1st July | Food Safety News and Free Resources1 |
Food defence investigation: cook detained over mass botulism outbreak (Russia) |
Outbreak: poisoning from ‘Shruumz’ Chocolate Bars but no recall (USA) |
Unusual recall: Noodles that are ‘too spicy’ (Denmark) |
Meat withdrawal for traceability and use-by date breaches (United Kingdom) |
GFSI endorsement withdrawn for certain food standards |
Followup: Canned coffee recall (USA) |
Lawmakers consider delaying the US traceability rule (USA) |
Wild boar liver contains almost 5 times more PFAS chems than allowed in food (Europe) |
Unsafe levels of BPA and glycidol in canned tuna (Switzerland) |
Leafy Greens and STEC – new information |
Investigation into US FDA’s handling of the infant formula crisis (Report) |
Intentional adulteration incident followup: lawsuits (USA) |
Webinar - Staying ahead of the curve: Harnessing informatics to meet changing F&B consumer expectations, 11th July |
😮 Food defence investigation: cook detained over mass botulism outbreak (Russia)
The cook for a food delivery company has been detained, along with the director of the company and the food quality director, by authorities who are investigating a mass food poisoning outbreak in which more than 160 customers were diagnosed with botulism, including dozens who have been hospitalized with multiple patients in intensive care. The outbreak has been linked to canned beans used in a salad sold by the company and authorities have seized more than 172 tons of product.
🔮Outbreak: poisoning from ‘Shruumz’ Chocolate Bars but (?) no recall (USA)
A company that manufactured food products which have hospitalised 23 people with symptoms including Seizures, Decreased level of consciousness, Respiratory failure and hallucinations has refused to recall the implicated products.
“The FDA has asked the company to recall the implicated products, but the firm has refused.”
The news report implies that the products are claimed to produce hallucinogenic effects and says testing has revealed the presence of hallucinogenic chemicals in the products. It says the CDC has warned people not to eat foods that claim to produce feelings of euphoria, hallucinations, or psychedelic effects as they may contain undeclared ingredients and may cause severe illnesses.
🌶️Unusual recall: Noodles that are ‘too spicy’ (Denmark)
Danish authorities have withdrawn certain noodles from a popular Korean brand from the market because they are so spicy that they might cause acute symptoms, particularly in children. The noodles are sold worldwide and the affected products are not defective.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/denmark-recalls-instant-noodles-for-being-too-spicy/f971p9kk9
🥩 Meat withdrawal for traceability and use-by date breaches (United Kingdom)
The UK Food Standards Agency has advised businesses which purchased meat from a certain meat supplier to not use it, as it may have incorrect use-by dates, traceability breaches and may be unsafe.
https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-fafa-02-2024-update-2
🚫 GFSI endorsement withdrawn for certain food standards
Equitable Food Initiative (EFI)’s food safety standards, as listed below, have been disendorsed by the GFSI (Global Food Safety Institute). The standards owner has been asked to provide evidence of “re-alignment [of the standards] to GFSI Benchmarking requirements v 2020”
Food Safety Standards, Guidance, & Interpretations Version 2.0, November 30th, 2018, with the scopes:
BI Farming of Plants (other than grains and pulses)
BIII Pre-process Handling of Plant Products.
😱 Followup: Canned coffee recall (USA)
Last week we reported that more than 100 brands of canned coffee, made by the same manufacturer, are being recalled because the manufacturer did not file their low-acid canned foods process with the FDA, as required by regulation. It’s since been revealed that the manufacturer is SQF-certified. How the SQF auditors did not pick up this basic food safety (and regulatory) issue is beyond me. Dreadful!
Source, further insights: (LinkedIn post comments)
Source,initial story: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/06/canned-coffee-products-sold-under-128-coffee-roaster-names-recalled-over-potential-clostridium-botulinum-contamination/
🧑⚖️Lawmakers consider delaying the US traceability rule (USA)
Fourteen years after the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was introduced in 2010, a final piece of the food safety system, traceability, has not yet been implemented. The enforcement date for the traceability rule is 2026. Lawmakers in Congress are now hearing a bill that would delay or perhaps even prevent the implementation of the rule. Food safety advocates and consumer groups oppose the bill.
