This in-person conference, which will be held in the morning or 26 January, will examine the way forward for food regulation and standards in the UK, and the evolving role of the regulators. Attendees will examine the proposals for a new food standards delivery model as part of the FSA’s consultation for updating the Food Law Code of Practice in England - with an expected focus on how resources can be improved and utilised to manage food safety risk. There will be keynote sessions with Professor Susan Jebb, Chair, Food Standards Agency; Geoff Ogle, Chief Executive, Food Standards Scotland; and Helen Munday, President, Institute of Food Science & Technology.
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The research explores the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of university students relating to food safety, food security, diet, and other food-related topics; and, identifies the experiences and challenges of university students living in halls of residence and shared accommodation.
Irish authorities have issued a warning about cannabis edibles after a number of hospitalizations this past month.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) National Social Inclusion Office said there has been an emergence of synthetic cannabinoids in jellies, known as gummies in the United States, and sweets sold as cannabis and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products.
A few hospitalizations occurred following the consumption of Jolly Rancher jellies in December 2022 in the Tipperary region. Analysis from Forensic Science Ireland found these edible products contained substances known as synthetic cannabinoids.
The objective of the call is to provide support services for the phases of expert knowledge elicitation (EKE) as input into EFSA outputs using EFSA's expert knowledge elicitation methods, but also any other EKE method with a defined protocol, depending on the specific request, the type of question, the available resources (e.g. time, staff involvement, etc.) and number of elicited experts in specific EFSA areas like chemical risk assessment; microbial risk assessment; environmental risk assessment; human nutrition; animal health and welfare risk assessment; plant health risk assessment.
The call has 4 lots, in the total estimated value of EUR 900,000 and aims for conclusion of multiple framework contracts in cascade for four years with up to three contractors for each of the 4 independent lots:
Lot 1 – General Support for Expert Knowledge Elicitation using EFSA EKE methods
Lot 2 – Specific Support for Expert Knowledge Elicitation in Food-related Human Health Assessment
Lot 3 – Specific Support for Expert Knowledge Elicitation in Plant Health Risk Assessment
Lot 4 – Specific Support for Expert Knowledge Elicitation in Animal Health and Animal Welfare.
More information is avaible at TED eTendering website ref. OC/EFSA/MESE/2022/05 and notified via EFSA website here.
The call is open until Wednesday 8 February 2023 (14:30).
Oysters from Ireland have been linked to illnesses in Hong Kong. In other news from the region, China is lifting a 2020 ban on beef exports due to BSE this week.
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in Hong Kong ordered the industry to suspend the import of raw oysters harvested in Carlingford Lough in Ireland.
Voluntary approaches to tackle certain mycotoxins in dried figs and pistachios in Turkiye don’t seem to be working, according to the European Commission’s health and safety agency.
A remote DG Sante audit, in May and June 2022, included authorities, laboratories, producers, and exporters.
The assessment followed regular Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) notifications in recent years for aflatoxins in pistachios and dried figs imported from Türkiye. In 2021, there were 53 reports of aflatoxin in dried figs and 27 for pistachios. There are no EU limits for ochratoxin A in dried figs but five RASFF alerts were issued in 2021.
Scientists have improved knowledge about the doses of food allergens that can result in allergic reactions.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Food Allergens met to establish the level of several food allergens that are not expected to result in serious health risks among the majority of consumers.
More than half of food recalls in the United Kingdom over a 5-year period were due to allergens, according to a recently released study.
Allergen-related recalls increased annually until 2019, peaking at 118 before decreasing to 82 and 84 in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The reduction was potential because of direct and indirect impacts of the COVID pandemic and improved labeling, said researchers.
Abstract
Knowledge of thresholds constitutes a critical requirement to assessing the risk from allergens, as they are a characteristic of the hazard that allergens present to the food-allergic population.
FAO and WHO reconvened the Ad hoc Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Food Allergens for a second meeting to provide scientific advice on review and establish threshold levels in foods for the priority allergens.
The expert committee concurred that the benchmark dose/probabilistic hazard assessment approach aligned most closely with the requests of the Codex Committees. After extensive discussion, the expert committee reached a consensus on reference doses (RfD) for priority allergenic foods, meeting the criterion for HBGV that they should reflect a range of exposure without appreciable health risk.
