Yesterday, CBS News broke the story that a lab has confirmed the Salmonella Montevideo multi-state outbreak was linked to the Daniele International, Inc. recall of sausage products. The Food Safety Inspection Service posted the company’s voluntary recall on January 23, 2010 because of possible contamination by Salmonella.
According to the article:
A strain of Salmonella has been linked to an outbreak that made 189 people sick in 49 states Monday during testing at the University of Iowa. Thirty-five people have been hospitalized from the strain since July, but no deaths have been reported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service are investigating the outbreak.
According to the University of Iowa, on Saturday, Daniele International recalled more than 1.2 million pounds of its ready-to-eat sausage products because of a possible salmonella contamination. The Iowa Department of Public Health investigated a case of salmonella poisoning in the state and found leftover sausage in the patient’s home and sent the meat to the University of Iowa’s Hygienic Laboratory for testing. Using DNA fingerprinting, the lab confirmed the sausage matched the same strain as the national outbreak.
Scientific advancements in DNA analysis have allowed matching of bacterial strains in infected individuals with that of bacteria found in contaminated food products. Once an individual becomes sick with symptoms associated with a bacterial infection, such as Salmonella, researchers usually conduct interviews and try to discern what an individual has recently eaten. This helps track down potential sources of Salmonella. This source identification and recall will help prevent further spread of the Salmonella outbreak.
