New South Wales-based company Australia Poultry and Food Wholesalers has been fined A$236,000 plus legal costs for supplying pre-cooked chicken that was found to contain Listeria monocytogenes. The chicken was used in wraps that were supplied for inflight meals on the Virgin Blue airline. Listeria monocytogenes is dangerous for pregnant women, newborns, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. Downing Centre Local Court, in Sydney, found that between December 2008 and June 2009, a food-borne... ...Read more »

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has invited submissions on an application for a processing aid to reduce the risk of the food poisoning bacteria Listeria. The move follows a fresh outbreak of a deadly strain of Listeria monocytogenes in the U.S. as reported this week by Australian Food News. FSANZ Chief Executive Officer, Steve McCutcheon, said EBI Food Safety Ltd has applied for permission to use a bacteriophage preparation called P100 as a processing aid for ready-to-eat foods to reduce... ...Read more »

A farm in Colorado, U.S., is recalling cantaloupe melons it sold this summer out of concern they may be contaminated with Listeria, a deadly bacteria. At least 15 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes had been reported from four American states. All illnesses started on or after 15 August 2011. Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working... ...Read more »

The US Food and Drug Administration has found traces of listeria at an Augusta, Georgia, bakery owned and operated by US cereal giant Kellogg.In a letter released yesterday (14 June), the food safety regulator said that listeria was detected at “several” points along a production line that comes into direct contact with food. The FDA added that other food safety issues at the plant included insects found near to food storage areas. The plant manufactures Kellogg’s Keebler and Famous... ...Read more »

Cheese and dairy manufacturer B.-d. Farm Paris Creek is conducting a recall of its Paris Creek Tilsit, Cheddar, Gouda and Norwegino cheeses due to microbial contamination with the food pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. The South Australian manufacturer is recalling cheeses with use-by dates from 18/10/10, up to and including 26/01/11, in 200g prepackaged sizes from major supermarkets, and all wheel sizes from delicatessens and restaurants. The recall applies to cheeses Australia-wide, and to products... ...Read more »

Researchers have developed a novel approach to automated detection and classification of harmful bacteria in food – allowing computers to learn what a pathogen might look like. By equipping computers with sophisticated learning software and a laser scanner, colonies of pathogens such as listeria, staphylococcus, salmonella, vibrio and E. coli can be identified based on the optical properties of their colonies, and new unknown pathogens can be discovered. “The sheer number of existing... ...Read more »

A food safety summit featuring international guest speakers and the State Government’s top food safety scientists will focus on the prevention of Listeria, a common bacteria found in the food processing environment that can have potentially fatal effects, Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan said on Wednesday.The Summit was hosted by the NSW Food Authority and processed meat and poultry industries, and was held in Sydney yesterday, Thursday 8 July. “It represents a real commitment by... ...Read more »

A new study by the US Agricultural Research Service and the University of Georgia has attempted to track sources of Listeria contamination in a commercial chicken cooking plant. The study followed a brand-new commercial cooking facility for 21 months, before and after processing began, in order to find the origin of contamination by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, a common food-poisoning pathogen, which is prevalent in various forms in the environment. Results suggest that Listeria entered... ...Read more »

A NSW company has been linked to the recent Listeria food poisoning outbreak on Virgin Blue airlines flights that led to two pregnant women giving birth prematurely. NSW Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald, said the case had been linked to GMI Food Wholesalers Pty Ltd, which trades as Australian Poultry and Food Wholesalers . “Results of thorough testing conducted by the Food Authority and Queensland authorities show that the Listeria bacteria came from a cooked, diced chicken product... ...Read more »