🐗 Wild boar liver with almost 5 times more PFAS chems than allowed in food discovered (Europe)
Researchers assessing background environmental levels of PFAS chemicals analysed the livers of wild boars from a national park in the Czech Republic and discovered concentrations almost five times higher than the amount allowed in meat for human consumption. Wild boar meat and offal is eaten in many European countries.
https://phys.org/news/2024-06-national-wild-boar-toxic-pfas.amp and
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724013263?via%3Dihub
🐟 ‘Unsafe’ levels of BPA and glycidol in canned tuna (Switzerland)
A consumer group that tested canned and jarred tuna (white and pink) in oil (sunflower or olive oil) for BPA, glycidol, mercury and 3-MCPD discovered disturbing results for BPA but acceptable results for mercury and 3-MCPD.
All of the canned products (n = 10) and most of the jarred products contained BPA at levels higher than the new European safety threshold, set in 2023 (a tolerable daily intake of 0.2 nanograms per kilogram (ng/kg) of body weight per day). Some samples exceeded the limits by up to 50 times. A product that claimed to be in a BPA-free can had high levels of BPA in the food which appeared to have migrated from the can.
Glycidol, which is formed during oil processing, was found in all the jarred products and most of the canned products. The products with sunflower oil had less glycidol than the olive oil products.
https://www.saldo.ch/tests/produktetests/detail/artikeldetail/kein-einziger-thon-ist-empfehlenswert
🥬Leafy Greens and STEC – new information
The US FDA has published preliminary findings of a 5-year study seeking to understand the contamination sources for pathogenic bacteria in leafy greens in the South West growing region of the United States. The study included the collection of 5,000 samples, each of which was tested for the presence of generic E. coli, Salmonella, and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), including E. coli O157:H7. Airborne dust from concentrated animal feeding operations was found to be capable of carrying pathogens to irrigation water canals, soil, and plant tissue. Birds and other wildlife do not seem to be significant sources of STEC or E. coli O157:H7 in the growing region. Water run-off from animal feeding operations and direct contamination of irrigation canals also seem to be insignificant compared to airborne dust contamination of irrigation water.
🍼Investigation into US FDA’s handling of the infant formula crisis (Report)
The US Department of Health and Human Services OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL has published its findings into the FDA’s response to the infant formula Cronobacter disaster in 2022, which included at least two infant deaths. They concluded that the FDA’s policies and procedures were inadequate. Reminder: it took the FDA more than 15 months to address a whistleblower report of serious sanitation problems at the Abbott manufacturing facility in Michigan. A second complaint was not actioned for almost 4 months and an inspection of the facility was not initiated until 102 days later. The Inspector General’s office confirmed these “mission critical” failures and noted that “FDA did not have sufficient policies and procedures on how to initiate an infant formula recall under its FDA-required recall authority.”
⚖️Intentional adulteration incident follow-up: lawsuits (USA)
A man who is alleged to have deliberately contaminated food at a restaurant in Kansas has been subject to a ninth lawsuit from a group of diners. The man has also been charged with 22 felonies for allegedly contaminating food and one count of criminal damage.
The lawsuits claim the restaurant served a ‘defective product’ to its customers and breached the implied warranty that its food was safe to eat.
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article289516564.html
🎓 Webinar - Staying ahead of the curve: Harnessing informatics to meet changing F&B consumer expectations, 11th July
The New Food Team will be hosting a webinar that will delve into the challenges faced by F&B manufacturers and explore innovative solutions to maintain quality, safety, and compliance while keeping pace with market demands.
Register here: Staying ahead of the curve: Harnessing informatics to meet changing F&B consumer expectations (newfoodmagazine.com)
In this week’s food fraud news:
📌 Beverage fraud modus operandi;
📌 Fish fraud warnings;
📌 Horse meat alerts;
📌 Organic fraud, halal fraud and more.
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Past Issues of Food Safety News
Food Safety News, February 2024
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