FROZEN SNACK E.COLI O121 ILLNESSES UNDERESTIMATED

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) today updated its data on illnesses from E.coli 0121 bacteria, linked to eating Farm Rich frozen snacks. It now reports 27 confirmed illnesses of people ages 2 to 75 in 15 states (see photo of map - source -CDC). About a third of these have been hospitalized. Well over half were female (Do women eat more frozen snack foods? Or, are they more likely to visit a doctor when ill?).

Still, when you consider the enormous national distribution of the recalled Farm Rich frozen snack products the number of illnesses from the deadly E.coli 0121 seem fairly small. After all, stores like Walmart sells (or is it "sold"?) them nationwide. Others like Winn-Dixie, Harvey's, Kroger and many more have also marketed them. Plus the food service industry. People have bought and eaten them all over the U.S. for months.

True, not every food item is likely to be contaminated. Nor does everyone who eats a contaminated food necessarily become ill for a variety of reasons (spelled out more in The Safe Food Handbook).

First, food poisoning data is always underreported. I personally know at least five people who had bad cases of food poisoning during the last three months who are not in the official statistics. Not everyone goes to a doctor, not every doctor takes a sample for testing. Even if they do, and the testing is accurate, and a report of a suspicious illness is sent to the authorities, processing always takes a long time. But there are even more factors involved in this particular case, and the delay between first illnesses and confirmation of the cause has taken much longer than usual.

Let's look at the timeline. Illnesses linked to eating contaminated frozen snacks seem to all have occurred between December 30, 2012 and March 9, 2013. Eventually, after asking the ill people a number of questions about what they ate, the investigators found the common food. Finally, the New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center Laboratory, identified the outbreak strain of E. coli O121 in an opened package of Farm Rich brand frozen mini chicken and cheese quesadillas from an ill person’s home. (Once again, I have to praise the New York State Department of Health for a good job).

But the process of identifying the bacterium in samples collected from people with suspicious symptoms remains cumbersome and almost hit or miss, because clinical laboratories don't test for E.coli 0121 (see previous post).

So, what has happened: the first food recall only went out in March 28, and the expansion was yesterday, April 4. During this period of delays, and continuing testing problems, many, many more people are likely to have been ill with E.coli 0121, without entering the data base. As for the data itself, it is likely that the CDC is still weeks behind actual cases.

Of course, I am just guessing, but I would bet that there have been at least ten times as many illnesses as reported from E.coli 0121 hiding in frozen snacks. If I was told it was more like 100 times greater, I would not be surprised.

To your good health,

TSF

WHAT IS THIS E.COLI 0121 IN FROZEN FOOD?

Currently there is a huge recall of frozen food products in the United States because of a bacterium called E.coli 0121. Farm Rich brand frozen food products is the likely source of this outbreak. Today it expanded its recall to include over 30 new items - some sold directly to consumers and others to the food service industry.

This is, as far as I know, the first food recall in the U.S. linked to E.coli 0121. But the bacterium may be less rare that we think. And there are probably many times more illnesses caused by it, including from the currently recalled foods, than we are aware of.

E.coli 0121 is a type of bacteria referred to as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli or STEC. Like E.coli 0157 (the most common serotype in the U.S). It can give you bloody diarrhea and even lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is a type of kidney failure that can be fatal, particularly with infants, the elderly, and people who are weak or ill to begin with.

What is frightening, is that the clinical laboratories to which doctors send stool samples don't regularly check for this particular E.coli. They can't do it for every single deadly bacterium, as it simply gets too costly.

However, there has been some progress in recent years. Some, but not all U.S. clinical laboratories, now test the stool samples for the presence of Shiga toxins. If the tests then don't turn up positive for 0157 STEC, the sample has to be sent to a public health laboratory (which are better equipped) to look for a non-O157 STEC - that is, bacteria like this one. Even when everything happens as it should do, this all takes time.

Check your freezer against the list of recalled products ((http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FSIS_Recalls/Open_Federal_Cases/index.asp) and retailers that sold them (see the USDA list at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/RC_025_2013_Retail_List.pdf). It's better to be safe than sorry.

To your good health,

TSF

LOVE THAT CHICKEN - AND, EGG

I had a great conversation about chickens and eggs the other night. I was sitting at her restaurant - The Fat Lady, in Oakland, California (on the waterfront at Jack London Square) waiting for my husband, when the owner came over to chat, as she usually does. We started on gardening and ended on chickens and eggs.

