Marler Blog - Providing commentary on food poisoning outbreaks & litigation

Simply washing fresh fruits and vegetables may only be marginally effective at removing microbial contaminants, so scientists are investigating new techniques for better processing produce.

Bacteria quickly attach to the surface of fruits and vegetables and form biofilms, a mass of microbes that attach to a surface and to each other by complex sugars. Scientists believe that biofilm coatings may protect bacterial cells from exposure to antimicrobial compounds used to sanitize produce.

Salmonella bacteria are often responsible for produce-related outbreaks of foodborne illness. They're especially tricky to remove from cantaloupe because they attach to inaccessible sites and form biolfim on cantaloupe rind surface, allowing the bacteria to avoid contact with sanitizing solutions. Surviving Salmonella cells can be transferred from the surface of the melon to the internal tissues during cutting prior to consumption.

Now, researchers at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service have gained new insight into Salmonella biofilm formation on various surfaces. They have discovered that to form on plastic or stainless steel, the bacteria must produce hair-like structures--called fimbriae--and cellulose to help the cells to attach and colonize the surface.

In cantaloupe, Salmonella cells attach to the rind and rapidly begin developing biofilm by growing and excreting sugars. This discovery helps explain how Salmonella survives harsh sanitizing environments and could help lead to better sanitization techniques.

Butler County Health Department and the Ohio Department of Health have learned that a food service worker with confirmed Hepatitis A (infectious Hepatitis) worked while ill. Because of the possibility of contamination of ice, persons who have not been previously vaccinated for Hepatitis A and who report consuming ice, beverages with ice, ice cream or lemons or dined between March 14 and March 25, 2008 at this restaurant are recommended to contact their healthcare provider, local public health department or the Butler County Health Department for post-exposure prophylaxis.
People who dined at, consumed ice, beverages with ice, ice cream or lemons from the P.R Chang Restaurant between March 14 and March 25, 2008 should be referred to their healthcare provider, local public health department, or Butler County Department of Health for assessment and potential vaccination with monovalent Hepatitis A vaccine or prophylaxis with immune globulin (IG). The restaurant is located at 9435 Civic Centre Boulevard, West Chester, OH 45069 (off of the Civic Centre exit on Interstate 75 just north of Cincinnati, OH in eastern Butler County).

Meanwhile, a Seattle attorney has filed a claim against the city of Alamosa on behalf of a child . . . who he says suffered severe gastrointestinal illness and was hospitalized for five days because of the salmonella outbreak. Seattle attorney Bill Marler, who specializes in food poisoning cases, said today that when a Colorado city is sued, damages are capped at $150,000 for any injured person or a maximum of $600,000 for all injured parties.

For Jenn and Ray Cook, this city's salmonella crisis began March 9 with a terrifying sound. Their 7-month-old son woke up screaming at 3 a.m. with bloody diarrhea and a fever of 103 - just weeks after his second heart surgery. San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center quickly decided the fluffy-haired baby needed special care. "They Flight-for-Lifed him to Children's Hospital in Denver," said his mother, Jenn, 28. Jordan, who is missing the left ventricle of his heart and faces one more operation, was given intravenous fluids and oxygen. Children's doctors then spent five days trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Finally, tests hit on the answer: Salmonella poisoning. He was one of the first cases. Baby Jordan is recovered now, to his parents' relief. On Wednesday, he was smiling broadly and sporting pale blue socks to match his shirt.

State agriculture officials have temporarily banned the sale of raw cream from the Organic Pastures dairy in Fresno, citing bacteria levels of up to 150 times the legal limit. They also have warned a Watsonville dairy, Claravale Farm, that it faces a similar ban if its raw skim milk or raw cream fails another inspection.

From 1998 to 2005, raw milk and cheese were implicated in 39 disease outbreaks nationwide that sickened 831 adults and children, hospitalized 66 and killed one, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

California's new raw milk safety standards allow no more than 10 coliform bacteria per milliliter, the same requirement for pasteurized milk.

Organic Pastures in particular has been beset by potentially harmful bacteria in its raw milk in recent years.

In 2006, five children were infected with E. coli bacteria linked to Organic Pastures' raw milk. Some suffered bloody diarrhea; others, kidney failure. The dairy is now facing lawsuits from two families affected by the outbreak.

The dairy's raw cream was recalled in September 2007 after listeria was found in a sample, although no illnesses were reported. Then, in November and December, state public health officials investigated reports of a campylobacter bacterial outbreak that sickened five people who drank Organic Pastures raw milk.

Organic Pastures' McAfee couldn't agree more.

"I invite (the agriculture department) to keep on sticking me in the ribs because it keeps increasing our sales," he said. "It stirs up the grass roots."

• Dr. Robert Brackett, Senior Vice President and Chief Science and Regulatory Officer, Grocery Manufacturers Association
  

• William Marler, Managing Partner at Marler Clark

• Joe Pezzini, Vice President of Operations, Ocean Mist Farms, and Chairman of the Board of Directors, California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement

• Dr. Trevor Suslow, Affiliate Scientist, Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, and Cooperative Extension Specialist, Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis