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
The Food Standards Agency with Ipsos Mori and Bright Harbour carried out research in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to monitor the experience and behaviours of consumers when it comes to key food risks during the pandemic.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to threaten global health. Although global and national AMR action plans are in place, infection prevention and control is primarily discussed in the context of health care facilities with home and everyday life settings barely addressed. As seen with the recent
global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, everyday hygiene measures can play an important role in containing the threat from infectious microorganisms. This position paper has been developed following a meeting of global experts in London, 2019. It presents evidence that home and community settings are important for infection transmission and also the acquisition and spread of AMR. It also demonstrates that the targeted hygiene approach offers a framework for maximizing protection against colonization and infections, thereby reducing antibiotic prescribing and minimizing selection pressure for the development of antibiotic resistance.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today reported that one Closure Order and one Prohibition Order were served on food businesses during the month of August for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the FSAI Act, 1998. The Closure and Prohibition Orders were issued by environmental health officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE) and authorised officers in the FSAI.
A Drexel University research team is developing a cold plasma wash water treatment that could kill harmful pathogens and be used with delicate fresh produce with no adverse quality effects, low cost operations and no added chemicals. This is a potentially huge breakthrough as delicate fresh produce, like romaine lettuce, is difficult to clean and can contain potentially harmful pathogens.
The Food Standards Agency with Ipsos Mori and Bright Harbour carried out research in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to monitor the experience and behaviours of consumers when it comes to key food risks during the pandemic.
The Food Standards Agency commissioned social research to develop its evidence base on issues affecting consumers and businesses in order to inform its COVID-19 response. The published data includes waves from April to July 2020, the data from future waves will be published in due course.
Ipsos Mori were commissioned to track consumer attitudes through an omnibus survey. Bright Harbour were commissioned to produce qualitative reports on the lived experience of people living in food insecurity during COVID-19 and the impact on consumers’ engagement with the food system in June and July 2020.
Additionally, we undertook in house social media listening to support our insight gathering around the impact of COVID-19 on food safety, food authenticity and food regulation.
In addition, the COVID-19 expert panel was set up to help identify the most important implications of the COVID-19 outbreak in relation to food policy. The FSA drew on its networks of leading researchers and industry experts between April and July 2020.
