Tag Archives: outbreak

Kellogg's

Despite Recall, Some Retailers Still Selling Kellogg’s Honey Smacks

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Kellogg's

Today FDA issued an alert after becoming aware that some retailers are still selling Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal, which was recalled in June following a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Mbandaka infections linked to the product. No deaths have been reported, but 100 people in 33 states have become ill, with 30 hospitalizations, according to the CDC.

“Retailers cannot legally offer the cereal for sale and consumers should not purchase Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal,” FDA stated in its update about the agency’s outbreak investigation.

Janice Buchanon, Steritech
FST Soapbox

Is Food Safety Part of Your Crisis Management Plan?

By Janice Buchanon
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Janice Buchanon, Steritech

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it’s been hard to miss the food safety-related headlines of the past month: E. coli in romaine lettuce, Salmonella-tainted eggs, norovirus-infected oysters sickening hundreds, and hepatitis A crises across several states, to name just a few. Since 1993 when an E. coli outbreak linked to ground beef at a fast food chain resulted in the deaths of several children, food safety has been on the radar of most major foodservice groups. Yet, surprisingly, food safety often doesn’t have its own crisis management plan within organizations.

At the 2018 Food Safety Consortium, don’t miss the Plenary Panel Discussion: Crisis Management: Don’t let that crisis sink your business!A Single Food Safety Crisis Can Ripple Across Your Operation

A food safety crisis can have tremendous impacts on an organization, leading to lost sales, negative media and social media publicity, unsavory online reviews, temporary restaurant closure, lost wages for your staff, increased scrutiny on other locations, lawsuits and more.

In a 2016 survey of more than 500 consumers, it was revealed that food safety incidents stick with consumers—and that can impact your reputation and your bottom line for much longer than you may realize.

  • Of the respondents, 62.5% said they were aware of a food safety incident at a restaurant in the last six months.
  • A foodborne illness outbreak isolated to a single location of a chain restaurant would prevent many of the survey respondents from dining at other locations in the chain; 34.1% of respondents said that if they knew about an outbreak at a single location, they’d avoid eating at other restaurants in the chain for more than six months. Worse, 17% said they’d never eat at the chain again.
  • If a foodborne illness outbreak is linked to multiple locations of a restaurant, consumers get even tougher. A whopping 37.5% would avoid eating at the entire chain for more than six months. There’s more disturbing news: 31.7% of the respondents said they’d never eat at that chain again.

Food safety incidents don’t have to be large scale to be significant and get into the consumer eye. They happen every day, in small scale, for many foodservice operations. Think about how the following incidents could impact food safety in your organization:

  • A power outage knocks out refrigeration for a single location for 12 hours
  • A boil water advisory is issued for a large city
  • A fire extinguisher is discharged in a kitchen to put out a small fire
  • A hurricane brings widespread flooding to a metropolitan area
  • A child whose parent asks about peanut allergies is served a food containing peanuts
  • A child becomes ill in a restaurant and vomits
  • A kitchen employee is diagnosed with hepatitis A and continues to work without disclosing the illness
  • A location is closed by the health department for a pest infestation
  • Several locations were supplied with a food item involved in a major recall for contamination

Each of these incidents is related to food safety. Would your employees, from the top down, know what actions to take in each specific situation? Most senior or executive-level C-suite personnel might know what to do, but that type of training often never makes it down to the operator level. When an incident does happen, it leaves location level management and employees scrambling to figure out what to do; often, the steps they take are incorrect, and can even exacerbate the situation.

What’s Trending in Food Safety Incidents
Over the last 24 months, we’ve helped many major brands in resolving crisis situations. The top five types of crisis incidents we’ve assisted with include:
– Potential Hepatitis A exposure
– Potential Norovirus outbreaks/exposure
– Health department closure
– Power outages
– Boil water advisory

Just as organizations prepare for other crises—fire drills, food shortages, staffing problems, active shooters—having crisis plans for food safety incidents can help an organization’s players know what to do when a food safety incident occurs. This goes beyond risk mitigation to actually knowing what steps to take when specific types of crisis happen. Proper planning for crisis management includes:

  • Identifying the most likely crisis situations and developing a plan of action for each of them.
  • Identifying who all the key players are going to be in the management of the crises, from C-suite to public relations to individual location responsibilities, and communicating that to all team members
  • Outlining all the steps to be taken in a crisis
  • Building familiarity with a defined plan for operators of an individual location
  • Presenting an opportunity to practice the plan before a crisis occurs (training)
  • Crisis management doesn’t end with the crisis; following any crisis, key stakeholders should review the crisis management plan for that incident to determine if updates or changes are needed

What to Look for in a Crisis Management Partner

Crisis management isn’t something to go alone if you don’t have internal expertise on your team. Crisis management goes beyond public relations—it should include training and step-by-step processes for each specific type of crisis. So what should you look for in a food safety crisis management partner?

