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Food Safety

Wildlife, trade, susceptibility amplify food risks

Food-borne illness risks cross borders, production types
By Greg Cima
Source:
February 15, 2012
Dr. Lonnie J. King sees a "perfect microbial storm" in the increasingly global interactions of people, animals, and environments.

Speaking late last year at a meeting convened by the Institute of Medicine's Forum on Microbial Threats, Dr. King, dean of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, said adaptation among pathogens, increased human susceptibility to disease, changing environments, intensification of the human-animal interface, human and animal movement across international borders, and antimicrobial resistance have increased the risk of food-borne diseases.

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Food safety head honoured by Queen

Doug Powell
Source:

Former head honcho and veterinarian Andrew McKenzie has been awarded the Queen's Service Order in the New Year's honor for services to the state.

Dr McKenzie worked as chief executive of New Zealand Food Safety Authority from 2007 to 2010.

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Food trucks: Are they safe?

Source:
In this podcast, the USDA's Dr. Patty Bennett dishes out information on food safety for food trucks.

You don’t have to go to New York to find the next culinary craze. Some of the most popular places to eat are parked on streets in cities all across the country.

These mobile bistros, known as food trucks, provide everything from a simple sandwich at the local soccer game to gourmet fare in a downtown business district. But are they safe?

In this new Chew on This podcast, Dr. Patty Bennett of the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service dishes out information on food safety for food trucks.

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Source diversity of Toxoplasma gondii infection during meal preparation

Source: Journal of Food Safety
Wael F. El-Tras, Ahmed A. Tayel, Nevein N. El-Kady
ABSTRACT
Potential sources of Toxoplasma gondii infection, as a foodborne zoonotic disease, and suggested control strategies, were investigated. Samples of fresh buffalo meat (FBM) and imported frozen buffalo meat (IFBM), raw vegetables (RVs) and irrigation water (IW) were examined for the presence of T. gondii infective stages. Serum samples from housewives, regarding their gloves usage, were serologically inspected for T. gondii antibodies. The prevalence of T. gondii tissue cysts in FBM and IFBM were 15.4 and 0%, respectively. FBM had an increased risk of 18.60 times than IFBM. The prevalence of T. gondii tissue cysts in RV and IW were 13 and 16.7%, with 0.78 times increased relative risk, respectively. The total antibodies were significantly differed between nonglove users and glove users, with seropositivities of 31 and 10.3%, respectively. Soaking of RV in water at 65C or in vinegar solution at 45C for 1 min was an effective treatment for complete elimination of the contaminant T. gondii oocysts.

Foodborne outbreaks: managing the risks

Source:
The deadly outbreak of Escherichia coli (E. coli) infection in Germany raised fears and questions about food safety in well-regulated countries. In an interview with the WHO Bulletin, Dr Maged Younes, Director of Food Safety at WHO discusses measures to be taken during outbreaks of foodborne illness to manage the risk to the population.

Read the Bulletin article on foodborne outbreaks
More on food safety

The First Forum on Safety Control of Animal Origin Food Held in Beijing


As the food safety problems increasingly emerged in China which posed risks to human health and brought a negative impact on China’s export of animal origin food. With the purpose to handle the adverse situation and strengthen consumer confidence, the First Forum on Safety Control of Animal Origin Food was successfully held on 12 June, 2011 in Beijing. About a hundred professionals, researchers, producers, processors and inspectors of animal origin food attended the Forum.

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EU and the challenges of the next decade in the food safety area

Source:
At the conference: "Food safety and quality: Good practices in Europe – The challenges of the next decade" Commissioner Dalli gave his speech.

"Today it has become necessary to review the Hygiene Package: to adapt it to the requirements of the Lisbon Treaty particularly through the simplification of procedures; to deal with certain transitional measures which will expire at the beginning of 2014 and to make some improvements that appear useful. The revision will be accompanied by an impact assessment to weigh up the economic or health consequences. Any such assessment will of course entail consultation of all stakeholders", he said.

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The July 2011 "Food and Nutrition Research Briefs"


Source:

The July 2011 issue of the "Food and Nutrition Research Briefs" is now available on the web at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/fnrb/2011/fnrb0711.htm

Keeping Oysters, Clams and Mussels Safe to Eat

Food Safety Study of Beef "Trim" Leads to Ongoing Research Collaboration

Dietary Yeast Extracts Tested as Alternative to Antibiotics in Poultry

Lesser Known Escherichia coli Types Targeted in Food Safety Research

E. coli an Unlikely Contaminant of Plant Vascular Systems

Source:
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have helped confirm that Escherichia coli is not likely to contaminate the internal vascular structure of field-grown leafy greens, which would be likely to increase the incidence of foodborne illness. There was no evidence that E. coli had become "internalized" in leaves or shoots of baby spinach plants 28 days after the plants had germinated and grown in pasteurized soil. E. coli could be detected in hydroponically-grown spinach samples, but its survival in shoot tissue was sporadic.

Details ...

For details, contact: Manan Sharma, (301) 504-9198, Environmental Microbial and Food Safety Laboratory, ARS Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Md.

Better biosurveillance could halt disease spread

Source:
Germany is still recovering from one of the world's worst outbreaks of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli, which as of 18 June had sickened more than 3,200 people and caused 39 deaths.

The unusually deadly bacteria moved undetected through the food supply from livestock to agriculture to the dinner table, and the response to the outbreak was branded slow and inefficient by physicians and scientists.

Now a group of health professionals assembled by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, has called for biosurveillance efforts in the United States and worldwide to be streamlined to help recognize and respond to threats quickly.

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