safefood is responsible for promoting food safety and healthy eating on the island of Ireland.
To support our knowledge base, we would like to invite tenders for research for the following specific project:
Project Ref 02A-2020
“Fiscal and pricing policies related to food and non-alcoholic drinks: a review of the evidence”
The closing date for receipt of tenders is 4pm Friday 23rd October 2020
safefood is committed to promoting equality of opportunity.
With many E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks linked to romaine lettuce in 2017, 2018, and 2019, food safety experts are concerned that another outbreak could occur in 2020. Let’s take a look at how romaine lettuce is contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in the first place.
Opening: 17 September 2020 Deadline: 26 January 2021
Code: LC-GD-8-2-2020:
Call link: H2020 EU Green Deal call
Testing and demonstrating systemic innovations in support of the Farm-to-Fork Strategy
Opening: 17 September 2020 Deadline: 26 January 2021
Code: LC-GD-6-1-2020
Call link: H2020 EU Green Deal call
The World Health Organization (WHO) is requesting data on methylmercury and total mercury in certain fish species.
Fish types for which maximum limits have already been established are excluded.
People are mainly exposed to methylmercury when they eat fish and shellfish that contain the compound. It can adversely affect a baby’s growing brain and nervous system.
The resurgence of a hepatitis A outbreak linked to strawberries underlines the importance of complete traceback of implicated products during outbreaks, according to researchers.
Following outbreaks linked to frozen strawberries in Sweden and Austria in 2018, 65 cases of the same hepatitis A virus (HAV) strain were detected in Germany between October 2018 and January 2020.
An introduction to product shelf life for small food businesses - Online Training
Location: Online
Date/Time: Oct 8, 2020 from 10:30am - 12:00pm
Venue: Online
Duration: 90 minutes
This online training will explore what needs to be considered when determining a product’s shelf life, including:
-Understanding the characteristics of the food.
-The microbiology of pathogens (for safety) and indicator organisms (for hygiene) and their characteristics, which allow for their growth and their association with different types of food.
-Food quality issues
-Role of packaging
-Role of reasonably foreseeable conditions following manufacturing and to the point of consumption
-The type of shelf life studies, validation and monitoring and the role of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)
-The role of the laboratory
-Interpretation of the results – who and/or how.
To register for this event please email knevents@safefood.net.
Please note places will be limited to 30 maximum, therefore registration will be on a first come first serve basis (one place per food business) and after this a waiting list will be in operation.If you cannot attend this training, please let us know 2 days before the event to allow another participant to attend.
Please note this is only open to those working in food businesses on the island of Ireland.
Only one fifth of British people always check the hygiene rating of a takeaway restaurant before ordering, according to new research.
A survey of 1,000 adults in the United Kingdom in July 2020 found one in 10 say the hygiene rating does not affect their decision on placing an order.
Two agencies in the Netherlands have looked at the prevalence of selected pathogens in chickens for meat production.
The study reaffirmed Campylobacter, Salmonella and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria on broiler farms can be transmitted to humans through meat consumption and direct or indirect contact.
The percentage of chickens at Tesco and Asda testing positive for Campylobacter at the top level of contamination in the second quarter of 2020 has fallen below the FSA target.
The two supermarkets had recorded levels above the Food Standards Agency (FSA) threshold of 7 percent of birds with more than 1,000 colony forming units per gram (CFU/g) of Campylobacter in the first quarter of this year.
Consultation seeking stakeholders’ views on the proposed approach to technical amendments to NI domestic legislation relating to food and feed safety and hygiene, food compositional standards and food labelling (including nutrition labelling).
The World Health Organization (WHO) is planning to update figures on the burden of foodborne diseases by 2025.
At a meeting of the WHO Executive Board in February in Switzerland, experts discussed food safety under “accelerating efforts on food safety” and recommended adoption of a resolution on “strengthening efforts on food safety.”
It is highly unlikely that SARS-CoV-2 is a food safety risk, according to an international group of scientists.
The International Commission for Microbiological Specifications of Foods (ICMSF) is a non-governmental organization and an observer to Codex Alimentarius. The chair is Martin Cole and members include Darrell W. Donahue and Lucia Anelich, as well as consultants Robert Buchanan and Jeffrey M. Farber.
Received: 3 July 2020; Accepted: 1 August 2020; Published: 6 August 2020
Fraud in animal food products.pdf
Abstract: Animal origin food products, including fish and seafood, meat and poultry, milk and
dairy foods, and other related products play significant roles in human nutrition. However, fraud in
this food sector frequently occurs, leading to negative economic impacts on consumers and potential
risks to public health and the environment. Therefore, the development of analytical techniques that
can rapidly detect fraud and verify the authenticity of such products is of paramount importance.
A European system used by countries to report outbreaks saw a record number of alerts in 2019.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) hosts the Epidemic Intelligence Information System for food- and waterborne diseases (EPIS-FWD) platform. The network is a restricted web-based platform for experts to help with early detection and coordination of response to multi-country outbreaks through sharing information.
Food fraudsters have found myriad ways to trick shoppers – from cheap horsemeat sold as beef to conventional apples labelled as organic. But new rapid testing and tracing technologies may help turn the tables on food crime.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are being felt across the food supply network. Sterling Crew reviews the potential food authenticity challenges created by the pandemic and the mitigation of the emerging risks and threats.
Iceland has been told to improve official controls on ready-to-eat food by the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) monitors compliance with European Economic Area (EEA) rules in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
E. coli and Campylobacter can persist on dairy farms for months and contaminate unpasteurized, bulk tank milk despite some hygiene measures, according to a thesis.
Anniina Jaakkonen’s work investigated the frequency and contributing factors of milk contamination by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and Campylobacter jejuni on Finnish dairy farms. It is based on three publications: one in 2017 in the journal Zoonoses and Public Health, another in 2019 in Applied Environmental Microbiology and the final one in April this year in the journal PLoS ONE
