Food Safety News and Resources
November 2023
27 November | Food Safety News and Free Resources1 |
Sharp-eyed food vendor saves lives (USA) |
Bodily fluids in school cafeteria foods (USA) |
Deadly outbreak and recall of whole fruits (USA) |
Pesticide in baby foods (USA) |
Recalls expand for Salmonella fresh-cut fruit (North America) |
Redundancy Risk Management Requirements (USA) |
Free Webinar - Sanitation Best Practices at Retail
Free Symposium – Illicit Trade in Food and Food Fraud |
On-demand Webinar: Learning and Behaviour Science in Food Safety |
👁 Sharp-eyed food vendor spots a potentially deadly problem (USA)
If you see something, say something, that’s what we’re told.
Fortunately, someone who noticed a potentially deadly problem with salmon burgers did speak up. They may have saved someone’s life.
Salmon burgers that did not have sesame declared on the label have been recalled after a food vendor saw visible sesame seeds on the product. The manufacturer has also said the products may contain undeclared milk allergens.
👿 Bodily fluids in school cafeteria food “for the devil” (USA)
A school janitor who claimed he wanted to make children sick because he is a satanist has been remanded in custody for allegedly contaminating food and utensils in the school’s cafeteria, using bodily fluids and bleach. He was caught after someone alerted authorities to posts he made on the encrypted phone app Telegram in which he bragged about his actions.
💀 Deadly Outbreak and Recall: Whole, un-cut fruits for Listeria
Peaches, plums and nectarines are being recalled because they could be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The fruit was sold as individual pieces bearing stickers and in packages of whole fruit. Peaches from the recall, distributed in 2022 and 2023 have been linked to a listeriosis outbreak which caused 11 hospitalisations and one death.
https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/hmc-farms-voluntarily-recalls-whole-peaches-plums-and-nectarines-sold-retail-stores-2022-and-2023 and https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2023/11/one-dead-in-listeria-outbreak-traced-to-fresh-peaches/
🧪 Pesticides in baby food, good news (USA)
The Environmental Working Group, a US-based nonprofit has reported on a new survey of pesticides in baby food, saying they detected at least one type of the nine pesticides they looked for in 22 non-organic baby foods (n = 58) and no pesticides in organic products (n = 15). By comparison, a similar study performed in 1995 found a higher proportion of tested foods contained at least one pesticide and the pesticides detected in 1995 were “far more toxic and dangerous”.
⚠ Recalls expand for Salmonella-contaminated fresh-cut fruit (North America)
Multiple recalls related to the same outbreak of salmonellosis in Canada and the United States now affect at least 69 products, including fresh-cut cantaloupe and other fruits. At least 17 people have been hospitalised in the United States and there are 52 confirmed cases in Canada and the US.
⚖ Redundancy Risk Management Requirements (USA)
The US FDA has recently published a one-page guidance document for food businesses explaining their obligations to develop a redundancy risk management plan.
Manufacturers of critical foods are required to develop, maintain and implement such a plan, under a new act which came into force in December 2022. The act is the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act of 2022 (FDORA).
The FDA says a redundancy risk management plan “identifies and evaluates risks to the supply of the food, as applicable, for each establishment in which such food is manufactured. A risk management plan (1) may identify and evaluate risks to the supply of one or more critical food, or critical food category, manufactured in the same establishment, and (2) may identify mechanisms by which the manufacturer would mitigate the impacts of a supply disruption through alternative production sites, alternative suppliers, stockpiling of inventory, or other means.”
https://www.food-safety.com/articles/9049-fda-publishes-redundancy-risk-management-plan-guide-for-producers-of-critical-foods and https://www.fda.gov/media/173668/download?attachment
🎓 Free Webinar - “Sanitation Best Practices at Retail”, 7 December
Hosted by Virginia Tech (US), and part of their produce safety series, this webinar is about keeping retail back of house front of mind. For Produce safety industry, government, and academia.
