Salmonella Chicken Livers Outbreak Now at 174 Cases in 5 States

Image via Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and State and local Health Departments from New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota are investigating the outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg that has been linked to contaminated Kosher chicken livers and chopped liver processed by Schreiber Processing Corp. of Maspeth, NY. The company does business as Alle Processing Corp/MealMart Co.

The “kosher broiled chicken livers” were sold at retail stores and may have used as an ingredient in other prepared foods, including chopped liver sold in delis. Customers may have incorrectly thought the use of the word “broiled” in the label meant the chicken liver was ready-to-eat, however they were supposed to be fully cooked before eating, the CDC said.

The confirmed case count of Salmonella Heidelberg associated with this outbreak now stands at 174 cases between February and November of this year. The state case count is broken down below:

• Maryland – 9 cases
• Minnesota – 1 case
• New Jersey – 64 cases
• New York – 93 cases
• Pennsylvania – 7 cases

According to the CDC, the case count is expected to rise as new infections since the recall may not have been reported as of yet.

This past Tuesday Schreiber Processing Corporation of Maspeth, NY finally announced a recall of its MealMart brand chicken livers.

What I do not understand is if this outbreak started back in February of this year with cases being reported as far back as 9 months ago, why did it take so long to link it to the chicken livers?

Source: CDC, CIDRAP, NYDOH, NYCDOH, NJDOH

Related articles

• Tainted chicken livers sicken nearly 170 (vitals.msnbc.msn.com)
• Health Warning: Salmonella Linked To MealMart Chicken Livers (newyork.cbslocal.com)

Pine Nut Salmonella Outbreak Update – 43 Cases in 7 States

According to a warning issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Turkish Pine Nuts from bulk containers at Wegmans Food Markets and also pesto, salads, or baked goods that may have been prepared with these pine nuts, the number of infected persons has risen to 43.

The latest addition to the growing number is from Washington state.

Wegmans has recalled 5,000 pounds of pine nuts that were sold in its bulk foods department in stores located in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia between July 1 and October 18th. The Wegmans recall however did not include items prepared with pine nuts.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the pine nuts were imported from Turkey, but may not have originated from there.

The FDA, CDC, and state officials are continuing to investigate the outbreak and source to determine if they were also distributed to other retailers and are monitoring the national PulseNet to identify additional cases.

Source: CDC, FDA, PulseNet

Related articles

• Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Imported Pine Nuts (thechefstableblog.com)
• Wegmans Recalls Pine Nuts Over Salmonella Concerns (dailyfinance.com)
• 5,000 Pounds of Pine Nuts Recalled, 42 Sick (friendseat.com)
• Wegmans Recalls Pine Nuts Over Salmonella Concerns (huffingtonpost.com)

Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Imported Pine Nuts

42 people in six states have been diagnosed with Salmonella Enteritidis after eating pine nuts imported from Turkey and sold from bulk bins at Wegmans grocery stores.

The Wegmans Food Markets chain is recalling 5,000 pounds of pine nuts that were sold in its 79 stores in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia between July 1 and October 18.

Laboratory testing by the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services and the New York Department of Health have isolated the outbreak strain of Salmonella in pine nuts bought from Wegmans and also in pesto made from pine nuts purchased at Wegmans.

(Click on map for larger image)

Source: CDC

Related articles

• Wegmans Recalls Pine Nuts Over Salmonella Concerns (huffingtonpost.com)
• Wegmans recalls pine nuts over salmonella concerns (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Wegmans recalls pine nuts after salmonella sickens 42 people (nj.com)
• Wegmans recalls pine nuts sold in bulk over possible salmonella contamination (pennlive.com)
• Wegmans recalls pine nuts for salmonella (philly.com)