PROJECT INTRODUCTION

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• PROJECT INTRODUCTION
• AND
• LISTERIA SUMMARY

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Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Seafood
Processing Environments

• National Food Safety Initiative Project
• Funded by
• Cooperative State Research, Education and
  Extension Service of USDA under Agreement No.
  00-51110-9769

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Principal Investigators Martin Wiedmann
Cornell Food Science Dept. Ken Gall New York
Sea Grant

• Project Collaborators
• Jenny Scott National Food Processors Assoc.
• Bob Collette National Fisheries Institute
• Doris Hicks University of Delaware
• Tom Rippen University of Maryland
• Mike Moody Jon Bell Louisiana State U.
• George Flick Virginia Tech

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• Project Goal

To understand sources and spread of Listeria
monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) seafood
processing facilities and to develop intervention
strategies that can be implemented by industry.
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Listeria monocytogenes

• Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is a bacterium that
  can cause foodborne disease (listeriosis) in
  humans
• Listeriosis predominantly affects the elderly,
  people with weak immune systems, and pregnant
  women and newborns.

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Overview of the Problem
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Lm is widespread in the environment

• Water
• Sewage
• Fecal Material

• Soil
• Vegetation
• Silage

Fenlon in Ryser Marth, 1999
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Lm can be isolated from a variety of animals
Sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys,
pheasants, fish, crustaceans, mice, rats,
rabbits, dogs, cats, deer, pigeons, parrots,
frogs, insects, etc.
Wesley in Ryser Marth, 1999
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Lm has been isolated from a wide variety
of foods
Dairy Products cheeses, ice cream Meats
sausages, ham, paté Poultry chicken,
turkey Vegetables potatoes, radishes, salad
mixes Seafood crab, shrimp, salmon, trout
Farber Peterkin, 1991 Ryser Marth, 1999
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Lm has been isolated from food plant environments

• Condensate
• Conveyors
• Slicers, etc.
• Mops, sponges

• Floors
• Drains
• HVAC
• Coolers

Bernard Sveum, 1994 Gravani in Ryser Marth,
1999
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Lm has been isolated from the home environment

• Kitchen environment
• Dish cloths, brushes
• Refrigerators
• Sinks
• Toothbrushes

Cox et al., 1989 Sergelidis et al., 1997 Beumer
te Giffel, 1998
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Lm has been isolated from the retail environment

• Deli foods
• Retail refrigerators
• Meat slicers

Humphrey and Worthington, 1990 Salvat et al. ,
1995 Sergelidis et al., 1997.
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Lm can be isolated from the intestinal tract of
humans0.8-21 of normal, healthy humans.
Slutsker Schuchat in Ryser Marth 1999
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Scenario No. 1The Isolated Case

• An individual case of listeriosis with no
  apparent link to others.
• The conditions leading to isolated cases are
  varied and often uncertain or unknown.
• Some may be part of a cluster or outbreak that
  was not detected.

Source Tompkin, R.B. (2002) J. Food Prot.
65709-725
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Scenario No. 2 Cases Linked by a Single Lot of
Food

• One lot of contaminated food that leads to a
  cluster of cases.
• One or more food handling errors may be involved.
• The outbreak ceases when the lot of food is no
  longer available.

Source Tompkin, R.B. (2002) J. Food Prot.
65709-725
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Scenario 3 Clusters or outbreaks involving
multiple lots of food from a single source

• Cases may be scattered by time and location.
• An unusually virulent strain of Lm has become
  established in a food operation.
• Multiple lots of food are contaminated over
  time.
• The food supports the growth of Lm.

Source Tompkin, R.B. (2002) J. Food Prot.
65709-725
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Industry Priorities

• 1. Prevent conditions that lead to extended
  outbreaks (scenario 3).
• 2. Control conditions to minimize the risk of
  isolated cases and clusters (scenarios 1 and 2).
• 3. Control conditions to satisfy regulatory
  requirements.

