E Coli Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark Law Firm : E. coli Blog

In today's New York Times, Andrew Pollack reported on the development two E. coli vaccines - one for humans and one for cattle.  He reported in-depth on a vaccine produced by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that is designed to prevent E. coli infection in humans, and a vaccine produced by Bionishe, a Canadian company, that is designed to reduce the number of E. coli bacteria shed in cattle feces.  Pollack wrote that: 

Right now, scientists can do little medically to fight the pathogen, which was responsible for two severe outbreaks last fall, one from contaminated bagged spinach and a second from tainted lettuce served in chain taco restaurants.

The main approach has been to try to prevent contamination through careful handling, rigorous inspections and government regulation.

Slaughterhouses have already sharply reduced contamination through practices like washing carcasses with hot water, steam or acids. Now the focus is on new procedures and regulations for the fresh-produce industry.

And although vaccines produced by NIH and Bioniche may prove effective in their purposes, it may prove to be cost-prohibitive for the general public and the meat industry to adopt widespread use of either vaccine.  Beyond that, experts in the food safety field are skeptical about whether vaccines are the most effective solution to the problem of E. coli contamination.  And bacteriophages, which are an alternative to vaccines, are not touted as the answer by food safety experts, either.

Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said he was skeptical about all the approaches. “What really is a concern to me about this issue is we always have a tendency to want high-tech responses to what in many cases are common-sense low-tech solutions,” Dr. Osterholm said.

He is a consultant to Fresh Express, the leading seller of bagged salads, and is head of a committee that will disburse $2 million from the company for research on how the produce industry should handle E. coli. He said stringent safety procedures had kept that company from having any contamination incidents.

In any case, even if a high-tech solution was desired, there does not seem to be a vaccine for spinach as there is for cattle.

Greens are now often rinsed in chlorine solution, but that is not always effective because surface nooks and crannies can shelter the bacteria, said James Gorney, senior vice president for food safety and technology at the United Fresh Produce Association, a trade group.

Dr. Osterholm's comments coincide with the announcement by Washington State University and the University of Idaho that researchers at the two schools have combined their efforts to develop a fresh produce wash - termed FIT - that is more effective in killing E. coli and other pathogenic contamination on fresh fruits and vegetables.  From a press release:

Currently most produce is washed in a chlorine source, either from
bleach or from chlorine dioxide. However, these chemical compounds quickly deactivate and become ineffective in very dirty water, such as a potato or spinach flume. FIT's commercial produce wash helps overcome that problem when washing fresh cut and other processed produce. The ingredients in FIT, specifically its natural surfactants, act as "wetting agents" which are designed to lift off and kill the pathogens even in very dirty water. FIT is able to get into "nooks and crannies" that other washing systems may not and continues to keep killing bacteria via its patented surfactant technology.

FIT is made from all natural and every day food ingredients, such as
citric acid and grapefruit oil. It rinses away clean and, unlike chlorine,
leaves no aftertaste or smell. In fact, a separate Washington State
University study(2) found that the use of FIT resulted in produce that
could not be differentiated taste-wise by the panelists from produce washed with water. Todd Wichmann, chemical engineer and president of HealthPro Brands said FIT also is much safer for produce processors to use, since chlorine compounds can burn the skin and release dangerous chlorine gas to exposed workers.

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16.aug.06
The Record (Sherbrooke)
Sondip Chatterjee

With only a few weeks remaining in barbecue season, local public health officials are urging people to cook hamburger properly and clean or discard anything that has come into contact with raw meat.

The reason for the warning is a sudden increase in reported food poisoning cases, the majority of which resulted from improperly cooked or contaminated hamburger meat prepared at home.

"For the Estrie region, we have already seen the same number of infections this year as we did in the entirety of 2005," said Dr. Reno Proulx, consulting doctor with the public health agency in the Eastern Townships.

In 2005, the Eastern Townships saw six cases of food poisoning caused by the bacteria E. coli, a number already equaled this year (and there are four months left to go).