Registration https://virginiatech.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4wUauQupSYa8XUInab4PCw#/registration
🎓 Free Symposium – Illicit Trade in Food and Food Fraud
The AGRICULTURE AND COMMODITIES DIVISION of the World Trade Organisation is hosting a two-day live virtual event for its ANNUAL AGRICULTURE SYMPOSIUM, on the topic of ILLICIT TRADE IN FOOD AND FOOD FRAUD. The dates are 11, 12 December 2023. The event will be live-streamed on YouTube and it appears that anyone can view. It is not known if the event will be recorded.
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/agri_11122023_e/agri_11122023_e.htm
🎓 On-demand Webinar: Learning and Behaviour Science in Food Safety
This free on-demand one-hour training discusses new formats of training to help food handlers retain knowledge and also covers “innovative solutions to increase food safety retention and behavioural change for foodservice workers including proven scientific methods in learning and development such as the “spacing effect”.
📌 Food Fraud News 📌
In this week’s food fraud news:
📌 Organic corn and soy fraud a “daily” occurrence;
📌 Recall document fraud;
📌 Olive oil warning from a national agency;
📌 MDMA-adulterated Champagne, new information;
📌 Halal food fraud, organic baby food, sugar and locust bean gum.
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
20 November | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
Update: lead in baby food recall (USA) |
Recall: blue poppy seeds (Europe) |
Recall: Pesto for Clostridium botulinum (Canada) |
Recall: Sprouted seeds with toxin-producing Bacillus cereus (Europe) |
Bio-contamination in chives (Europe) |
Fungal toxins in pasta (Europe) |
Chlorate in poultry meat (Europe) |
Ochratoxin in coffee |
Guidance: Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) for food safety |
Report: Microbial hazards in process water for fresh produce (Europe) |
Report: Food Standards Agency Annual Report (Australia) |
☠ Update: Lead in apple puree and applesauce products (USA)
More children are affected, and the countries of distribution have expanded to Cuba and the United Arab Emirates.
More information is available about the place of manufacture.
The US FDA has been praised for its uncharacteristically swift action for this recall.
Get the full story in this week’s issue of The Rotten Apple, Issue 115.
⚠ Recall: Blue poppy seeds with high opiate content (Europe)
Poppy seeds containing four times the maximum allowed quantities of morphine alkaloids have been withdrawn from the market in Romania. The seeds were from Slovakia and Spain, and were distributed in Poland and Romania
RASFF Notifications for blue poppy seeds
⚠Fungal toxins in whole grain pasta from Germany
A toxin (more properly a sclerotium) from the fungus rye ergot (Claviceps purpurea), was discovered in whole grain pasta, at levels almost 1.5 times the limit by authorities in Czech Republic. The toxin can cause ergotism in people who consume it. The pasta originated in Germany.
Mycotoxin-related food safety notifications are common for grains, and so we don’t usually report those. However, it is less common for high levels to be found in pastas.
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/643574
⚠Chlorate in poultry meat (Europe)
A significant number of recent EU border rejections of poultry meat for the presence of chlorates has been noted (thank you to Professor Louise Manning for the intel).
The rejected poultry meat originated in China or Thailand. Chlorates are chemical byproducts of the use of chlorine, chlorine dioxide and hypochlorites on/in food, food contact surfaces and processing water. Chlorine-treated poultry is banned in the European Union but allowed in other countries, including the United States.
RASFF search results for chlorate
⚠Recall: Pesto with risk of Clostridium botulinum (Canada)
A food company is recalling jarred pesto because it may permit the growth of Clostridium botulinum. No illnesses have been reported.
⚠Ochratoxin A in ground coffee from Kenya
Three notifications for the presence of ochratoxin A in ground roasted coffee, at up to 5 times the maximum/limit, have been recorded in the European Food Safety Alert System (RASFF) since 24th October. The coffee is reported to have originated in Kenya and Belgium
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/643960
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/643715
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/639507
⚠Recall: Sprouted organic broccoli seeds containing toxin-producing Bacillus cereus
Three countries in Europe have withdrawn, notified or recalled sprouted organic broccoli seeds which were found to contain 10^5 CFU per gram of diarrheal enterotoxin-producing Bacillus cereus during official checks.