It turns out that in between owning and running a unique and busy restaurant, she also has chickens. This is not uncommon in the San Francisco Bay area, although urban laws do limit the number you are allowed. I grew nostalgic for the ones I used to have, every chicken with a name, and for those incredibly wonderful tasting fresh eggs.

So what about the eggs in the store? They now get there in record time from the farms. Aren't they just as good? They are "Best-by" dated and labeled. You can buy Cage-Free, Free-Range, Hormone-Free or Antibotic-Free, Organic, Natural, Vegetarian, Omega-3 and more kinds of eggs, at least in California. Can't we just choose the best ones?

Well, yes and no. As The Safe Food Handbook (the book, not this blog) argues (it has a whole chapter on eggs, with all the labels defined) you can't always trust the labels. That is also the point made by Food Inc. article of March 29 that I just looked at: "Egg Labels Aren't All they are Cracked Up to Be." To quote: "... how do you choose which type of eggs to purchase? Cage-free, free-range, organic—these labels all evoke images of happy, healthy chickens clucking through grassy fields. But in reality, these terms don’t guarantee the humane treatment of laying hens or the nutrient value of the eggs they’re producing."

Yes, I would like the hens that lay my eggs to be well treated. This is a big issue in California. But, I also want great eggs. In my case, it means best taste as well as best nutrients. Unfortunately it's not that easy. Not unless you have your own chickens.

I guess I am set for another family argument about setting up poultry farming in our urban back yard. Unfortunately, I will have to find a solution to the visiting omnivore raccoons. Even worse,there is our dog to consider, who will most likely assume that free-roaming chickens would be invading monsters and have them for lunch.

Oh and by the way, the latest long-term research results I have looked at argues that you can eat quite a few eggs a week without risking a heart attack.

To your good health,

TSF

IS THERE RAT POOP IN YOUR FOOD?

Don't think that rats and mice don't turn up in food manufacturing facilities. Believe me, they do. And it's not pleasant, because they can carry disease. Food inspectors notice signs of their presence every once in a while, and food products have to be recalled. That goes for candy too.

It happens everywhere. Every time my son orders popcorn in a movie theatre, I remember that recall of popcorn in the U.S. when rat poop was found in it. And there have been many other cases.

In 2013 ,there seem to be more than the usual number of such incidents in Britain. What is happening? Just today, the Food Standards Agency announced that Edward Gray of Dudley Ltd. (AKA Teddy Grays) has issues a recall for certain lots of its rock and boiled sweets (in American, "candy") because of rodents roaming around the manufacturing premises. This is no fly-by-night candy manufacturer. It is an old and venerable family business established in 1826 in Dudley, Birmingham that makes herbal tablets and traditional sweets.

And just a little more than a month ago, in mid February of this year, KB Natural Foods Ltd. of Britain had to recall some of its own pre-packaged cashew nuts and almonds because of rodents found in the packing plant.

On January 21, about a month before that, there was another recall by Cake Factory Outlet and Clearance Cake Excess because they apparently were caught re-branding and re-labelling cakes, biscuits, sweets, puddings and tarts that had been produced in a factory with rat infestation.

And to start the year off well, on January 9, there was a recall by Snax 4 U (of Glasgow) of their sandwiches, baguettes, wraps and filled rolls, because they were produced in premises found to have rodent infestation (the products were sold at market stalls in northwest of England and the regulators are still trying to find out where they all went to).

Ugh...

To your good health,
TSF

SAUSAGES RECALLED - AGAIN AND AGAIN

Recently, sausages have been in the food safety news in the U.S. We've had both "foreign materials," and bacteria. That's enough.

If you have read The Safe Food Handbook (the book, that is, now in second edition and also available on Kindle), you would have checked out the box in the Meat and Poultry section (pp.134-135) entitled "Try Regulating a Sausage." This box illustrates what sausages contain, how they are made, and how difficult it is to inspect them. To tell the truth, I almost stopped eating sausages after doing this research.

The last paragraph of the box says: "Are you surprised that sausages are a commonly contaminated food product? Anything in them could be the culprit ingredient - one of the meats used, other components such as milk powder, and even the spices. Or the source of contamination could be one of those plant workers or pieces of equipment."...

Yesterday, the news focused on a Hot Springs Packing Co., in Arkansas, having to recall 6,120 pounds of chicken polish sausage and chicken breakfast link products due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria (beware pregnant women!). On February 27, Schmalz's European Provisions, in Springfield, New Jersey, recalled some 8,424 pounds of chicken and apple sausage that could contain small pieces of plastic. On February 21, Smithfield Packing Company, of Virginia, recalled approximately 38,000 pounds of pork sausage because they could have contained small pieces of plastic, probably from gloves.

