Has Imported Dutch Smoked Salmon Sickened 100 Americans?

By Helena Bottemiller | October 3, 2012 Several states, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control are investigating a spike in Salmonella Thompson cases in the U.S. — 85 people in 27 states — that may be linked to the same contaminated smoked salmon that has sickened 200 people in the Netherlands. On Tuesday, Dutch health officials revealed that they had identified smoked salmon made by Dutch fish processors Foppen as the common source of their ongoing outbreak and recalled the products. They also said the same smoked salmon had been distributed in the U.S. and claimed that the outbreak had sickened 100 Americans. According to agency spokeswoman Lola Russell, CDC has been investigating a spike in Salmonella Thompson illnesses since last month (health officials might normally see 30 reported cases of this strain of Salmonella during this time frame). Russell said epidemiologists have not yet identified a common food source. Russell said it's likely there are more illnesses that have not been reported, but it's also likely that not all 85 cases are linked to the same source. So why did Dutch officials tell the press that there were 100 illnesses in the United States linked to their smoked salmon? Russell explained that CDC often communicates with health agencies abroad and during a conversation with the Dutch National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) someone from CDC may have stated that there were "around 100″ illnesses in the U.S. Of the reported cases, 10 individuals were hospitalized and there have been no reports of death. States have been reporting illnesses since July. CDC's investigation is ongoing, but the agency has so far declined to identify which states have reported illnesses. Phyllis Entis, who runs eFoodAlert, a clearinghouse for recall information, has compiled a list of some of the states that are known to be investigating illnesses. U.S. public health officials have said that so far there is no epidemiological link between the illnesses and smoked salmon. According to eFoodAlert, the recalled Dutch smoked salmon was sold in the U.S. by Costco under both the Foppen and Kirkland brands. © Food Safety News More Headlines from Foodborne Illness Investigations » Tags: salmon, Salmonella outbreak, smoked salmon This is ridiculous! Every day I see numerous recalls for an assortment of food products whether its from salmonella or E-coli or any other of the many food borne illnesses. If these same purveyors that are producing the foods that they do the bottom line then they would reduce the number of food borne illness out breaks by nearly half (just a guess). And meanwhile the USDA and other organizations like Department of Health, Center for Disease Control, and other government agencies responsible for keeping our food supplies safe are understaffed and under funded. Its in part both the purveyors fault and the other part lies on the shoulders of these government organizations that are supposed to be keeping us safe. And another thing why aren't we teaching young people food safety in schools? By spending a semester in high school teaching these kids how to be safe in the cooking and preparation of meals we could reduce the number of outbreaks even more. In fact a majority of food borne illness outbreaks occur at home. HELLO WAKE UP! WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING? Cant you see the sign? We need to do something about this. People are dying all because they don't have the knowledge they need to be safe and because the purveyors and government organizations are lacking! Do something about it. Chef Ricky