The provincial public health agency also reported a sharp increase in the number of food poisoning cases this barbecue season.

The province saw 44 cases last month, compared to only 19 infections in July of last year, with 86 per cent of this July's cases coming from those who grill their own burgers.

According to Dr. Proulx, most people know to cook their meat properly because of extensive public awareness campaigns on the issue. Infections this year are rising because people are using the same plates and utensils to handle raw and cooked meat, without washing them in between.

"People are putting their cooked hamburgers on the same plate as the raw hamburger meat. With juices from the raw meat leftover, the cooked hamburger then becomes contaminated," said Dr. Proulx.

It seems that people are also forgetting to take the most basic precaution -- hand-washing.

"Forty-five per cent of those infected in July were people who handled the raw meat directly," said Dr. Proulx, meaning those who cook and then do not wash their hands before eating, make up a large proportion of the infections reported this year.

Food poisoning resulting from E. coli infection produces abdominal cramps and diarrhea in most cases. "Five to 10 per cent of kids infected will go on to have more serious problems. The bacteria can go on to infect the kidneys, which is quite serious," said Dr. Proulx.

Only one Quebec case, that of a small child, required hemodialysis because of a compromised kidney.

Food poisoning resulting from E. coli infection has a mortality rate of one per 1,000 cases.

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In an article in the Ventura County Star, Animals undergo health checks, fair organizers stated that they understand there are health risks that go along with human-animal contact, but seemed to downplay the risks. Although they are encouraging hand washing among fairgoers, the Ventura County Fair is allowing food and drink in animal areas:

Last year, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report encouraging venues where the public has contact with animals, such as fairs and petting zoos, to adopt standards, saying that "inadequate understanding of disease transmission and animal behavior can lead to infectious diseases, rabies exposures, injuries and other health problems among visitors, especially children, in these settings."

The single most important step to reduce risk is to have visitors wash their hands.

Hand washing is nothing new at the Ventura County Fair, which has washing stations at the entrances and exits to the animal areas. This year, however, McGuire said she's increasing the number of signs encouraging people to wash their hands.

She's also hoping to encourage people not to bring food into the animal areas, although that is not yet a requirement.

"We're not that strict yet," she said. "There are some fairs that don't allow food at all into the animal areas."

The CDC recommends that food and beverages not be allowed in animal areas.

"In addition," the CDC report states, "smoking, carrying toys, and use of pacifiers, spill-proof cups and baby bottles should not be permitted in animal areas."

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06.aug.06
The Columbian (Vancouver)
Howard Buck

Sure, the Jurassic Journey offered a spooky collection of ferocious model dinosaurs.

But the really scary stuff Saturday was on display under black lights inside the Exhibition Hall next door: Glowing germs, still caked all over 4-year-old Anna Guasco's tiny palms.

"You gotta scrub, scrub, scrub," intoned Amy Guasco, leading her daughter back to a small washbasin for a second attempt with soap and water. It was a teachable moment, building on a theme resonating through the Clark County Fair this year.

New hand sanitizer dispensers are mounted in every animal barn, more than 150 in all. Abundant signs posted in two languages warn visitors to leave food and drink outside barns, and to use the gel upon exiting.

Another 12 wash stations with 24 sinks, soap and towels were installed across the fairgrounds. And in every bathroom and near many food stalls are friendly banners a motherly figure with a steaming pie, reminding you to do what mommas have always scolded: Wash your hands before eating.

"We just want to create an awareness. Part of the obligation of a county fair is teaching people," said fair Manager Tom Musser. "And we're seeing them used, by golly."

Last August, three persons who attended the Clark County Fair were sickened by confirmed cases of E. coli, a life-threatening bacteria that can cause kidney failure. While the origin could not be confirmed, clues pointed to animal exhibits. Similar outbreaks of virulent nausea, vomiting and diarrhea have struck fairs in other cities and states, the culprit just as easily human-borne as animal-borne.

