Food Safety and Food Access: A Pilot Study

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of testing the hypothesis that differences in neighborhood level food access may be associated with consumer exposure to food borne microbial contamination. Methods: This study was carried out in Baltimore MD in 2011 among selected neighborhoods defined as high or low food access. In each category, packages of chicken thighs and ground beef were purchased from small stores and supermarkets. We evaluated presence of E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus and also tested isolates for antimicrobial resistance. Results: Microbial contamination of both chicken and beef products was highly prevalent (S. aureus-13/32 for chicken and 14/32 for beef; E. coli 21/32 for chicken and 12/32 for beef). Small stores were more likely to sell food carrying these microbes as well as MDR strains of both E. coli and S. aureus, and chicken was more likely to carry E. coli as compared to ground beef. Conclusions: This is the first study of this hypothesis. While it is limited in size and in focus on one US city, the results indicate that further research is appropriate to examine neighborhood level risk factors for differential exposures to food borne microbes. Abbreviations: S. aureus (Staphylococcus aureus); E. coli (Escherichia coli), MRSA (methicilllin resistant Staphylococcus aureus), MDR (multi-drug resistant), LFA (low food access), HFA (high food access). FDA (US Food and Drug Administration), USDA (US Department of Agriculture), CLSI (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute).

Download Full-text

Multistate Outbreak of Multidrug-Resistant Salmonella Newport Infections Associated with Ground Beef, October to December 2007

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x.jfp-11-046 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 74 (8) ◽

pp. 1315-1319 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

J. L. SCHNEIDER ◽

P. L. WHITE ◽

J. WEISS ◽

D. NORTON ◽

J. LIDGARD ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Case Control Study ◽

Ground Beef ◽

Multidrug Resistant ◽

Chain Store ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

California Department ◽

Salmonella Newport ◽

Beef Products ◽

Inspection Service ◽

Control Study

In late October 2007, an outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Newport infections affected 42 case patients in California, Arizona, Idaho, and Nevada. A case-control study implicated ground beef from one chain store. Despite detailed ground beef purchase histories—including shopper card information for several case patients—traceback efforts by both the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service and the California Department of Public Health were unable to identify the source of contamination. Case patients consumed multiple types of ground beef products purchased at numerous chain store A retail locations. These stores had received beef products for grinding from multiple beef slaughter–processing establishments. Detailed retail grinding logs and grinding policies that prevent cross-contamination between batches of ground beef products are crucial in the identification of contaminated beef products associated with foodborne illness.

Download Full-text

Salmonella Prevalence in Bovine Lymph Nodes Differs among Feedyards

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x.jfp-11-530 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 75 (6) ◽

pp. 1131-1133 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

ASHLEY N. HANEKLAUS ◽

KERRI B. HARRIS ◽

DAVEY B. GRIFFIN ◽

THOMAS S. EDRINGTON ◽

LISA M. LUCIA ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lymph Nodes ◽

Pathogenic Bacteria ◽

Ground Beef ◽

Performance Standards ◽

Processing Plant ◽

Lymphatic Tissue ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

Beef Carcasses ◽

Beef Products ◽

The U.S

Lymphatic tissue, specifically lymph nodes, is commonly incorporated into ground beef products as a component of lean trimmings. Salmonella and other pathogenic bacteria have been identified in bovine lymph nodes, which may impact compliance with the Salmonella performance standards for ground beef established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Although Salmonella prevalence has been examined among lymph nodes between animals, no data are currently available regarding feedyard origin of the cattle and Salmonella prevalence. Bovine lymph nodes (279 superficial cervical plus 28 iliofemoral = 307) were collected from beef carcasses at a commercial beef harvest and processing plant over a 3-month period and examined for the prevalence of Salmonella. Cattle processed were from seven feedyards (A through G). Salmonella prevalence was exceptionally low (0% of samples were positive ) in cattle from feedyard A and high (88.2%) in cattle from feedyard B. Prevalence in the remaining feedyards ranged widely: 40.0% in feedyard C, 4.0% in feedyard D, 24.0% in feedyard E, 42.9% in feedyard F, and 40.0% in feedyard G. These data indicate the range of differences in Salmonella prevalence among feedyards. Such information may be useful for developing interventions to reduce or eliminate Salmonella from bovine lymph nodes, which would assist in the reduction of Salmonella in ground beef.