  • A partner who has food safety knowledge and practical experience in dealing with crisis
  • A partner who has familiarity with the different types of crises you outline as critical for your organization
  • A partner who engages team members and can help you conduct training from the top down

Why Now?

Crisis management should be part of every organization’s plan already, but if it’s not, there are some key reasons to act now. A number of current events are having a substantial impact on the foodservice community, increasing the need for food safety crisis management plans.

  • Hepatitis A outbreaks. States including California, Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana have had a significant increase in the number of hepatitis A cases reported. While this problem doesn’t start in the foodservice community, it does impact it—because as communities see higher cases, the chances of a food handler coming into contact with an ill person and contracting hepatitis A increase. Hepatitis A can be easily spread through food, so it’s critical that foodservice operations have a crisis management plan to deal with exposure incidents.
  • Norovirus. Norovirus-related outbreaks and foodservice operation closures—and the media exposure that goes along with them—have been on the rise for the last several years. Norovirus can create problems for operations in a number of ways, from employees working while sick, to customers getting sick in the establishment, to foods being contaminated with norovirus. Knowing how to respond to norovirus incidents is critically important, as norovirus outbreaks can lead to location closures, costly disinfection costs, unwanted publicity, lawsuits, and more.
  • Increasing turnover. With unemployment rates at record lows, foodservice operations are facing an employment crisis, unable to hire enough workers. This can increase the opportunity for food safety incidents as routine tasks and processes may be “short cut” during an employment shortage.
  • Delivery. The skyrocketing demand for delivery has led chains to quickly put together delivery plans. Crisis management should be addressed as part of any delivery plan, as there are any number of variables which could lead to potential incidents in delivery.

Don’t wait until a food safety incident occurs to figure out your crisis management plan. Start work today to ensure that when a food safety crisis occurs, your team and your brand can weather the storm.

Recall

Recalls from Kellogg Company and Del Monte due to Salmonella and Cyclospora

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Recall

Kellogg Company announced a voluntary recall of Honey Smacks cereal (15.3 oz and 23 oz) after it was uncovered there may be a presence of Salmonella. The products were distributed national wide as well as in Costa Rica, Guatamala, Mexico, the Caribbean, Guam, Tahiti and Saipan. The issue was uncovered after FDA and CDC were contacted regarding reported illnesses—at that point Kellogg initiated an investigation with the third-party manufacturer of Honey Smacks. The products have a Best If Used by Date of June 14, 2018 through June 14, 2019.

Following a potential link to a cluster of illnesses related to Cyclospora contamination, Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. initiated a voluntary recall of 6 oz., 12 oz. and 28 oz. vegetable trays containing fresh broccoli, cauliflower, celery sticks, carrots, and dill dip sold to certain retailers in the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin).

The products were distributed to Kwik Trip, Kwik Star, Demond’s, Sentry, Potash, Meehan’s, Country Market, Food Max Supermarket and Peapod, and have a “Best By” date of June 17 or earlier.

Recall

Caito Food Recalls Pre-Cut Melon Products Following Salmonella Outbreak

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Recall

An investigation of a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Adelaide infections has been traced back to pre-cut melon distributed by Caito Foods, according to an outbreak update from FDA. The agency, along with CDC and state and local officials, are investigating the outbreak involving 60 people in five states in the Midwest, and have traced it back to fruit salad mixes that include pre-cut melon. As a result, Caito Foods has issued a voluntary recall of these products, which were distributed to Costco, Jay C, Kroger, Payless, Owen’s, Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, Walgreens, Walmart, and Whole Foods/Amazon. No deaths have been reported.

The illnesses occurred between April 30 and May 28. The FDA is advising consumers to refrain from eating the recalled cut watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe and fresh-cut fruit melody products that were produced at the Caito Foods facility in Indianapolis, IN.

Alert

Leafy Greens Food Safety Task Force Formed to Improve Supply Chain

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Alert

Following the multi-state E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to romaine lettuce from the Yuma, Arizona region, several groups have come together in the hopes of preventing future outbreaks. Despite the fact that the FDA announced that the outbreak was likely over weeks ago, 4 more deaths have occurred (bringing the total to 5 dead), and three more states have reported ill people.

Now the Arizona and California leafy greens industries, the Produce Marketing Association, Western Growers, United Fresh and other groups have created a special task force to improve food safety systems across the supply chain. The Leafy Greens Food Safety Task Force will consist of industry members, food safety experts, researchers and representatives from government.

