RECALL: Tyson Fresh Meats recalls beef products due to possible E. Coli O157:H7 contamination

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service has announced that Tyson Fresh Meats, Dakota City, NE, is recalling approximately 16,000 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The ground beef items were produced on May 16, 2015.
The products subject to recall are 5 lb. chubs of “80% Lean Ground Beef.”
The recalled products bear the establishment number “EST. 245C” inside the USDA mark of inspection and a “best before or freeze by” date of June 5, 2015. These products were shipped to one distribution location in New York.
FSIS discovered the problem during a routine sampling program. Neither FSIS nor the company received any reports of illnesses associated with consumption of this product. FSIS and the company are concerned that some product may have been sold and stored in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers.
E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps 2–8 days (3–4 days, on average) after exposure the organism. While most people recover within a week, some develop a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). This condition can occur among persons of any age but is most common in children under 5-years old and older adults. It is marked by easy bruising, pallor, and decreased urine output. Persons who experience these symptoms should seek emergency medical care immediately.
FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on the FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls.

National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection hosts public meeting

The National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection will host a two-day public meeting to review and discuss strengthening agency verification activities pertaining to veal and categorizing FSIS regulations as public health regulations.
According to Food Safety and Inspection Service test results, veal trimmings and ground beef produced from veal have a higher percentage of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli than do trimmings and ground beef produced from other cattle classes. FSIS is seeking feedback from the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection on improvements the agency can make to its verification activities of sanitary dressing and interventions and its compliance guidance in addressing veal slaughter operations. FSIS is also seeking feedback from committee on outreach strategies for communicating with the veal industry. FSIS has also revised its criteria for identifying regulations that are most closely related to public health outcomes and is seeking input from the committee on the criteria and feedback on the proposed approach.
The meeting will be held January 16-17, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Registration will begin on site at 8:30 a.m. each day.

FSIS welcomes comments through January 12, 2013, on the topics discussed at the public meeting. Comments may be submitted via email to: nacmpi@fsis.usda.gov or by mail to: National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection, USDA, FSIS, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Mail Stop 3778, Washington, DC 20250 or submitted via fax at: +1.202.690.6519.

USDA announces new tracing method for contaminated poultry, meat

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a new method for tracing E. coli-contaminated poultry and meat through the U.S. food chain in an effort to better protect consumers from eating tainted product, according to reports.
The new strategy will allow food safety inspectors to move quickly to identify the supplier and target removing contaminated product from store shelves when they find E. coli during routine sampling, said the USDA. Currently when the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service performs routine E. coli testing of meat and poultry products, they need to have a “confirmed positive” test to instigate the traceback process for contaminants. Under the new rules, the Food Safety and Inspection Service can begin tracebacks if meat or poultry samples result in a “potential positive" test result, which means an investigation can launch 24 to 48 hours sooner than waiting for a confirmed positive test result.
In addition, new regulations require poultry and meat processors, farmers and retail establishments to have recall plans in place, notify federal officials within 24 hours if a contaminated product is found and require better documentation of how they controlled the tainted meat. “The additional safeguards...will improve our ability to prevent foodborne illness by strengthening our food safety infrastructure,” said USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Elisabeth Hagen. “Together, these measures will provide us with more tools to protect our food supply, resulting in stronger public health protections for consumers."

