A multi-state outbreak of Salmonella serotype Thompson infection from commercially distributed bread contaminated by an ill food handler.

Foodborne transmission is estimated to account for 95% of non-typhoidal Salmonella infections reported in the United States; however, outbreaks of salmonellosis are rarely traced to food handlers. In August 2000, an increase in Salmonella serotype Thompson infection was noted in Southern California; most of the cases reported eating at a restaurant chain (Chain A) before illness onset. A case-control study implicated the consumption of burgers at Chain A restaurants. The earliest onset of illness was in a burger bun packer at Bakery B who had not eaten at Chain A but had worked while ill. Bakery B supplied burger buns to some Chain A restaurants in Southern California and Arizona. This outbreak is notable for implicating a food handler as the source of food contamination and for involving bread, a very unusual outbreak vehicle for Salmonella . Inadequate food-handler training as well as delayed reporting to the health department contributed to this outbreak.

Alfalfa sprouts and Salmonella Kottbus infection: a multistate outbreak following inadequate seed disinfection with heat and chlorine.

Raw sprouts have been implicated in a number of foodborne disease outbreaks. Because contaminated seeds are usually responsible, many sprout producers attempt to disinfect seeds before germination and detect sprout contamination during production. In March 2001, we detected an increased number of Salmonella serotype Kottbus isolates in California. Overall, we identified 31 cases from three western states. To identify the cause, we conducted a case-control study with the first 10 identified case-patients matched to 20 controls by age, sex, and residential area. Our case-control study found illness to be statistically associated with alfalfa sprout consumption. The traceback investigation implicated a single sprouter, where environmental studies yielded Salmonella Kottbus from ungerminated seeds and floor drains within the production facility. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns of all patient, seed, and floor drain Salmonella Kottbus isolates were indistinguishable. Most implicated sprouts were from seeds that underwent heat treatment and soaking with a 2,000-ppm sodium hypochlorite solution rather than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-recommended 20,000-ppm calcium hypochlorite soak. Other implicated seeds had been soaked in a calcium hypochlorite solution that, when tested, measured only 11,000 ppm. The outbreak might have been averted when screening tests of sprout irrigation water detected Salmonella in January; however, confirmatory testing of these samples was negative (but testing improperly utilized refrigerated irrigation water). Producers should use the enrichment broth of positive screening samples, not refrigerated irrigation water, for confirmatory testing. Until other effective disinfection technologies are developed, producers should adhere to FDA recommendations for sprout seed disinfection.

Thermal Resistance of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. in Liquid Egg White.

Survival of a five-strain mixture of Listeria monocytogenes and a six-strain mixture of Salmonella enteritidis , S. typhimurium , and S. senftenberg (not 775W) in liquid egg white was determined by a submerged-vial technique at 51.5°C and 53.2°C with 0.875% added H2O2 and at 55.5°C, 56.6°C, and 57.7°C with no additions. Survival at a range of pH values at 56.6°C also was determined. Surviving bacteria were counted on tryptic soy agar and results expressed as D-values; log-unit reductions in counts in 3.5 min or 6.2 min were calculated from these D-values. Plate pasteurization of commercially broken egg white (pH 8.8) inoculated with a single strain of L. innocua or S. senftenberg also was performed. Heating under currently approved pasteurization conditions, 51.5°C for 3.5 min with hydrogen peroxide, 55.6°C for 6.2 min, or 56.7°C for 3.5 min, resulted in a less than 3-1og unit reduction of viable Salmonella spp. and a less than 0.5-1og unit reduction of L. monocytogenes . At 53.2°C with peroxide, plate pasteurization resulted in a 3.44-1og unit reduction of S. senftenberg in 3.5 min. At 57.7°C with no peroxide, the D-value for Salmonella spp. was 0.78 min when heated in submerged vials, and plate pasteurization reduced viable numbers by 3.64 log units in 3.5 min. Destruction of Listeria under these conditions was still less than 1 log unit. Variation in the pH of the egg white from 7.8 to 9.3 resulted in D-values for Salmonella spp. at 56.6°C of 3.60 min to 1.08 min, respectively. D-values for L. monocytogenes under these conditions ranged from 10.4 min at pH 7.8 to 20.9 min at pH 9.3. The reduced heat sensitivity of Salmonella spp. at lower pH values should be considered in reevaluating pasteurization procedures.