News Headlines: 01 - 07 May 2010


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home | News | News Headlines: 01 - 07 May 2010

News Headlines: 01 - 07 May 2010

CDC announces investigation of E. coli outbreak linked to lettuce; MEPs vote to ban food from cloned animals; Antibiotic resistance increasing in soil microbes; Survey shows US consumers less worried over food safety; New study reveals leading sources of EU food safety notifications; Soy milk reformulated after international recall

CDC announces investigation of E. coli outbreak linked to lettuce

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced an investigation into a multistate outbreak of E. coli O145 infection, which is thought to have affected about 30 people in three states.

E. coli O145 is a shiga toxin-producing E. coli, or STEC, associated with potentially serious infections. Some 19 cases have so far been confirmed and another 10 probable cases reported since the beginning of March. Three people have developed life threatening haemolytic uraemic disorder (HUS). The outbreak investigation has linked the cases to shredded romaine lettuce from a single facility. The outbreak strain of E. coli O145 has been isolated from an unopened package of the lettuce obtained from the facility, but the investigation is ongoing.

Meanwhile the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that it supports a voluntary recall of implicated romaine lettuce products by Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio. The recalled lettuce has a 'best if used by' date of May 12 or earlier and was distributed to wholesalers, food service outlets and in-store salad bars in at least 24 states.

http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2010/ecoli_o145/index.html
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm211145.htm

MEPs vote to ban food from cloned animals

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sitting on an Environment Committee have voted to exclude all foods derived from cloned animals from a proposal to update EU rules on novel foods.

The decision contradicts the view taken by both the European Commission and the Council of Ministers, both of which wanted to include food from cloned animals in the draft legislation.

The MEPs also agreed that foods produced by nanotechnology should be excluded from the Community list until adequate and specific risk assessments have been carried out and until there is a better understanding of the possible health effects of materials at the nano scale.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/067-74041-123-05-19-911-20100503IPR74029-03-05-2010-2010-false/default_en.htm

Antibiotic resistance increasing in soil microbes

A team of British and Dutch researchers have published a new report presenting evidence that microorganisms isolated from soil have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics over the last 60 years, despite stricter rules for their use in medicine and agriculture.

The study looked for 18 different antibiotic resistance genes to four classes of antibiotic in soils sampled in the Netherlands between 1940 and 2008. They found that levels increased progressively for 78% of the genes, especially those related to tetracyclines.

The authors express concern that their findings indicate an increasing risk of human exposure to antibiotic-resistant microbes via food and water supplies and that some of these organisms may be resistant to antimicrobial therapy. They call for further research to find out whether their findings apply in other countries or are particular to the Netherlands.

The report is published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology and is available in full via the link below.

http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/es901221x

Survey shows US consumers less worried over food safety

A newly published survey of American consumers by Deloitte has found that, although 90% of US consumers believe that the number of food recalls is increasing, fewer people expressed concern about food safety overall than in 2008.

The 2010 Consumer Food Safety Survey revealed that around 65% of consumers are concerned about the safety and quality of the food they eat. This figure is reported to be down by 17% on the previous survey conducted two years ago.

The survey found that consumers want to know more about the foods they buy, but are looking mainly to the food industry and the regulatory agencies to communicate food safety information to them.

http://www.deloitte.com/us/foodsafety

New study reveals leading sources of EU food safety notifications

A newly published study carried out by researchers at Kingston University in the UK has used data from the EU rapid alert system for food and feed (RASFF) to determine the primary sources of food hazard notifications entering the system.

The researchers analysed data collected from 2000 to 2009 and found that 60% of notifications were made by just four EU member states, Italy, Germany, the UK and Spain. The Netherlands was also found to have issued more alerts than might be expected in relation to population size. The authors of the study refer to these countries as "gatekeepers" for food safety in the EU and suggest that the presence of major ports may be a significant factor in their findings.

The report is to be published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology (Petroczi et al, article in press). An abstract can be found at the link below.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2010.04.043

Soy milk reformulated after international recall

The Australian Food and Health Authorities have confirmed that Bonsoy brand soy milk can be sold to consumers once more having been reformulated without kombu seaweed extract - the source of excessive iodine levels, which prompted a recall in five countries in 2009.

On 24 December, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) coordinated a recall and issued advice to consumers not to drink the soy milk after it was linked with 10 people suffering from thyroid problems. Eventually some 38 cases of thyroid dysfunction were linked to the product in Australia. Recalls also had to be carried out in the UK, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Investigation revealed that one of the ingredients, kombu seaweed extract, contained very high levels of iodine - sufficient to exceed safe limits if only 30ml of the soy milk was consumed.

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/scienceandeducation/factsheets/factsheets2010/reformulatedbonsoyso4785.cfm