FDA Finds Bacteria in Precooked Seafood
Seafood processors, gathered here for a conference, heard federal officials warn that contamination rates found in numerous cooked, or ready-to-eat, fishery products are unacceptably high.
Discovery of the various pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes, occurred during random tests conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year.
Further, much of the problem is apparently caused by unsanitary practices among those who handle, cook and package fish and shellfish. Also discussed was a similar threat posed by naturally occuring microorganisms and toxins increasingly found in raw seafood.
Two results, in particular, were cause for concern. Bacterial contaminants were found in 28% of the domestically caught and cooked crab surveyed by the agency. And a test of 210 river salmon found that 209 contained anisakis worms, parasites that can cause illness if consumed.
The meeting, entitled “Safety of Processed Seafood Products,” is the fifth in a series held in recent months throughout the country and sponsored by FDA.
“The laboratory findings have been a surprise. We didn’t expect them,” said Joe Madden, deputy director of the FDA’s Microbiology Division. “But these are real, not imagined, problems.”
Necessary Education
The series of seminars was considered a necessary educational program for industry representatives in light of the data. FDA officials also hastened to add that consumers could protect themselves by always reheating precooked seafood and thoroughly cooking raw fish and shellfish.
Federal and state representatives, who spoke to the group, also warned that companies responsible for contamination outbreaks faced intense regulatory scrutiny and a resulting financial hardship that could lead to bankruptcy.
“If we find a pathogen in your plant, then you have a serious potential problem. And if we discover it in one of your products, then you have an even more severe problem,” said Ron Johnson, FDA’s Western District Director in San Francisco. “And if you do have a Listeria problem, then you’ll have the FDA in your face and we will give no consideration to the economic consequences. . . . Some companies have not survived similar situations.”
The conference was designed to illustrate that most, but not all, of the hazards being uncovered by federal and state inspectors, could be prevented by improving sanitation and handling practices at manufacturing sites.
“The seafood industry has a golden opportunity to correct these deficiencies . . . and should prevent contamination before it gets out of hand,” said Johnson. “It’s the industry’s responsibility to ensure the safety of their product.”
Even so, the recent FDA findings are sobering.
Zero Tolerance
Of primary concern is the discovery of the potentially fatal Listeria monocytogenes in several precooked seafood products. The agency has stated there is a zero tolerance for Listeria in processed food because no amount of the germ is considered safe.
The FDA findings during the past year were tempered, however, by the fact that no Listeriosis cases have been linked to seafood. This inconsistency, federal officials said, will not last. And if current trends continue then seafood contaminated with Listeria is likely to cause an outbreak.
“We don’t know if the Listeria present in seafood has reached an infectious dose yet,” said Madden, but he described the situation as a “time-bomb” waiting to go off.
This particular bacterium was responsible for 1,600 illnesses in 1986, including 415 deaths. Symptoms are flu-like and include fever, nausea and vomiting. High risk groups such as pregnant women, infants, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems are particularly susceptible to the contaminant.
Listeria was the bacterium found in a Mexican-style soft cheese that killed more than 40 people, mostly newborns, in the Los Angeles area in 1985.
Led to Extensive Testing
In fact, it was the contamination problems involving the dairy industry that led FDA researchers to begin extensive testing of seafood for similar contaminants.
“The largest and deadliest food-borne outbreaks in this country have been attributed to dairy products. This surprised and shocked us,” said Johnson. “Of the companies with contaminated dairy products, there was a correlation with unsanitary conditions 83% of the time.”
FDA officials believe that the sanitation problems found in dairy plants were likely to also exist in seafood facilities. Namely, the co-mingling of potentially contaminated raw food with its cooked or sterilized counterparts. Other factors included cool temperatures in manufacturing plants and high moisture levels.
(The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates the meat industry, has also found Listeria monocytogenes in processed, as well as raw, meat products.)
The agency selected those items produced in environments likely to harbor bacteria for testing. Emphasis was placed on sampling foods exposed to a great deal of handling by workers.
Included in the sample group were ready-to-eat foods such as crab, shrimp, lobster, crawfish and surimi, a seafood analog used for imitation shellfish.
In the most recent testing, FDA microbiologists found that 28% of 165 domestic cooked crab samples were positive for one of several contaminants. Among the bacteria isolated were Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio cholera, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus.