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Consequences of Lm in Foods - Listeriosis

• normal individuals??
• pregnant women
• neonates
• the elderly
• immunosuppressed
• individuals

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Foodborne Listeriosis

• 2500 cases (estimated)
• 90 are hospitalized
• 500 deaths (20 of cases)

CDC, 1999
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FDA Recalls

• 17 in 1999, 34 in 2000, 34 in 2001
• sandwiches, cheeses (hard and soft), sliced
  apples, platter w/ red bell peppers, red bell
  peppers, seafood (smoked, salads, dip), ice
  cream, cut salads, sprouts, coleslaw, hummus,
  cucumber garlic sauce

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USDA Recalls

• 31/62 (50) in 1999
• 35/76 (46) in 2000
• 22/87 (25) in 2001
• sausages, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, roast beef,
  corned beef, ham, bologna, enchiladas, burritos,
  fajitas, chicken salad, chicken wings, roast
  duckling, duck breast, jerky

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Recent Seafood Recalls

• Smoked trout Eden Brook Fish Market, NY, 7/02
• Other Smoked Fish products,
• Majority of seafood recalls
• Langostino tails Trader Joes, East and
  Midwest, January 2001
• Smoked whitefish salad Hommarus/Marshall Smoked
  Fish, Inc., December 2000
• Seafood Salad Ittella Foods, CA, October 2000

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Warning Letters

• Pacific Seafood Group, Newport, Oregon, July 01-
  Frozen shrimp adulterated with LM

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Listeriosis from seafood

• Shrimp (?) 1989, CT, 10 cases
• Mussels 1991, Australia, 4 cases
• Mussels 1992, New Zealand, 3 cases
• Gravad (raw marinated) or cold-smoked rainbow
  trout 1994-95, Sweden, 9 cases
• Cold-smoked rainbow trout 1998, Finland, 5 cases

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Case Study Sara Lee, 12/98

• Recall of 15 million pounds of deli meats and hot
  dogs due to LM contamination
• 101 listeriosis cases and 21 deaths
• 1.6 million settlement on 5 individual wrongful
  death claims in Cook County
• Settlement of class action lawsuit - 5 million
  (?)

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Sara Lee (continued)

• Pleaded guilty June 22, 2001 to misdemeanor
  charge of selling contaminated meat
• Paid maximum fine of 200,000
• Agreed to spend 3 million on food safety
  research at Michigan State University

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Listeriosis Outbreak 2002

• 53 illnesses, 11 deaths July-Oct
• Turkey deli meat implicated
• Pilgrims Pride/Wampler
• Recall of 27 million pounds of fresh and frozen
  RTE turkey and chicken products due to possible
  LM contamination outbreak strain in plant
• Jack Lambersky Poultry
• Recall of 200,000 pounds of RTE poultry products
  outbreak strain found in product

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Draft Assessment of the Relative Riskto Public
Health from Foodborne Listeria monocytogenes
Among Selected Categories of Ready-to-Eat Foods
1/19/01
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FDA/FSIS Risk Assessment
Highest relative risk per serving

• Pâté, meat spreads
• Fresh soft cheese
• Smoked seafood

(Intermediate Age Group)
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Survey of LM in Ready-to-Eat Foods, 2003.

• Many Products collected and tested
• Including
• Seafood Salads (other than tuna)
• Smoked Seafood
• Crawfish tail meat NOT tested
• Gombas, DE, et al. (2003) J. Food Protection

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Ready-to-Eat Food Samples Tested in 2000-2001
(n 31,705)
Smoked seafood 2644 samples 114 4.3
Seafood salads 2446 samples 115 4.7
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Survey of LM in Ready-to-Eat Foods, 2003.

• Summary of Findings
• Smoked Seafood and Seafood Salads
• High LM incidence or occurrence
• Amount of LM bacteria per occurrence could
  also be high
• Smoked seafood and seafood salad products are
  a concern for LM occurrence and risk

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U.S. Policy
Zero Tolerance None detected in a 25g sample of
a ready-to-eat food
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Reduction of Listeriosis
The US has a public health goal to reduce the
incidence of listeriosis in half by 2005.
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Outbreak Foods

• Refrigerated foods
• Long shelf-life
• Supports growth to high numbers

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Many RTE Seafoods

• Refrigerated foods
• Long shelf-life
• Supports growth to high numbers

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Summary

• Smoked seafood has all the characteristics of a
  high risk food with respect to listeriosis
• Smoked seafood seafood salads appear to have a
  higher prevalence of LM than many RTE foods
• FDA has concerns about LM in all RTE foods,
  including crawfish expect more regulatory
  action in the future
• Recalls are expensive
• Making someone sick is more expensive

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Conclusion

• Understanding the risk and control of LM in
  processing plants and final products is critical
  for the crawfish tail meat industry