Musser said 270,000 visitors could pass through the fair this week, providing plenty of risky contact. And to those in Southwest Washington paying attention the past year, here's another one-word warning: norovirus.

When the state Agriculture Department floated an $8,000 matching grant to install the extra sinks and signs, Clark County officials quickly ponied up an equal amount. There's a concerted effort by fair leaders nationwide to lead a hand-washing campaign, Musser said.

Also returning from a brief absence is the Germ City education booth operated by the Washington State University Extension Service. That's where Anna failed her test.

Fortunately, hers were only pretend germs, a residue from special lotion doled out by volunteers who said a proper cleaning requires: soap, best rubbed into hands before rinsing starts to scrub off dirt; a long 20 seconds of scrubbing (children are told to sing "Happy Birthday" or their "A-B-Cs"); and preferably, a towel wipe.

Guasco said Anna does OK at home, but "it depends on whether she's in a hurry, or not."

Adults often skip washing

Moments earlier, 8-year-old Atticus Scopes of Portland confessed to similar shortcuts, after a clean escape from Germ City. "No, at home I just use the water and go," he said.

The two are far from alone, and adults are among the worst offenders, WSU agents said.

Sandy Brown, a food safety and nutrition expert, cited national surveys that showed while 94 percent of persons claim to wash hands after bathroom use, only 68 percent even turned on the water. Only 48 percent of high school boys reached for the faucet, just 8 percent bothering with soap.

In a nearby washroom, this one right next to the Comcast Kids' Park, just such a scene played out. Over a few minutes, only a few visitors washed carefully, with a large minority taking a soapless, splash-and-dash approach. Many others simply ignored the sinks.

Not sisters Aubrey and Courtney Wood of Vancouver, ages 13 and 11, who aced Germ City. Not since Aubrey got seriously sick after visiting a petting zoo at age 1, her mother, Peggy Wood said. Now, the family totes a small bottle of sanitizer with them when they're out in crowds.

"We teach them a lot about washing their hands. Now, it's reinforced at school and in every restaurant you go to," Peggy Wood said.

Sisters Donna Wilson of Vancouver and Bev Bush of Roseburg, Ore., regular fairgoers both, emerged from the goat barn rubbing their hands.

"Who can't walk by them and not pet them?" Wilson explained, glad to find the gel handy.

Longtime exhibitors accompanying their critters in the toasty animal barns Saturday were mostly indifferent. It was tough to abide the new policy against eating and drinking inside, they said, even while they saw plenty of ice cream cones and milkshakes passing by the aromatic stalls. But they understood the safety concerns.

Dixie Berg, watching over seven head of beef cattle from Battle Ground's Pinzgauer Ranch, said the problem was too many children growing up in ultra-sanitized homes, no longer exposed to the gritty, and yes, germy, farm life.

"They're hothouse. There's no immunity built up in their systems, if they haven't been exposed," Berg said of newer generations. That contrasts with her own five children and 11 grandchildren, never sickened by animals, she said.

But Musser said this simply isn't your grandparent's county fair. Prevalent E. coli bacteria wasn't around 30 years ago, he said. And ignorance is more rampant. "We've gone two and three generations away from the farm now, so a lot of people don't have knowledge of what they're supposed to do around animals," he said. "It's just an extremely smart idea to wash your hands."

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04.aug.06
Vermillion Plain Talk (SD)

The latest increase in E.coli 0157:H7 in South Dakota underscores the need for consumers to guard against foodborne illnesses, a South Dakota State University specialist said.

The South Dakota Department of Health has said that the 16 cases of 0157:H7 in the state by late July of 2006 was an increase compared to the 13 cases by late July of 2005.

Outbreaks of foodborne illness can often be traced back to cross-contamination and poor personal hygiene, SDSU Extension Food Safety Specialist Joan Hegerfeld said.

