News Headlines: 7 - 20 July 2012


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home | News | News Headlines: 7 - 20 July 2012

News Headlines: 7 - 20 July 2012

US produce testing program gets reprieve; Dietary exposure to dioxins and PCBs falling in Europe; Food safety fellowships get funding; Organic salad and onion products recalled over Listeria risk; Agency begins allergen labelling survey; US consumers warned over Listeria in cheeses; Food pathogen genome database planned; New IFST Information Statement available; Meat and poultry products recalled over Listeria worries;

US produce testing program gets reprieve

According to an Associated Press news story, a USDA-funded microbiological testing program for fresh produce has narrowly escaped being shut down, at least until the end of the year.

The Microbiological Data Program tests thousands of produce samples each year for foodborne pathogens and has previously found contamination resulting in recalls of tomatoes, lettuce and other foods. It cost $4.3 million to operate in 2011 and was in danger of being axed as part of wider budget cuts, but will now run until December 2012.

Food safety campaigners are concerned that cutting the program will make it more difficult to identify the sources of foodborne disease outbreaks. But the US produce industry is in favour of more testing by the private sector, rather than by the USDA.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/apnewsbreak-for-now-usda-program-that-tests-produce-for-deadly-bacteria-is-spared-the-ax/2012/07/16/gJQAf2EhpW_story.html

Dietary exposure to dioxins and PCBs falling in Europe

A new report on levels of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in food and feed published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reveals a general decrease in dietary exposure over an eight-year period.

The report is based on the analysis of around 33,000 samples collected in 26 countries between 1995 and 2010. The data shows that dietary exposure to dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs fell by of at least 16% and up to 79% for the general population between the periods 2002-2004 and 2008-2010. A similar result was seen for toddlers and other children.

The highest levels of contamination were seen in feed and foods of animal origin. Fish, meat and dairy products were found to be the most significant food sources of these toxic environmental contaminants, but their contribution varied from country to country.

The report can be found in full at the link below.

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/2832.htm

Food safety fellowships get funding

The UK Food Standards Agency and the British Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) are jointly funding two early-career fellowships in food safety.

The fellowships will run for five years and will help to support scientists researching in relevant areas, such as combating foodborne diseases or emerging food safety issues.

More information and application forms are available from the link below.

http://bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/fellowships/early-career-reseach.aspx

Organic salad and onion products recalled over Listeria risk

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning consumers not to eat Earth Greens brand Organic Italian Blend salad and certain Gills Onions brand diced fresh onion products because of possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

The salad is produced in the USA and is sold in a 198g plastic clamshell with a best before date of 2012 JL 13 and a lot code 2217915MI. It has been distributed in seven Canadian provinces and territories. The three Gills Onions products are also packed in 198g packs with best before dates from 07/18/12 to 07/20/12 and have been distributed nationally.

Sobeys Quebec Inc., the importer of the organic salad product, is voluntarily recalling the product and the CFIA is working with importers and distributors to recall the onions. No cases of illness related to any of these products have yet been reported.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2012/20120717e.shtml
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2012/20120718e.shtml

Agency begins allergen labelling survey

The UK Food Standards Agency has begun a nationwide survey to compare allergen levels in foods bearing voluntary allergen labelling with unlabelled products.

The purpose of the survey is to gain a better understanding of allergen advisory labelling, such as 'may contain nuts', and how it relates to actual levels of allergens in food products. This should help to determine whether advisory labelling is being applied appropriately. The survey will also look at how different types of advisory label are perceived by the consumer in terms of risk.

The survey will run until May 2013 and the results are expected to be published in the autumn of next year.

http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/foodcomponentsresearch/allergyresearch/t07programme/t07projectlist/fs241038/

US consumers warned over Listeria in cheeses

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to purchase or consume any products from the Mexicali Cheese Corp. of Woodhaven, New York, following the discovery of Listeria monocytogenes in a company product.

The warning covers four Mexican-style cheeses packed in 14-oz plastic tubs bearing the code 071512. The cheeses were distributed in the New York City area and in three other states.

The FDA warning notice states that in May 2012 Mexicali Cheese Corp. was ordered to stop manufacturing and distributing food until it had completed FDA-approved measures to improve food safety, but did not comply with these requirements.

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm311834.htm

Food pathogen genome database planned

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), The University of California, Davis, Agilent Technologies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have announced a collaboration to create a foodborne pathogen genome database.

The proposed database will include 100,000 genomes and is intended to help speed up the identification of pathogens involved in foodborne disease outbreaks. It will provide a "roadmap" for the development of new pathogen identification tests and provide information about the origin of pathogens.

The database will be public and will provide open access for researchers. It will be developed over a five-year period as the genetic sequencing of more and more important foodborne pathogens is completed. The FDA has already provided 500 Salmonella whole genome sequences, along with a number of pathogen isolates for sequencing.

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm311661.htm

New IFST Information Statement available

The UK-based Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) has released a new Information Statement about polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in food.

The Statement provides an overview of these potentially toxic processing contaminants, which may be produced in food during high temperature processes such as grilling roasting and baking. It covers the formation of PAHs in food and their occurrence, plus public health significance, legislation, methods of detection and industry best practice.

The Statement can be found in full via the link below.

http://www.ifst.org/document.aspx?id=1999

Meat and poultry products recalled over Listeria worries

The USDA Food safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced that Buona Vita Inc., Bridgeton, New Jersey, is recalling almost 325,000 pounds of various frozen ready-to-eat meat and poultry products because of possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.

The recall includes 54 individual products all packed in 10-lb or 30-lb cases and produced between 3 May and 7 May 2012. All are marked with the establishment number 954 and were distributed nationwide through distribution facilities.

The potential contamination was discovered by microbiological testing conducted by FSIS and the Ohio Department of Agriculture. No related cases of illness have been reported to date.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_042_2012_Release/index.asp