Τρίτη 31 Μαρτίου 2020

Food Safety News


EU eases some food safety controls because of coronavirus pandemic
The European Commission is to give member states more flexibility to do official controls in the food supply chain because of coronavirus. The Commission leaders say the crisis relating to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) represents an “exceptional and unprecedented” challenge for the capacity of member states to conduct official controls and other official activities in line with EU legislation. There are restrictions in many countries on the movement of people to protect public health. Member...
Food Safety News
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Consumer Reports suggests USDA take action to address COVID-19 risks
Consumer Reports Tuesday sent out some suggestions for USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to ensure the safety and availability of meat, poultry and other food products during the COVID-19 pandemic. CR’s sent the advice to FSIS just as a number of meat and poultry processing plant employees reported having symptoms or testing positive for the virus.   Among these were a Perdue Farms poultry plant in Perry, GA; a Sanderson Farms poultry facility in McComb, MS; and the Smithfield Foods Inc.’s...
Food Safety News
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First recorded EIEC outbreak in Sweden linked to leafy greens
Researchers have shed more light on the first recorded enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC) outbreak in Sweden. The outbreak in the county of Halland in 2017 had 83 self-reported infections and one secondary case attributed to household transmission, based on a study published in the journal Eurosurveillance. Leafy greens were suspected to be behind the outbreak as this item was in a number of dishes associated with illnesses. There was no microbiological evidence to identify the source or vehicle of...
Food Safety News
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Federal court orders property seized in immigration raid returned to Koch Foods
Koch Foods’ property seized in August 2019 by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from the company’s chicken processing plant in Morton, MS, must be returned, according to U.S. District Court Judge Carlton W. Reeves. Koch was one of several USDA-inspected poultry processors in Mississippi targeted in this past summer’s immigration raid, the largest of its kind in a single state. ICE arrested 680 people at seven Mississippi poultry plants. Half the arrest s– 342 — were made in Morton....
Food Safety News
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Salmonella outbreak traced to food ordered online
Ten people were sickened by Salmonella from chicken legs in a Chinese city after eating food ordered online in mid-2018, according to a new report. Researchers said the investigation highlights the role of online food delivery platforms as a new mode of foodborne disease transmission. Collaboration between public health agencies and online food delivery platforms is essential for timely intervention and to limit the scale of outbreaks. From late June to early July 2018, 10 cases of diarrheal...
Food Safety News
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Cantaloupes, seafood top list of enforcement modifications
The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed. Recent modifications to FDA’s import alerts, as posted by the agency, are listed below. Click on the links to view the full alerts. Import Alert Description URL IA-16-105 Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood and Seafood Products from Specific Manufacturers/Shippers Due...
Food Safety News
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EFSA assesses health risks of aflatoxins in food
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a risk assessment on aflatoxins in food. The report evaluates toxicity of aflatoxins to humans, estimates dietary exposure of the European Union population to these mycotoxins, and assesses the human health risks due to estimated dietary exposure. The risk assessment by the Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain is an update of similar work in 2007 and 2018. It covers aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), AFB2, AFG1, AFG2 and AFM1. More than 200,000 analytical...
Food Safety News
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Water shut-offs pose safety risks during coronavirus pandemic
Imagine this, if you will. You’re a young dad. Three children, 3, 5 and 7. They’re not in school or daycare because the schools and daycare centers in your state have been closed down because of COVID-19, a coronavirus that spreads from person to person and that has already infected more than 140,000 people and killed more than 2,800 people in the United States alone. Your wife, meanwhile, is in the next town taking care of her mother who is seriously ill. Several months ago, your car broke down...
Food Safety News
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Uruguay’s inspections of beef and lamb found “equivalent to that of United States”
Uruguay exports raw and processed beef and lamb products to the United States, and USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) finds no reason that those shipments cannot continue. The FSIS performed an on-site equivalence verification audit in Uruguay Dec. 2 to Dec. 13, 2019, without identifying any systemic findings of shortcomings. The final report dated March 19, 2020, was a clean bill of health for the South American country. “The purpose of the audit was to determine whether Uruguay’s...
