Since January 18th, there have been two recalls due to Salmonella spp.: one in domestically produced eggs, and the other in imported mini pastries. So far, it’s unclear whether anyone has been affected by recalled eggs, but 1600 people are estimated to have been infected as a result of consuming the contaminated pastries.
The egg recall is the result of a positive environmental test for Salmonella in a barn at an egg farm in Manitoba. Normally, barns are regularly tested for Salmonella contamination before eggs are released. In this case, a grading station mistakenly released a number of eggs before the results came through1. Unfortunately, this mistake coincided with the positive result. Specific lots of eggs under the brands Compliments, Foremost, Golden Valley Eggs, IGA, no name and Western Family have been recalled, and more details can be found on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s website.
Unrelated to the possible contamination of eggs, an outbreak of Salmonella was reported by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) after 61 people across Canada were found to have infections. A significant portion of those infected had attended catered events where so-called “fancy desserts” had been served. The desserts in question were mini pastries manufactured by Italian producer Sweat Cream, which has since paused operations in light of the outbreak2.
Nontyphoidal infections with Salmonella species affect 100 million people around the world each year, and account for around 3% of infectious diarrhea cases. Fortunately, the mortality rate is relatively low at 0.1 to 0.5%, and the infection is usually self-limiting. Typhoidal cases, however, have a mortality rate between 1 and 7%, and are endemic to some areas of the world. Typhoidal Salmonella infections cause an illness known as “enteric fever.3” Symptoms usually appear after 6 to 72 hours after ingestion, typically last between 3 and 10 days, and are usually confined to the gastrointestinal tract4.
Poultry are a common reservoir of nontyphoidal Salmonella, as are turtles3, which led to the US CDC releasing an outbreak notice last year related to turtles with small shells5. In the United States, the sale of turtles with shells smaller than 4 inches long is illegal to prevent small children from putting turtles in their months and becoming infected5.
90 to 95% of all Salmonella infections are foodborne, and while Salmonella is susceptible to the low pH environment of the stomach, the type of contaminated food may play a role in protecting the organism, as milk and other high-fat foods can neutralize stomach acids more effectively. Typically, infection requires exposure to at least 105 to 107 organisms3.
To ensure proper screening for Salmonella and other pathogens that cause infectious diarrhea, CMPT offers a Gastrointestinal Panel which challenges all 14 pathogens in BC’s Infectious Diarrhea Panel. Challenges consist of simulated samples which look and behave like real clinical samples to ensure better consistency between proficiency testing and normal analysis.
1 https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.6619815 – Accessed February 12, 2025
2 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mini-pastries-salmonella-infections-1.7436689 – Accessed February 12, 2025
3 Humphries, RM, Faron ML, Dekker JP, Ledeboer NA, Buchan BW. Salmonella,. In: Carrol K. C. et al, ed. Manual of Clinical Microbiology. Vol 2. 13th ed. ASM; 2023:747-748.
4 https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/outbreaks/turtles-08-24/investigation.html – Accessed February 12, 2025
5 https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/pet-turtles-source-germs – Accessed February 12, 2025