"Foodborne illness tends to have its peak during the summer months through September. This is the time when consumers definitely need to look at the food-handling practices they're using in their kitchen and beyond," Hegerfeld said. She offered these tips:

# Change your wiping cloth or your dish cloth at least daily, or more often if you've recently used it for wiping up some raw meat, poultry or fish juices from your countertop.

# Reduce handling of raw product which increases the chance for cross-contamination.

# Consider buying your foods ready to be cooked. For example, ground beef patties that are preshaped and ready to grill.

# Store foods wisely. If the raw meat product is in the same cooler as your beverages, put them in a sealed, tight container and place them on the bottom of your cooler. Ideally, you should use two different coolers, one for your raw meat products and one for your ready-to-eat foods and beverages.

# Use the same principle in your kitchen refrigerator: The raw meat foods should be on the bottom shelf in a container that will not allow the juices to drip on ready-to-eat foods.

# Consider who's doing the cooking. Be sure those preparing the food know the risks involved with cross-contamination. If teenagers are preparing their own food, you may want to encourage foods that involve less preparation and handling unless you are home with them to monitor and teach them food handling practices.

# Washing of raw meat products, chicken and fish is not necessary. However, if you choose to wash your raw meat products before preparing for cooking be sure to clean and sanitize the sink and preparation area when you are finished.

# Wash fruits and vegetables just before eating (not when purchased, picked or stored). Running water with rubbing or brushing is best. Don't use bleach or dish soap. They will leave a residue and in many instances enter the food itself.

# When finished preparing foods that have raw meat juices, clean and sanitize the preparation area. It's important to clean first, then sanitize. This keeps the chlorine molecules from being tied up with organic matter, so it is available to destroy the bacteria and parasites.

# Chlorine bleach is a good sanitizing solution for a wiping cloth in the kitchen. Use 100 parts per million or 1 tablespoon for 2 gallons of water. Do not use the ultra bleach for this dilution. The water temperature should be between 75 degrees and 120 degrees Fahrenheit. If using a spray bottle, use 1 teaspoon per quart of water.

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Food Production Daily

28/07/2006- A pathogen detecting system that uses scattered laser light can cut costs and speed up safety checks for food processors, researchers developing the technology claim.

New hygiene regulations brought in the by the EU at the start of this year impose tougher and more stringent testing requirements on food processors, making it necessary for them to do the job as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Researchers at Purdue University say they have developed a new system that analyses scattered laser light to quickly identify bacteria for applications in medicine, food processing and homeland security at one-tenth the cost of conventional technologies.

The technique, called Bacteria Rapid Detection Using Optical Scattering Technology, works by shining a laser through a petri dish containing bacterial colonies growing in a nutrient medium.

A major motivation for the research is to reduce the time it takes for industry to identify harmful organisms in food processing. Scientists in food-processing plants routinely grow cultures to test for dangerous pathogens, said Paul Robinson, one of the researchers of the project at the university's Bindley Bioscience Centre.

"The dairy industry, for example, grows bacteria on petri dishes to make sure products are safe, but industry is trying to develop technologies that will very quickly identify organisms," Robinson said. "The same sort of thing holds true for clinical microbiology and other laboratories. With our light-scattering method, it takes less than five minutes to identify harmful organisms after they have grown in a petri dish. The analysis is faster than any other methods in existence, and it's simple."

The machine bounces particles of light, called photons, off of a bacterial colony. The pattern of scattered light is projected onto a screen behind the petri dish.

The "light-scatter pattern" is recorded with a digital camera and analyzed with sophisticated software to identify the types of bacteria growing in the colonies.

The work was started by Arun Bhunia, a professor of food microbiology and Daniel Hirleman, head of Purdue's mechanical engineering school. The findings are published this month in the Journal of Biomedical Optics.

Hirleman adapted some of his previous work to develop new types of sensors that analyzing light scattering off objects for applications such as detecting impurities on silicon wafers in computer chip manufacturing and measuring the size and speed of fuel droplets in jet engines.

