Posts from the "Topics" category
NZ: Herb grower’s supermarket parsley tests positive for Listeria
The New Zealand Herald: A fresh herb grower has confirmed its Italian parsley, which was stocked by two New World supermarkets in the Auckland region, has tested positive for Listeria.
Tasman Bay Herbs voluntarily withdrew its full range of products from stockists on Monday, but has now narrowed the presence of the bacteria down to the Italian parsley, which was sold to New World Victoria Park and Warkworth, in the Auckland region.
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AU: Counterfeit food threatens Australia’s international reputation
ABC Radio National: Australian food producers and exporters are calling on the federal government to do more to protect the nation’s clean, green image against a rising tide of counterfeiting.
Unscrupulous foreign operators are taking advantage of Australia’s reputation for quality food by counterfeiting labels and packaging to sell their own inferior and potentially unsafe product in international markets.
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CH: Food safety fears spark growing taste for imported fruit among China’s middle class
South China Morning Post: Longstanding fears over food safety standards on the mainland –
including frequent reports of residue left on domestic fruit after the excessive use of pesticides and swelling and ripening agents – have led to a craze among China’s growing middle class for imported prime fruits in recent years.
Avocados shipped in from Mexico were now the fastest increasing item, said Mabel Zhuang, China consultant of the global fresh produce trade organisation, Produce Marketing Association.
Read Article →US: Seeking alternatives for reducing bacteria in fresh produce
Farm and Dairy: A team of researchers at Wayne State University have been exploring natural, safe and alternative antimicrobials to reduce bacterial contamination. Plant essential oils such as those from thyme, oregano and clove are known to have a strong antimicrobial effect, but currently their use in food protection is limited due to their low solubility in water.
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UK: A large Great Britain-wide outbreak of STEC O157 phage type 8 linked to handling of raw leeks and potatoes
Epidemiology & Infection: Between December 2010 and July 2011, 252 cases of STEC [Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli] O157 PT8 stx1 + 2 infection were reported in England, Scotland and Wales. This was the largest outbreak of STEC reported in England and the second largest in the UK to date. Eighty cases were hospitalized, with two cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome and one death reported.
Read Article →US: FDA publishes draft guidance for expedited importer program
Food Safety News: One requirement of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop a program to expedite food imports to the U.S. from importers with a proven food safety track record.
On Thursday, FDA published draft guidance for industry explaining how the new fee-based Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP) will work.
Read Article →US: Inspectors find Listeria at Bidart Bros. cooling and packing house
Food Safety News: Inspector observations from the investigation into the role of Bidart Bros. in last year’s 12-state outbreak of Listeriosis involving commercially produced, prepackaged caramel apples found that the problem could well have originated in the California grower’s apple cooler and packing facility.
That outbreak required the hospitalization of 34 of 35 people from 12 states who were sickened. Before the outbreak ended, seven of them were dead, and Listeriosis was blamed for the deaths of at least three of them.
Areas inside the Bidart Bros. packing plant where Listeria positives were found were on polishing brushes, drying brushes, packing line drain, inside a wood bin, and on an automatic line.
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Food Standards releases revised frozen berry risk statement, writes Richard Bennett
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has released its risk statement on ready-to-eat (RTE) frozen berries and hepatitis A virus (HAV) following an extensive review of the incident involving Patties Foods. Using an internationally recognised food safety risk assessment approach, FSANZ has concluded that “…hepatitis A virus in RTE berries produced and handled under Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) is not a medium to high risk to public health.â€
Read Article →US: The importance of food traceability
Food Safety News: Traceability has become increasingly important. The global food supply chain today has evolved into a tangled web as companies seek to enhance their capabilities to feed the world’s growing population. While food safety problems remain rare, when they do occur, time is the enemy as public health and lives are at stake, as well as the livelihoods of industries, companies and employees. The Global Food Traceability Center is intended to assist companies to better understand and implement ways to track and trace the paths of products through the food chain, to improve food safety and security and to avoid or mitigate devastating public health and economic impacts.
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US: Source of Cucumber-Linked Outbreak Determined Too Late to Alert the Public
Food Safety News: In late February, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a detailed report describing a summer 2014 outbreak of Salmonella linked to cucumbers grown in the Delmarva region of Maryland.
The outbreak resulted in 275 confirmed illnesses and the death of one man. Considering that CDC estimates only one in 30 Salmonella cases are confirmed, the outbreak is believed to have had a wide-reaching impact on consumers.
Given the size of this Salmonella outbreak, some consumers were surprised and even alarmed to first hear about it several months after it ended. Why did CDC not previously alert the public, as they do with many other foodborne illness outbreaks?
Click here to read the full article from Food Safety News.