Food Safety News and Resources | August
August 2024
26 August | Food Safety News and Free Resources1 |
Recall: Canned food for strange labelling (USA) |
Recalls in China - new perspectives |
New risk: Parasite discovered in game foods (Australia) |
Food safety whistleblower gets job back (USA) |
Webinar – Mycotoxin Detection Edit-a-thon, 10th September |
Webinar - Climate Change: Managing the Risk Impack on the Food Supply Chain, 10th September |
❓ Recall: Canned food with strange labelling (USA)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a public health alert for illegally imported products from Myanmar. The health alert was issued because Myanmar is not approved to export meat and poultry to the US.
Bizarrely, the products bear stickers in Burmese script that have product names which do not match the English language names on the cans. For example, cans labelled as ‘Fried Carp Fish with Curry Paste’ (English), bear stickers that say ‘Goat Curry’ (Burmese); cans labelled ‘Fish with salt’ (English), bear stickers that say ‘Mutton Entrails Curry/Goat Offal’ (Burmese).
The cans were shipped to retail locations across the United States.
Is this perhaps an attempt by the importers to hide the true nature of the products (goat offal, etc.) from US officials, in a misguided attempt to circumvent import rules? Burmese-speaking consumers would know the contents of the can while English-speakers would not.
🧾 Recalls in China – new perspective
A new paper explores why different countries have different recall strategies and concludes that voluntary recalls are less likely to be documented in China compared to other countries because consumers have low levels of trust in the food industry, reducing the incentives for manufacturers to conduct voluntary recalls.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-0106.12452
🦌 New risk: Parasite discovered in game foods (Australia)
A species of the parasite Sarcocystis has been discovered in game deer and feral pigs in Australia for the first time. Deer and wild pigs are hunted and eaten in Australia, potentially posing a risk to consumers. There is also a risk the parasite could cross from wild pigs to free-range farmed pigs.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168160524002241?via=ihub
👩🏭Food safety whistleblower gets job back (USA)
A worker at a childcare provider who lost their job after reporting food safety problems in the childcare’s kitchen to Texas Health Officials has had their job reinstated and received back pay and damages.
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20240822
🎓 Webinar – Mycotoxin Detection Edit-a-thon, 10th September
This webinar is hosted by the USDA National Agricultural Library's (NAL) Food Safety Research Information Office (FSRIO). “During the event, attendees will hear from food science experts in mycotoxins, Dr. Revathi Shanmugasundaram and Dr. Martha Vaughn. The webinar will also include an overview of mycotoxins and NAL’s resources on food safety from Dr. Dawanna James-Holly, and a legal update about mycotoxins from Laurie Beyranevand from the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at the Vermont Law and Graduate School. Following the webinar, Wikipedia editing training will be offered by Ms. Jamie Flood, NAL’s Senior Wikipedian and Outreach Specialist to work on editing and writing articles about mycotoxins on Wikipedia.”
To register, click here.
🎓 Webinar - Climate Change: Managing the Risk Impack on the Food Supply Chain, 10th September
Food Safety Magazine will host a webinar examining the "new" climate-related risks to food safety and exploring the critical responses required to resulting sourcing/supply challenges.
Register here:
In this week’s food fraud news
📌 Honey authentication methods explored;
📌 Fallout from a food fraud incident - insights for preventive controls enforcement;
📌 Wheat, corn and soy risk update;
📌 Live snails, petrol tankers, cement garlic, and more.
19 August | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
Lethal doses of meth in lollies/sweets (New Zealand) |
Refusing to recall: raw milk cheese with Listeria (USA) |
Recall: Plant-based burgers for melting and burn risks (UK) |
Recall: Cold smoked fish for Clostridium botulinum (USA) |
Recall: Soft cheese for Salmonella (France) |
Raw meat dog diets: risky for humans? |
Beef and Bird flu: USDA testing to increase (USA) |
Webinar - Understanding and Addressing Biofilm Communities and Behavior in the Food Plant, 29th August |
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⚠ Lollies (sweets) laced with lethal doses of methamphetamine handed out by charity (NZ)
An urgent alert has been issued by police in New Zealand after pineapple sweets containing potentially lethal quantities of methamphetamine were handed out by a charity. The problem came to light after a food parcel recipient contacted the charity saying the sweets were “funny tasting”. The charity tested a sample with the New Zealand drug foundation which confirmed they contained meth.