Food Safety News
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Warning letters sent to companies because of Salmonella and Listeria
As part of its enforcement activities, the Food and Drug Administration sends warning letters to entities under its jurisdiction. Some letters are not posted for public view until weeks or months after they are sent. Business owners have 15 days to respond to FDA warning letters. Warning letters often are not issued until a company has been given months to years to correct problems. Bravo Packing Inc., Carney’s Point, NJAmanda Lloyd, President In a March 16, 2020, warning letter the FDA described...
Food Safety News
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Italy reveals results of food and drink controls
Most issues with food and beverages in Italy involved products of animal origin and were microbiological, according to a recent report from authorities. In 2018, almost 50,500 samples of food products were taken from all stages of the supply chain and nearly 130,000 analyzes conducted as part of official controls. From these analytical checks almost 1,500 had problems, revealing a non-compliance rate of 1.14 percent. More than 78,000 checks were for microbiological reasons, mostly for Salmonella,...
Food Safety News
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Dutch data shows no pathogen notified in most outbreaks
More than 4,000 foodborne outbreaks causing almost 22,000 illnesses and 13 deaths were recorded in the Netherlands during a 12-year period. A total of 4,155 outbreaks, with 21,802 ill people, were registered from 2006 to 2017. The top pathogens were norovirus, Salmonella and Campylobacter. In 580 outbreaks, with 8,441 sick, a pathogen was found in food, the environment and/or patients. Norovirus, with 172 outbreaks and 3,691 sick was the most commonly reported, followed by Salmonella in 168 outbreaks...
Food Safety News
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Le Napoléon firm cheese recalled because of Listeria risk
The Canadain company Fromagerie Blackburn is recalling “Le Napoléon – Firm Cheese” from the marketplace because of possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products listed here: Brand Product Size UPC Codes Fromagerie Blackburn Le Napoléon – Firm Cheese 130 g 6 28504 56410 3 Best Before 10JL20 19087 Fromagerie Blackburn Le Napoléon – Firm Cheese Variable weight Starts with 0 200015 All units sold up to and including...
Food Safety News
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Risk factors, safety precautions for carry out foods
Contributed Editor’s note: Ben Chapman, associate professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University, has posted this tip sheet for dining outside the home during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. We thank him for his diligence and service.      
Food Safety News
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USDA admits it may be misleading consumers with ‘Product of USA’ labeling
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service admitted Thursday it may be misleading consumers about where their meat comes from. The admission came in response to a petition filed by the United States Cattlemen’s Association about accurate labeling. “After considering the supporting information included in the petition, along with the supporting public comments, FSIS has concluded that permitting imported meat products that are further processed in a federally-inspected establishment to be labeled...
Food Safety News
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Auditor sent to Buenos Aires to double check on Argentina’s meat exports
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) sent one of its auditors back to Argentina this past December to confirm that the South American country was making the corrective actions requested in the regular 2019 audit. The follow-up audit, with an in-country visit from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6, 2019, was to check-up on proposed corrective actions that Argentina promised to take after the last USDA audit, which included in-country inspections from Feb. 25 to March 15, 2019. The purpose of the follow-up...
Food Safety News
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FDA reopens comment period on milk rule for some cheeses
The FDA is reopening the public comment period on a proposed rule that would allow the use of ultrafiltered milk in certain cheeses and cheese products. The move will give consumers and others an additional 120 days to file comments. Although the current comment period is set to end on March 30, the new comment period may not begin the following day. The new comment period will begin on the day the FDA’s notice is published in the Federal Register.  The public, industry and all other entities...
Food Safety News
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Large decline for food sampling in Scotland
There has been a significant reduction in food sampling across Scotland in the past few years, according to a report. An analysis of information from the Scottish Food Sampling Database (SFSD) indicated there had been a decrease of 34 to 37 percent in sample records submitted since 2014-2015. However, three of 32 local authorities had increased sampling compared with 2014-2015. Historically, local authorities had a target of two samples per 1,000 of the population for microbiology and three per...
Food Safety News
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Veteran lobbyist joins former USDA food safety leader to form new venture
Some big money in Washington D.C. can be found at boutique K Street lobbying firms. Nobody knows that better than Randy Russell, president of the Russel Group, which for 40 years has worked the halls of Congress, mostly on behalf of agricultural interests.  Russell is known for generating and retaining clients and growing his firm’s lobbying income.     Russell’s latest move is the launch of a new consulting firm called Groundswell Strategy to highlight the talents of Carmen Rottenberg, who until...
