Food Irradiation Update is published by the Minnesota Beef Council

Quotable Quotes:
"Dr. Mansour Samadpour of IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group in Seattle reported at the "7th International Symposium on Shiga Toxin Producing E. coli" that his lab tested approximately 5,000 samples of ground beef purchased at retail stores and found non-O157 STECs in 1.9 percent of the samples. One positive out of every 50 packages sampled suggests a high rate of contamination. It is more proof that the pathogens exist in our food supply and make people sick. We urge the President, his appointees and the industry to join us in supporting FSIS's efforts to get non-O157 STECs out of our ground beef."
Dr. Richard Raymond & Carol Tucker-Foreman

In This Update:
It's Time to Move the Needle on non-O157:H7 STECs
Cholera oyster outbreak sickens 11 in US;
Pig ears with salmonella risk recalled
Iran to establish 5 irradiation centers
USDA OKs rambutan from Malaysia, Vietnam
Two children dead, 56 ill in Japan from E. coli O111 in raw meat
Case studies in novel food processing technologies
Little-known E. coli strain O111 starts gaining notoriety
International Meeting on Radiation Processing

Important Food Safety Links:
Kansas State University
Marler Blog
Food Irradiation Processing Alliance (FIPA)
International Irradiation Association (iiA)

Editor's Note: This opinion piece was written by Carol L. Tucker-Foreman and Richard A. Raymond, M.D. [1]
The massive 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli O157:H7 foodborne illness outbreak was a seismic event that moved the food safety needle toward greater public health protection. It caused over 650 illnesses and four deaths, introduced the public to the dangers of this previously little-known pathogen, proved foodborne illness was more than "just a stomach ache," and resulted in the U.S. Department of Agriculture declaring that any amount of the pathogen in ground beef rendered the product adulterated.

E. coli O157:H7 is different from other common foodborne pathogens. The powerful substance it exudes, called Shiga toxin, causes bloody diarrhea. As few as 50 bacteria can be infective. The illnesses progress to Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) in 8 percent of its victims and brings death to too many of our children and other vulnerable individuals.

But our ground beef is still not safe enough. We now know that other species of E. coli also produce the powerful Shiga toxin, are similar to O157 in virulence, and are much more prevalent than we once thought. These newly emerging pathogens are known, collectively, as non-O157:H7 Shiga-toxin producing E. coli, or non-O157 STECs. Six of them, O26, O111, O103, O45, O121 and O140, are responsible for foodborne illnesses that have developed into Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). These are often referred to as "The Big Six".
Like E. coli O157:H7 in 1993, the dangers presented by the "Big Six" STEC serotypes aren't well-known. Most Americans are completely unaware of them. Non- O157:H7 Shiga Toxin E. coli (STECS).
[1] Carol L. Tucker-Foreman was USDA Assistant Secretary for Food and Consumer Services, 1977-81. Her responsibilities included the Food Safety and Inspection Service, the Food and Nutrition Service and elements of the Agricultural Marketing Service.  Richard A. Raymond, M.D., was USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety, 2005-2008.

MIAMI — As many as 11 people have reported getting sick from eating raw oysters contaminated with cholera bacteria in northern Florida, officials said May 9.

The oysters came from Apalachicola Bay, near Panama City in northern Florida, about 300 miles (482 kilometers) from New Orleans along the Gulf of Mexico coast, and the US Food and Drug Administration issued a warning not to eat them.

"There is ongoing, collaborative discussions among all state and federal partners as we look at this new pathogen to analyze the first ever outbreak of this unique strain of Vibrio cholerae," Florida's Department of Agriculture said in a statement. State officials said 11 cases of illness were reported, while the FDA said eight of those have so far been confirmed as "caused by toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O75... No one was hospitalized or died."

The high number of cases is unusual, given that the Centers for Disease Control typically logs one to two cases per year, an FDA spokesman told AFP. Oyster Cholera Outbreak

Related story:After making 529 people sick in a March 2009 outbreak of norovirus at his Fat Duck restaurant, Heston Blumenthal says he has stopped serving raw oysters. View the entire entry:
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/148222/11/05/10/heston-stopped-serving-raw-oysters-fda-links-cholera-outbreak-florida-raw-oyste

Pig ears with salmonella risk recalled; Associated Press; (May 3, 2011):

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Illinois company is recalling pet chews made of pig's ears because they could be contaminated with salmonella.
One illness, to a dog in Missouri, has been linked to the chews, called Pig Ears for Pet Treats. The product is being recalled by the Keys Manufacturing Co. Inc. of Paris, Ill.

