TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Ever wonder why there hasn’t been a foodborne illness outbreak on base despite the fact that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention continually announce food recalls? 

The answer is because the public health flight at Travis Air Force Base, California has an immensely effective food safety program.

“As soon as I learn about a recall, I notify the food facility managers and they have 24 hours to get back to me and tell me what they did with the products,” said Senior Airman Deidre Jones, 60th Aerospace Medical Squadron food safety program manager. 

In April, the CDC announced that Listeria monocytogenes had been linked to CRF Frozen Foods. Within 24 hours of getting the list of 358 products, Jones had contacted the 47 food facilities on base, including food truck operators, to remove the items. 

Recall notifications also went to family home day care providers, who must abide by the same food safety rules as commercial establishments, Jones said.

The Listeria recall affected the commissaries at Travis and McClellan Field in Sacramento, California. Both stores had to discard hundreds of dollars of products sold not only under different brand names, but best by dates and Universal Produce Codes, said Jones, who is responsible for food safety at both locations.   

In addition to recalling foods linked to foodborne illness, the CDC also recalls improperly labeled food or food containing foreign objects. While the public might not hear about some recalls, Jones tracks every one of them.   

“I send dozens of food recall notices each month,” she said. 

Jones stays on top of things by making sure products coming into Travis are on an approved source list and by scanning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Defense Logistics Agency websites daily for recalled products.   

“I also check the Travis spouses’ Facebook pages,” Jones said. While people may not return an item to the store, they oftentimes post a photo or comment about it on Facebook, she said. 

General Mills began recalling about 10 million pounds of flour May 31, including its signature brands, Gold Medal and Wondra. The CDC linked the flour to E. coli.

By the time the general public learned of the recall, Jones had already alerted food facility mangers.     

“So far, I've had all negative responses, even from the (base) commissary,” she said.  “It looks like the code dates on the affected products do not match what has been distributed to Travis.”   

Public health not only has remained one step ahead of the Listeria and E. coli outbreaks, they have prevented any outbreak of foodborne illness at Travis in recent years. 

“At least there hasn’t been one during my tenure,” said Technical Sgt. Crystal Goff, 60th AMDS food program manager.

She said that’s primarily due to the food safety team and Airman Jones. 

“She’s very passionate about her job,” Goff said. “She has an excellent relationship with the food facility managers. They even call her if they find anything out of the ordinary.”

In addition to teaching food handler classes, Jones ensures food safety by inspecting areas where food is prepared, such as deli counters and the snack stand in the shoppette. She also inspects where food is stored, such as refrigerators and warehouses. She even inspects the roofs of warehouses to make sure “there aren’t any unauthorized access points.”

Because food vulnerability is a reality these days, public health meets annually with the antiterrorism folks to discuss risks and countermeasures, Jones said.

Public health also prevents the spread of chronic or infectious disease through surveillance, said Capt. Sarah Fry, 60th AMDS community health element chief.

According to Fry, public health consults with the emergency room and other clinics about symptoms patients report. If they are similar and occur around the same time frame, it could mean there’s a gastrointestinal-related illness going around.    

“For example, the Listeria cases were identified because public health officials could link those cases to a particular food item and that food item was recalled to prevent further foodborne illness,” Fry said.

Food contaminated with Listeria may not look or smell spoiled but can cause high fever, muscle aches, stiff neck, abdominal pain, flu-like symptoms, diarrhea and nausea.

Listeria and E. coli mainly affect young children, frail or elderly people and people with weak immune systems, according to the CDC.

The CDC linked the E. coli outbreak to General Mills’ flour after 38 people across 20 states became ill.  About half of the victims reported making something from scratch with flour or eating raw dough or batter. 

Eating raw flour is a bad idea, no matter what, according to the CDC. Since wheat grows outdoors, it carries the risk of being contaminated with bacteria that would be destroyed when cooked.

Now that it’s nearly summer, public health will be watching for signs of salmonella, Fry said. 

“Salmonella spikes in the summer when people start grilling outdoors,” she said.

The CDC estimates that more than a million people get salmonella infection annually and nearly 20,000 must be hospitalized. 

Symptoms occur 12 to 72 hours after infection and include fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. The illness usually last 4 to 7 days. Although most people recover without treatment, some require antibiotics.   

People can prevent salmonella by cooking food properly and keeping it at the proper temperature, Fry said.        

Cold food should be stored at or below 41 degrees and hot food should be cooked to 165 degrees and held at 135 degrees or above. For more information, contact public health at 423-

5470. 

Last month, the FDA added SunOpta sunflower seeds to the list of foods linked to Listeria. Because SunOpta supplies items to other companies, the recall includes products from Planters, Sunrich Naturals and Papa John’s Salad and Produce, Inc.

SunOpta is advising consumers to toss or return the products to the store where purchased for a refund.

“We haven’t seen any positive Listeria cases on base but we are keeping vigilant to make sure that we don’t,” Fry said. 

To see the list of all recalled foods, visit http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/default.htm