Food Protection Trends - October 2009 - 690

inspection and documentation. Validation is crucial to sanitation. He concluded with stating, “there are no off days in cleaning, cleaning needs to be done each time perfectly, because someone is eating that product and you are dealing with people’s lives”. Dr. Lauren Jackson, from the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, focused on surface allergen testing methods. Approximately 10–12 million people annually in the US suffer from food allergies. Cross contact in plants from poor sanitation is the most likely vector for allergens in food products. Various surface allergen testing methods can be utilized to validate plant sanitation programs, such as visual inspections, allergen specific ELISA testing, and nonspecific method testing (i.e., ATP and total protein). Additional methods in development include LC-MS-MS, PCR, spectroscopic methods (i.e., fiber optics) and biosensors. S14 – Enhancing Oyster Safety through Vibrio Control Plans Reshani Nisansala Senevirathne, Louisiana State University Sonja T. Jones, Louisiana State University Dr. Angelo DePaola (FDA Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory) opened the symposium with a presentation on “How We Got Here with Regulations of Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Risk Calculator.” Dr. DePaola described the development of Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) and involvement of FDA on post harvest controls of shellfish. Both Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus upregulate with the water temperature and it can be overcome by rapid cooling, Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus Risk Calculators (example: mean water/air temperatures), and states implemented plans. Matt Biggerstaff (Enteric Disease Epidemiology Research) presented “Oyster-associated Vibrio Infections in the United States, 1999–2008,” where he described the morphology of Vibrio species. Followed by, the discussion of exposure associated with infection which the method of analysis was COVIS database. COVIS is the Cholera and Other Vibrio Illness Surveillance System that analyzed cases of oyster-associated cause of illnesses. The results showed 4,958 infection of Vibrio (3,340 foodborne and 1,618 nonfoodborne). As a result, over 90% of illness was caused by consumption of raw oysters. Vibrio vulnificus had the greatest number of fatalities (48%); whereas Vibrio parahaemolyticus had less than 1%. The results of the study showed no decline in the past 10 years in the overall number of Vibrio illnesses and there is a need for continued surveillance and additional funding. Maryanne Guichard (Division of Environmental Health, Dept. of Health) spoke about the “Vibrio parahaemolyticus Control in Washington State.” She mentioned that public health of Washington State is always working for a safer and healthier Washington. Due to relatively lower water temperature only Vibrio parahaemolyticus became a problematic species in Washington during summer months. Since 1975 there has been reported illnesses regarding Vibrio parahaemolyticus and recently in 2006 a major outbreak was reported. She mentioned that this control plan, established harvest, temperature control, and transportation requirements for oysters intended for raw consumption during the months of May through September. Further she emphasized more enforcement and the improvement needed regarding educating industry and general public about Vibrio parahaemolyticus to overcome this matter. Lastly, Bill Dewey (Taylor Shellfish Company) discussed the “Shellfish Industry Perspective on ISSC Vibrio Control Plans.” He explained working with the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) and different control strategies for different Vibiro spp. and geographical regions. V. parahaemolyticus is more prevalent in US West Coast and V. vulnificus is more prevalent in Gulf of Mexico. There has been a substantial effort to educate at-risk consumers, but have not been able to achieve that goal. Description of the harvest/handling/processing of oyster on the West Coast and Gulf of Mexico was outlined. Mr. Dewey regards the Vibrio controls plans have been effective at reducing illness rate. Additionally, illness monitoring and adaptive management is working as well. S15 – Less Recognized and Underappreciated Foodborne Pathogens – No Crystal Ball for the Next Big Bug Alison Brown,Texas Tech University Olasunmbo Ajayi, Alabama A & M University Dr. Robert Tauxe of the CDC categorized foodborne pathogens as organisms that must be present in food, cause illness after food consumption and has the capability of causing illness in humans. Besides the commonly known foodborne pathogens such as Listeria and Salmonella, he talked about re-emerging pathogens (Bacillus anthracis,Vibrio cholera) and prominent pathogens that have been implicated in outbreaks around the world. Angiostrongylus cantonensis, rat lungworm, also found in larval form in snails, Trypanosoma cruzi, a blood vector also transmitted via sugar cane juice and superbug ST398 MRSA from pigs are some that were covered. He also discussed emerging infections that have been traced to new food animal contacts in developing industries. He believes that a new pathogen emerges about every 16 months and is subsequently identified through a systematic investigation of the resulting outbreak. Dr. Eric Johnson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison presented on Gram-positive spore formers, particularly Clostridium, which is ubiquitous in the environment, but difficult to culture. He emphasized the emergence of a hypervirulent strain of C. botulinum, the persistence of C. difficle when antibiotics usage diminishes the normal gut flora, and proposed that Clostridium is a cause of autism. He concluded that gut flora maybe involved in some disease development and stressed that “health begins in the colon”. Dr. P. C. Vasavada of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls divided microorganisms into three groups: beneficial, pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. Though some organisms like S. aureus and Salmonella are considered to be established foodborne pathogens, Vibrio, E. coli and Enterobacter sakazaki are some of the new emerging pathogens currently being studied. He discussed the rapid progress being made in the detection and characterization methods and approached to studying these microorganisms. 690 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | OCTOBER 2009

Food Protection Trends - October 2009

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