Salmonella can affect animals, and there is risk to people from handling contaminated pet products. The bacteria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, elderly people and those with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Pets with salmonella may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea fever and vomiting.
Salmonella contaminated dog chews....
Related story

TEHRAN, April 30 (MNA) -- Iran plans to establish 5 irradiation centers across the country, said an official from the presidential office.
The project will hugely benefit the scientific centers of the country, Hassan Rahimi said during a ceremony to inaugurate the second irradiation center in Bonab, East Azerbaijan, on April 30..

He also said the scheme will benefit the whole region. Iran irradiation facilities.......

KUALA LUMPUR: Fresh rambutan from Malaysia and Vietnam can now be imported to the U.S., provided it is irradiated and meets other phytosanatiary requirements, according to a notice published in the Federal Register on April 19.

The notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service states that a pest-risk analysis showed that the irradiation and phytosanitary measures “will be sufficient to mitigate the risks.”

The USDA placed a notice about the phytosanitary requirements in the Federal Register in December, seeking public comments. Two comments were submitted. One was from a state agriculture agency and the other from an embassy agricultural affairs office.
The USDA reported April 19 that one of the comments concurred with the proposed mitigations. The other comment pointed out that the Dec. 15 notice had not specified irradiation. However, the USDA’s April 19 notice stated that irradiation would be required, as was outlined in a supplemental document to the December notice. Rambutan from Malaysia & Vietnam

TOKYO: In Jan. 1995, a four-year-old girl died in Australia from E. coli O111 after eating contaminated mettwurst, an uncooked, semi-dry fermented sausage; 173 other were sickened.

The company, Garibaldi, blamed a slaughterhouse for providing the contaminated product, while the State's chief meat hygiene officer insisted that meat inspections and slaughtering techniques in Australian abattoirs were "top class and only getting better." By Feb. 6, 1995, Garibaldi Smallgoods declared bankruptcy. Sales of smallgoods like mettwurst were down anywhere from 50 to 100 per cent according to the National Smallgoods Council.

The outbreak of E. coli O111 and the reverberations fundamentally changed the public discussion of foodborne illness in Australia, much as similar outbreaks of VTEC or shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) in Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. subsequently altered public perception, regulatory efforts and industry pronouncements in those countries.
Yet almost two decades later, history is still being relived. E. coli O111

MONTREAL: Industry leaders and scientific experts from around the world will gather at IMRP Montreal 2011 -- the 16th global forum of the international radiation processing community -- to discuss, debate and discover the latest in industrial electron beam, x-ray and gamma ray technology. Participants will be exposed to a combination of invited and submitted research papers covering advanced materials, sterilization of healthcare products, food irradiation and other critical industry topics.
Register here: www.imrp2011.com

“Case studies in novel food processing technologies: Innovations in processing, packaging, and predictive modelling” is now available from wholesalers, retailers, and online suppliers in North America. This is the latest book with updates on developments in food irradiation. The book will be a great addition to your library. Learn more here:
Brochure
Contact:
Woodhead Publishing
1518 Walnut Street
Suite 1100
Philadelphia, PA 19102
215-928-9112

Braylee Beaver, 20 months old, is back to her playful self after a 12-day hospital stay in which she received dialysis treatment and was stuck with so many needles she thought she was being punished, says her father.
Beaver was allegedly sickened by an E. coli bacteria but not E. coli O157:H7, the type that most consumers are aware of. That bacteria drove the recall of almost 30 million pounds of meat last year and was blamed for an outbreak involving fresh spinach in 2006 in which five died.
Instead, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Beaver and 313 others who ate food from an Oklahoma restaurant in August were sickened by E. coli O111, a rare type of E. coli that can also be deadly and is becoming increasingly familiar to public health officials.
From 1990 to 2007, O111 was linked to 10 reported illness outbreaks in the U.S., the CDC says. Four of the 10 were linked to food. Before the Oklahoma outbreak, in which one person died, the biggest O111 outbreak happened in New York in 2004. Unpasteurized apple cider was blamed for 212 illnesses. E. Coli O111

Food Irradiation: A Guide for Consumers, Policy Makers and the Media;
Grocery Manufacturers of America publication; Down load at: http://www.gmaonline.org/downloads/research-and-reports/SPP_Irradiation5.pdf