The European Commission has again extended temporary food safety rules on official controls because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Updated legislation states the flexibility given to EU countries is needed as problems are likely to continue in the coming months and to help authorities plan checks.
An outbreak of cryptosporidium that affected 40 people in Ireland this past year has been linked to salad from one farm.
A cluster of cryptosporidiosis cases was reported from a South Dublin laboratory in July 2020. All sick people were interviewed, and environmental health officers did 110 inspections to collect food and water samples at businesses in which suspected cases had food in the 14 days before onset of symptoms.
The third joint inter-agency report on integrated analysis of antimicrobial consumption (AMC) and the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria from humans and food-producing animals (JIACRA) addressed data obtained by the Agencies' EU-wide surveillance networks for 2016–2018. AMC in both sectors, expressed in mg/kg of estimated biomass, was compared at country and European level.
Use of antibiotics has decreased and is now lower in food-producing animals than in humans, says the latest report published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Taking a One Health approach, the report from the three EU agencies presents data on antibiotic consumption and development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Europe for 2016-2018.
Public analyst laboratories are facing a number of challenges but there are also opportunities, according to the president of the Association of Public Analysts (APA) in the United Kingdom.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has today published its Northern Ireland Annual Report and Accounts for the past financial year. The report covers our performance and activities in 2020/21 across England, Wales and Northern Ireland at a net cost of £114.2 million.
Researchers have found a wide distribution and high diversity of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in German flour. Recent outbreaks associated with contaminated flour and undercooked dough have been reported in the United States and Canada.
A new study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases has found that adult STEC HUS disease is more serious and fatal than the same disease in children, even though children are far more likely to develop this complication after an E. coli infection. The retrospective study looked at Shiga toxin-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome in 96 adults who lived in France from 2009 to 2017.
The deadline for registration is 30 June, midnight.
The 2021 Parma Summer School organized by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the University of Parma, the School of Advanced Studies on Food and Nutrition, and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, will provide early-career researchers an opportunity to learn from some of the most prominent experts in the field of food systems analysis and case studies. The relevance of the food safety issues, together with the technological innovation and the necessary adaptation of the risk assessment procedures, will be addressed in the frame of food systems transformations involving complex interactions and feedback between bio-physical, political and socio-economic drivers.
A system used by European countries to report outbreaks saw the number of requests fall in 2020 compared to the year before.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) hosts the Epidemic Intelligence Information System for food- and waterborne diseases (EPIS-FWD) platform, which includes Urgent Inquiries.
A survey on ground beef in Scotland has found low levels of Campylobacter, Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC).
The work, funded by Food Standards Scotland, was done in 2019 with 1,009 samples of fresh ground beef, also known as minced beef, on retail sale across the country. For 33 samples country of origin was unknown. Of the rest, all except three were labeled as coming from the UK and Ireland.
The Food Standards Agency’s chief scientific advisor has said potential trends in foodborne infections must be monitored after a decline during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robin May said data from the past 12 months shows a substantial drop in foodborne disease rates for four major pathogens but this is likely because of fewer patients going to general practioners’ (GP) offices and reduced diagnostic testing during the coronavirus pandemic.
The draft theme papers, outlining vision, scope, opportunities, cooperation and impact for EFSA and its partners, are now open for consultation.
EFSA would appreciate feedback on all aspects of the 2021 theme papers. The consultation is open until 30 June 2021. As EFSA is looking for one response per MS we would appreciate any comments you may have by Monday 28th June. We will then collate the responses and submit a response
Omics-bioinformatics_theme_paper-for_consultation.docx
The number of people sick in the United Kingdom in an outbreak linked to melons has almost doubled.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Public Health England (PHE) are investigating the incident with 99 people sick since April. It was previously known that 52 people were ill in the UK.
The purpose of this call for tender will be to explore the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for extracting and integrating data obtained through New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for chemical risk assessment.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA), Food Standards Scotland (FSS) with Ipsos MORI have published a survey of consumer practices relating to coated frozen chicken products.
STEC-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is rarer in adults than children but causes more severe disease and death in older people, according to a study.
Researchers looked at HUS caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in 96 adults in France during 2009 to 2017. A total of 69 of the patients had underlying health conditions. HUS is a severe complication associated with E. coli infections that causes kidney failure.
A study from the Roslin institute published in BMC Genomics has identified genes in chickens that could offer resistance to harmful bacteria commonly found in poultry and could inform ways to limit the risk of associated food poisoning in people.
The research identified a large number of genes in chicken guts that may determine whether the birds are resistant to Campylobacter, according to the Roslin Institute.
The role of food‐producing environments in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in EU plant‐based food production, terrestrial animals (poultry, cattle and pigs) and aquaculture was assessed. Among the various sources and transmission routes identified, fertilisers of faecal origin, irrigation and surface water for plant‐based food and water for aquaculture were considered of major importance. For terrestrial animal production, potential sources consist of feed, humans, water, air/dust, soil, wildlife, rodents, arthropods and equipment.