Food Safety News
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Raisins invade list as environmental group names ‘dirty’ fresh produce
The Environmental Working Group has finished crunching numbers from a government report and again says strawberries are at the top of the group’s Dirty Dozen list of fresh produce. Every year the non-profit group takes a few weeks to review data compiled and released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture about pesticide levels found in fresh fruits and vegetables. The USDA report comes out at the end of the year and the EWG generally begins spring with its perspective on the data. The Environmental...
Food Safety News
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DG Sante finds improved Polish meat controls but areas of concern remain
A follow-up audit in Poland of meat controls has found the situation has gotten better but there is still room for improvement. The audit in March and April 2019 by DG Sante, the European Commission’s unit for food safety and health, covered the official controls over slaughter of bovines and animal traceability in Poland. An initial audit in February 2019 followed a broadcast on Polish television of a slaughterhouse showing cows unable to stand, referred to as downer cows, or that were injured....
Food Safety News
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StateFoodSafety launches free online food safety course for volunteers
StateFoodSafety has launched a free online training course to instruct charitable feeding and disaster relief volunteers in vital food safety principles. After a year of development, the 22-minute course has been released just in time to help train volunteers on how to safely serve food in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Food training is not required for volunteers. But food safety is incredibly important for charitable organizations because of the people they serve are often highly susceptible...
Food Safety News
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Survey finds low Campylobacter knowledge in Germany
Consumer knowledge in Germany of Toxoplasma was better than that of Campylobacter, according to a recent report on a study. Researchers surveyed 1,008 consumers in August 2017 in Germany via an online panel on Campylobacter, Salmonella and Toxoplasma and transmissibility via meat. The questionnaire had 43 questions in five sections. Consumers were most informed about Salmonella and general knowledge of Toxoplasma is better than Campylobacter. Campylobacter, despite its high incidence in Germany,...
Food Safety News
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Study summarizes decade of surveillance for Listeria in Chile
Researchers have looked at the types of Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated from food and people during a 10-year period in Chile. Results of tests show Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated from 2008 to 2017 in the city of Santiago indicate serotypes 1/2a, 1/2b and 4b are the most common in food products and from clinical cases, according to the study published in the Food Microbiology journal. A total of 365 Listeria monocytogenes strains were analyzed. They were isolated from 2008 to...
Food Safety News
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Comments on Salmonella as adulterant petition will be accepted for 60 more days
An additional 60 days is available for public comments on a petition seeking to declare 31 Salmonella strains as adulterants in meat and poultry. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service added the time to the comment clock in response to a March 16 request from the North American Meat Institute (NAMI). The meat industry group asked the agency for more time to comment on the petition that “would be one of the most significant policy changes affecting the meat and poultry industry in decades.”...
Food Safety News
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Senate confirms Mindy Brashears as undersecretary of food safety
Mindy Brashears of Texas is the fifth Senate-confirmed undersecretary of food safety. She was confirmed with a voice vote of the U.S. Senate late Monday. Brashears succeeds Dr. Elizabeth Hagen who stepped down as undersecretary for food safety six years, three months and 11 days ago. Only four others have held the position, which is the highest food safety job in the U.S. government. The other four were Dr. Hagen August 2010 to December 2013; Dr. Richard A. Raymond July 2005 to January 2009;...
Food Safety News
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Amid coronavirus outbreak, FDA leaders say the food supply is safe
Contributed A critical part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s mission is safeguarding the human and animal food supply, helping to ensure that our food is not contaminated at any point during its journey along the supply chain. COVID-19 is a new frontier for all of us as we deal with the realities of a pandemic and the impact it is having on our lives, on our families, our communities, and on our work. The FDA is committed to protecting the health of the American people, and to facing...
Food Safety News
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Hong Kong records rise in foodborne outbreaks
Almost 200 foodborne outbreaks affecting 800 people were reported in Hong Kong in 2019, according to a new report. The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and Department of Health are responsible for investigating and controlling food poisoning outbreaks related to local premises and businesses. This past year, the CFS received 184 food poisoning outbreaks reported from the Department of Health, affecting 805 people. The number of outbreaks has shown a...