So, what else is new? And, how many of those delicious sausages got thought the inspection process with all kinds of nasty things, even though they should have been caught?

(Writing this after a totally delicious dinner of "bangers and mash." Oh...oh....)

To your good health,

TSF

SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE FUKUSHIMA DISASTER IN JAPAN

March 11, 2013 is the second anniversary of the Fukushima Daichii disaster in Japan. This was the largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. On that date, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami killed nearly 19,000 people and crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. It triggered meltdowns and spewed radiation over a wide area. The damage, leakage of radiation and challenges involved in control, repair and disposal of contaminated materials (such as soil, water) were much worse than initially expected.

Some 160,000 people were forced to flee their homes and farms. Farmers and fishermen lost their livelihoods. Thousands of lives were changed forever.

This blog gave intensive coverage to the effects of the disaster on radiation in food, starting with regular blog posts just days after the event. It made predictions about which foods and radionuclides would be involved. These were largely based on research at Chernobyl, but taking into account agriculture land use, waterways, and dietary patterns in Japan. These predictions have generally proven correct.

Yes, the main disaster at the nuclear plant has now passed. Radiation levels in the communities near Fukushima Daichii have fallen. The volatile iodine-131 that was released into the air and water only has a half-life of 8 days.Caesium-134 was also produced and dispersed, but has a 2-year half-life. However, Caesium-137, the other main radionuclide, has a 30-year half-life, is easily carried in a plume, and can contaminate land for some time. Caesium is soluble and can be taken into the body, but does not concentrate in any particular organs. It has a biological half-life of about 70 days.

Work inside the wrecked facility has made major progress, although some remains to be done and reports suggest that some, though much less, leakage is still occurring.

As for long-term effects on people's health, much still remains uncertain. Experts seem to agree that long-term, those who are likely to suffer most are the emergency workers, and people living closest to the crippled power plant , particularly northwest of it, who, for whatever reason, refused to leave for months after the incident. Among the latter, children are at greatest risk. The World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted that children near the plant who were exposed to high levels of radiation have a significantly higher risk of developing certain kinds of cancers over their lifetime.

So what about the radiation-contaminated food - greens, rice, fish, dairy, meat and even tea? Yes, it happened and reports are still turning up, for instance in fish. Overall, radiation in food has been part of the general risk situation and has extended far beyond the evacuation area. There are many posts on this blog that cover these issues. In spite of controls, contaminated food has, on occasions, even reached countries outside Japan.

But overall, there is no reason to believe that this incident has created major food-related health risks outside Japan, or will do so in the future. Food-related risks in Japan are also decreasing, although some people remain concerned. If they can afford it, they have turned to imported food, or, to diversifying what they eat, so as to limit their risk. The government continues to monitor radiation levels in food, which may not always catch all incidents, but does help.

To your good health,

TSF

DOES QUEEN ELIZABETH HAVE NOROVIRUS OR FOOD POISONING?

Queen Elizabeth II of England, who has now been on the throne for 60 years, has been hospitalized with gastroenteritis. Or, officially speaking "symptoms of gastroenteritis." These usually include vomiting and diarrhea. It goes to show that no one is safe. By the way, remember Hillary Clinton's similar illness a few months ago?

The news media is stating that the cause is either food poisoning or a "stomach flu" (meaning that it is caused by a virus). If it is a case of norovirus - quite likely, since there has been a large outbreak of it in Britain this winter - she may have caught it from one of the British Olympic stars to whom she presented awards on Friday morning (she first became ill on Friday night), or, from anyone else she had contact with on that or other occasions. It is very contagious.

But it is unlikely that she caught it from a banister or other surface, since she wears gloves much of the time. Or, she could also have caught it from a food or drink item that was contaminated with the virus - or, become ill from food contaminated with bacteria. In that case, it would be classified as "food poisoning." I guess we'll have a better idea once the lab tests come in or the palace issues a more detailed statement.

The Queen is now 87 and in remarkably good health. However, as you get older, you are more vulnerable. Gastroenteritis can also hit you harder and recovery can be slower. Finally, you are more likely to have serious complications such as dehydration or worse. This, apparently is the reason why Queen Elizabeth was hospitalized - to make sure she recovers fully as soon as possible, and to avoid complications.

To your good health,
TSF

Update: The Queen has been released from the hospital - a day earlier than planned.