Food Safety News and Resources | January
January 2024
29 January | Food Safety News and Free Resources1 |
Recall: Listeria in leafy greens (USA) |
Unusual Recall: Moth Larvae in crispbreads and biscuits (crackers) |
Resources: Reviews of current evidence for the impacts of certain food contaminants on the human gut microbiome (FAO) |
Webinar – Demystifying Allergen Quantitative Risk Assessment (On Demand) |
Webinar - U.S. Food Import Regulations Explained: Essential Steps & Requirements |
Webinar - Implementing an FSSC 22000 Version 6 Compliant Food Safety and Quality Management System, 2nd February |
⚠Recall: Listeria in leafy greens (USA)
Fresh baby spinach and salad kits have been recalled after routine sampling by the supplier found Listeria monocytogenes in the spinach. The salad kits were recalled because they may have been exposed to cross-contamination.
❔🦋 Unusual Recall: Moth Larvae in crispbreads and biscuits (crackers)
A company in the United Kingdom has recalled crispbreads and biscuits (crackers) because of the presence of moth larvae, which the Food Standards Agency (FSA) says makes the products unsafe to eat.
This is unusual because insect larvae haven’t always been considered a food safety hazard, but rather a quality problem, and in the past their presence might not have prompted a regulatory-level food safety recall, but rather a voluntary market withdrawal.
Safety concerns may be related to allergens because insect proteins may trigger allergic responses in consumers with crustacean allergies.
https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-03-2024
📖 Resources: Reviews of current evidence for the impacts of certain food contaminants on the human gut microbiome (FAO)
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has published detailed literature reviews to assess the scientific evidence regarding the impact of certain food contaminants on the human gut microbiome and their potential effects on human health. The reviews take a food safety focus and seek to advance knowledge for food safety risk assessments. The three contaminant groups are:
Pesticide residues in food
Veterinary drug residues in food
Microplastics in food
https://www.fao.org/food-safety/news/news-details/en/c/1638888/
🎓 Webinar – Demystifying Allergen Quantitative Risk Assessment (On Demand)
During this webinar, ILSI Europe experts provide tools and methods to streamline the process of collecting data for food allergen risk assessments, thereby facilitating their implementation. The video is an accompaniment to guidance published by ILSI in 2022.
🎓 Webinar - U.S. Food Import Regulations Explained: Essential Steps & Requirements, 31st January
In this webinar hosted by Eurofins Food Assurance North America, you will gain the clarity and confidence you need in importing food products into the United States.
Register here:
🎓 Webinar - Implementing an FSSC 22000 Version 6 Compliant Food Safety and Quality Management System, 2nd February
This free webinar hosted by IFSQN introduces the FSSC 22000 Certification Scheme.
Register here:
Implementing an FSSC 22000 Version 6 Compliant Food Safety and Quality (webinarjam.com)
📌 Food Fraud News 📌
In this week’s food fraud news:
📌 A wine trader shares his experience with wine fraud;
📌 More insights into the olive oil crisis;
📌 Eggs (England and Scotland);
📌 Illegally transhipped seafood.
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
22 January | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
Large outbreak from drinking water (China) |
Cinnamon-apple puree + lead chromate update (USA) |
Boron and off-flavours in carbonated water (Germany) |
World first: Cultivated beef approved for sale (Israel) |
Weird food recall – Betel Nuts in Mouth Freshener (Denmark) |
Guidance: How to prevent birds in food facilities |
Webinar - Removing the Pinch Points in Your Food Safety Plan |
Webinar - FSSC 22000 Version 6: What the New Changes Mean to Your Organization |
Webinar - AI in Food Safety: Current Applications and Future Possibilities |
🤢 Almost 1000 sickened with Campylobacter and Sapovirus in drinking water (China)
Details from an investigation into an outbreak that affected almost one thousand patients have been released. The patients were students and staff from a school and tested positive for Campylobacter coli and human Sapovirus. The symptoms were acute gastroenteritis. The victims had drunk water from a groundwater source well on the school campus which investigators said was not managed effectively. A nearby garbage station and an uncovered sewerage well are thought to have been the sources of contamination.
🧪 Cinnamon-apple puree + lead chromate update
The latest update from the US FDA on the cinnamon apple puree recall and illnesses is dated 16th January. It contains new case numbers, with a total of 354 (CDC) probable, confirmed and suspected cases. No new insights into the contamination of the product have been available since we last reported on this issue. The FDA says its investigation is “ongoing”.