Food Safety News
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Pew Report: Root Cause Analyses are ‘Critical to Preventing Foodborne Illnesses’
The Pew Charitable Trusts, an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), has earned a reputation as a change-agent for food safety.  Pew’s latest goal is to bring “root cause analyses” to food safety. Today, it released a report on the subject, which itself is an offshoot of Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM is the management philosophy created by the likes of W. Edwards Deming in the 1950s that was based on statistical analysis and quality control. The Japanese embraced TQM. Root...
Food Safety News
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Foreign food facilities dominate FDA’s registration list — again
Food facilities from around the world are required to register with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration if they want a piece of the U.S. market, and once again foreign food producers outnumber the domestic ones. The latest numbers are provided by Hampton, VA-based Registrar Corp., a leading provider of FDA compliance assistance since 2003. Registrar Corp. recently received the latest data from the FDA detailing the number of registered food facilities in the agency’s database....
Food Safety News
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Scottish study boosts understanding of non-O157 STEC
Researchers in Scotland have increased knowledge of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in the country as part of work on severity of illness caused by these strains. Food Standards Scotland commissioned a study to improve understanding of non-O157 STEC. It provides a resource for surveillance and during future outbreaks of infection. Non-O157 STEC accounts for 30 percent of all STEC isolated in Scotland but no outbreaks with more than five cases have been identified in the country....
Food Safety News
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Spate of salad recalls in Australia due to Salmonella
A number of salad products have been recalled in an Australian state because of Salmonella contamination. Recalls in Western Australia involve the Loose Leaf Lettuce Co., Supreme Salads, Fresh Frontier and Quality Produce International. There have been no reports of illness associated with the products. The Loose Leaf Lettuce Co. recalled Asian Salad Mix and Special Salad Mix 200-gram with best-before dates from March 21 to 28 due to microbial contamination. They were sold at various independent retailers...
Food Safety News
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Another company recalls imported enoki mushrooms for Listeria
A California company is recalling fresh mushrooms imported from Korea after state testing returned positive results for Listeria monocytogenes. The company, Guan’s Mushroom Co. of Commerce, CA, is recalling all cases of its 200-gram/7.05-ounce packages of enoki mushrooms, according to a recall notice posted by the Food and Drug Administration.  Guan’s sent the implicated mushrooms to retailers in California, New York, and Pennsylvania via produce distributors or wholesalers. The company’s recall...
Food Safety News
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Meat industry wants more comment time for ‘most significant policy change’ in decades
Food safety attorney Bill Marler’s petition to ban meat from containing any of 31 Salmonella outbreak serotypes “would be one of the most significant policy changes affecting the meat and poultry industries in decades,” according to the powerful North American Meat Institute (NAMI). Citing both the significance of the policy change and the current coronavirus outbreak crisis, NAMI wants at least 90 more days for public comment on the petition. The deadline for comments was set for today, but USDA...
Food Safety News
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Scientists find evidence of huge increase in parasitic worms found in raw seafood dishes
The next time you eat sashimi, nigiri or other forms of raw fish, you should consider doing a quick check for worms, according to a team of researchers. A new study led by scientists at the University of Washington found “dramatic increases in the abundance of a worm that can be transmitted to humans who eat raw or undercooked seafood.”  “Its 283-fold increase in abundance since the 1970s could have implications for the health of humans and marine mammals, which both can inadvertently eat the worm,”...
Food Safety News
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FDA warns companies about failure to follow federal food safety laws
As part of its enforcement activities, the Food and Drug Administration sends warning letters to entities under its jurisdiction. Some letters are not posted for public view until weeks or months after they are sent. Business owners have 15 days to respond to FDA warning letters. Warning letters often are not issued until a company has been given months to years to correct problems. Sunrise Distributors Inc., Elk Grove Village, ILFarhan Karim, vice presidentIn a Feb. 11, 2020, warning letter...
Food Safety News
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Ex-Bayern-Ei managing director given suspended sentence
The former managing director of an egg company in Germany linked to a multi-country Salmonella outbreak in 2014 has been given a suspended prison sentence of one year and nine months. Stefan Pohlmann was sentenced at a court in the city of Regensburg this past week. The defendant was found guilty of commercial fraud in 190 cases, negligent bodily harm in 26 cases and told to pay €350,000 ($375,000). The former Bayern-Ei managing director had already spent eight months in custody. The verdict...
