New system identifies food safety problems; Chicken liver warning for caterers; Consumers confused about pesticide residues; Campylobacter meeting report published; EFSA issues scientific opinion on brevetoxins; New Campylobacter strategy launched; Major reorganisation for UK food safety bodies; EFSA to finalise BPA opinion by September; Lettuce products recalled over possible health risk; Study highlights salsa and guacamole risk; Annual pesticide residue report published

New system identifies food safety problems

The US Food and Drug Administration says that its new electronic portal, the Reportable Food Registry, has successfully identified more than 100 food safety problems in the first seven months of operation.

The system requires manufacturers, processors and distributors to report any known safety problems with food and animal feed to the government within 24 hours if serious health consequences are likely. Between September 2009 and March 2010, 125 primary reports and 1,638 secondary reports were entered in the system. As a result hazardous foods were identified in the food chain and prevented from reaching consumers. One example was the February 2010 recall of hydrolysed vegetable protein, where 177 products were removed from sale because of possible contamination, but no cases of illness were recorded.

The commonest hazards reported to the system were Salmonella, undeclared allergens and Listeria monocytogenes and the commonest food commodities involved were pet foods and animal feed, seafood, spices and seasonings and dairy products. However, the FDA says that it is too early draw conclusions about patterns of food contamination.

The report can be found via the link below.

http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FoodSafetyPrograms/RFR/ucm200958.htm

Chicken liver warning for caterers

The UK Food Standards Agency has issued new advice reminding caterers to handle chicken livers hygienically and cook them thoroughly before use in pâtés and other dishes following outbreaks of Campylobacter infection linked to undercooked chicken liver.

Health Protection Agency data shows that nine Campylobacter outbreaks linked to chicken livers were reported in 2009, a substantial increase over previous years.

Although some recipes state that chicken livers are safe if seared, the Agency says that they should be cooked throughout, reaching a core temperature of 70oC for at least two minutes. Hygienic handling is also important to reduce the risk of cross contamination.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/jul/livers

Consumers confused about pesticide residues

A recent survey commissioned by the German federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) found that consumers were very interested in the subject of pesticide residues in food and considered it a major health risk. But many feel that they are poorly informed.

For instance, nearly 70% of respondents thought that pesticide residues were not permitted in foods at all and were not aware that there are maximum permitted residue levels for many chemicals. This leads to a mistaken assumption that any residues constitute a health risk, a point of view sometimes amplified by media coverage.

BfR considers that the findings of the survey are important and provide lessons for risk communication. Consumers should be provided with more targeted information about the risks of pesticides and their importance in food production.

A full report of the survey (in German) can be found on the BfR web site via the link below.

http://www.bfr.bund.de/cm/238/pflanzenschutzmittel_rueckstaende_in_lebensmitteln.pdf

Campylobacter meeting report published

The UK Food Standards Agency has published the proceedings of an international meeting held in March 2010 to identify and prioritise key interventions to reduce Campylobacter contamination in chicken.

The conference was held as a part of the Agency's strategy to reduce contamination rates, which have recently been found to be around 65% for retail raw chicken meat, by learning from experience gained in other countries.

A number of key actions were recommended by the conference, including stricter biosecurity throughout the supply chain, new standards for the evisceration process to minimise cross contamination, development of new carcass decontamination methods and investigation into the effect of different types of packaging.

The proceedings can be found on the Agency web site via the link below.

http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/campyloconf.pdf

EFSA issues scientific opinion on brevetoxins

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain has issued a scientific opinion on the brevetoxin (BTX)- group of marine biotoxins, which may accumulate in fish and shellfish.

BTX-group toxins are mainly produced by the marine dinoflagellate Karenia brevis and cause neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP), which has a variety of symptoms, including paralysis and coma. NSP symptoms usually pass in a few days and are not reported to be fatal.

BTX-group toxins have not yet been reported in shellfish of fish from Europe, but NSP has been reported in the USA and New Zealand. The Panel expressed concern that expanding distribution of algal blooms and the discovery of new BTX-group toxin-producing algae may mean that the toxins could appear in European seafood.

The lack of occurrence data for BTX-group toxins in European fish and shellfish and limited data on toxicity meant that the Panel could not set a tolerable daily intake (TDI) for the toxins or comment on the risk to consumers. The Panel also considered that more work needs to be done to establish validated analytical methods and reference materials.

The full opinion can be found on the EFSA web site via the link below.

