Quick bites from around the food safety scene this week
Public health officials have reopened an investigation into Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Newport infections in the wake of a second outbreak associated with moringa-containing dietary supplement products. Since the initial investigation was closed in March, there have been 22 new illnesses reported in four states, and several products have been recalled.- The fallout from the botulism outbreak tied to Byheart infant formula continues. A new report from the FDA suggests the product was contaminated as early as March 2022 when ByHeart Inc. started manufacturing formula. The outbreak was not formally identified until November 2025 when California public health officials noticed a cluster of botulism cases among infants. The name of the company that provided ByHeart with some of the powdered milk used in the production of the implicated formula is redacted.
- A report from Ireland’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre showed cases of salmonellosis in 2025 reached the highest level since 2008. A total of 419 cases were reported for the year, up from 390 in 2024. Cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli totaled 863. From that number, 24 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) developed. HUS is a severe complication associated with E. coli infection that causes kidney failure and can lead to brain damage and death.
- In Germany, the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety and the Robert Koch Institute summarized findings from ten years of foodborne outbreak monitoring. The leading causes of outbreaks from 2015 to 2025 were Campylobacter and Salmonella. Campylobacter outbreaks were linked to raw milk and poultry sources. Salmonella outbreaks were often associated with pork, eggs and egg products. Consumption of raw ground pork meat and short-fermented raw pork sausages is a tradition in Germany.
Today’s Topic: Botulism
Botulism is an emergency. Don’t wait for the return of laboratory results. Immediate action is required to obtain and administer the antitoxin.
Keep telling the victim what is being done, even when the toxin already appears to have shut down the body. And get the pros at the state health department and CDC on the line asap.
The preceding is a summary of the instructions issued by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to state and local health departments. Botulism is rare, but it’s also persistent.
The life-threatening condition is caused by a toxin that attacks the body's nerves. The bacterium Clostridium botulinum produces the botulinum toxin.