🚱 Boron and off-flavours in carbonated water
Carbonated spring water from Turkiye has been banned from sale by German authorities because it contains too-high levels of boron (5.4 mg/L) and unsuitable organoleptic characteristics.
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/656227
🥩 World first: Cultivated beef approved for sale
Israel has approved the sale of foods made with/from cultivated beef, a first for beef globally.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-world-first-israel-approves-cultured-beef-for-sale-to-the-public/
⚠ Weird food recall – Betel Nuts in mouth freshener (Denmark)
Mouth freshener has been recalled in Denmark because it contains the non-authorised novel food Betel Nuts.
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/658531
📖 Guidance: How to prevent birds in food facilities
This long blog post, published in Quality Assurance Mag provides an expert and comprehensive introduction to bird prevention and control for food facilities.
https://www.qualityassurancemag.com/article/steps-to-preventing-birds-in-food-facilities/
🎓 Free Webinar - Removing the Pinch Points in Your Food Safety Plan, 24th January
Sponsored by SafetyChain, this online event will discuss what areas to target to reduce potential risk within your food safety plan and how closing up these pinch points will create business opportunities.
Register here: Webinar Registration - Zoom
🎓 Free Webinar - FSSC 22000 Version 6: What the New Changes Mean to Your Organization, 24th January
Hosted by Intertek Alchemy, this webinar will help you prepare for your next audit and ensure your Food Safety Management System meets the FSSC 22000 Version 6 code.
Register here: Registration (gotowebinar.com)
🎓 Free Webinar - AI in Food Safety: Current Applications and Future Possibilities, 30th January
Hosted by FoodSafety Magazine, this webinar will explore the current uses of AI in food production, quality control, and food safety.
Register here: AI in Food Safety: Current Applications and Future Possibilities Registration (onlinexperiences.com)
15 January | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
Hepatitis A timebomb (USA) |
Recall: Instant oatmeal for Salmonella (USA) |
Recall of poached (but not poached) scallops (USA) |
Nanoplastics in bottled water - new information |
How antimicrobial resistance develops in food pathogens – new research |
Guidance: Prevention and control of microbiological hazards in fresh fruits and vegetables (WHO) |
Guidance: Measures for the control of non-typhoidal Salmonella species in poultry meat (WHO) |
Webinar - Establish a Sanitation Break: Supporting a Holistic Food Safety Program with Microbial Decontamination |
Webinar - Navigating Allergen Labeling Requirements: An update on Regulations and Advances in Analytical Testing |
🤮 Hepatitis A Timebomb (USA)
Imagine getting a call from health authorities saying you MIGHT come down with Hepatitis A in the next month after eating at a place where a food handler tested positive.
Hep A is no fun at all. It can make you very sick and leave you with permanent liver damage. The incubation period is quite long, up to 7 weeks, so it could be months before the true extent of any outbreak is known.
🍏 Learn more about hepatitis A in Issue 102 🍏
Diners at a restaurant in New Jersey (USA) have potentially been exposed to Hepatitis A and health authorities are warning diners to seek medical advice.
https://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/hepatitis-a-has-an-eye-on-olive-garden/
⚠Recall: Instant oatmeal for Salmonella (USA)
Dozens of oat-based products including instant oatmeal, snack bars and granola bars have been recalled in the USA because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, although no confirmed illnesses have been noted by the FDA.
⚠Recall of poached (but not poached) scallops (USA)
Stealing food animals is often called ‘poaching’. Lightly boiled seafood is also known as ‘poached’ seafood. Confusing.
Whole live scallops from an unlicensed harvester and which were falsely claimed to have been legitimately harvested from safe growing waters have been recalled. They were sold to a seafood distributor which sold them to restaurants, wholesalers and retailers across multiple US states. The scallops are believed to have been harvested from prohibited waters, rendering them potentially unsafe.
👩🔬 Nanoplastics present at 10 to 100 times greater than expected in bottled water
New research has found much greater quantities of nanoplastics than were previously thought to be present in bottled water. The nanoplastics were identified using stimulated Raman scattering microscopy on samples of three brands of water packaged in plastic bottles. The particles included polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from the packaging and polyamide, likely from water filters used during production processes.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2300582121
🦠 How antimicrobial resistance develops in food pathogens and food supply chains – new research
A new study using hundreds of bacterial isolates from farms, farm animals and abattoirs provides more insights into how antimicrobial resistance genes are shared between food pathogens within food supply chains and environments.
