point of purchase for a refund.  The following products with any of the associated Lot Codes are subject to recall.  A label with the production Lot Code is on every case and the production Lot Code is the date of production in a six-digit number in a Year Day Month (YR DY MO) format: (more…)

Two women who were hospitalized for several weeks due to E. coli infections that were linked to tainted lettuce in a Wendy’s meal are suing the popular fast food chain.  Dozens of people attending an education conference in June 2006 fell ill after eating food from Wendy’s.  The women say they ate the contaminated food at a Wendy’s restaurant in North Ogden, Utah and the lawsuits were filed this week against Wendy’s International in Salt Lake City federal court.  Lesiel Calvert and her husband, who live in Weber County and Megan Richards and her husband, who live in Cache County, filed the lawsuits.  The lawsuits seek an unspecified amount of money.

Escherichia coli is a relatively common bacteria found in the human digestive tract is normally harmless; however, some strains, including those linked to food poisoning, are serious and can cause fatal blood poisoning, cystitis, and deadly septicemia.  In the United States, E. coli is the leading cause of food-borne illness.  About 73,000 people are infected and 61 people die from it E. coli each year.  And, last year alone, over 22 million pounds of beef and vegetables were recalled due to E. coli outbreaks. (more…)

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is planning to begin testing ground beef and ground beef component samples for non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STECs) to determine whether to declare them contaminates. 

Officials from USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that the agency will test those samples that test positive and those that test negative for E. coli O157:H7; however, production lots will not be recalled, seized, or detained in those cases where the samples only test positive for non-O157 STECs and that this data is being generated for study purposes at this time.

E. coli 0157:H7—Escherichia coli 0157:H7—is one of hundreds of E. coli strains, the vast majority of which are harmless.  Strain 0157:H7 is quite virulent and produces a powerful toxin that can cause severe illness and even death and is the leading cause of food and waterborne illness in the United States.  According to Center of Disease Control (CDC) estimates, there are over 70,000 cases of infection and 61 deaths occurring in the U.S. annually with most illness linked to undercooked or contaminated meat.  E. coli is routinely found on cattle farms and in the intestines of healthy livestock.  Outbreaks occur when meat becomes tainted during slaughter, organisms contaminate the grounding process, and tainted meat is released and consumed by the public. (more…)

Although grapes, lettuce, and tomatoes look safe and appetizing in your grocer’s shelves, a hidden E. coli toxin could be in them and shoppers would not know.  Kansas State University food expert T.G. Nagaraja has spent the past decade researching E. coli bacteria and reports that a new strain of E. coli could threaten the nation’s food supply.  The toxin comes from healthy plants and animals, but hurts humans.  “Comes through beef, water or vegetables.  The organism produces a toxin that can cause illness in humans,” Nagaraja said.

In the United States, E. coli is the leading cause of food-borne illness.  About 73,000 people are infected and 61 people die from it E. coli each year.  And, last year alone, over 22 million pounds of beef and vegetables were recalled due to E. coli outbreaks.  “Everybody was concerned,” said grocery store owner Terry Olson. “I mean, everybody doesn’t want to feed tainted products to their kids, grandkids, parents, whatever.  And so everybody was afraid of spinach when the E. coli outbreak occurred.”  Nagaraja says people should be concerned and educated by thoroughly cooking their food and cleaning their vegetables. (more…)

An outbreak of Shiga E. Coli has officials in Texas working frantically to determine its source.  The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) issued a health alert after six cases of the serious diarrhea illness broke out in Bastrop County.  Health experts say it is unusual to have this many cases of what appeared to be a food borne illness related to the Shiga E. coli toxin in just a few days.  In addition to the six illnesses, one child died. Texas’s Lee and Fayette counties have joined Bastrop County in reporting outbreaks of the toxin.

On Friday, a news release issued by the Texas DSHS stated that the, “Results of laboratory tests to identify a specific bacteria are pending.  Shiga toxin illnesses are typically food borne.  A common source for the illnesses has not been identified.”  The incubation period ranges from one to eight days, though typically it is three to five days and symptoms are gastrointestinal in nature.  The Shiga toxin is rare; the U.S. Health Department says it only sees 100 to 200 cases a year, so the Central Texas outbreak is cause for concern. (more…)

The cause of a 2006 Taco Johns E. coli outbreak has finally been determined.  The Wegis Ranch in Buttonwillow, California grew the bacteria-infested lettuce that sickened 81 people in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in 2006, a team of state and federal regulators concluded.  Investigators said they found positive samples of E. coli at Wegis Ranch and at two neighboring dairies.  The lettuce was served at two Taco John’s restaurants in Iowa and Minnesota and illnesses were reported in November and December of 2006.  Although no deaths were reported, 26 people were hospitalized.  The findings were released in a report dated February 15 and prepared by the California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  The study revealed that E. coli samples taken from the ranch and the Maya and West Star North dairies were genetic matches to the strain that was found in the lettuce that sickened so many.