"We adapted some ideas from that research to build a scatterometer for food safety, and now we're using the second generation of that instrument," Hirleman stated in a press release.

A critical part of the technique was made possible by adapting a mathematical method created in 1934 by Dutch physicist Fritz Zernike, who created a set of mathematical "descriptors" subsequently called radial Zernike polynomials. These descriptors can be used to analyze how light-wave patterns are distorted after passing through lenses having complex flaws or aberrations.

Individual bacterial colonies growing in a petri dish also distort light passing through them, just as a lens changes light-wave patterns.

"Therefore, we can treat the colonies as lenses and use Zernike polynomials," Rajwa said.

Factors such as the shape of bacteria, their refractive indexes - or how much they bend light - the types of substances secreted by a particular bacterium and the distance between individual bacteria in a colony, all contribute to how a colony distorts light.

The procedure identifies a bacterial colony by comparing an image of its scatter pattern against a template that contains 120 features described by Zernike polynomials.

"A good analogy is the method used by law enforcement to identify a person's face using specialized recognition software," Rajwa stated. "You could describe the face as being made up of a combination of geometric shapes, like ovals, squares and triangles, but each face has a unique blend of these shapes. We did something similar. We reduced complicated scatter patterns to 120 numbers based on Zernike polynomials."

The reduced collection of numbers describes how well the colony fits the template, and then pattern recognition software is used to classify the bacteria.

"One of the most important developments is being able to convert images to numbers, which makes it possible to classify the patterns," Rajwa said. "We are able to take images and convert them to numbers that uniquely describe every picture."

The researchers used the new system to classify six species of listeria, only one of which is a dangerous food-borne pathogen for humans.

"If you have a mixture of different listeria, you would like to know which is the one that can kill you," Rajwa said. "We took pictures of the scatter patterns from different listeria, and we were able to classify all of them accurately."

The scientists used to system to accurately identify other types of bacterial colonies, including salmonella, vibrio, E. coli and bacillus.

"We were able to classify bacterial colonies with greater than a 90 per cent probability of being correct, which is as good as you could do with equipment costing more than $100,000, " Rajwa stated. "And, unlike conventional systems, our method is 100 percent non-invasive, which means we can carry out the procedure without staining, manipulating or killing the biological samples."

Rajwa says the technology does not require complicated lab equipment. A system could be designed so that it wouldn't require someone with a doctoral degree to operate.

"The whole beauty of the system is you don't invade the biological environment that you want to measure," Rajwa stated. "If you are working with stem cells, you don't want to stain them to see if they are stem cells. You want to be able to look at colonies on a petri dish without touching the colonies, without staining or destroying the colonies."

A mass-produced system based on the technology would consist of inexpensive, off-the-shelf hardware, such as red lasers and low-resolution digital cameras available at consumer electronics stores, and likely would cost less than $1,000, the researchers calculate.

The research has recently received funding from the US Department of Agriculture through Purdue's Centre for Food Safety Engineering.

The researchers say further work will include research to develop a graphical user interface.

"Now it requires a qualified, trained person to do all the recognition," Rajwa stated. "We want a system where you can actually put a petri dish or some other container into the system, you press enter and the computer says, 'This is salmonella of this type and this strain, ' and it does this quickly in real time. There is absolutely no fundamental reason why we wouldn't be able to do this, and we are pretty close to having an actual prototype of a product that could be commercialised."

The researchers have filed a provisional patent for the data-processing technique, and a full patent application has been filed on the underlying light-scattering technology.

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21.jul.06
Belleville Intelligencer (ON)
Barry Ellsworth

If you have nice buns, all you need is someone to give you a patty.

Together, you have a hamburger, a barbecue staple every summer.

But unless care is taken, that favourite fare can lead to sickness, perhaps even a stay in hospital or worse.

"Unfortunately, many people get more casual about food safety when they cook outdoors," said Rebecca Mathers of the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit. "This can lead to dangerous results, especially when cooking ground meat burgers."