Food Safety News
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Letter from the Editor: Foodborne illness lessons for the pandemic
Opinion “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.” ― Donald Rumsfeld We are living in this strange space because we do not want the number of elderly with severe coronavirus cases to outrun our inventory of respirators and intensive care hospital beds. And we don’t want our doctors and nurses to themselves be put on sick leave. So we isolate ourselves and our loved ones because a mayor or governor says we should. Everybody brings...
Food Safety News
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Cheese sauce linked to Clostridium perfringens outbreak
Researchers have detailed the first reported Clostridium perfringens outbreak in England associated with leeks in leftover and reheated cheese sauce. In December 2018, public health authorities were alerted to 34 reports of diarrhea with abdominal cramps from diners who ate Christmas meals at a restaurant in Bridgnorth, the West Midlands. Eight people reported illness to the Food Standards Agency or Shropshire Council on behalf of their dining group after they became unwell following eating at...
Food Safety News
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Coronavirus outbreak is not slowing audits of California’s leafy greens
The need to keep social distances is not keeping state government auditors from the lettuce fields, according to the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA).  It reports that the safety measures for leafy greens are fully in place during the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation. “First and foremost, we want to assure people that LGMA audits conducted by state government personnel are continuing as usual,” said Scott Horsfall, CEO of the California LGMA. “Audits are scheduled for...
Food Safety News
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President told consumer friendly M-COOL would help cattlemen recover from coronavirus
The association for independent cattle producers, known as R-CALF USA, has sent President Trump an “emergency letter,” saying the coronavirus upheaval has significantly worsened the financial and economic conditions of the U.S. cattle industry and the result will be that many cattlemen will not be able to make loan payment deadlines or survive the crisis without immediate intervention. The Billings, MT-based organization representing about 5,500 cattle ranchers, mostly in the south and west, claims...
Food Safety News
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Low prevalence of Salmonella in Sweden’s dairy herds
Salmonella prevalence among Sweden’s dairy cattle herds is low but varies across the country, according to a study. In late 2019, the National Veterinary Institute (SVA) and Swedish Board of Agriculture (Jordbruksverket), conducted an anonymous national milk tank survey for antibodies against Salmonella. It is the second time such a survey on milk samples from all the country’s dairy herds have been examined. The first occasion was 2013. The work contributes to regular Salmonella surveillance...
Food Safety News
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Two dozen more sick in E. coli outbreak traced to raw clover sprouts
Public health officials have identified another 25 victims in an E. coli outbreak traced to raw sprouts that were served at Jimmy John’s, sold at Whole Foods and other retailers, and distributed to unknown entities. Updates from the FDA and CDC this afternoon reported the six-state outbreak has now sickened 39 people, with 27 of them in Utah. Iowa has 3 cases, Illinois has 6 and there is one each in Missouri, Texas, and Florida. Two people have been admitted to hospitals. No deaths have been reported...
Food Safety News
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Approval of genetically engineered soy protein for ‘Impossible Burger’ challenged
 The Center for Food  Safety has asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision to approve soy leghemoglobin as a color additive for use in ground beef analog products.  The advocacy group claims that the FDA’s decision was not based on “convincing evidence” that is required by regulation. The FDA  approval of a genetically engineered (GE) soy protein used in the” Impossible Burger” over objections by CFS.   The ingredient is also referred...
Food Safety News
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Crowdsourcing expands beyond food safety just in time for COVID-19 experiences
Patrick Quade, the crowdsourcing expert who founded iwaspoisoned.com has expanded beyond food safety with a health and safety community issue-reporting site that captures the public’s Covid-19 experiences. Safely HQ  is Quade’s second crowdsourcing platform. It operates separately from iwaspoisoned.com and it is collecting COVID-19 information from the public. Anyone signing on to the Safely HQ platform finds this NOTICE: For Coronavirus (COVID-19) information, alerts sign up, and to report your...
Food Safety News
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Magrudis owner and son provisionally released in Spain
The owner of a Spanish company linked to a large Listeria outbreak this past summer and his son have been provisionally released from custody. The judge of a court in Seville agreed to the conditional release without bail of the pair that have been held since late September 2019. Both defendants are being investigated for their roles in the outbreak. The decision was taken after a request from the Prosecutor’s Office. They are not allowed to quit the national territory and must hand in their...