Regulators traced the shipments of shredded lettuce back to Wegis where they discovered that the ranch is located near two dairies and used some wastewater from the dairies to irrigate fields where grain was grown for animal feed. While the report did not definitely state how the lettuce became contaminated it did suggest that the Regis Ranch had inadequate protection for its water system and that the dairy wastewater system and the ranch’s irrigation system shared some piping. Apparently, the irrigation system lacked proper protection against backflow that could have allowed manure-tainted wastewater to reach fields next to those where lettuce grew, mixing farm fresh water with contaminated water, the study said.  The ranch says it stopped growing lettuce because of the investigation and the cucumbers and tomatoes it produces are processed with heat to kill germs. (more…)

An E. coli outbreak last fall  that affected students at a Floyd County, Indiana elementary school resulted in 15 confirmed or probable E. coli cases and likely originated from one child who had environmental contact—as opposed to ingesting the bacteria in food—with a cow or goat.  The findings were part of a report by the Indiana State Department of Health expected to be released in the couple of weeks according to Dr. Tom Harris, Floyd County’s health officer. Harris said he reviewed the report last week as it was being completed.

According to the report, one Galena Elementary School student—and it remains unclear which student was the originating victim—inadvertently brought the infection into the school, perhaps after contact with a cow or goat. Some animals, such as cows and goats, carry E. coli without suffering from the infection.  The bacteria was then spread by contact either in the school or with siblings of infected students.  Harris said the mother of a student who attended a play group with infected students was confirmed to have the illness and one other adult was considered a probable case, adding that 10 cases confirmed by bacterial culture were of children attending Galena or siblings of Galena students.  Because all the children were sickened by the same E. coli strain, the infection originated from the same source. (more…)

Drug Resistant E. coli bacteria are spreading beyond hospitals into the greater population, Canadian scientists have warned, and global health officials need to begin monitoring the spread of drug resistant E. Coli.  Those conclusions where draw from a study of drug resistant E. coli conducted by  Dr. Johann Pitout and Dr. Kevin Laupland, both from the University of Calgary in Canada.  For the study, the scientists looked at a strain of E. coli that produces extended-spectrum beta lactamases or ESBLs, enzymes that give the bacteria resistance to antibiotic drugs.

Escherichia coli is a relatively common bacteria found in the human gut—or digestive tract—and is normally harmless; however, some strains, including those linked to food poisoning, are serious and can cause fatal blood poisoning, cystitis, and deadly septicemia.  The elderly are most at risk, particularly those living in nursing homes. (more…)

An E. coli vaccine for cattle is a bit closer to reality, following a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) determination that  Canada’s Bioniche Life Sciences Inc’s E. coli vaccine is eligible for a conditional license. The USDA said Bioniche’s E. coli vaccine  “meets the ‘expectation of efficacy’ standard” making it eligible for a conditional license once it develops a plan to “collect sufficient data to move the product to full licensure.”

The Bioniche vaccine is the world’s first vaccine approved for use on on-farm intervention to reduce the amount of E. coli O157:H7 shed by cattle.  Bioniche and collaborators have worked for eight years to make the vaccine commercially available, which included extensive testing at the University Nebraska-Lincoln. (more…)

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) could soon start assessing user fees to pay for meat inspections and other food safety initiatives.  There were over 52 meat recalls last year, 21 of which involved E. coli tainted meat.  Ten of the meat recalls were the result of routine USDA testing.  As a result, the USDA has expanded testing and has begun recalling infected meat more rapidly in order to fight E. coli.   To help pay for stepped up testing programs, the White House has proposed two new user fees that would allot $96 million to help pay for additional meat inspections.  The White House said the proposal, which requires congressional approval, would generate fees that would reduce future appropriation needs.

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) oversees about 20 percent of the food supply, including eggs, red meat, and poultry. The agency currently employs approximately 7,800 federal inspectors.  Each year, the USDA tests thousands of meat and poultry products for bacteria, including E. coli 0157:H7. E. Coli  Strain 0157:H7 is quite virulent and produces a powerful toxin that can cause severe illness and even death and is the leading cause of food and waterborne illness in the United States. (more…)