Arizona Food Service Network

Local man sickened by E. coli sues Idaho distributor

By

An Ada County man is suing an Idaho distributor claiming lettuce it sold to Costco Wholesale sickened him with E. coli.

The civil lawsuit, filed in 4th District Court on Aug. 17, claims Jordan Anglen, a 23-year-old Costco employee, bought a Caesar salad on March 25 from the food court at Costco on Cole Road in Boise, which sickened him days later. According to the complaint, he tested positive for the same strain of E. coli as a nationwide outbreak that occurred earlier this year.

Read more at the source: Local man sickened by E. coli sues Idaho distributor

How to Tell Whether Expired Food Is Safe to Eat

By

Every day the average American throws out nearly a pound of food, according to a recent study from the Department of Agriculture. There are plenty of reasons why good, usable food gets tossed—picky kids, overstocked pantries, or even leftovers that sit in refrigerators too long.

But another major factor is the misconception about what all of those dates on food package labels—“sell by,” “use by,” and “best if used by”—really mean. Ninety percent of Americans misinterpret the dates on labels, according to a recent study from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and throw out food that could still be consumed or frozen for later use.

That raises the question: If expiration dates aren’t a reliable gauge of food spoilage, how does a consumer know what to keep and what to toss?

 

Read more from the source:  How to Tell Whether Expired Food Is Safe to Eat

Parasite risk in wraps, salads spurs warning; romaine blamed

By

Federal officials issued a public health alert Monday night warning people to watch for signs of parasitic infections if they have eaten any of more than two dozen varieties of wraps and salads sold nationwide by retailers including Kroger and Trader Joe’s.

The distributor of the ready-to-eat products said lettuce supplied by Fresh Express is responsible for the health alert. Indianapolis-based distributor Caito Foods LLC reported that officials with Fresh Express had issued a recall notice for chopped romaine that was used in the wraps and salads. The products are packaged under a variety of brand names.

Read more from the source: Parasite risk in wraps, salads spurs warning; romaine blamed

People are the secret weapon in the war on foodborne illnesses

By

CHICAGO — Even though more foodborne illness outbreaks are being detected than there were a few years ago, state and federal officials say significant progress has been made in the fight for food safety. Technological and scientific advances such as whole genome sequencing are credited for much of the progress, but the three P’s are the most effective weapon in the arsenals of public health and private business.

Source: People are the secret weapon in the war on foodborne illnesses

IAFP announces 2018 workshop topics; sets registration date

By

Laura Strawn of Virginia Tech was one of the workshop presenters at the 2017 IAFP conference in Tampa. Her research interests focus on enhanced microbial safety of produce production at both the pre- and post-harvest level.

The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) has announced the workshop lineup for its annual conference, set for this summer, and will begin taking workshop registrations March 20.

The event is set for July 8-11 in Salt Lake City.

The IAFP hosts the annual event to provide information on current and emerging food safety issues, the latest science, and innovative solutions to new and recurring problems. The conference provides the opportunity to network with thousands of food safety professionals from academia, government and industry from around the globe. Additionally, attendees can register to attend one or more of the following conference workshops:

Whole Genome Sequencing: A Tutorial and Hands-on Workshop to Help Understand This Emerging Technology

  • Friday, July 6 (1:00-5:00 p.m) and Saturday, July 7 (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) – 1.5 days
  • Topics include: Introduction into Whole Genome Sequencing, Introduction to WGS Data Analytics, Introduction to Phylogenetics, Introduction to GenomeTrakr and NCBI Pathogen Detection Website, Virtual Tools for Data Analysis, Examples of How CORE uses WGS for Outbreak Investigation, WGS in Regulatory Decision Making, Linux Overview, Hands-On Analysis of an WGS Dataset, Hands-On Exercises Using Open Source Tools
  • Presenters include representatives from FDA, National Institutes of Health, NSF International, NSF International, and Texas Tech University.

Hygienic Design and Sanitation

  • Friday, July 6 and Saturday, July 7 (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) – 2 days
  • Topics include: The importance of Sanitation, Introduction to Hygienic Zoning – Breakout, Overview – Sanitary Design of Equipment, Principles of Sanitary Design of Equipment, Hands-on examples of sanitary design of equipment – Breakout, Considerations for Utilities such as: Compressed air, environmental air, water, etc., Maintenance for Food Safety, Overview of Sanitation as a Preventive Control, Utilizing data to verify (validate) your sanitation program and for continuous improvement, Hands on cleaning and sanitizing following the 7 steps of sanitation – Breakout
  • Presenters include representatives from FDA-CFSAN and Commercial Food Sanitation