Food Safety News
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FDA officials repeat message to remain calm about food safety during outbreak
Americans shouldn’t worry about the safety of their food during the coronavirus outbreak. They should watch the FDA website’s FAQ section for up-to-the-minute information, according to agency officials who spoke today. Offering more generalities than specifics, three top administrators spoke to “stakeholders” during a half-hour session this afternoon “to discuss food safety and food supply questions related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).” The moderator stressed that the conference call...
Food Safety News
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Unclear if Jimmy John’s still implicated in outbreak; FDA posts new public notice
Having originally reported that an outbreak was linked to clover sprouts used by Jimmy John’s restaurants, the FDA now says the E. coli outbreak is related to products from Chicago Indoor Garden that were distributed to Whole Foods, Coosemans and other entities. The new public recommendation posted yesterday by the Food and Drug Administration informs consumers about a recall in recent days of Chicago Indoor Garden red clover sprouts, but it does not mentioned the Jimmy John’s connection that was...
Food Safety News
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Amount of food-attributed Listeria cases rising but still low
The proportion of Listeria infections where a food source is identified is very small but increasing, according to researchers who looked at a 30-year period in England and Wales. Between 1981 and 2015, there were 5,252 cases of human listeriosis in the two countries recorded. It is not often a specific exposure is identified because of the long incubation period of Listeria, low attack rate, prolonged colonization at production facilities, and complexity of the food chain, the researchers reported....
Food Safety News
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USDA leaders call for industry cooperation amidst ‘uncertain times’
Contributed Editor’s note: Two of USDA’s top administrators have issued this statement to industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is rising to meet the challenges associated with the new coronavirus disease, Covid-19. As leaders of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Agricultural Marketing Service, we can assure you that the agencies are committed to ensuring the health and safety of our employees while still providing the timely delivery...
Food Safety News
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Organizers reschedule Food Safety Summit because of COVID-19 outbreak
The annual Food Safety Summit, generally scheduled for the first week of May, has been postponed until mid-October because of the outbreak of coronavirus. The summit had been set for May 4-7 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL, in a Chicago suburb. Organizers set the new dates as Oct. 19-22 at the same location. This year marks the 22nd annual meeting of food safety regulators, academics and affiliated businesses. “The safety and the wellbeing of everyone who attends...
Food Safety News
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Poultry and swine line speeds are both now federal cases
For more than six weeks, a federal judge in Minnesota has been considering whether to dismiss a union challenge of USDA’s regulation of line speeds for swine slaughter. On the West Coast, in Northern California, a similar challenge to USDA’s regulation of line speeds for poultry won’t get an initial scheduling order until May. Department of Justice attorneys Leslie Cooper Vigen and David W. Fuller argued their motion to dismiss the swine line speed lawsuit, United Food, and Commercial Workers,...
Food Safety News
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Danish research shows Campylobacter infections often part of outbreaks
A large proportion of Campylobacter infections are not sporadic and can be linked to outbreaks, according to a study in Denmark. Campylobacter outbreaks are rarely reported, which may reflect limitations of surveillance testing as molecular typing is not routinely performed. Researchers whole genome sequenced 1,509 Campylobacter jejuni isolates from 774 patients and 735 food or animal sources in Denmark from 2015 to 2017 to determine the frequency of genetic clusters among patients and to find...
Food Safety News
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Government finds E. coli contamination in sprouts; company initiates recall
An indoor garden company is recalling all of its products that contain certain sprouts from Whole Foods and other retailers because the FDA has found the sprouts are contaminated with E. coli 0103. Chicago Indoor Garden has posted a news release citing the finding by the Food and Drug Administration. The company reports distributing the recalled products to Whole Foods throughout the Midwest, Coosemans Chicago Inc., Battaglia Distributing, and Living Waters Farms. The recalled products all include...
Food Safety News
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California company recalls sushi from 40 states for risk of vibrio infections
AFC Distribution Corp. is recalling a certain kind of sushi from retailers because an ingredient in it could be contaminated with a microscopic organism that can cause illnesses in humans. The company, based in Ranchi Dominguez, CA, announced the recall of all of its sushi ebi with sell-by dates through March 13. The company initiated the recall on March 13 and the Food and Drug Administration posted it today, March 16. Company officials did not report how the potential contamination with Vibrio...
