First Report of Food Poisoning Due to Staphylococcal Enterotoxin Type B in Döner Kebab (Italy).

Staphylococcal food poisoning results from the consumption of food contaminated by staphylococcal enterotoxins. In July 2022, the Turin local health board was notified of a suspected foodborne outbreak involving six children who had consumed döner kebab purchased from a takeaway restaurant. The symptoms (vomiting and nausea) were observed 2-3 h later. A microbiological analysis of the food samples revealed high levels (1.5 × 107 CFU/g) of coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS). The immunoassay detected a contamination with staphylococcal enterotoxins type B (SEB). The whole genome sequencing of isolates from the food matrix confirmed the staphylococcal enterotoxin genes encoding for type B, which was in line with the SEB detected in the food. This toxin is rarely reported in staphylococcal food poisoning, however, because there is no specific commercial method of detection. The involvement of enterotoxin type P (SEP) was not confirmed, though the corresponding gene (sep) was detected in the isolates. Nasal swabs from the restaurant food handlers tested positive for CPS, linking them to the likely source of the food contamination.

The history of derogations from chemical parametric values set by the European Drinking Water Directive (Council Directive 98/83/EC), in Italy and the Piedmont region.

Italian legislation (Article 13 of Legislative Decree 31/2001) provides for the possibility of establishing derogations from chemical parametric values for drinking water set by EU legislation (Council Directive 98/83/EC), if the supply of drinking water cannot be maintained by any other reasonable means. A derogation is possible only after obtaining a specific authorization and must be limited to the shortest time possible. This paper presents the history of derogations granted in Italy and the case of arsenic and nickel in Piedmont. From 2003 to 2009, 13 regions requested a derogation (Campania, Emilia Romagna, Latium, Lombardy, Marche, Piedmont, Apulia, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany, Trentino Alto Adige, Umbria, Venetia) at different times and for a total of 13 parameters. In 2012, tap water provided to almost one million Italians in 112 municipalities of three regions (Latium, Tuscany and Campania), did not comply with the legal limits for the following parameters: arsenic, boron and fluorides. Currently, in the Piedmont region there are no derogations from the maximum permitted concentrations of contaminants in drinking water. In the past derogations have been applied for the nickel parameter (years 2006-2007) and from the arsenic parameter (years 2006-2008).