Tests carried out in 2021 under the National Residue Control Plan (NRCP) have shown that 99.89% of samples taken were compliant, and contained no evidence of approved or banned contaminants.
15,922 samples were tested last year over eight food-producing species including bovine; ovine; porcine; poultry; equine; farmed game; wild game; and aquaculture.
In the EU, defrosted previously-frozen poultrymeat, including turkey, is not allowed for sale. In particular, Council Regulation EC No 1308/2013 on the organisation of markets in agriculture products, and Commission Regulation EC No 543/2008 on the marketing standards for poultrymeat, require poultrymeat marketed in the EU to be in one of three states: fresh (not previously-frozen), frozen, or quick-frozen.
Almost 200 people have been sickened in a multi-country Salmonella outbreak that has been ongoing for more than a year.
Overall, 196 Salmonella Mbandaka infections have been reported with 89 people sick in Finland and 81 in the United Kingdom. Patients also live in the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Israel.
The research, conducted by the University of Southampton, was commissioned by the FSA following the publication of its risk assessment in 2020 which concluded it was very unlikely that humans could catch the virus from food. The study involved deliberately adding virus to the surface of food and packaging. It was not designed to consider the probability that food becomes contaminated under normal conditions, or the probability that virus on food will lead to infection.
The study’s results shows that the virus’s survival varied depending on the foods and food packaging examined. On some foods, such as cheese and ham, the virus survived for several days. On others, such as apples and olives, virus levels dropped quickly. For most food products tested there was a ‘significant drop’ in the levels of virus contamination over the first 24 hours. These findings confirm that the overall risk to consumers from coronavirus via food remains very low.
Air fryers are excellent devices that give consumers the opportunity to reduce their energy consumption from cooking, whilst quickly delivering comparable quality and ‘crispness’ to other cooking methods with less oil / fat. Despite the popularity and success of air fryers, the variability of cooking performance currently presents a food safety barrier to cooking instruction validation for high risk foods and to displaying such instructions on back of pack.
Researchers at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Italy have designed a food-grade device from edible materials that indicates whether a frozen product has been thawed and refrozen.
The researchers’ work, titled “Self-Powered Edible Defrosting Sensor” was published in ACS Sensors, by Ivan Ilic, Mario Caironi, and their colleagues.
Dietary intakes of sulfites could be a safety concern for high consumers of foodstuffs that contain the additives, EFSA’s experts concluded in their updated assessment of sulfur dioxide (E220) and sulfites (E221-228). Gaps in toxicity data meant the extent of certain adverse health effects could not be confirmed.
In a statement published today, EFSA’s scientists have proposed six main criteria to assist the risk assessment of plants produced using the genetic engineering techniques of targeted mutagenesis, cisgenesis and intragenesis. The European Commission asked us for this scientific advice to support their ongoing policy initiative on new genomic techniques.
Minimising transport duration and thoroughly cleaning vehicles, equipment and spaces where animals are loaded and unloaded are some of the measures considered effective in reducing the transmission of resistant bacteria during animal transport.
These are the findings of EFSA’s scientific opinion assessing the risk of spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among poultry, pigs and cattle during transport between farms or to slaughterhouses.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s (FSAI) Food Safety Consultative Council today hosted an open meeting to discuss online sales of food, from the consumer, the regulator and the industry’s perspectives. Click and eat - what’s cooking in online food delivery? also explored the rapid development in the availability of food delivery options available since the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighted the importance of securing consumers’ trust that food hygiene practices and food safety legislation are being adhered too, regardless of the journey food may take to reach the consumer. Over 240 people registered for the virtual event with Irish and international speakers from the FSAI and representatives from Deliveroo, Manna Drone Delivery, and Dropchef.
This is a question that the Food Authenticity Network is frequently asked, so we are delighted to be collaborating with FoodChain ID to provide this information.
Foods most reported as being fraudulent, based on data from the FoodChain ID Food Fraud Database, will be posted on an annual basis in the Food Fraud Prevention section of the Food Authenticity Network website.
The data for 2021 and the last ten years is shown here.
A deadly Listeria outbreak in the United Kingdom has been linked to one company but product testing has only found low levels of contamination.
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) suspect the source of contamination to be a salmon-smoking processing factory in Scotland.
Food Standards Scotland wouldn’t name the company or answer questions about the incident from Food Safety News.
Senior Scientific Officer - Toxicology EFSA/X/AD/2022/13
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), based in Parma, Italy is looking for a Senior Scientific Officer - Toxicology (Temporary Agent, Grade AD8)
Please send us your application by no later than 22 November 2022 at 23:59 (local time), following the instructions in the ANNEX.
Nitrosamines (or more formally N-Nitrosamines) are chemical compounds that can form in food as a result of food preparation and processing. They have been found in several types of foodstuffs such as cured meat products, processed fish, cocoa, beer and other alcoholic beverages. Nitrosamines may also be present in a variety of other foods such as cooked meat, processed vegetables, cereals, milk and dairy products, or fermented, pickled and spiced foods. Some nitrosamines are genotoxic (may damage DNA) and carcinogenic (can cause cancer). EFSA’s draft opinion assesses the risks to public health related to the presence of nitrosamines in food.
The aim of this literature review of 51 scientific papers was to answer the question - "What is the mislabelling rate in seafood products sold on the Italian market?“. Samples were considered mislabelled when the species found by DNA analysis did not correspond with the description on the label. The most sampled seafood taxa were fish (83.8%): mackerels, cods, herrings, flatfishes and jacks were the most represented species. Unprocessed fillet/slice was the most analysed retail form (61.4%), and samples were collected at retail premises (76.5%) in 10 Italian regions.
This is Tenet's quarterly publication (Issue 5), which discusses the various methods of tackling food fraud, from food safety and quality legislation, and consumer protection legislation, to contract law and trade practices. It also examines the importance of auditing your suppliers and look deeper into non-party disclosure and ‘Norwich Pharmacal’ orders.
If you work in the food and drinks industry and take an interest in fraud and financial crime impact in the sector, please take a look at the Secret Ingredient -Issue 5.
At the 1996 World Food Summit, the Heads of State and Government reaffirmed the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger (World Food Summit,1996). To achieve this commitment, agrifood systems will need to be transformed to sustainably deliver safe and nutritious food for all.
New evidence by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has found some people are taking food safety risks because of money pressures and rising energy costs.
The FAO and WHO have highlighted a range of food safety hazards linked to eating seaweed plus a lack of data and regulation.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) said there was a need for a risk assessment of relevant seaweed hazards to understand their public health significance.