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/643490
⚠ Alert: Chives contaminated with pyrrolizidine-alkaloids (Europe)
Ground chives contaminated with the bio-contaminant pyrrolizidine-alkaloids - possibly due to agricultural comingling with weeds - have been returned to their consignor after a company’s checks. The chives originated in Germany and were distributed in the Netherlands.
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/642013
📖 Guidance: Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) in Food Safety
New three-part guidance on whole genome sequencing (WGS) for food safety has been created by the World Health Organization (WHO). Module one introduces the concept of whole genome sequencing as a tool for foodborne disease surveillance and response. Module two covers the use of WGS in disease outbreak investigations. Module three covers the use of WGS in routine surveillance.
Module 1. https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/373459/9789240021228-eng.pdf?sequence=1
Module 2. https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/373460/9789240021242-eng.pdf?sequence=1
Module 3. https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/373522/9789240021266-eng.pdf?sequence=1
📖 Report: Microbial hazards in process water for fresh produce (Europe)
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a report on the microbial hazards associated with processing water used in the post-harvest handling of fresh and frozen fruit, vegetables and herbs.
https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/8332
📖 Food Standards Agency Report (Australia)
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has published its annual report for 2022 – 2023. The report provides updates on key proposals, such as proposals to amend food safety management requirements within the Food Standards Code, an overview of performance outcomes, including industry satisfaction with FSANZ’s recall information and assistance, as well as corporate compliance, financial statements and the like.
Highlight: Eighty percent of Australian and New Zealand consumers reported they have confidence in FSANZ.
📌 Food Fraud News 📌
In this week’s food fraud news:
🍏 A crazy story of lost KitKats worth $250,000;
🍏 Horizon scanning news for Italian white truffles;
🍏 Drugs and bananas (Norway);
🍏 Olive oil made by clandestine companies (Brazil);
🍏 Dozens of tonnes of adulterated cumin and pepper seized (India);
🍏 Wine production irregularities, including document fraud and hidden stores of sugar (Italy);
🍏 Rose petals for food use labelled as 'organic' but containing residues of unauthorised pesticides (Cyprus).
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
13 November | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
Twenty-four deaths from Streptococcus suis (Thailand) |
Update: lead in baby food recall (USA) |
Dangerous Coca-Cola-brand drinks prompt a recall (Croatia) |
😮 Probiotic baby supplement recalled after “serious adverse reactions” (USA) |
New compliance requirements for infant formula facilities (USA) |
Cyclospora outbreak (USA) |
Cyclospora cayetanensis in fresh produce – report (USA) |
Listeria in enoki mushrooms – again (Canada) |
Free Webinar - How to improve consistency in your food pathogen detection? |
Free Webinar – Bird Management in Food Facilities |
💀 Twenty-four deaths from Streptococcus suis (Thailand)
“Hundreds of cases” of illness and two dozen deaths from eating raw or undercooked pork or meals containing pig’s blood have been recorded in Thailand since January. A further route of infection was possibly from working with pigs, which carry Streptococcus suis, usually without displaying symptoms.
☠ Update: lead in baby food recall (USA)
The recall of fruit purees contaminated with lead has expanded to include two more brands, and with at least 3 more children/infants affected.
The products are Apple Cinnamon Fruit Puree and Cinnamon Apple Sauce and they contain levels of lead that are “extremely high”.
☠ Dangerous Coca-Cola brand drinks prompt a recall (Croatia)
Chemical contamination is thought to have caused 45 people to seek medical advice in Croatia, with four people sustaining “throat injuries”, including one person with severe injuries.
Authorities have tested samples of Coca-Cola products and found “all but one are clear so far”. However, they advised the brand owner to withdraw two products from the marketplace.
Testing revealed high pH levels in one sample, and officials speculated it could be due to contamination with a cleaning agent or degreasing agent. Authorities have not ruled out intentional contamination/adulteration.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2023/11/croatia-probes-poisoning-cases-and-coca-cola-link/
😮 Probiotic baby supplement recalled after “serious adverse reactions” (USA)
The US FDA has recalled more than 200,000 packages of Similac Probiotic Tri-Blend, a food supplement containing Bifidobacterium infantis and Streptococcus thermophilus and marketed for use by preterm infants.
