The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is undertaking a competition for the purpose ofidentifying a suitable candidate for appointment to the position of:
Temporary Technical Executive
Public Health Nutrition Policy
Fixed Term (2 years)

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 Ecoli, STEC, VTEC, O157…confused about the terms used for different groups of Escherichia coli and their relative food safety risks?

Knowledge is power which is why in our microbiology ambassador’s October update, Roy Betts details the difference between these groups of E. coli and causes of previous outbreaks to help you avoid similar pitfalls.

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College of Agriculture Food & Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), Loughry Campus offers a wide range of accredited and non-accredited training courses aimed specifically at the food industry. Like every other aspect of provision, CAFRE has had to adapt the way it delivers programmes in light of the current pandemic.

Fortunately, we have moved our most popular courses online. Many of the courses are accredited by Highfield Qualifications and Royal Society for Public Health. The courses that are being offered this year include:

• Level 2 Award in Food Safety for Manufacturing
• Level 2 Award in Understanding HACCP
• Level 2 Award in Identifying & Controlling Food Allergy Risks
• Level 3 Award in Food Safety for Manufacturing
• Level 3 Award in Understanding how to develop a HACCP plan
• Level 3 Award in Understanding how to develop a HACCP plan for the meat industry
• Level 3 Award in Effective Auditing and Inspection

The first of these courses will commence on Monday 2^nd November 2020. Level 4 programmes are scheduled to be offered in 2021.

All course materials have been moved to a platform called CAFRE Online. Leaners can complete the units at home or in the workplace. Each course will have a specific release date and examination date. Applications are completed online. Learners can then access the course online over a specified time period. For the majority of courses a text book will be provided. Those enrolling on the course will have the flexibility to learn at a pace suitable to their needs.  

Tutor support will be offered by a member of the CAFRE Food Industry Training team. In order to gain the accredited qualification, candidates are required to attend Loughry Campus on a specific date to sit their examination. The examinations will adhere to COVID-19 guidelines.

To find out more please contact Catherine Devlin. Phone 028 867 68114 or email catherine.devlin@daera-ni.gov.uk

The head of the Food Standards Agency has said she is increasingly worried about the impact of local authority funding shortages on food safety.

Emily Miles said the coronavirus pandemic has served as a reminder of the financial problems local authorities have had to contend with in recent years. The FSA chief executive spoke on day two of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) food safety conference, which runs through today. For highlights of day one click here.

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More than 120 people are part of a multi-country Salmonella outbreak linked to Brazil nuts.

Since August 2019, the outbreak, caused by Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Anatum, has affected three European Union countries, the United Kingdom and Canada. The United States was one of more than 30 countries that received Brazil nuts from Bolivia contaminated with Salmonella.

In total, 123 cases of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported, of which 105 were in the UK, 14 in France, three in Luxembourg and one each in the Netherlands and Canada. One Salmonella Anatum patient was recorded in the UK.

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The head of the Food Standards Agency has said she is increasingly worried about the impact of local authority funding shortages on food safety.

Emily Miles said the coronavirus pandemic has served as a reminder of the financial problems local authorities have had to contend with in recent years. The FSA chief executive spoke on day two of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) food safety conference, which runs through today. For highlights of day one click here.

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Almost 400 people have fallen ill with Salmonella since the start of the year in the United Kingdom after eating frozen chicken products.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Public Health England (PHE) are investigating a rise in patients with two strains of Salmonella Enteritidis linked to frozen raw breaded processed chicken products.

Cases of Salmonella linked to raw breaded chicken products have been identified in previous years, however there has been an increase in 2020.

There have been 327 people sick in England, 32 in Scotland, 26 in Wales and five in Northern Ireland.

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More than half of respondents, including people from the U.S., to a survey feel food safety is a top three global issue.

The study from the Mars Global Food Safety Center (GFSC), that surveyed people in the United States, United Kingdom and China, found 77 percent of people think food safety is a top 10 worldwide problem.

KRC Research conducted the survey online with 1,754 adults aged 18 to 65 in mid-September. Respondents include 502 each from the U.S. and UK and 750 in China.

