International Cronobacter Conference.

World renowned speakers share their knowledge about the dangers of Powdered Infant Formula (PIF) with 200 attendees.

The keynote speaker was Professor Jim Farmer, Director USPHS (retired) USA. Undoubtedly one of the most knowledgeable on the subject, he gave a history of Cronobacter, commencing in 1958 with the first known case of infection in an infant with Enterobacter Sakazakii, which occurred in St. Albins, England. He briefly advised of other reported cases from Denmark, and several cities in the USA including Indianapolis, Memphis, Macon, and most recently, from the state of New Mexico. As for new challenges, he suggested retesting all E-sak strains, conducting more research on how widely distributed Cronobacter is in the environment and continuing efforts to kill the pathogen before PIF (powdered infant formula) is ingested. His presentation aptly described the history of the bacteria and its danger to babies who consume PIF.

A good part of the conference was devoted to better identification of the bug and progress that is being made in isolating it. Suffice it to say that the problem is so serious that a whole new genus, Cronobacter, has been coined more accurately identifying this pathogen. New and more accurate isolation methods have been discovered further assisting the researchers in their endeavor to get to the root of the problem.

Several speakers from around the world described their experience with the bug in their countries. Dr. Saki from the University of Malaysia stated that it was important to take more care in the preparation of PIF. She noted that Cronobacter had been found in PIF in her country and that proper preparation and refrigeration of PIF would reduce the risk of infection. Prof. Kunho Seo from Konkuk University in Seoul, Korea stated that no cases of infected infants had been reported in his country. He did say that Cronobacter had been found in samples of PIF and when this knowledge became pubic, sales of PIF plummeted. The government adopted a "zero tolerance" policy and apparently sales have regained their former status. Dr. Norma Binsztein from the Malbran Institute in Argentina recommended including Cronobacter in international data networks and admonished all associated with Cronobacter to share information more readily.

Other speakers like Geraldine Duffy presented research that showed Cronobacter was found in the environment unassociated with PIF. Still other speakers noted Cronobacter was found in the mouths of the elderly, usually in a hospital or nursing home setting. It was suggested that this could be due to the fact that the institutionalized elderly are often fed milk products supplemented with powdered products. Prof. Forsythe from Trent University in the UK showed evidence of the bug originating in herbs and spices. Dr. Angelika Lehner from the University of Zurich, found Cronobacter in the roots of tomato plants.

Two food industry representatives, Dr. Niall Mullane from Danone Baby, Ireland, and Dr. Jean-Louis Cordier from Nestle Nutrition, Switzerland, presented information concerning their companies efforts to eradicate Cronobacter from the manufacturing process. Dr. Mullane described how successful they were in reducing Cronobacter in their plants. In particular, they found that keeping moisture away from PIF production was of paramount importance. He noted by zoning the PIF production area, eradication of all moisture, vacuum cleaning everything instead of wet cleaning, and better staff hygiene, had reduced the amount of Cronobacter to zero in the platform area and decreased Cronobacter in the finished product. While these efforts are admirable, and apparently above and beyond government mandated procedures the fact remains that the finished product, i.e., PIF, is produced and distributed by these companies to be consumed by infants with the companies full knowledge of the presence of Cronobacter in some of the product.

PIF is still distributed by these two companies and others with their full knowledge of the devastating effects on neonates and immune compromised babies. It was acknowledged by almost all at this conference that there is a strong association between PIF, immune compromised infants and Cronobacter infection usually resulting in catastrophic injury or death. And as just mentioned above, the food companies, try as they may, simply cannot eradicate Cronobacter from the manufacturing process. Well, then what is to be done?

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