MORE NOROVIRUS ILLNESSES ON CRUISE SHIPS

Well, we are off to a good start for cases of diarrhea, vomiting and stomach cramps on board cruise ships this year - and, it's only the beginning of February. In fact, there is a very good chance that we will easily pass the 2011 total number of illnesses (1971 reported cases).

By the last count I could find, we now have four cruise ships docking in the U.S. during the last few days with outbreaks of Norovirus on board: the two Princess Cruise Ships (Crown Princess and Ruby Princess) with a combined total of some 500 illnesses reported, a Carnival Corp. ship with about 100 reported so far, and an outbreak on Royal Caribbean Cruises “Voyager of the Seas” with maybe 200 illnesses on board (the numbers in this last case are still vague).

But let me tell you something else: the actual numbers are bound to be much larger. How much, I don't know. I would guess at least double or triple. Maybe even 10 times the above. After all, studies done on Norovirus have found that only about 10% of people affected by this virus seek medical care. And if they just decide to tough it out, and not see a doctor, they don't get counted.

Some passengers on a cruise ship don't go to see the medical staff because they discover that they have to pay extra for the consultation, or have to wait for a long time, when they are feeling awful and would rather be flat in bed (and, close to a bathroom). Others only become ill when they leave the ship (the incubation period for onset of symptoms can be as long as 72 hours), so they are unlikely to be included in the numbers reported to the CDC.

Of course, now with cruise travel reservations down, and less crowding on board, maybe even safer food, the incidence of Norovirus may start to decrease.....

To your good health,
TSF

SEVERAL OUTBREAKS OF NOROVIRUS ON PRINCESS CRUISES

Cruise ships participating in the Vessel Sanitation Program are required to report the total number of gastrointestinal (GI) illness cases that have occurred on board before the ship arrives at a U.S. port when it has come from a foreign port, and is engaged in a voyage of 3-21 days. Only cruise ships carrying more than 100 passengers are required to report.

Statistics for 2011 show that Princess Cruises had more confirmed Norovirus outbreaks than any other cruise ship line during 2011:

Sea Princess (5/30-6/09). 144 sickened. Cause: Norovirus
Sea Princess (5/20-5/30). 128 sickened. Cause: Norovirus
Coral Princess (5/04-5/19). 64 sickened. Cause: Norovirus

In addition to Norovirus, there was also an outbreak of Enterotoxegenic E. coli on Coral Princess.

But Princess Cruises is not the only cruise line with GI illness outbreaks. Almost all cruise lines have had them on one trip or another, though not necessarily every cruise or every year. In all the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recorded 11 outbreaks of GI illness on cruise ships visiting U.S. ports in 2011. Six of these were due to Norovirus, two to E.coli and three had an unknown cause (which could have been Norovirus).

So, as I have advised in previous posts, check the record of your particular cruise line and the ship itself before you book. Take a look at the CDC site at: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/gilist.htm#2011.

Outbreaks can and do occur on both the cheapest and the most expensive of cruises, but you'll notice that some of the ships have a particularly bad record. Don't book on those.

To your good health,
TSF

LISTERIA SANDWICHES SOLD AT WALGREENS IN CALIFORNIA

Our industrialized food certainly gets around. Now those potentially Listeria-contaminated boiled eggs from Nebraska are causing a prepared sandwich recall in California.

GH Foods CA, LLC of Sacramento has been notified by their supplier that the eggs supplied to them were from Michael Foods, Inc, and have been recalled because they could be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria.

The sandwiches affected by the recall were reportedly only distributed to Walgreens retail stores in the state of California. They are packaged in a cellophane wrapper and sold under the Delish brand.

Product UPC Code Enjoy by Date
DeLish brand Egg Salad on HoneyWheat Sandwich 8.5 oz. 0.49022-51925.1 1/17/12 through 2/5/12
DeLish brand Tuna Salad on Multigrain Bread Sandwich 8.5 oz 0.49022-51928.2 1/22/12 through 2/5/12

If you have bought them, don't eat them!

To your good health,
TSF

HUNDREDS FALL ILL ON CRUISE SHIPS

Are you really serious about taking that cruise? I wouldn't worry too much about the ship sinking, but you may want to keep food poisoning in mind.

The cruise ship industry has been hit with a lot of bad publicity lately. First, there was the Costa Concordia disaster off the coast of Italy. And now, two Princess Cruises ships, limping into port in Florida with hundreds of very miserable passengers and crew on board due to Norovirus outbreaks.

We don't know how the virus got on board both ships, but the chances are that it boarded with the food, most likely from a common source, and spread from there. This virus is very contagious, very common on cruise ships and probably the most common cause of food poisoning. It can spread not just through food itself, but also passenger to passenger, through surfaces where droplets of vomit have landed and many other ways.

The Crown Princess, has so far reported 140 people, or about 4 percent of passengers to be ill, plus 18 members of the crew. On the Ruby Princess, 81 passengers - 2 percent of the total- and nine crew members have been reported ill so far.

Two things you can be sure of: one, these numbers will increase, and secondly, the ships will be extremely difficult to clean up. In fact, history of such outbreaks shows that there will be increased risk of another Norovirus outbreak on subsequent cruises in spite of all the efforts made.

