http://www.foodsafetywatch.com

News Headlines: 20 - 26 February 2010

Parents advised on safe way to make up infant formula; Agency issues Food Alert for smoked mackerel; EFSA cooperation project looks at non-plastic food contact materials; New study identifies future threats to microbial food safety; Contaminated cheeses recalled; New international guidelines on allergen testing; USDA and FDA work together on fresh produce safety

Parents advised on safe way to make up infant formula

The UK Food Standards Agency has issued a reminder for parents and child carers on the need to make up powdered infant formula safely using hot water to destroy any pathogenic bacteria that may be present.

Unlike ready-to-feed liquid formula, powdered formula is not sterile and could contain potentially harmful bacteria like Cronobacter (formerly Enterobacter) sakazakii, which can cause potentially fatal meningitis in infants.

In response to this risk the Agency has provided practical guidance for parents, which includes advice to clean and sterilise teats and bottles before use and to ensure that water used to make up formula is freshly boiled and cooled to no less than 70 deg C when the powder is added to it.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/feb/formulaadvice

Agency issues Food Alert for smoked mackerel

The UK Food Standards Agency has issued a Food Alert for Action relating to three smoked fish products that were produced on premises in Northern Ireland not registered or approved by the local authority. The Alert requires that all three products are withdrawn from sale and destroyed.

A similar alert has been issued by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), because the products may have been distributed to businesses selling Eastern European food products in the Irish Republic as well as in the North.

The alerts concern unwrapped cold smoked mackerel and vacuum packed hot smoked mackerel labelled 'The Smoke House Hot Smoked Mackeral' (sic) and another product identified as Smoked Bream. The packs may also be labelled with an approval number that belongs to an unrelated, legitimate business.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/feb/smokehouse

http://www.fsai.ie/news_centre/food_alerts/fraudulentsmokedmackerel.html

EFSA cooperation project looks at non-plastic food contact materials

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has set up an EFSA scientific cooperation (ESCO) working group to examine data on the safety of non-plastic materials that may come into contact with food.

The ESCO group has been set up in response to recent incidents, in which non-plastic materials, such as inks and adhesives, have been found to migrate into foods. Unlike plastics, these materials are not subject to specific provisions at EU level. The group will identify expertise on these materials and collect safety data, look at risk assessment approaches and propose criteria for safety evaluations. It will report by the end of March 2011.

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/cef100222.htm

New study identifies future threats to microbial food safety

A team of food safety experts from the UK and the USA have published a new report examining how trends in food technology, international trade and food consumption patterns will impact on microbial food safety and foodborne disease in years to come. The paper was first presented at a food safety conference in the Netherlands in 2008.

The team, from the UK Food Standards Agency, the Unilever Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre and the US National Center for Food Safety and Technology, focused mainly on trends and key drivers in the EU, but also considered the USA. They looked at a range of factors, including political, economic, social, technological, regulatory and environmental drivers.

They concluded that, over the next few decades, the factors with the greatest potential to increase the burden of foodborne disease are likely to be increased global demand for food, growing international trade and increased consumption of high-value foods, such as meat, poultry and fresh produce. Increased demand for convenience foods is also seen as a factor. On the other hand, better regulatory effectiveness, new food safety technologies and better detection methods are seen as having the most potential to reduce the burden of foodborne disease.

The authors also identified intergovernmental organisations and international standard setting bodies, such as Codex Alimentarius, as especially important in developing and implementing food safety measures on a global scale.

The study is published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology (Quested et al, in press). An abstract can be viewed at the link below.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2010.01.043

Contaminated cheeses recalled

The US Food and Drug Administration has reported that Queseria Bendita of Yakima, Washington, is recalling three types of cheese, Queso Fresco, Panela and Requeson, because of possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.

The three cheeses are sold through Queseria Bendita's own retail outlet and through Hispanic markets in Washington and Oregon. The cheeses are packaged in vacuum packs, or plastic tubs of various sizes, carry a green label and date codes up to Apr 30 2010. To date, a single case of illness in Washington has been confirmed as linked to the recalled products and other cases are under investigation. The Company has ceased production pending the results of an FDA investigation.

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm201350.htm

New international guidelines on allergen testing

The European Commission's Joint Research Committee (JRC) has announced that it has co-authored new international guidelines for harmonised, accurate and reliable laboratory testing for potentially lethal food allergens.

The new guide has been produced as part of an AOAC-led collaboration by experts from regulatory agencies in North America, Australia and New Zealand, Japan and the EU, together with academic researchers and allergen test kit manufacturers. The guide provides a common basis for method validation and includes guidance on validating ELISA-based test methods for food allergens.

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/jrc/downloads/jrc_aaas_20100219_newsrelease_food_allergens_en.pdf

USDA and FDA work together on fresh produce safety

A joint statement from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that the two organisations are coordinating their efforts to ensure the safety of fresh produce following a number of recent foodborne disease outbreaks linked to leafy greens.

The statement says that the USDA and the FDA will ensure that their activities will be complementary and consistent. For example, the FDA is currently developing a proposed produce safety regulation, while the USDA Agricultural marketing Service is drawing up a marketing agreement for leafy greens producers. This agreement is expected to conform to the requirements of any proposed regulations. Feedback from producers and other stakeholders is also being actively sought for the new rule.

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm200965.htm

© 2006-2012 Food Safety Info. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.