Standardized Biofilm Methods for Laboratory Studies of Biofilms

  • Saturday, July 7 (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) – 1 day
  • Topics include: An Introduction to Biofilms and Laboratory Growth Reactors, Adapting Standardized Biofilm Growth Methods for Other Bacteria, Important Considerations for Lab Studies with Biofilm, Keepin’ it Real: The Statistical R’s of Biofilm Methods, Visualizing Treatment Impacts on Biofilm, Now You’ve Got It, What Do You Do With It
  • Presenters include representatives from MSU Center for Biofilm Engineering

Food Genomics 101

  • Saturday, July 7 (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) – 1 day
  • Topics include: Hands on DNA Isolation/Intro/Overview, Genomics Nomenclature, Bioinformatics & Live Demos, Application 1 -Pathogen Source Tracking, Application 2 – Microbiomes, Application 3 – Non-Microbial Species ID, Application 4 – Samples and extraction, Applications 5 – Microbial Strain Typing, and Applications 6 – Online Tools Live Demo
  • Presenters include representatives from FDA and FDA/CFSAN, Eurofins BioDiagnostics, CosmosID, Zymo, and Eurofins Microbiology.

The event has grown to become the leading food safety conference worldwide, with attendance of more than 3,600 people from industry, academia and government from six continents.

(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)

FDA Identifies 16 Retail Locations That May Have Sold Dried Coconut Potentially Contaminated with Salmonella

By

Several grocery stores and retail outlets have recalled bulk packages of International Harvest brand Organic Coconut Miles with UPC number 8 13449 02099 3 and the expiration date 6/1/2018. That product was sold at retail stores in New York City and Long Island.

Now, the list of cities and locations that received dried coconut from International Harvest has been published by the FDA. The recalled bulk dried coconut may have been repackaged into clear, plastic containers with grocery store labeling, or it may have been sold in bulk bins.

 

Read more from the source: FDA Identifies 16 Retail Locations That May Have Sold Dried Coconut Potentially Contaminated with Salmonella

FDA finding could reinstate cross-Atlantic shellfish trade

By

Imported molluscan shellfish from Europe are as safe as if they were harvested off Puget Sound or Massachusetts Bay, according to a Food and Drug Administration finding. FDA’s equivalence determination means two-way raw shellfish trade across the Atlantic is likely to be back on after a lapse of almost eight years.

“I plan to announce more over the coming year about this proposed equivalence determination as we continue to work with the EU (European Union) on the details for resuming mutually beneficial trade in this area,” said a statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.

“In the meantime, I’m committed to taking new approaches like this to maximize our shared resources and create greater efficiency in the trade of molluscan shellfish.”

The U.S. and EU have not traded any raw molluscan shellfish products for nearly eights years. The European Commission has not allowed U.S. shellfish to enter the EU  since 2010. The FDA has not permitted the import of live, fresh or fresh-frozen molluscan shellfish from the EU since the 1980s.

 

[Read more…]

 

Colorado Salmonella outbreak appears to have peaked at 37 cases

By

Two more confirmed cases added during the last week brought the number of illnesses in the Colorado Salmonella outbreak to 37.  There have been no new cases for the past five days, and it appears the outbreak has peaked at 37 confirmed laboratory cases, according to the Weld County Health Department.

Linked to the outbreak are two burrito restaurants that catered two community college events in early February. Weld County continues to investigate the incident at multiple locations in the area north of Denver.

The outbreak became known in mid-February when 17 people from the Aims Community College campus in Greeley became sick from food catered by the Burrito Delight restaurant located 40 minutes away in Fort Lupton, CO. An additional 20 patrons became ill after eating food directly from Burrito Delight. It has a second location in Dacono, CO.

The Salmonella outbreak is centered in Weld County with 27 cases. Ten others have residences in five other Northern Colorado counties.

[Read more…]

Feb. 16, Cactus IFT Collaborating to ensure food safety from concept to consumer

By

Thursday, February 16, 2017

5:15 PM – 8:00 PM

Phoenix City Grill,  Bethany East Shopping Center

5816 N 16th St

Phoenix, AZ 85016

Edith Wilkin is coming to talk with us on this important subject

We will start with some social time, then have a lovely dinner (see menu options HERE), followed by in-person learning from Edith (more about Edith HERE)  on Food Safety & Collaboration.  Edith is a well sought after speaker on this subject and we are thrilled to have her coming.
:
Click HERE to reserve your spot today!

Door Prize Donations and Corporate Sponsorships available. More Info.

Other Events on the Horizon!

Cactus IFT Suppliers’ Night 2017
Tuesday, March 28th INFO HERE
Education session on GMO/non-GMO labeling.  Vendors gathered in one hall.  Meet with existing.  Find new.  Get the latest on new ingredients and more!