Download Full-text

INTERACTIONS OF FOOD STARTER CULTURES AND FOOD-BORNE PATHOGENS: STREPTOCOCCUS DIACETILACTIS VERSUS FOOD PATHOGENS1,2

Journal of Milk and Food Technology ◽

10.4315/0022-2747-35.6.349 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 35 (6) ◽

pp. 349-357 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

C. Daly ◽

W. E. Sandine ◽

P. R. Elliker

Keyword(s):

Staphylococcus Aureus ◽

Ground Beef ◽

Starter Cultures ◽

Cottage Cheese ◽

Practical Applications ◽

Mechanism Of Inhibition ◽

Food Borne ◽

Effects Of Ph ◽

Test Organisms ◽

Ham Sandwich

The ability of Streptococcus diacetilactis to inhibit a variety of food spoilage organisms and pathogens in milk and broth cultures was demonstrated. Test organisms included Pseudomonas and Alcaligenes species, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. In general, approximately 99.0% and 99.9% inhibition was observed in milk and broth, respectively. Possible practical applications of the inhibition were examined. Addition of S. diacetilactis extended the shelf life of artificially contaminated cottage cheese and prevented proteolysis in milk at 7.5 C by Pseudomonas fluorescens. Staphylococcus aureus was inhibited greater than 99% in vanilla cream filling, ham sandwich spread, chicken gravy, soy milk, and ground beef stored at 25 C for 24 hr. Development of the gram-negative flora of ground beef was also inhibited greater than 99% after storage at 7.5 C for 7 days. Possible roles for several factors in the mechanism of inhibition by S. diacetilactis are briefly discussed. The effects of pH reached and acids produced by S. diacetilactis on the growth of S. aureus are described. A greater role for the lactic acid bacteria in fermentations in the food industry is suggested.

Download Full-text

New Antimicrobials Based on the Adarotene Scaffold with Activity against Multi-Drug Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus

Antibiotics ◽

10.3390/antibiotics10020126 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 126

Author(s):

Salvatore Princiotto ◽

Stefania Mazzini ◽

Loana Musso ◽

Fabio Arena ◽

Sabrina Dallavalle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Staphylococcus Aureus ◽

Antibacterial Activity ◽

Anticancer Activity ◽

Bactericidal Effect ◽

Biological Assessment ◽

Drug Resistant ◽

Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus ◽

Vancomycin Resistant ◽

Global Increase ◽

Common Infections

The global increase in infections by multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens is severely impacting our ability to successfully treat common infections. Herein, we report the antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. faecalis (including some MDR strains) of a panel of adarotene-related synthetic retinoids. In many cases, these compounds showed, together with favorable MICs, a detectable bactericidal effect. We found that the pattern of substitution on adarotene could be modulated to obtain selectivity for antibacterial over the known anticancer activity of these compounds. NMR experiments allowed us to define the interaction between adarotene and a model of microorganism membrane. Biological assessment confirmed that the scaffold of adarotene is promising for further developments of non-toxic antimicrobials active on MDR strains.

Download Full-text

Hospital Microbiologic Culture Results to Predict the Use of Anti–methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology ◽

10.1017/ice.2020.521 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. s40-s40

Author(s):

Hsiu Wu ◽

Tyler Kratzer ◽

Liang Zhou ◽

Minn Soe ◽

Jonathan Edwards ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Staphylococcus Aureus ◽

Risk Adjustment ◽

Negative Binomial ◽

Average Length ◽

Negative Binomial Regression ◽

Drug Resistant ◽

Gram Positive ◽

Average Length Of Stay ◽

Control And Prevention ◽

Hospital Characteristics

Background: To provide a standardized, risk-adjusted method for summarizing antimicrobial use (AU), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the standardized antimicrobial administration ratio, an observed-to-predicted use ratio in which predicted use is estimated from a statistical model accounting for patient locations and hospital characteristics. The infection burden, which could drive AU, was not available for assessment. To inform AU risk adjustment, we evaluated the relationship between the burden of drug-resistant gram-positive infections and the use of anti-MRSA agents. Methods: We analyzed data from acute-care hospitals that reported ≥10 months of hospital-wide AU and microbiologic data to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) from January 2018 through June 2019. Hospital infection burden was estimated using the prevalence of deduplicated positive cultures per 1,000 admissions. Eligible cultures included blood and lower respiratory specimens that yielded oxacillin/cefoxitin–resistant Staphylococcus aureus (SA) and ampicillin-nonsusceptible enterococci, and cerebrospinal fluid that yielded SA. The anti-MRSA use rate is the total antimicrobial days of ceftaroline, dalbavancin, daptomycin, linezolid, oritavancin, quinupristin/dalfopristin, tedizolid, telavancin, and intravenous vancomycin per 1,000 days patients were present. AU rates were modeled using negative binomial regression assessing its association with infection burden and hospital characteristics. Results: Among 182 hospitals, the median (interquartile range, IQR) of anti-MRSA use rate was 86.3 (59.9–105.0), and the median (IQR) prevalence of drug-resistant gram-positive infections was 3.4 (2.1–4.8). Higher prevalence of drug-resistant gram-positive infections was associated with higher use of anti-MRSA agents after adjusting for facility type and percentage of beds in intensive care units (Table 1). Number of hospital beds, average length of stay, and medical school affiliation were nonsignificant. Conclusions: Prevalence of drug-resistant gram-positive infections was independently associated with the use of anti-MRSA agents. Infection burden should be used for risk adjustment in predicting the use of anti-MRSA agents. To make this possible, we recommend that hospitals reporting to NHSN’s AU Option also report microbiologic culture results.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

Download Full-text