13 May | Food Safety News and Free Resources1 |
Man charged over ‘bodily fluids’ in food (USA) |
Recall: Organic walnuts for STEC E. coli (USA) |
Recall: Roasted nuts recalled for possible Listeria contamination (USA) |
Large outbreak: 547 sick with Salmonella (Vietnam)
Agricultural Water Rule Published (USA) |
Small scale plant production farms to be regulated (United Arab Emirates) |
Acrylamide Safety - new information |
Webinar - Protecting Your Brand: Key Strategies to Strengthen Food Safety Culture and Communication, 15th May |
Webinar - Success Factors for Developing and Implementing Effective Food Safety Training Programs, 15th May |
Webinar - IAFP’s Bridging Cybersecurity and Food Protection: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 15th May |
Webinar - How to Achieve Excellence in Food Safety Business Leadership, 16th May |
😰 Man charged over ‘bodily fluids’ in food (USA)
A 21 year old man has been charged over the contamination of food with ‘bodily fluids’, which occurred during one month while he was working at a restaurant. Police are calling for people who ate at the restaurant to report any symptoms they experienced.
⚠️ Recall: Organic walnuts for STEC E. coli (USA)
Shelled walnuts have been recalled because they are potentially contaminated with E. Coli 0157:H7. AT least 12 illnesses have been recorded. The walnuts were from a single farm and were sold in bulk to distributors and retailers who packed them or on-sold them in bulk. The FDA is warning retailers to clean and sanitise bulk bins that have contained organic walnuts from the affected farm.
“Retailers that received recalled product from a distributor but do not know the brand or lot code information, you should hold product, sanitize your bins, and contact your supplier.” US FDA
⚠️ Recall: Roasted nuts recalled for possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination (USA)
Something must have gone really wrong with post-cooking area sanitation to get Listeria in roasted nuts. No illnesses have been reported, but products with two best before dates are being recalled.
https://foodpoisoningbulletin.com/2024/planters-peanuts-and-mixed-nuts-recalled-for-listeria/
🦠 Large outbreak: 547 sick with Salmonella (Vietnam)
A large number of people have been sickened, with 466 discharged from hospital and 81 remaining in hospital after eating banh mi sandwiches, which contain pate, pork and raw vegetables, from a bakery. Patients tested positive for Salmonella. The sandwiches came from a bakery that did not have the correct food safety certifications and not all employees had the correct training or health certificates, a situation that is common to around 80% of bakeries in that area.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/05/hundreds-sick-in-vietnam-after-eating-at-bakery/
💧 Agricultural Water Rule Published (USA)
The US FDA has published a final rule covering preharvest agricultural water designed to minimise risks, which includes testing of pre-harvest water under certain circumstances, risk assessments for environmental conditions, adjacent land use, and mitigation measures. The rule requires farms to conduct assessments on their pre-harvest agricultural water. Enforcement dates range from 9 months to 33 months depending on the size of the farm.
🥬 Small scale plant production farms to be regulated (United Arab Emirates)
Small scale farms in Abu Dhabi will be subject to new regulations covering plant production and agricultural practices in Abu Dhabi.
🧪 Acrylamide Safety (New Information)
A new study of Italian consumers has considered the health burden of cancer from acrylamides in food. Researchers estimated the daily intake of acrylamide by Italians and concluded that dietary exposure does carry a risk of cancer for both men and women in Italy. The cancer risk was similar for men and women but varied with age. The Disability-adjusted Life Years (DALYs) per 100,000 individuals for cancer from acrylamide consumption was 12.3 – 25.4 for me and 11.4 – 24.1.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691524002655
🎓 Webinar - Protecting Your Brand: Key Strategies to Strengthen Food Safety Culture and Communication, 15th May
FoodChain ID will host a webinar that will feature two food industry experts who have navigated the challenges and development strategies to build and measure effective food safety culture and communication plans.
Register here:
🎓 Webinar - Success Factors for Developing and Implementing Effective Food Safety Training Programs, 15th May
Hosted by Neogen, participants will learn how to maintain learner engagement, ensure content retention, and provide teaching tips and techniques to help them become better educators.
Register here: Success Factors for Developing and Implementing Effective Food Safety Training Programs (on24.com)
🎓 Webinar - IAFP’s Bridging Cybersecurity and Food Protection: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 15th May
Hosted by IAFP, this webinar targeted for food protection professionals will distill the complexities of digital and cyber-physical integration into actionable insights.
Register here: Registration (gotowebinar.com)
🎓 Webinar - How to Achieve Excellence in Food Safety Business Leadership, 16th May
In this webinar hosted by Food Safety Magazine participants will gain insights on how to align food safety to business objectives, how to lead a food safety program as a value proposition for the business, and how to succeed in global food safety business leadership through the power of influence, among other topics.
