In the debut installment of the Food Safety Five Newsreel, we discuss an ongoing multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli infections linked to onions served at McDonald’s restaurants. The episode also takes a look at legislation passed in California that marks the country’s first mandatory food date labeling reforms.
Testing has shown no sign of Escherichia coli contamination in McDonald’s Quarter Pounder beef patties, and traceback and epidemiological data have ruled out beef as the cause of the ongoing E. coli outbreak. Quarter Pounders have returned to the menu at affected McDonald’s locations—without slivered onions.
A foodborne illness outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders contaminated with Escherichia coli has caused 49 illnesses, ten hospitalizations, and one death in ten states. Slivered onions used on the sandwiches are the probable vehicle of illness.
Designed for Salinas Valley, California growers, an ongoing project supported by the Center for Produce Safety will leverage existing science and consider unique farming operation factors to create a user-friendly tool that assesses Escherichia coli contamination risk and provides actionable mitigation measures.
A recent survey of raw flour and flour-based foods conducted by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) found a low incidence of Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) among sampled products. Whole genome sequencing revealed a link between a Salmonella isolate from a sample and a human illness.
Following the largest Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) outbreak affecting children in the Province of Alberta, Canada’s history, a review panel has put forth several recommendations that focus on fostering food safety culture and developing food safety inspection systems for childcare establishments/kitchens.
Following the death of one restaurant patron who consumed a ground beef burger contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 (STEC), a Montana meat producer has announced a voluntary recall.
bioMérieux's GENE-UP® Pathogenic Escherichia coli assay has been selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (USDA’s FSIS’) Field Service Laboratories as the primary method for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) detection.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revealed preliminary findings from a multi-year environmental study of a specific growing region in the Southwest U.S., which sought to better understand the ecology of human pathogens in the environment.
Forward processing of leafy greens crops does not significantly increase the food safety risk posed by Escherichia coli, suggests a recent study led by a USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) scientist and funded by the Center for Produce Safety.