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The Food Standards Agency and Public Health England are reminding people to take care when handling and cooking frozen raw breaded chicken products at home, such as nuggets, goujons, dippers, poppers and kievs.

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A global food safety network has been involved in almost double the number of incidents in the past few years.

INFOSAN was active during 162 food safety events across all regions in 2018 and 2019. This included 84 in 2019 and 78 in 2018. It was involved in 84 international incidents during 2016 and 2017.

The International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN), launched in 2004, is managed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

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This report of the European Food Safety Authority Advisory Forum Task Force on Data Collection and Data Modelling presents the outcomes of the discussions of the Task Force related to data collection and reporting processes, data models, IT infrastructure and data analysis. The objective of the Task Force was to deliver strategic recommendations to EFSA, to the European Commission and to Member States on food chain safety data, theirmanagement and use.The report includes summaries of initiatives and recommendations flowing from other discussion groups which are of relevance to the topic and context, e.g. the European Interoperability Framework. The report also contains the resultingvision of a future ideal food safety system, conclusions and recommendations foridentified quick wins, short‐to medium‐term and long‐term actions

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The 19^th issue (vol 9 | issue 2) of the International Journal of Food Studies, second issue of the 9^th year of publication, is now online.

First of all, we hope to find you safe and in good health!

This issue counts with the last two invited papers from the 5^th International ISEKI Food Conference - ISEKI Food 2018 - The Food System Approach - New challenges for Education, Research and Industry, in the area of Education methods, one invited paper from the 2^nd edition of the International School on Modeling and Simulation in Food and BioProcesses, together with more six research papers and one critical review paper of scientific literature.

We take the opportunity to announce and invite you to participate at the e-conference organised and supported by the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest (UASVM of Bucharest) and the ISEKI-Food Association in collaboration with the ISEKI-Food Special Interest Group (SIG) "Food Structure and Bionanotechnology". This e-conference will take place from 18 - 19 November 2020 and will be focused on topics "From production to consumption" for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system.

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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are industrial chemicals which are used in several industrial processes and consumer products, due to their special technical properties. This group of substances includes more than 4,700 different compounds.

In the perfluoroalkyl substances sub-group, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) are the most thoroughly studied substances. Like many PFAS, these two compounds are not readily degradable, and are now detectable in the environment, the food chain, and in humans.

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Can edible insects trigger allergies? In September 2020, the BfR launched a new joint research project to protect consumers from potential allergic reactions: Allergen-Pro. The aim:
to establish methods for the in-depth analysis of allergens in food and to describe their impact on those with allergies. Seven partners from Switzerland and Germany are involved in
developing suitable and reproducible detection methods for insect components in food products.

Those with food allergies must avoid allergens in food. Health problems can be triggered by even the smallest traces for those affected. This is why manufacturers of ready-made foods
must list the ingredients on the packaging. A special declaration obligation applies to major allergens, such as peanuts, celery or egg, even if these are only found in small quantities in
the recipe.

However, the declaration of allergens that inadvertently enter a food, in other words which are not part of the regular ingredients, is not regulated. These kinds of inadvertent allergenic entries can happen due to transport and production conditions, for example, and pose a health risk to those with allergies.

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Listeria was detected in almost a quarter of frozen vegetable samples in England, according to a study.

Between December 2018 and April 2019, 1,050 frozen fruit and vegetable samples were collected. Listeria monocytogenes or other Listeria species were detected in 167 samples of vegetables. Listeria monocytogenes was present in 10 percent of frozen vegetables.

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Officials in Sweden and Denmark are investigating a hepatitis A outbreak with frozen imported berries suspected to be the source of infection.

Since mid-July, nine patients with the same type of hepatitis A virus have been reported from five different regions in Sweden. The latest patient fell ill on Sept. 18.

Six women and three men from Norrbotten, Västra Götaland, Stockholm, Uppsala and Södermanland are infected with the liver virus. Patients range from 2 to 78 years old. Also, a couple of people are ill in Denmark.

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