Register here: How to Achieve Excellence in Food Safety Business Leadership Registration (onlinexperiences.com)
In this week’s food fraud news:
📌 Protein supplements mislabelled at alarming rates;
📌 Textile dyes in turmeric and chilli powder;
📌 Coffee containing undeclared pharmaceutical erectile drug;
📌 Fraud in fresh produce (warning).
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
6 May | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
Bird flu fragments in dairy products (USA) |
Recall: Fried onions for Staphylococcus aureus (USA) |
Recall trends (USA, Europe) |
Artificial smoke flavour declared unsafe and banned (Europe) |
Salmonella rules for NOT ready-to-eat food (USA) |
Ethylene oxide in spices from India |
Parasitic worms in canned fish (Malaysia) |
Webinar - Webinar - From Problem to Prevention: Implement Effective Root Cause Analysis and Corrective Actions |
Webinar - 4 Ways to Combat Rising Costs with Product Inspection: Flow Wrap Edition |
Webinar - Webinar - Food Hygiene and Sanitation Updates for Key GFSI-Benchmarked Schemes |
⚠️🧬 Bird flu fragments in dairy products (USA)
The US FDA and academic researchers have found fragments of viral RNA from avian influenza in milk, cottage cheese and sour cream (all pasteurized) at rates of 20% and 39% of samples respectively. This indicates the number of dairy herds infected with avian flu could be higher than previously suspected. There is no risk to humans from eating or drinking dairy foods from pasteurized milk, but consumers should avoid raw milk, undercooked beef and raw eggs.
⚠️ Recall: Fried onions for Staphylococcus aureus (USA)
Crispy fried onions have been recalled in the USA over fears of Staphylococcus aureus growth. S. aureus can produce a toxin when it grows in food. It is not usually associated with fried foods or vegetables.
⚠️ Recall Trends (USA, Europe)
Food recalls in the USA and food safety alerts in Europe are on track to be the highest for many years this year. Figures for the first quarter of 2024 predict that this year will have the highest number of recalls since 2018 for the US FDA and the highest number of EU Food RASFF notifications since 2014.
https://www.rqa-group.com/product-recall-bulletin-2024-q1/
🚫 Artificial smoke flavour declared unsafe and banned (Europe)
After the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reported that certain smoke flavours were unsafe to use in foods due to their cancer-causing properties and links to infertility, the EU parliament has now banned their use. There is a transition period before the bans will be enforced.
https://www.dutchnews.nl/2024/04/eu-bans-harmful-artificial-smoke-flavourings-for-food/
🦠 Salmonella rules for NOT ready-to-eat food (USA)
The USDA has introduced a new policy that declares Salmonella to be an ‘adulterant’ and hence not allowed in raw breaded stuffed chicken products that are not ready-to-eat, meaning they must be cooked before eating. The determination will be effective on May 1, 2025.
🧪 Ethylene oxide in spices from India
Regulatory authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore have warned others that spices from India, including of the Everest brand, contain ethylene oxide, an unauthorised pesticide/sterilant. The spices include Madras curry powder, Marsala and curry powder. Ethylene oxide contamination recalls have been an ongoing issue for multiple years, with the number of notifications lower now than in the past two years.
🪱 Parasitic worms in canned fish (Malaysia)
Canned sardines from China were found to contain Anisakis parasitic worms which can cause abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea, and vomiting when ingested. Reports do not reveal how or if the worms had survived the canning process.
🎓 Webinar - 4 Ways to Combat Rising Costs with Product Inspection: Flow Wrap Edition, 8th May
METTLER TOLEDO will be hosting a webinar that will include a demonstration of some of their most popular product inspection technologies to showcase their cutting-edge features and benefits in high-speed production environments.
Register here:
Quality Assurance for Flow Wrap Manufacturers | Live Webinar (mt.com)
🎓 Webinar - Food Hygiene and Sanitation Updates for Key GFSI-Benchmarked Schemes, 16th May
Hosted by New Food, this webinar will discuss how to maximize food safety, through compliance with the hygiene and sanitation requirements of the most popular GFSI benchmarked certification schemes.
Register here:
Food Hygiene and Sanitation Updates for Key GFSI-Benchmarked Schemes (vikan.com)
🎓 Webinar - From Problem to Prevention: Implement Effective Root Cause Analysis and Corrective Actions, 15th May
Hosted by Eurofins Food Assurance North America, the webinar will dive into the powerful duo of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Corrective Actions (CA), equipping you to tackle issues at their core.
Register here:
In this week’s food fraud news:
📌 Large scale grain fraud;
📌 Premium wines at risk;
📌 Illegal meat imports;
📌 Palm sugar fraud.
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
Past Issues of Food Safety News
Food Safety News, February 2024
Food Safety News, January 2024
Food Safety News, December 2023
Click here for important information about the news and resources provided by this publication. Note: No food safety news was published on 1st April 2024.