“It is very difficult to identify an issue weeks or months after the fact, primarily because of the expediency with which our product is harvested and in the marketplace,” said Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement Chair Jerry Muldoon in a press release. “With our industry knowledge, scientific experts and the collaboration of state and federal agencies, we believe we can help get to the bottom of this and make changes to processes after our product leaves the farm, as well as closely examine other factors at play.”

The latest update from CDC puts the case count at 197 ill, five dead, 89 hospitalizations, with a span of illnesses across 35 states.

Lettuce

FDA: 172 Ill, 1 Death, Romaine Lettuce E. Coli Outbreak Likely Over

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Lettuce

The multi-state E.coli O15:H7 outbreak linked to romaine lettuce may be nearly over. According to the FDA, romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region is no longer being harvested or distributed, which means “it is unlikely that any romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region is still available in stores or restaurants due to its 21-day shelf life,” the agency states. The last harvest date was April 16.

Spanning across 32 states, thus far the case count of infections is at 172, with 75 hospitalizations and one death, according to the CDC.

The FDA investigation continues, and the agency is looking at all potential avenues of contamination throughout the chain—including growing, harvesting, packaging and distribution.

Lettuce

Is There Any End in Sight for the E.Coli Outbreak in Romaine Lettuce?

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Lettuce

The number of illness cases linked to the E.Coli 0157:H7 outbreak has jumped to 98. Fourteen more people from eight states were added since Wednesday, and three more states have reported sick people: Mississippi, Tennessee and Wisconsin. The current number of states affected is 22, and hospitalizations have increased to 46. No deaths have been reported.

The multi-agency investigation still indicates that the romaine lettuce comes from the Yuma, Arizona growing region, and CDC is giving the same advice it has for the past week: If you can’t confirm the source of romaine lettuce, throw it out.

Alert

CDC Expands Warning: Get Rid of All Lettuce from Yuma Region

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Alert

 

Last week Food Safety Tech reported on a multi-agency investigation of an E.coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to chopped romaine lettuce from Yuma, Arizona.

Now the CDC is advising consumers, restaurants and retailers to get rid of all romaine lettuce—not just chopped romaine, but also whole heads and hearts of romaine, and salads and salad mixes containing the variety—if they cannot confirm the source. “Information collected to date indicates that romaine lettuce from the Yuma, Arizona growing region could be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 and could make people sick,” the CDC states on its website.

The most current illness case count is 53, with illnesses reported in 16 states. There have been 31 hospitalizations thus far and no deaths, according to the CDC.

Lettuce

Romaine Lettuce Likely Source of Widespread E. Coli Outbreak

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Lettuce

At least 35 people in 11 states have been infected with E.coli O157:H7, according to the CDC, and the FDA is investigating a likely link to these infections and chopped romaine lettuce from Yuma, Arizona. The reported illnesses occurred between March 22 and March 31, and 93% of the 28 people interviewed reported eating romaine lettuce (mainly from a restaurant) during the week that they became ill.

The FDA and CDC are advising consumers to ask restaurants and other food service establishments where they source their romaine lettuce from and to avoid any that came from Yuma, Arizona. In addition, they should not buy or eat it if they cannot confirm the source.

“Retailers, restaurants, and other food service operators should not sell or serve any chopped romaine lettuce from the winter growing areas in Yuma, Arizona. If you cannot determine the source of your chopped romaine lettuce, do not sell or serve it. The FDA currently does not have information to indicate that whole-head romaine lettuce or hearts of romaine have contributed to this outbreak.” – FDA

The agencies will continue to investigate this outbreak. FDA emphasized that this outbreak is not related to a multistate outbreak that occurred last November to December involving leafy greens, as those infections had a different DNA fingerprint of the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria.

Lettuce

Consumer Reports Urges Public to Avoid Romaine Lettuce, CDC Says Otherwise

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Lettuce

Steer clear of romaine lettuce, urged Consumer Reports yesterday. An E.coli O157 outbreak in Canada traced to romaine lettuce has sickened 41 people in the country, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. In the United States, a multi-state outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 has hit 13 states and infected at least 17 people. However, the CDC has not issued an alert, because it has not yet confirmed the source of the infection. The latest CDC media statement was issued on December 28, but Consumer Reports stated that the CDC confirmed “the strain of E. coli detected in the U.S. is ‘a virtual genetic match’ with the one that has caused illnesses in Canada.”

The Consumer Reports article also quotes the head of the CDC’s Outbreak Response Team, Matthew Wise, Ph.D., who said that the agency is examining romaine lettuce and other leafy greens and that the investigation in Canada gave the CDC a “good starting point.” He also said that the CDC’s investigation should be completed within the next two weeks.