The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with several state agencies, have alerted consumers to an outbreak of campylobacteriosis associated with drinking raw milk. At least 12 confirmed illnesses have been recently reported in Michigan. Symptoms of campylobacteriosis include diarrhoea, abdominal pain and fever. Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), has reported that, as of March 24, 2010, it received reports of 12 confirmed cases of illness from Campylobacter infections in consumers who drank raw milk. The raw milk originated from Forest Grove Dairy in Middlebury, Ind. Raw milk is unpasteurized milk from hoofed mammals, such as cows, sheep, or goats. Raw milk may contain a wide variety of harmful bacteria – including Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria, Campylobacter and Brucella — that may cause illness and possibly death. Public health authorities, including FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have expressed concerns about the hazards of drinking raw milk for decades.

From 1998 to 2008, 85 outbreaks of human infections resulting from consumption of raw milk were reported to CDC. These outbreaks included a total of 1,614 reported illnesses, 187 hospitalizations and 2 deaths. Because not all cases of foodborne illness are recognized and reported, the actual number of illnesses associated with raw milk likely is greater.

Meanwhile the Food Standards Agency is this week hosting an international conference to identify new ways of reducing the levels of the campylobacter in UK chicken. Campylobacter is the most common bacterial cause of food poisoning in the UK, causing an estimated 300,000 cases of illness every year in England and Wales alone. A recent survey carried out by the Food Standards Agency showed that campylobacter was present in 65% of samples of chicken tested. Food safety officials and industry representatives from around the world are meeting with their UK counterparts Tuesday and Wednesday in London. They will discuss the various methods used to successfully tackle campylobacter in other countries, and what the UK can learn from these.

Coincidentally a new report out this week has suggested that Campylobacter respond to the stressful environments by rapidly forming a slimy microfilm that sheds cells into the foods. The study, published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, by a team from the Institute of Food Research (IFR) explains how the campylobacter survives in the environment. Under laboratory conditions, bacteria left in the air formed a sticky film, a reservoir of cells that encases them and protects them from the oxygen. The films were also seen to shed cells, which could explain how the bacteria end up in food. Dr Arnoud van Vliet said that future investigations could lead to new ways of protecting food, such as “disrupting the biofilm matrix or prevention of the biofilm formation”.

Meanwhile Campden BRI has revealed that there could be a problem with Escherichia coli O157 and Mycobacterium bovis in cheeses made from unpasteurised milk. Campden undertook the project in consultation with scientists from Queens University Belfast and industry associations including Dairy UK and the Specialist Cheesemakers Association.
Full results of that research will be presenting at a Campden seminar on 22 June this year, but ahead of that date, Phil Voysey, event director, gave a brief preview of the findings.
Voysey said there are two areas of uncertainty that the Campden research has sought to shed light on. He said: “It is unclear as to whether the causative bacterium M. bovis would still be viable in the cheese. There is also uncertainty as to whether another pathogenic bacterium (Verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli), which has been linked to cheese, is likely to survive.”
To answer these questions, Campden produced a range of three hard and soft cheeses (Cheddar, Caerphilly and Camembert-type) in a laboratory and inoculated them with the pathogens, and then determined their survival. Findings will be discussed in full at the seminar in June.