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs/scdoc/1677.htm

New Campylobacter strategy launched

A new joint research strategy to combat the problem of foodborne Campylobacter infection has been announced by the UK's main food safety research funding bodies.

The Food Standards Agency, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and other regional bodies are supporting the strategy and have agreed a common set of objectives to tackle the problem.

Much attention will focus on fresh chicken meat, considered to be a major reservoir for Campylobacter, and research projects will investigate the biology of the pathogen and its hosts, better diagnostic tests and potential intervention strategies.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/jul/campyresearch

Major reorganisation for UK food safety bodies

Contrary to some recent reports, the UK government has announced that the Food Standards Agency is to be retained. However the Agency will hand over its responsibilities for nutrition policy and some food labelling and composition policies to other government departments.

The Agency, set up in 2000 as a non-ministerial department to ensure food safety and provide scientific advice to government and consumers, will concentrate on its "core remit" of food safety, while the Department of health will be responsible for nutrition policy in England. Country of origin labelling, food composition policy and other non-safety labelling issues will fall within the remit of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The Agency will retain its responsibilities for nutrition and labelling policy in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. About 175 staff will transfer from the Agency to other departments, leaving approximately 2000 staff remaining.

The UK government has also announced that the Health Protection Agency, which has important roles in investigating foodborne disease outbreaks, surveillance and microbiological research in England and Wales, is to be axed. Its responsibilities will be taken 'in house' by the Department of health as part of a new Public Health Service.

http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/dhpressfsasafety.pdf
http://www.hpa.org.uk/NewsCentre/NationalPressReleases/2010PressReleases/100726ALBstatement/

EFSA to finalise BPA opinion by September

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on food contact materials, enzymes, flavourings and processing aids (CEF Panel) is working on a comprehensive scientific opinion on the safety of bisphenol A (BPA), a potentially toxic chemical found in some types of food packaging. The opinion is due to be finalised in September 2010.

The evidence considered by the Panel includes a literature review of more than 800 publications, a controversial study investigating the neurodevelopmental toxicity of BPA in rats (the "Stump study") and advice on the risk assessment of BPA carried out by the Danish DTU Food Institute.

So far the Panel has indicated that the tolerable daily intake (TDI) for BPA should be maintained at 0.05 mg/kg bodyweight per day and has concluded that the Stump study does not support the Danish conclusion of a low dose effect on learning ability in infants and young children. However, some areas of uncertainty have been identified and the Panel will consider these over the summer before meeting in September to finalise the opinion.

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/cef20100713.htm

Lettuce products recalled over possible health risk

A number of salad products containing Romaine lettuce, produced by Fresh Express Inc. of Salinas, California, have been voluntarily recalled in the USA and Canada because they have the potential to be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

More than 20 different products are included in the recall, all with 'use by' dates between 8 and 12 July and including an "S" in the product code. The recall has been initiated as a precautionary measure in response to a positive test result for E. coli O157:H7 on a single sample tested at random by a third party laboratory for the FDA.

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm219057.htm
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2010/20100714e.shtml

Study highlights salsa and guacamole risk

Research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA has found that around 4% of foodborne disease outbreaks associated with restaurants delis between 1998 and 2008 could be linked to consumption of contaminated fresh salsa or guacamole.

The research showed that this figure was more than double that recorded in the previous decade, showing these products to be increasingly important vehicles of foodborne infections when served in retail food outlets. No such outbreaks were reported before 1984.

The reasons for the high level of infection associated with salsa and guacamole are thought to include the inclusion of diced raw ingredients, like peppers, tomatoes and herbs, and poor temperature control in restaurants and delis. The CDC researchers suggest that restaurants and other caterers need to be more aware of the risks and follow guidelines for safe preparation to reduce contamination.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100712121834.htm

Annual pesticide residue report published

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published its Annual Report on Pesticide Residues, providing an overview of pesticide residues in food throughout the EU during 2008 and an assessment of the dietary exposure of European consumers to pesticides.

The report contains data from testing more than 70,000 samples of almost 200 different food types for up to 862 different pesticides. A total of 3.5% of the samples contained residues in excess of the maximum residue level (MRL) permitted for foods. This compares favourably with 4.2% in 2007. Residues exceeding the MRL were more common in food imported from outside the EU (7.6%) than in samples of EU origin (2.4%).

EFSA also estimated long-term dietary exposure to pesticides for European consumers to assess the risk from foods containing residues above the MRL and concluded that none of the evaluated pesticides raised health concerns.

The full report can be found on the EFSA web site via the link below.

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs/scdoc/1646.htm