Media reports say the recall was initiated because of “serious adverse reactions in preterm infants”.
… Also it’s illegal! 😮😮
Just a few days prior to the recall announcement, the FDA sent a warning letter to the makers of the product, Abbott Laboratories, saying “your product is an unapproved new drug and unlicensed biological product that [is]… in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and the Public Health Service Act. Your Similac Probiotic Supplement is also adulterated under section 402(a)(2)(C)(i) and (f)(1)(B) of the FD&C Act because it contains B. infantis, an unsafe food additive within the meaning of sections 201(s) and 409(a) of the FD&C Act; and S. thermophilus, a new dietary ingredient for which there is inadequate information to provide reasonable assurance that such ingredient does not present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury, when used in preterm infants.” Wow.
⚖ New compliance requirements for infant formula facilities (USA)
The US FDA has announced new inspection requirements for infant formula facilities, including those in the USA and in foreign countries. There are also new rules for environmental sampling for Cronobacter and Salmonella, and positive environmental results now need to be reported to the FDA.
🦠 Cyclospora outbreak (USA)
An outbreak caused by Cyclospora, which sickened more than 2,000 people and included 186 hospitalisations (no deaths) has been declared over by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The outbreak began in May. The CDC did not attribute the outbreak to any single food source, saying “Multiple potential clusters of cases are being investigated by state and local public health authorities, CDC, and FDA”. A sub-cluster was linked to raw broccoli.
https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cyclosporiasis/outbreaks/2023/index.html
🦠 Cyclospora cayetanensis in fresh produce – report (USA)
A report has been prepared for the US FDA which sought information about Cyclospora cayetanensis contamination of produce, and recommendations about prevention strategies.
🍄 Listeria in enoki mushrooms – again (Canada this time)
Enoki mushrooms have been recalled in Canada after tests found they were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. No illnesses have been reported.
🎓 Free Webinar - How to improve consistency in your food pathogen detection, 21st November
Gold Standard Diagnostics will hold a free webinar that will discuss the following key topics:
· Molecular detection methods for Salmonella and Listeria
· Automation - increase in productivity and manage cost
· Ensure consistency in data analysis
Register here: Registration (gotowebinar.com)
🎓 Free Webinar – Bird Management in Food Facilities, 19th Nov, 14th Dec
This free webinar, held on two dates, and hosted by IFC pest control company explains how to understand bird behaviour, how to account for environmental factors and strategies and solutions for bird control
Register here: https://indfumco.com/resource-center/webinars/
📌 Food Fraud News 📌
In this week’s food fraud news:
More than 200 children dead, two years jail time;
Food fraud to blame for lead poisoning recall?;
Anti-corruption bureau investigates food safety officials;
Chocolates and sweets seized.
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
6 November | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
Food defence fail at a brewery (China) |
Salmonella melons from repeat offenders (USA) |
Acrylamide reduction rules actually work! (Europe) |
Dangerous children’s snacks (South Africa) |
New and updated food safety standards (China) |
Brominated vegetable oils: FDA proposes a ban (USA) |
Guidance: Low-risk versus high-risk foods |
Guidance: Traceability implementation guides |
Guidance: Buying produce to be used as Ready to Eat |
Free Webinar - Improve Maintenance Productivity by Creating a Visual Maintenance Shop |
Free Webinar - Learning Behaviour Science in Food Safety |
🍺 Food defence incident: brewery worker filmed urinating into malt
Tsingtao, the world’s sixth-largest beer manufacturer, had to defend its food safety practices after a video of a man climbing into a malt container before relieving himself into the malt at one of its factories went viral. The company said it would strengthen the monitoring of its employees.
The man was a labour-hire worker, not an employee, according to one source.
⚠ Cantaloupe, watermelons in Salmonella outbreak – repeat offenders (USA)
Eleven people who ate cantaloupe and watermelons grown in Southwest Indiana were sickened with Salmonella newport in 2023. The illness strain matched that of an outbreak in 2022 and was isolated from patients, fruit samples and farm environments.