Abstract
Background: The disinfection process represents an important activity closely linked to the removal of micro-organisms in common processing systems. Traditional disinfectants are often not sufficient to avoid the spread of food pathogens; therefore, innovative strategies for decontamination are crucial to countering microbial transmission. This study aims to assess the antimicrobial efficiency of tetrapotassium iminodisuccinic acid salt (IDSK) against the most common pathogens present on surfaces, especially in food-borne environments. Methods: IDSK was synthesized from maleic anhydride and characterized through nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy (both 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The antibacterial activity was performed via the broth microdilution method and time-killing assays against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enterica, Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (IDSK concentration range: 0.5–0.002 M). The biofilm biomass eradicating activity was assessed via a crystal violet (CV) assay. Results: The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of IDSK was 0.25 M for all tested strains, exerting bacteriostatic action. IDSK also reduced biofilm biomass in a dose-dependent manner, reaching rates of about 50% eradication at a dose of 0.25 M. The advantages of using this innovative compound are not limited to disinfecting efficiency but also include its high biodegradability and its sustainable synthesis. Conclusions: IDSK could represent an innovative and advantageous disinfectant for food processing and workers’ activities, leading to a better quality of food and safer working conditions for the operators.
Salmonella, E. coli, and Yersinia infections all went up in 2021, according to new data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
A previous article covered statistics for Hepatitis A, Campylobacter, and Listeria.
Thirty countries reported 61,236 salmonellosis cases, of which 60,494 were laboratory-confirmed in 2021. This was an increase of 14 percent from 53,163 cases in 2020.
While the number of HPAI virus detections in sea bird breeding colonies came down since the previous reporting period (June to September 2022), the number of cases in water birds and poultry has increased. The rise in the number of outbreaks in poultry since the summer is suspected to be linked to the spread of the virus via water birds. Detailed information on the number and evolution of cases can be found in a new interactive dashboard published by EFSA.
The ongoing HPAI epidemic is the largest ever observed in Europe. In the first year of the epidemic, which ran from October 2021 to September 2022, a total of 2,520 outbreaks in poultry, 227 in captive birds, and 3,867 detections in wild birds were notified in 37 European countries. Some 50 million birds were culled in affected farms. The unusual persistence of HPAI in wild birds and poultry throughout the summer of 2022 means that for the first time there was no clear separation between the end of the first year of the epidemic and the beginning of this year’s HPAI season, which began in October 2022.
Statistics on six diseases causing the most food and waterborne infections in Europe have been published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The most recent data shows hepatitis A cases in 2021 were at their lowest since EU-level surveillance began in 2007, while five other diseases rose toward pre-pandemic levels.
A food safety platform in the United Kingdom has selected an initial batch of projects to receive grants.
The UK Food Safety Research Network (FSRN) will fund six projects with amounts ranging from £30,000 ($36,100) to £62,000 ($74,700).
Each project involves researchers partnering with companies or government agencies in the food sector.
The cost of food is the main concern for people this Christmas but safety is still important, according to a survey.
Research from safefood revealed that almost 4 in 10 people in Ireland are concerned about getting Christmas dinner right. The group safefood promotes food safety and nutrition in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Multiple cooks, meals, desserts and people running in and out of the kitchen can make the holidays chaotic. But nothing can add to all that chaos, like food poisoning. Luckily, there are a few rules to help avoid a food poisoning nightmare before Christmas.
Here are four simple rules to keep your family safe this holiday season — clean, separate, cook and chill.
Although Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) have been isolated from a variety of food production animals, they are most commonly associated with ruminants from which we derive meat and milk. Because of the widespread and diverse nature of ruminant-derived food production, coupled with the near ubiquity of STEC worldwide, there is no single definitive solution for controlling STEC that will work alone or in all situations. Instead, the introduction of multiple interventions applied in sequence, as a “multiple-hurdle scheme” at several points throughout the food chain (including processing, transport and handling) will be most effective.
Since the publication of the 2004 risk assessment, outbreaks of illness and resultant deaths due to L. monocytogenes continue to occur across the globe. Continued effort is needed to summarize and critically evaluate the most recent information on L. monocytogenes in RTE foods. New data to improve and further inform the 2004 Risk Assessment is available for nearly every factor considered previously, including new quantitative data on L. monocytogenes contamination of foods.
To facilitate this work, an FAO/WHO expert meeting was held by virtual means from 20 October to 6 November 2020 to review and discuss the available data and background documents, and to assess the need to modify and update risk assessment models/tools. This report focuses on the deliberations and conclusions of the expert meeting.
Two final reports on controls measures for E. coli and for Listeria in ready-to-eat food have been unveiled by FAO and WHO.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published the complete reports as part of the microbiological risk assessment series.
A fatal Listeria outbreak in the United Kingdom has been traced to a salmon-smoking processing factory in Scotland.
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have now named the company involved in the outbreak that has affected 15 people since October 2020 in England, Scotland, and Wales. Nine patients have become ill since January 2022, with many of them eating ready-to-eat smoked fish before falling sick.