If you are not careful in handling and preparing foods, particularly undercooking meats like hamburger, contamination from E. coli bacteria can result and ingestion can lead to kidney damage and even death, Mathers said.

"Cooking burgers to the proper internal temperature helps to destroy E. coli," she said. "So ensuring burgers are cooked is not something that should be taken likely."

Beef burgers are done at an internal temperature of 71 C (160 F), Mathers said.

Poultry burgers should reach an even higher internal temperature, 74 C (160 F), she said.

Mathers recommended the use of a thermometer, slipping the stem sideways into the centre of the burger to make sure the meat is done.

Ground meats are particularly susceptible to E. coli contamination because the bacteria can spread through the meat during the grinding process, she said.

Basically, there are four words to remember when cooking either indoors or out, said health unit spokeswoman Carol Snell.

"Chill, clean, separate, cook ," she said.

Snell said to keep food in the refrigerator (it should be at a temperature 4 C or 40 F) as opposed to on a counter or beside the barbecue; clean your hands, the workstation and produce and separate raw foods and juices to prevent cross contamination.

"Prepare foods quickly," she said. "Cook them thoroughly and serve them immediately."

Some people buy the frozen burgers at retail outlets and cook them from the frozen state.

However, they can be thawed first in the fridge, then placed on the grill.

That's the system Melissa Leroux uses at the three Duffer's Chip Wagon outlets in Belleville.

"We defrost enough burgers to last a day or two," she said, adding that the wagons sell about 50 burgers a day.

What is the single most important rule when preparing a patty for a customer?

"Just make sure it's cooked," Leroux replied.

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USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline
1-888-MPHOTLINE or visit www.fsis.usda.gov

Although the product(s) being recalled should be returned to the point of purchase, consumers preparing other ground beef products should heed the following advice.

Consumers should only eat ground beef patties that have been cooked to a safe temperature of 160 degrees F. When a ground beef patty is cooked to 160 degrees F throughout, it can be safe and juicy, regardless of color.

The only way to be sure a ground beef patty is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria is to use an accurate food thermometer.

Color is not a reliable indicator that ground beef patties have been cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7.

Eating a pink or red ground beef patty without first verifying that the safe temperature of 160 degrees F has been reached is a significant risk factor for foodborne illness.

Thermometer use to ensure proper cooking temperature is especially important for those who cook or serve ground beef patties to people most at risk for foodborne illness because E. coli O157:H7 can lead to serious illness or even death. Those most at risk include young children, seniors, and those with compromised immune systems.

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01.may.06
Journal of Food Science Volume 71 Issue 4 Page R31
Nicola J. King (nÈe Turner) and Rosemary Whyte

ABSTRACT: Adequate cooking of meat is necessary to inactivate microbial pathogens. This is particularly important for ground meat products and some variety meats where pathogens can be present internally. Consumers are being advised on appropriate temperatures to which meat products should be cooked, and to use a meat thermometer to ensure these temperatures are reached. However, consumers are more likely to assess cooking status by the color of the meat or juice. This article reviews the factors that can influence the final color of cooked meat. In most instances, these factors influence color by modifying the meat pigment myoglobin prior to and during cooking. Many factors can prolong the pink "uncooked" color in meat, including high pH, modified atmosphere packaging, rapid thawing, low fat content, nitrite, and irradiation. Such factors may lead to overcooking and loss of food quality, and consumer rejection. Alternatively, factors that cause "premature browning" of meat, where the interior of the product looks cooked but a microbiologically safe temperature has not been reached, are food safety issues. Pale, soft exudative meats can prematurely brown, as can meats packaged under oxygenated conditions, frozen in bulk or thawed over long periods, or those that have had salts or lean finely textured beef added. Meats cooked from a frozen state or irradiated in aerobic conditions might also be at risk, but this might depend on meat species. In summary, the color of cooked meat is not a good indicator of adequate cooking, and the use of a food thermometer is recommended.

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