One melon farm, described in a report of the 2022 outbreak, is adjacent to a turkey feeding operation, with a drainage ditch suspected of carrying contaminated water into the melon fields. Other farms in the region are also near turkey operations and also sickened dozens of people in Salmonella outbreaks going as far back as 2016.
In 2022, the FDA promised to perform an “ongoing assessment of this region to better understand the presence of pathogens in the growing environment,” and said that “the region may contain multiple reservoirs for Salmonella spp.”
The FDA’s recommendation: melon growers should use better traceability methods. Sigh.
🍳 Acrylamide reduction rules actually work! (Europe)
A new study compared the amount of acrylamide in more than 15,000 samples of food from 12 categories to information published in 2015 by the European Food Safety Authority, to see if recommendations and rules which encouraged and required food manufacturers to reduce acrylamide in foods were effective. The study found significant decreases in acylamide levels for most food categories, including baby foods 😊.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956713523005340?via%3Dihub
💀 Dangerous children’s snacks (South Africa)
A spate of illnesses and eight deaths in young children are being investigated in South Africa, with foods purchased from local shops near schools thought to be linked to the deaths and illnesses. Officials have issued warnings to parents to purchase snacks for their children and to only do so from reputable sources.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2023/10/foodborne-sources-suspected-in-fatal-south-african-cases/
⚖ New and updated food safety standards (China)
The People’s Republic of China has updated 85 national food safety standards including changes to fortification ingredients and other food additives. Affected categories include dairy, infant formula, cured meats and wine. Enforcement begins in March 2024.
Link to the USDA’s unofficial translation of the updates:
🧪 Brominated vegetable oils (BVO): FDA proposes a ban
The FDA has publicly declared that brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is not safe in food. They are proposing to revoke the regulation allowing it to be used in food. If this proposal is progressed at the usual speed of the FDA, then the additive could be banned by 2050. (jokes) (I hope).
Source: https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/brominated-vegetable-oil-bvo
📖 Guidance: Low-risk versus high-risk foods
Guidance for consumers with weakened immune systems and older consumers has been released, showing which foods are low risk and which are high. Recommended.
https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-09/Food-risk-and-you.pdf
📖 Guidance: Traceability implementation guides
An Australian university has published a range of guides and a text-based online learning module for traceability in food supply chains.
https://foodtraceability.deakin.edu.au/
📖 Guidance: Procedures for extreme weather events in fresh produce supply chains
This downloadable guidance document from the Chilled Foods Association “outlines procedures that can be followed, such as growers setting critical limits to trigger documented actions in response to extreme weather events.”
https://chilledfoodassociation.myshopify.com/products/cfa-extreme-weather-protocol-guidance
📖 Guidance: Buying produce to be used as ‘ready to eat’
This downloadable guidance document from the Chilled Foods Association “sets out key requirements on certification, microbiological safety, pesticide residues and contaminants, and quality standards and specifications. It also offers further information on the required standards.”
🎓 Free Webinar - Improve Maintenance Productivity by Creating a Visual Maintenance Shop, 7th November
Hosted by Limble, this free webinar will discuss how implementing the 5S Lean Methodology can help improve productivity in the maintenance department.
Register here:
Improve Maintenance Productivity by Creating a Visual Maintenance Shop (on24.com)
🎓 Free Webinar - Learning Behaviour Science in Food Safety, 17th November
IFSQN will be hosting a free webinar that will discuss a new innovative approach to food safety training as well as solutions to increase food safety retention and behavioural change for food service workers such as the “spacing effect”.
Register here:
Learning and Behaviour Science in Food Safety (webinarjam.com)
📌 Food Fraud News 📌
In this week’s food fraud news:
Fraudulent carcinogenic fruit ripening solved?
Peek inside a counterfeit spice factory;
Soy sauce fraud investigations (coming soon from QUB?);
Egg warning (UK);
Free-range fraud, olive oil insider job and more.
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
Recent Issues of Food Safety News
Food Safety News, October 2023
Food Safety News, September 2023
