Notes from the Field: Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Agbeni Associated with Consumption of Raw Cake Mix — Five States, 2018

Investigation of a Multistate Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Infections Linked to Frozen Vegetables Produced at Individually Quick-Frozen Vegetable Manufacturing Facilities

“…Other investigations involving food or environmental isolates detected before or early in the investigation have been recently reported, including Salmonella spp. infections linked to mayonnaise made using raw eggs ( U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2019b ), tahini ( U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2018a ), and raw cake mix ( Ladd‐Wilson et al, 2019 ), as well as L. monocytogenes infections linked to deli ham ( U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018b ) and ice cream ( U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2015 ). In order to detect important linkages between clinical and non‐clinical isolates during an outbreak investigation, regulatory inspection and sampling efforts, as well as increasing publicly available sequence data (including contribution of food and environmental isolates by third parties, such as industry and academia) are critical.…”

Mathematical Modeling for the Growth of Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus in Cake at Fluctuating Temperatures

“…Refrigerated baked desserts, such as cake, are considered ready-to-eat (RTE) as they do not need any additional preparation prior to consumption. These desserts are popular for their convenience; unfortunately, some of them are associated with outbreaks of foodborne illnesses in the USA, Canada, and other countries worldwide [1][2][3]. A massive Salmonella outbreak, including 2207 cases, resulted from the consumption of contaminated chocolate cake in Korea in 2018, suggesting the requirement of risk management for the cakes.…”

“…Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serotype Enteritidis was identified as the causative agent, and the vehicle of transmission was revealed to be cream cakes made in a bakery and sold at its retail outlets [4]. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that these infections from five states resulted from the same strain of Salmonella Agbeni as the Salmonella strain identified in the cake mix [2,5]. The New South Wales Food Authority, Australia, evaluated the microbial quality of bakery products including cakes because bakery products are frequently consumed but associated with foodborne outbreaks (NSW Food Authority, 2007).…”

“…2 the maximum specific growth rate; 3 initial cell concentration; 4 maximum cell concentration; a-b means within the same column with different superscript letters are significantly different (p < 0.05); a-b means within the same column with different superscript letters are significantly different (p < 0.05).…”

Investigating the effects of environmental stresses on Salmonella enterica serovar Tennessee survival in a low moisture food model

“…The low infectious dose of S. enterica (10–1,000 cells) continues to cause concern for foodborne illness potential (Todd, Greig, Bartleson, & Michaels, 2008; Werber et al., 2005). In recent decades, there have been an increased number of recalls in low moisture food (LMF) ingredients and products, such as raw cake mix, spices, peanut butter, chocolate, and flour (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006; Ladd‐Wilson et al., 2019). The source of Salmonella in these products could be from cross‐contamination in the processing environment, improper sanitation of surfaces and equipment, and/or from personnel (Reij, Den Aantrekker, & ILSI Europe Risk Analysis in Microbiology Task Force, 2004; Zheng, 2012).…”