Food Safety News
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Poultry state congressmen pressure trade talks to get American chicken into U.K.
America’s poultry industry says it does not use chlorine to bath slaughtered chickens “that much anymore,” but it is still lobbying hard on the issue that has kept American poultry out of Britain for more than two decades. U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, co-chair of the Congressional Chicken Caucus, has sent a bipartisan letter with 46 of his colleagues urging U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to prioritize “fair market access” for American poultry during upcoming trade negotiations between the...
Food Safety News
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Warning letters cite Nashville airline caterer, noodle company in China
As part of its enforcement activities, the Food and Drug Administration sends warning letters to entities under its jurisdiction. Some letters are not posted for public view until weeks or months after they are sent. Business owners have 15 days to respond to FDA warning letters. Warning letters often are not issued until a company has been given months to years to correct problems. Gourmet Catering to Go LLC — Nashville, TNStephen A. Simmons, president/owner Live insects, evidence of rodents,...
Food Safety News
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French authorities link Listeria infections to cheese company
Ten people have been infected with Listeria monocytogenes in France linked to eating cheese from one company. Authorities in Cantal, in the Auvergne region of France, ordered the business, Ferme de Gioux, to temporarily close and recall all cheeses because it was implicated in the listeriosis cases. Cantal officials conducted several days’ worth of investigations at Ferme de Gioux. Results from these official controls, which covered cheeses and the premises, were described as “unfavorable” and...
Food Safety News
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UK MPs propose food standards amendment to Ag Bill
A parliamentary committee in the United Kingdom has put forward an amendment to the Agriculture Bill to protect food standards. Members of the cross-party Environment Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee made the move after a hearing with representatives from the agriculture, animal welfare and trade sectors this week. Members of Parliament (MPs) heard from Emily Rees from Trade Strategies, James West of Compassion in World Farming and Nick von Westenholz from the National Farmers’ Union on...
Food Safety News
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Cake mixes with possible Salmonella contamination recalled throughout Canada
Canada’s Ecoideas Innovation Inc. is recalling Ecoideas brand Chocolate Cake Mix, Brown Rice Pancakes Mix and Buckwheat Pancakes Mix from the marketplace due to possible Salmonella contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products listed here: Brand Product Size UPC Codes Ecoideas Chocolate Cake Mix 454 g 8 75405 00243 6 Lot # 43619305 BB: 10/31/2021 and Lot #: 43620050 BB: 02/28/2022 Ecoideas Brown Rice Pancakes Mix 454 g 8 75405 00242 9 ...
Food Safety News
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UK foodborne illness burden estimated at £9 billion
The total burden from foodborne illness was about £9 billion ($11.2 billion) in 2018 in the United Kingdom, according to a new report. Based on 2018 figures of 2.4 million foodborne cases per year, the burden for the U.K. from foodborne illness was estimated at £9.1 billion ($11.3 billion) including £3.1 billion ($3.9 billion) for known cases from 13 foodborne pathogens and £6 billion ($7.5 billion) for unattributed cases. The total burden could be as low as £5.3 billion ($6.6 billion) or as high...
Food Safety News
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Idaho’s WinCo grocery stores recall frozen berry products from Washington state farm
Boise’s WinCo Foods, LLC Friday recalled frozen Blackberries in 16 oz. bags and frozen Berry Medley in both 16 and 32 oz. bags because both products might be contaminated with Norovirus.  The recalled berry products were manufactured by Rader Farms of Lynden, WA. WinCo Foods was informed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  that a sample of the product was tested by the FDA and found to be contaminated with Norovirus. Although no customer illnesses have been reported to date, Norovirus...
Food Safety News
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Food safety was riding high in state legislatures in 2019
Food safety was foremost among more than 700 food bills that the nation’s 50 state legislative bodies considered this past year, the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) reports. The exhaustive analysis by  Doug Farquhar, an NCSL staff lawyer, pulls together all the action involving food and food safety by state lawmakers in 2019. Food safety was the topic of 149 bills that were introduced in 2019, and 12 were enacted.   The NCSL report says the Food Safety Management...