Colibacillosis in pigs reviewed at Lesaffre symposium

Eric Cox, Ghent University, Belgium, spoke about the link between pig nutrition, microflora and the host at the Lesaffre symposium held in Lille, France, November 8-9.
According to Cox, 11% of all piglet deaths in post-weaning are due to diarrhea. It causes the death of +/-10 million piglets every year across the world. Around half of the diarrheas are due to E. coli. And no one knows for sure how much oedema provoked by E. coli costs pig producers. In newborn piglets, severe watery diarrhea can be caused by enterotoxigenic E. coli, ETEC, producing F4 (K88), F5 (K00), F41 or F6 (P987) fibriae (colonization factor). Colibacillose in weaned piglets is the result of infection with F4+ or F18+ ETEC or F18+ verotoxigenic E. coli (VTEC). Beside fibriae, ETEC produce thermolabile (LT), thermostable a (STa) and/or b (STb) enterotoxins which induce the secretory diarrhea resulting in weight loss, growth retardation and mortality, whereas sVTEC produce the Shiga toxin STX2e that binds to globotetraosylceraminde on endothelial cells, resulting in oedema, hemorrhage and micro thrombosis leading to nervous signs and mortality.
Newborn animals can be protected via the milk by vaccination of the sow against neonatal colibacillosis. This lactogenic immunity ceases at weaning, making weaned piglets highly susceptible again for enteropathogens. Weaned piglets lack or weakly express receptors on their enterocytes for F5, F6 and F41 fimbriae, but not for F4. The latter are highly expressed in the jejunum of newly weaned piglets making them highly sensible to F4+ ETEC infections. Three serological variants of F4 had been identified.
Piglets can have receptors on their enterocytes for adhesion of one or more of these variants, but receptor expressions can also be completely absent, resulting in resistance against infection. One of those variant (F4ac) is highly immunogenic fimbria that, upon oral administration, results in a specific intestinal IgA response and a protective mucosal immunity against an infection with a virulent F4ac+ETEC strain. Regarding the F18 strains, Cox and his colleagues had investigated the genetic population around the world and had been able to prove that 96% of all the strains have the same adhesion (FedF) and the same receptors on the villous enterocytes, which give a good basis to develop a worldwide management of the disease it provokes. Scientists had identified very recently these receptors as blood group O/A sugars. This identification is very important as it opens a door to fight against the adhesion on the mucosal sites and differ from strain to strain. If the F18 are glycolipides, the F4 receptors had been identified as glycoproteins.
Receptor for F18 fimbriae are absent in newborn piglets and gradually appear at the age of one week, resulting in sufficient receptors in three-week-old piglets for colonization with the F18+ ETEC and/or VTEC strains. Piglets without stress sensitivity gen (FUT1gen) are also without those receptors, a fact that militate to a genetic investigation to decrease diarrhea sensitivity in piglets.
F18 fimbriae are not very immunogenic. Oral administration of those strains does not result in immune response. Prevention of post weaning colibacillosis is difficult and should be based on prevention of predisposing factors, high hygiene and stimulation of the immune system (for F4 challenges). Although oral vaccines are on the market in the U.S. and Canada, there is doubt on their efficacy, and there is a need for developing vaccines, which can be applied during the suckling period.
Other differences had been lightened between F4 and F18 infection; the excretion of coli is quite different. F4 is excreted very soon after infection and thus is easiest to treat on the farm.

Resistant bacteria breakthrough could benefit poultry, pig producers

Staff at independent Dutch research organization TNO have identified natural ingredients capable of eradicating bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics. The discovery has been tested on ESBL bacterial but can also be used to combat EHEC E. coli, with possible uses in both the poultry and pig industries.
“This breakthrough is vital to the future of public health," said Dr. Jan Pieter van der Lugt, director of food and nutrition at TNO. "There are countless bacteria out there capable of mutating into equally dangerous counterparts of the EHEC bacteria. For instance, 94% of the chicken in our supermarkets is infected with ESBL bacteria which have also become resistant to antibiotics. The excessive use of antibiotics in the veterinary sector means that more and more of these substances are finding their way into our food. Eventually, bacteria get so used to them that they become resistant.
According to van der Lugt, it is only logical that livestock farmers want to keep their cows, pigs, chicken and calves healthy, but indiscriminate antibiotic use can create "a ticking time bomb. Eventually, it will work against us," he said. "We are, therefore, going in search of ingredients already found in the natural world which can kill harmful bacteria.” 

Intracare study: Drinking water is major source of common bacteria

Intracare has completed a study that shows drinking water to be one of the major sources of common bacteria like E. coli and salmonella.
The company tested 237 water samples between August 2009 and June 2010. Of those, 47% contained pathogenic microorganisms that could have a major impact on animal health. In fact, according to Dutch Animal Health, 22% of all the water samples they analyze are unfit for drinking. "These figures stand in sharp contrast to the attention that livestock farmers pay to the quality of their drinking water," said Intracare Marketing and Sales Manager Arjan van de Vondervoort. "This should not be the case, given that drinking water is one of the main sources of infectious diseases in animals."
Problems with contamination arise when the concentration of added chlorine or acids drops, such as when medicines, vaccines or liquid food supplements that do not tolerate being mixed with chlorine or acids are provided via the drinking water. "In addition, we have observed that the dead matter arising from the use of acid and chlorine attaches itself to the inside surfaces of the drinking system," said Vondervoort. "It is not removed, so it forms a biofilm."
This biofilm is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and molds. The key, says the company, is to remove the biofilm and kill off any microorganisms present.

USDA and DuPont developing new test for E. coli detection

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and DuPont are developing a new test for detecting hard-to-identify strains of E. coli.
These strains, which are not currently regulated, have been causing increased instances of food contamination and illness—hence the focus. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the USDA will collaborate with DuPont Qualicon to develop a test for the "Big 6" non-O157 shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) pathogens in food. "The USDA continually looks for opportunities to collaborate in ways that will expedite research to assist regulatory agencies and move technologies into the marketplace," said Pina Fratamico, a USDA ARS research microbiologist. "This collaborative project to develop a discriminating STEC test is a good fit with our mission."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimate that non-O157 STEC bacteria are responsible for 36,000 illnesses, 1,000 hospitalizations and 30 deaths each year.