Microbiological Control

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In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we review the top food safety stories of 2023 and their implications, covering regulatory changes in the U.S. and abroad; growing concerns about chemical additives and contaminants, allergens, traceability requirements, infant formula, and retail foodservice safety; and the Poisoned documentary that premiered on Netflix in summer 2023.

Two complimentary studies funded by the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) are using genomic sequencing technology to examine how storage conditions affect microbial growth on pears, with a focus on Listeria monocytogenes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided an update on its completed and ongoing actions to strengthen the safety and resiliency of the nation’s supply of infant formula, including specific actions the agency has taken to meet the recommendations made in FDA’s evaluation of the infant formula crisis response.

Campylobacter and Salmonella infections reported in the EU in 2022 remained below pre-pandemic (2018–2019) levels, according to the latest EU One Health zoonoses report, but the number of reported foodborne illness outbreaks increased by 44 percent in comparison to 2021.

This article examines FDA's investigation of the 2022 regional outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium on cantaloupe from the Southwest Indiana growing region, which caused 87 reported illnesses and 32 hospitalizations between July and September of that year, and discusses several themes and conclusions related to the outbreak, such as how "business as usual" will continue to produce the same results.

Santé Publiue France (Public Health France) recently published national data on cases of Campylobacter infection for 2022. 

The owner of the Tchin Tchin Wine Bar in Bordeaux, France has been charged with involuntary homicide after 15 people fell ill and one person died due to botulism caused by contaminated sardine preserves made by the establishment. 

A recent analysis of a Canadian foodborne salmonellosis outbreak investigation has highlighted the importance of considering possible aerosolization of bacteria from drainage systems in restaurants as a risk factor for foodborne illness outbreaks.

A study led by scientists at the University of Birmingham has found that one multidrug-resistant (MDR) strain of Escherichia coli—MDR ST131—has the ability to outcompete other strains of E. coli in a healthy gut.

A recent U.S.-based study analyzing the risk of multidrug-resistant (MDR) foodborne pathogen contamination of retail meats associated with the processor region of origin and shipping distance to the final destination suggests that increased distance is linked to increased MDR bacterial contamination.