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/chicken-farms-breeding-ground-for-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria
📖 Guidance: Prevention and control of microbiological hazards in fresh fruits and vegetables (WHO)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published guidance documents Prevention and control of microbiological hazards in fresh fruits and vegetables – Parts 1 & 2 General Principles, Part 3 Sprout and Part 4 Specific commodities as part of its microbiological risk assessment series.
https://www.fao.org/3/cc8490en/cc8490en.pdf and
https://www.fao.org/3/cc3810en/cc3810en.pdf and
https://www.fao.org/3/cc7460en/cc7460en.pdf
📖 Guidance: Measures for the control of non-typhoidal Salmonella species in poultry meat (WHO)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published the report Measures for the control of non-typhoidal Salmonella spp. in poultry meat as part of its microbiological risk assessment series.
https://www.fao.org/3/cc9026en/cc9026en.pdf
🎓 Free Webinar - Establish a Sanitation Break: Supporting a Holistic Food Safety Program with Microbial Decontamination, 18th January
Sponsored by Ecolab, you will gain valuable insights from industry experts and learn new ways to add a layer of food safety protection to your facility in this free webinar.
Register here: Webinar Registration - Zoom
🎓 Free Webinar - Navigating Allergen Labeling Requirements: An update on Regulations and Advances in Analytical Testing, 18th January
In this webinar hosted by New Food, you will get an overview of labeling requirements for allergens and a review of analytical methods.
Register here: Navigating Allergen Labeling Requirements: An Update on Regulations and Advances in Analytical Testing (on24.com)
8 January | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
New Listeria fact sheets |
Shiga toxin producing E. coli in cheese, one death (UK) |
Wood in baby food (Canada) |
Cronobacter in rice cereal (Italy) |
Cronobacter in infant formula (North America, Europe) |
Pet foods recalled due to Listeria and Salmonella (USA) |
Webinar - AI in Food Safety: Current Applications and Future Possibilities |
🦠 New Listeria fact sheets
The US CDC has published new fact sheets for Listeria awareness for various vulnerable populations, as follows:
💀 Shiga toxin producing E. coli in cheese, one death (UK)
Cheese has been recalled in the United Kingdom because it may be contaminated with Shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC). The cheese is a hard cheese, Lancashire. At least 30 cases have been linked to the cheese and one person has died.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-67840758
⚠ Wood in baby food
Baby food has been recalled in Canada after a consumer complaint about piece(s) of wood in the product.
⚠ Cronobacter in rice cereal
Rice cereal product(s) have been withdrawn from the market in Italy, Albania, Greece and San Marino after the pathogen Cronobacter was discovered in them.
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/653678
⚠ Another infant formula brand affected by Cronobacter (North America, Europe)
The possible presence of Cronobacter sakazakii in infant formula has prompted a recall which began in Canada and the USA and has since expanded to the United Kingdom and Ireland. Spain has also posted a food safety alert for suspected Cronobacter sakazakii contamination in a special medical-purpose food manufactured in the U.S.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/01/reckitt-expands-infant-formula-recall/
🐕 Pet food recalled for Listeria and Salmonella contamination (USA)
Salmonella and Listeria bacteria were found in kitten and puppy food which is now being recalled. The pathogens pose a risk to pets and humans who handle the pet food. In a separate recall, parrot food (seed-based) was also recalled in the USA due to the presence of Salmonella.
https://www.foodpoisonjournal.com/food-poisoning-information/parrot-food-recalled-due-to-salmonella/
🎓 Webinar: AI in Food Safety: Current Applications and Future Possibilities, 24th Jan 2024
This free webinar, hosted by Food-Safety.com will address the following learning objectives:
Understand the current uses of AI in food production, quality control, and food safety
Learn how AI can help identify potential food safety hazards
Explore future AI applications for food safety
Understand the challenges of implementing AI in food safety and explore ways to overcome them
📌 Food Fraud News 📌
In this week’s food fraud news:
📌 Used cooking oil fraud is ‘rife’ in renewable fuel programs;
📌 Falsification of hygiene records exposed;
📌 ‘Counterfeit’ fresh eggs;
📌 Wheat flour adulteration.
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
Past Issues of Food Safety News
Food Safety News, December 2023
Food Safety News, November 2023
Food Safety News, October 2023