If you are thinking of going ahead with a planned cruise, or, have a family member or friend who will do so, check out the several earlier posts on this blog which will help you to be one of the people who stays healthy.

Is Cruise Ship Food Safe to Eat? - 2/25/11
Why are Cruise Ships Risky Places to Eat - 2/26/11
How to Avoid Getting Sick on a Cruise Ship - 2/25/11
Cruising May be No Carnival if You Get Food Poisoning - 1/10/12

To your good health,
TSF
UPDATE: 02/7/12 - Two more cruise ships have reported Norovirus outbreaks in the past few days and the number of illnesses on the Princess cruises has risen (see later posts).
UPDATE" 01/7/13 - Almost a year later, outbreaks continue, including on Princess cruises. See most more recent posts.

UPDATE: 1/28/14 - The latest reported outbreak with perhaps as many as 600 ill passengers and crew (see post of 1/26/14 -
"Another Outbreak on a Cruise Ship") is on the Royal Caribbean line ship "Explorer of the Seas."

UPDATE ON BOILED EGG SPINOFF RECALLS

As I predicted, there are more spinoff recalls from the Michael Foods boiled egg recall. Boiled eggs are used in a number of ready-to-eat foods such as salads and sandwiches. And many small companies and retailers which prepare and sell such products seem to get them (cheaply, I assume) from large suppliers such as Michaels in big bags or buckets.

Unfortunately several of them are now in a certain amount of bother because they realize that their products may be contaminated with disease-causing and potentially deadly Listeria bacteria. Their items may not have come up in the original Michael's recall, but they did when this egg supplier issued a wider recall. As a result, many of the recalled items have probably been bought already - and eaten. So what else is new?

I am sure there will be more of these spinoff recalls. But here are two recent ones:

Allison’s Gourmet Kitchens of Moore, Oklahoma is recalling certain prepared salads that contain cooked eggs. These salads were sold to retail stores and to food service in Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, Tennessee and Missouri. There is a long list on: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm290212.htm?source=govdelivery.

Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is recalling hard-cooked eggs, as well as prepared foods that contain hard-cooked eggs, such as cobb salad, spinach salad, chef salad, garden salad, Kosher macaroni salad and Kosher pickled salad. These were sold between January 23 and February 1, 2012 at Wegmans’ Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Canandaigua, Newark, Geneva, Corning, Elmira, Geneseo, and Hornell stores.

And the latest - F&S Produce Company Inc., a Deerfield, N.J. establishment, is recalling approximately 389 pounds of Cobb and spinach salads. These products were sent to a warehouse in Pennsylvania for further distribution to retailers, and who knows where they went from there.

Making your own salads is a lot safer than buying them ready made, not matter how convenient. OK, it may take 10 minutes. But if you get Listeriosis, it could ruin your life.

To your good health,
TSF

FURTHER UPDATE 02/04/12 - GH Foods SW, of Texas is recalling approximately 515 pounds of Cobb salad products - "Fresh Garden Highway Cobb Salad" - distributed to retailers in Texas.

EXPANSION OF THE BOILED EGG RECALL

Here we go again - paying the price for our industrialized food supply and our increasing dependence on convenience foods. That tiny bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes, is giving us more worry and misery. Pregnant women and vulnerable people watch out!

The boiled egg recall is now on a nationwide expansion path in the U.S. Michael Foods, Inc. is recalling hard-cooked eggs in brine sold in 10 and 25-pound pails for institutional use. From its Wakefield, Nebraska facility these eggs were sent to food distributors and manufacturers in at least 34 states (AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NJ, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, WA, WI, WV).

And, as usual, and to confuse the issue further, a product from such a large food company is sold under various names - all of them sounding healthy - Columbia Valley Farms, GFS, Glenview Farms, Papetti’s, Silverbrook, Wholesome Farms. (I think I am going to steer clear of any product which has "Farm" or "Farms" in its name..There have been just too many "farm" recalls lately).

Avoid convenience foods - if you can.

To your good health,

TSF

AVOIDING GENETICALLY MODIFIED PRODUCE

Genetically modified (GM) foods and the evils of the company most identified with them - Monsanto - are again inciting discussion. There is a petition to president Obama "Tell Obama to Cease FDA Ties to Monsanto" (see http://signon.org/sign/tell-obama-to-cease-fda.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=2165405) which is currently big on the social media circuit. Leaving aside the evils of the food industries ties to, and influence at the U.S. political and policy levels (of which this is not the only case), just how bad is genetically modified food?

I don't know. I am not an expert on this a very specialized and complex subject. My review of the research and opinion on the topic leads me to conclude that it may not be quite as harmless as proponents argue, or, quite as evil as GM critics state. But I am not sure that anyone really knows what all the long term risks are.

Quoting from what I said on p. 82 of The Safe Food Handbook: " Perhaps the biggest concern among many experts is that we still do not know what all the risk of GMOs are, and by the time we find out, it may be too late to do much about them."

Alright, let's bring this to the personal level: if we would rather avoid GMOs what can we do? In the case of produce, it may be quite easy in the U.S. Next time you are shopping you may want to look at that little PLU code on that apple or squash or tomato and remember the below:

A five-digit number beginning with 8 means that the produce has been genetically modified.

To your good health,
TSF