Food Safety News
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Coronavirus stops FDA from conducting foreign food safety inspections
The FDA isn’t conducting food safety inspections overseas through at least April because of the coronavirus, but the move has more to do with the federal government’s travel restrictions than it does food. Although the Food and Drug Administration is referring to the action as a postponement of inspections, it amounts to a suspension of inspection activity. Food inspections at land and sea ports of entry into the United States will continue as part of the government’s normal domestic operations....
Food Safety News
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Five foodborne outbreaks added to cryptosporidium rise in Sweden
Swedish officials have ended investigations into an increase in domestic cryptosporidium infections because the number of cases decreased since the start of February. The Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten) and Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) helped to identify five foodborne outbreaks and other infections affecting more than 230 people. During the autumn, a large increase in people with cryptosporidiosis infected in Sweden, was investigated. The number of reported cases...
Food Safety News
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Perdue takes the ‘Made in USA’ beef labeling option over country of origin
Out of their concern for food safety and their tendency to support American producers, consumers have long supported Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) of meat products. But those “Made in the USA” signs and labels have been missing or suspect ever since Congress bowed in 2015 to the World Trade Organization (WTO), which ruled COOL as enacted by USDA was a non-tariff barrier to trade. The WTO agreed with Canada and Mexico, ruling COOL imposed extra costs on the USA’s two neighboring countries...
Food Safety News
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Campylobacter infections cost £3m a year in Scotland
The annual healthcare cost for Campylobacter infections in Scotland is £3 million ($3.9 million), according to recently released research by Health Protection Scotland. The study on Campylobacter, which is the main cause of bacterial food poisoning in the country, provides evidence on those at greater risk of infection, factors influencing severity of illness and the estimated healthcare cost of infection for 2013 to 2017. Costs vary depending on the treatment required, with the highest attributed...
Food Safety News
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Letter to The Editor: We need more action for foodservice workers during coronavirus outbreak
Opinion Dear Editor, I worked as an Environmental Health Specialist for the State of Virginia in Page County; as a technologist for Anchorage School District’s Student Nutrition Department; as Assistant Food Service Manager for Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office where I managed food production and safety for facilities which fed 11,000 inmates daily; and as an investigator for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. I retired from FDA in March 2017.   I am interested in any discussion...
Food Safety News
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Belgium’s RTE food hygiene controls assessed by DG Sante
Controls on the ready-to-eat food sector in Belgium mostly ensure compliance with European union rules, but some issues are not detected or treated seriously enough. DG Sante, the unit that leads the European Commission’s policies on health and food safety, found the systems are generally effective in identifying hygiene non-compliances. A recent report of an audit in June 2019 included visits to three meat products sites, two of which also do meat preparation intended to be eaten raw; one fishery...
Food Safety News
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Some food safety event producers in holding patterns as concerns about coronavirus spread
As coronavirus containment efforts grow across the country, some event organizers, including those who are in charge of food safety conferences, are in wait-and-see mode. Yesterday a top public health official said the virus, also being called COVID-19, is 10 times more deadly than regular seasonal flu viruses. “Bottom line, it’s going to get worse,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said while testifying before members of Congress Wednesday...
Food Safety News
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Hydroponic growers defend their use of Organic label from outside the courtroom
A federal civil action brought by soil-using organic growers does not name any of the hydroponic growers they want to prevent from using USDA’s organic label. But that does not mean hydroponic growers are going to remain silent as the litigation proceeds against Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and other USDA officials. The lawsuit was filed on March 2 against USDA by the Center for Food Safety and several prominent organic growers. Hydroponic growers, represented by the Coalition for Sustainable...
Food Safety News
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Farm-to-fork plan gets almost 100 comments; irradiation also reviewed
More than 90 comments have been received on the European Commission’s sustainable food plan. The strategy details the regulatory and non-regulatory measures needed to create more efficient, climate-smart systems that provide healthy food, while providing a living for EU farmers and fishermen. The roadmap covers all steps in the food supply chain from production to consumption. Comments are being accepted until March 16. The European Commission announced, as part of its Green Deal Communication...
Food Safety News
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Canned foods, frog legs and cantaloupes among import alert changes
The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed. Recent modifications to FDA’s import alerts, as posted by the agency, are listed below. Click on the links to view the full alerts. Import Alert Desc Text URL IA-16-119 Detention Without Physical Examination Of Fish And Fishery Products For Importer And Foreign Processor (Manuf) Combinations...
Food Safety News
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