Similar pathogens were discovered in 16% of the 94 imported cooked crab samples analyzed by the agency.
Tests were also done of domestically caught and cooked shrimp. Out of 118 samples, 10.2% were found to be contaminated with bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella newport, E. coli and Yersinia.
The contamination rate for imported, cooked shrimp was 8.3% out of the 48 samples tested by the FDA.
Worms in Salmon
Even surimi--usually made from Alaskan pollock--was found to contain bacteria, but at a low level. Of 112 samples of imported surimi surveyed, 1.8% contained Listeria monocytogenes. Domestically produced surimi was positive in 1.4% of the 72 samples.
In a separate, but unrelated study, the FDA’s Seattle office tested river salmon for the presence of anisakis worms. The naturally occuring parasites can cause severe sporadic stomach pain, nausea and vomiting. The worms can only be removed by surgery if they enter the intestinal lining. The anisakis is found in raw or undercooked Pacific Ocean fish species and not just salmon, according to FDA officials.
The Seattle research laboratory found that 109 out of 110 salmon had anisakis, said James A. Davis with FDA in Seattle.
The best protection for the parasite, he said, is thorough cooking of fish. Salmon can safely be eaten raw, such as in sushi preparations, but only if it is commercially frozen to --35 degrees Fahrenheit.
Davis’ researchers also found Listeria monocytogenes in crab and shrimp as well as in some kinds of smoked salmon.
“These findings show a need for improvement in the processing procedures and in the plants,” said Lee Weddig, executive vice president with the National Fisheries Institute. “And seeing statistics like this now, will ensure that those procedures take place.”
The Washington-based group has endorsed an expanded government role in ensuring the safety of seafood. Federal studies designed to propose improvements in both seafood production and government inspection of fish and shellfish are under way.
“Companies know that they need to make changes and every responsible packer is checking for Listeria monocytogenes where they probably hadn’t in the past,” he said.
Weddig stressed that much of the problem lies with educating seafood company executives, through seminars, films and other materials, that the bacterial problem can be corrected.
One Eureka-based fish processor welcomed the FDA’s hard line on contamination.
“Tough? That’s the way it should be. The consumer has the right to expect safe food,” said Kirk D. Younker, production manager for Pacific Choice Seafood.
Changing Practices
Younker said his company has already changed its processing practices, packaging and quality control.
“It is a potential problem and before it becomes a major scare we hope to put it behind us,” he said. “We found that it can be controlled and we have tested negative for Listeria. “
Another industry representative believes that some of the illnesses associated with seafood are not exclusively the result of commercial fishery products, but are also those from recreational fishermen who fish in illegal or closed waters.
Sal M. Balestrieri, president of Fisherman’s Wharf Seafoods, Inc., in San Francisco, said that health officials have not fully explored this possibility.
“Industry people should be concerned (about contaminants), but seafood consumption is up 25% in the last five years and fish has a health appeal to consumers. Seafood has come to the forefront so we must be doing something right,” he said. “If handling practices are changed then these problems can be managed, but probably not eliminated.”
Public Protection
The public can protect itself from contaminants such as Listeria monocytogenes and other bacteria by properly storing, handling and cooking fish and shellfish. The anisakis worm can also be killed during proper cooking. Gentle reheating is also being recommended for some ready-to-eat seafoods, such as the crab, shrimp, lobster and crawfish singled out by the FDA tests.
However, the agency maintains that a health risk remains high for those who continue to eat raw or undercooked seafood.
“Eating raw shellfish is like playing Russian roulette on the half shell,” said the Madden. “Chances are your odds will run out.”
Another FDA official also stressed that the industry quickly implement better manufacturing and handling practices.
‘Stage is Set’ for Outbreak
“The seafood industry is fortunate that there have been no Listeriosis outbreaks,” said Johnson. “But I caution you that the stage is set for that to happen. If someone that is susceptible eats Listeria from seafood then an outbreak will occur. . . . Make sure you are not the one who starts the ball rolling if, and when, an outbreak occurs.”
For their part, both California and federal officials have announced that, in addition to testing for microbiological contaminants, they will also monitor seafood for filth, pesticides, heavy metals, decomposition, undeclared additives such as sulfites and fraudulent labeling.
Research is also under way to determine whether there are any additives that might be used to control those pathogens being found in fish and shellfish.
