Translated by Albert Amgar

Des piments ont été la cause première de l’intoxication alimentaire à Salmonella en 2008 avec plus de 1 500 personnes malades

Des salades de piments et de tomates, qui sont restées à température ambiante, ont pu rendre l’intoxication alimentaire plus importante

Après enquête sur l'intoxication alimentaire à Salmonella en 2008 qui a rendu malades plus de 1500 personnes en Amérique du Nord, le CDC a déterminé que les piments serrano ont été la source primaire de l’intoxication alimentaire. La souche de Salmonella correspondant à la souche épidémique a été retrouvée dans des échantillons d'eau prélevés à la ferme où les piments ont été cultivés. Les enquêteurs pensent que la salsa de tomate, qui contenait aussi les piments, a été conservée au-dessus de 5°C pendant plus de 4 heures et a ainsi augmenté le risque que des personnes soient malades. Les tomates en dés, en tranches ou en purée peuvent fournir un excellent environnement pour des bactéries comme Salmonella de se multiplier. Il s'agit d'une pratique usuelle mais il est risqué de maintenir la salade salsa et le guacamole à température ambiante pendant plus de 4 heures.

Un stockage adapté des produits à base de tomates peut réduire les risques.

Que vous pouvez faire :
- Réfrigérer les salades de tomates en dessous de 5°C.
- Éviter la contamination croisée entre aliments potentiellement contaminés et des salades de tomates servies à température ambiante
- Demander aux fournisseurs de respecter les bonnes pratiques agricoles.
Pour plus d’information contactez Ben Chapman, benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu ou Doug Powell, dpowell@ksu.edu

In January 2010, two clusters of nontraveler-associated hepatitis A were reported in 3 districts of southwestern France.

Gallot et al. report in Emerging Infectious Disease that a single IB strain of hepatitis A virus (HAV) was isolated (FR-2010-LOUR, GenBank accession no. GU646039). We conducted an investigation to describe the outbreak, identify the vehicle of transmission and source of infection, and propose appropriate control measures.

Cases were identified through mandatory notification or through the National Reference Centre for HAV. A total of 59 cases were identified: 49 confirmed cases (resident of France and infected with the outbreak strain) and 10 probable cases (resident of southwestern France and with a locally acquired infection positive for HAV immunoglobulin M against HAV with onset during November 1, 2009–February 28, 2010). Twelve (20%) persons were secondary case-patients (symptom onset 2–6 weeks after contact with a case-patient).

Trace-back investigations identified a supplier in France that imported frozen semidried tomatoes from Turkey and supplied the 3 sandwich shop chains. In France, the frozen semidried tomatoes were defrosted and processed with oil and herbs before distribution. No heat treatment, disinfection, or washing was conducted after defrosting. The period of distribution of 1 batch matched the estimated period of contamination of nonsecondary cases. This batch was no longer available at the supplier or at the sandwich shops for virologic analysis or for recall.

Our results suggest that this nationwide hepatitis A outbreak was associated with eating 1 batch of semidried tomatoes imported from Turkey and processed in France. Infected food handlers are the most frequently documented source of contamination by HAV of food items, but food also can be contaminated by contact of products or machinery with contaminated water. Therefore, the tomatoes may have been contaminated during processing by the supplier in France, during production in Turkey, or during growing. Fecal contamination of foods that are not subsequently cooked is a potential source of HAV, and the virus remains infectious for long periods, even after freezing. Various fresh or frozen produce have been associated with hepatitis A outbreaks.

Recently, three other hepatitis A outbreaks were associated with eating semidried tomatoes: in Australia in May and November 2009 and in the Netherlands in 2010

Hepatitis A is one of the few causes of foodborne illness that only cycles through humans – and their poop.

So any outbreak of hepatitis A means human sewage came into contact with the food (which then wasn’t cooked) or someone shedding the virus had a poop, failed to adequately wash their hands, and then prepared an uncooked food.

Either could be happening in this on-going outbreak of hepatitis A in Australia that has sickened about 130 people and appears to be linked to semi-dry tomatoes.

Victorian health authorities revealed a further 23 cases of the infectious disease diagnosed in the past week.

Victoria's chief health officer Dr John Carnie said that so far this year there had been 200 notifications of hepatitis A, compared to 74 at the same time last year.

A study into the increase of cases indicates that more than two thirds of people that have become ill recalled eating semi-dried tomatoes, he said.

