PHAC is working in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to Dole Food Co. and PC Organics packaged salad products produced in a U.S. processing facility in Springfield, Ohio.
According to Food Safety News on Tuesday, there are currently 11 cases in five Canadian provinces related to this outbreak: Ontario (7), Quebec (1), New Brunswick (1), Prince Edward Island (1), and Newfoundland and Labrador (1). Individuals became sick between May 2015 and early January 2016.
In the PHAC update on Tuesday, the agency confirmed that the Canadian and U.S. Listeria outbreaks are highly genetically related. As for the four new cases, PHAC explained: “Four (4) cases of Listeria have been added to the national investigation. These illnesses were previously reported in Ontario, and are not new illnesses; however, additional laboratory test results have now confirmed a link between these four illnesses and the previously recalled packaged salad products.”
Listeriosis can be a very serious illness, sometimes resulting in hospitalization and even death. In Canada, all cases have required hospitalization. Three infected people have died, however, it has not been determined if Listeria contributed to the deaths.
In the United States, there have been 15 confirmed illnesses from the Listeria outbreak. All 15 people were hospitalized, including one person from Michigan who died as a result of listeriosis.
The need for better surveillance in tracking food-borne illnesses
According to the federal government of Canada, there are an estimated 4 million people (one in eight) affected by food-borne illnesses every year. Of that number, about 11,600 Canadians are admitted to the hospital and 238 die.
Rick Holley is a food-safety expert and distinguished professor in the department of food science at the University of Manitoba. Holley says when it comes to issues with food-borne illnesses, they get “swept under the rug” because not enough is being done to track where the problems are. When an outbreak is big enough to make the front page, we pay attention. But after that, the issue goes cold again.
The Globe and Mail printed a story that got to the core of the issue. Writer Carly Weeks wrote, “Eating bagged salad shouldn’t pose a health risk.” Weeks points out that we should be just as vigilant over food-borne pathogens as we are about the Zika virus, and she is so right.
