The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a call for scientific experts wishing to become members of its Scientific Panels and Scientific Committee in 2024. The members of the Scientific Committee and Scientific Panels of EFSA are appointed for a five-year term. This call for expressions of interest is open from 1 February to 3 April 2023.
If you are interested in applying, please visit the EFSA website for more information.
EFSA website here
The latest wave of the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) Food and You 2 survey, conducted between April and July 2022, shows that most people surveyed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had made changes to their eating habits in the last year, with financial reasons being the biggest driver.
Health officials have been unable to find the source of a Salmonella outbreak that affected almost 30 people in Ireland and England.
The outbreak, which saw 11 people hospitalized, has been declared over by authorities.
Symptom onset ranged between Nov. 30, 2022, and Jan. 13, 2023, peaking on Dec. 7. Patients lived in multiple areas on the island of Ireland. Fourteen patients were male and 13 were female. Most were adults, ranging from 25 to 91 years old, and two were under the age of 18. The median age of cases was 57 years old.
Residues of veterinary drugs and other substances found in animals and animal products have fallen in the European Union, according to recently published statistics.
Data from the annual report for 2021, published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), includes pigs, sheep, poultry, milk, eggs, game meat, and honey.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) was involved in another two E. coli outbreaks in the United Kingdom in the final quarter of 2022.
In the first, APHA helped Public Health Wales investigate two human cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O145 linked to a private collection of animals on a smallholding. Multiple species were onsite including cattle, goats, deer, and pigs. Some food consumed by people was grown in the garden where cattle manure was used. Thirty environmental fecal samples were collected but a match to the outbreak strain was not found.
A global ‘chocolate disaster’ involving Kinder eggs that had been contaminated by salmonella was averted by vigorous tracing, according to a leading expert.
Over 450 people in 17 countries – including 16 people in Ireland – were infected in the outbreak last year.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) are looking for experts to contribute to work related to viruses in foods.
They are also asking governments, industry, academia, consumer groups, laboratories, and other interested organizations and individuals to submit relevant data and information.
EFSA’s Scientific Committee and Panels are comprised of highly qualified, independent scientific experts committed to conducting scientific assessments and developing related assessment methodologies. Membership of these Panels/Committee is renewed every five years, with the next renewal in July 2024.
EFSA is currently seeking expressions of interest from scientific experts in various fields.
A long-awaited report on decisions taken at the latest Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting has finally been published.
The United Nations food standards body met in Rome in November 2022. Codex is an initiative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The delay was because of the number of comments received on the draft report and ensuring that members accepted the final version. It is the second year in succession that the report adoption process overran but was still unable to conclude.
Guidance from the Food Standards Agency helped local authorities handle food-related work during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an assessment.
In June 2021, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) provided local authorities with a plan for running food hygiene and food standards services during the pandemic. It will apply until the end of March 2023, when decisions are made about proposed new delivery models for food hygiene and standards.
The number of people sick in a Salmonella outbreak in Sweden traced to eggs has gone up again to nearly 80.
The Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten) said 76 people were sick, which is up from 48 in a previous update.
Patients from 16 different regions have been confirmed as infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis.
Following a Public Appointments Service campaign, the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly T.D., has appointed the following members to the Board of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland with effect from 16th of January 2023 until 15th of January 2026.
The number of food safety incidents involving a global network declined in the final quarter of 2022 according to a new report.
The International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) was part of 47 alerts from October through December compared to 58 in the third quarter of 2022.
In the whole year, the network was involved in 198 incidents. This is down from 248 events in 2021 but up compared to 127 in 2020 and 84 in 2019.
Scottish health officials have admitted the surveillance of foodborne outbreaks suffered due to the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a report on gastrointestinal and zoonotic pathogens for 2020 and 2021, only outbreaks involving Public Health Scotland (PHS) are covered. Officials said as surveillance had lapsed, it was not a comprehensive record of incidents but for 2023 to 2024, ObSurv, the surveillance system for outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease in Scotland, will be re-established.
Health officials in the United Kingdom have warned about a sharp increase in confirmed cases of norovirus.
National surveillance data shows laboratory reports of the virus in England are 66 percent higher than the average at this time of year, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Total lab reports during weeks 3 and 4 of the 2022-2023 norovirus season were 527 which is up from the 5-season average of 318 reports for the same two-week period.
Walking into Ÿnsect’s flagship manufacturing site in Dole, eastern France, the first thing that visitors are met with is a hot, earthy, composting smell. With it comes the realization that this is not a typical factory. At 17 metres high, this is the world’s largest vertical insect farm — home to at least 3 trillion mealworm beetles (Tenebrio molitor).
The company’s chief executive and co-founder, Antoine Hubert, says that the beetles have a good life, as far as being an insect goes. Each of their stacked plastic trays is kept at an optimal 60% humidity and a balmy 25–27 °C. Nutrition, growth and moisture levels are all recorded for analysis, and human visitors are allowed to inspect the trays only from a distance — to prevent contamination of this prized ecosystem.
Ukraine is moderately prepared to meet EU requirements in the area of food safety, according to the European Commission.
Details come from reports published by the EU Commission assessing the capacity of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia to meet the obligations of EU membership. Moldova and Georgia applied to be member states in March 2022.
Researchers have looked at the burden of Salmonella in children in Portugal to help improve knowledge of the pathogen in the country.
The study aimed to characterize, from an epidemiological, microbiological, and clinical perspective, cases of Salmonella among children.
In Portugal, from 2011 to 2014, 785 Salmonella infections were reported with more than 80 percent in children younger than 15 years of age.
Experts have identified and evaluated ways to reduce foodborne illness associated with sprouts.
They reviewed studies as well as guidelines from authorities and industry associations with findings published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
In 2019, the Codex Alimentarius Commission approved new work to develop guidelines on Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in leafy vegetables and sprouts.
The first projects to be funded by the UK Food Safety Research Network (FSRN) have been selected to address real-world challenges to food safety.
Six projects will receive £30,000-£62,000 of funding from the network. These projects were all selected as ready to initiate through the support of the network. Each project involves academic researchers partnering with commercial companies or government agencies in the food sector to deliver solutions to food safety problems.