Local producers had promised the Department of Human Services they were doing their best to reduce the risk, while importers of the tomatoes had also been instructed to ensure appropriate quality control measures were in place, he said.

Bottled semi-dried tomatoes in supermarkets were pasteurised and considered safe along with any of the cooked product such as in pizzas or quiches.

The greatest risk would appear to be at restaurants and cafes, where semi-dried tomatoes are served in foods such as salads and sandwiches.

Don’t eat poop. Or at least cook it.
 

Last Friday, U.S. regulatory types announced plans to increase testing of beef trim for E. coli O157:H7 and to strengthen safety protocols for fresh fruits and vegetables. The former got lots of attention, especially with a new Salmonella outbreak that has sickened dozens and is linked to ground beef; the latter, not so much.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are one of, if not the most, significant sources of foodborne illness today in the U.S. – and it’s been that way for over a decade. As consumers increase per capita consumption of fresh vegetables, methods of handling, processing, packaging and distributing produce locally and internationally are receiving more attention in terms of identifying and controlling microbiological, chemical and physical hazards.

That was essentially the prelude for FDA publishing its 1998 Guidance for Industry: Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. We took those guidelines, as well as others, and created an on-farm food safety program for all 220 growers producing tomatoes and cucumbers under the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers banner. And set up a credible verification system.

So why did regulators and industry make such a big deal about commodity-specific guidelines for tomatoes, melons and leafy greens that were published in the federal register last Friday – in 2009?

I looked at the 2009 CSGs and the 1998 FDA guidance document – and I can’t see much of a difference in the on-farm stuf. Maybe I’m slow on the uptake; maybe guidelines are meaningless without implementation and verification; maybe growers keep asking for government babysitters so when the next outbreak happens, they can say, but we followed FDA guidelines (good luck with that). One of the notices said the draft guidances were FDA's first step toward setting enforceable standards for produce safety, so maybe it’s some lawmaking thing.

Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh Produce Association, said in a statement released July 31,

“Our industry has worked hard since 2004 to develop commodity-specific guidance documents in each of these areas, and now strongly supports FDA taking these efforts to a new level.”

2004? Why not 1998? And do the new and supposedly improved guidelines mean fewer sick people? No. Not unless an individual grower or groups of growers, or associations, take serious steps to implement and verify, something could have been done in 1998 and does not need government oversight. We did it – how hard can it be?

It’s not, and lots of growers do it on a daily basis. So maybe the talk from Washington was rightly shrugged off as no biggie.

But why did Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in making the announcement, choose to highlight the “vital role” consumers play in ensuring the safety of the fresh produce they eat and offer a laundry list of questionable food safety advice that would do little to reduce contamination of tomatoes, leafy greens and melons that happened in the field? Especially with all the caveats featured in the introduction to the tomato commodity-specific guide, included below.

This guidance is intended to assist domestic firms and foreign firms exporting tomatoes to the United States (U.S.) by recommending practices to minimize the microbial food safety hazards of their products throughout the entire tomato supply chain. It identifies some, but not all, of the preventive measures that these firms may take to minimize these food safety hazards. This guidance document is not intended to serve as an action plan for any specific operation but should be viewed as a start­ing point. We encourage each firm from the farm level through the retail or foodservice level to assess the recommendations in this guidance and tailor its food safety practices to its particular operations by developing its own food safety program based on an assessment of the potential hazards that may be associated with its operations.

In addition, effective management of food safety requires that responsibility be clearly established among the many parties involved in the production of fresh produce. There may be many different permutations of ownership and business arrangements during the growing, harvesting packing, processing, and distribution of fresh and fresh-cut tomatoes. For this reason, it is important to identify which responsibilities rest with which parties, and to ensure that these responsibilities are clearly defined. For example, growers commonly contract with third parties to harvest their crops. Also, it is important that growers clearly identify which party is responsible for each applicable provision of this guidance, such as providing adequate toilet and handwashing facilities and worker training. Approaches to addressing responsibilities include delegating them to individuals within the firm and formally addressing them in contractual agreements when third parties are involved. Each party should be aware of its responsibilities to ensure microbial food safety hazards for tomatoes are minimized at each stage of the supply chain.

The commodity specific guidelines are available for leafy greens, tomatoes and melons. Guidance, however, does not mean responsibility. That’s up to industry, and it begins on the farm.