One of the sweets contained the equivalent of 300 doses of the drug. The street value has been estimated at US$600 per candy. Three people have sought medical attention but none have been hospitalised. The source of the sweets has not been revealed.
⚠😣 Refusing to recall: raw milk cheese with Listeria (USA)
Raw milk cheese that was found to contain Listeria monocytogenes during FDA-mandated testing is not being recalled by its manufacturer, with the relevant state department of agriculture instead warning consumers to throw it away. It is not known where or when the cheese was sold as the producer has also refused to provide a list of retailers who received the cheese, nor assist with investigations into the contamination.
Unbelievably the company did the same thing in 2022, refusing to recall raw whole milk and raw chocolate milk with Listeria. To someone unfamiliar with food law enforcement in the US, this is shocking. How is this company allowed to keep making food under these circumstances?
⚠🤐 Recall: Plant-based burgers for melting and burn risks (UK)
Meat-free burgers with ‘melting middles’ are being recalled because they pose a burn risk to consumers. The centres of the burgers may maintain a high temperature after cooking, risking consumers who bite into the burger.
https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-39-2024
⚠Recall: Cold smoked fish for Clostridium botulinum (USA)
Cold smoked capelin in plastic packages has been recalled because the fish is more than 5 inches long and was found to be uneviscerated, so it could be contaminated with the spores of Clostridium botulinum. The recall comes after an inspection by state agriculture inspectors.
⚠🦠 Recall: Soft cheese for Salmonella (France)
Seventy-two cases of salmonellosis have been recorded in people who consumed soft cheese from a certain brand. The factory was closed and the cheese recalled.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/08/salmonella-outbreak-linked-to-cheese-sickens-70-in-france/
🐕🦺 Raw meat dog diets: risky for humans?
A new paper in Frontiers in Microbiology explores the risks around raw meat diets for dogs, and concludes that because dogs fed raw meat shed significantly more multi-drug resistant E. coli in their faeces than dogs on cooked food diets, they could pose a risk to their owners and the wider community as a source of zoonotic disease.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1460143/abstract
🐮 Beef and Bird flu: USDA testing to increase (USA)
The United States Department of Agriculture will increase the amount of testing it does on beef entering the human food supply chain. Old dairy cows are slaughtered for ground beef and the testing program will focus on beef from those cows. The number of dairy cow herds with avian influenza infections is at almost 200, across 13 states. Previous tests of cow tissue at slaughterhouses found viral particles in the tissues of a cow. The USDA maintains that US beef is safe to eat.
🎓 Webinar - Understanding and Addressing Biofilm Communities and Behavior in the Food Plant, 29th August
In this webinar hosted by Food Safety Magazine, attendees will learn about the formation and behaviour of biofilms and the challenges they pose to food safety and sanitary operations. It will also explain how biofilm can be mitigated in the food plant with innovative sanitation methods and tools.
Register here: Understanding and Addressing Biofilm Communities and Behavior in the Food Plant Registration (onlinexperiences.com)
12 August | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
Recall: Baby cereal for Cronobacter (Canada) |
Recall: Multiple products for ethylene oxide (Australia) |
New chemical hazard: tellurium? |
Global recall roundup |
Another cinnamon lead recall (USA) |
Webinar - Proactive Compliance: Mastering Pesticide MRL Regulations in the U.S. and Europe, 20th August |
⚠🦠 Recall: Baby cereal for Cronobacter (Canada)
Nestle Canada is recalling one lot of Gerber Oat Banana & Mango Baby Cereal due to possible contamination with Cronobacter species, with the recall triggered by Canadian Food Inspection Agency test results. No illnesses have been reported.
⚠🧪 Recall: Multiple products for ethylene oxide (Australia)
Eight frozen nuggets, patties and fries products, including all expiry dates are being recalled due to ethylene oxide contamination.
☣ New chemical hazard: tellurium?
Tellurium contamination of food could cause high blood pressure in consumers. A study which explores the relationship between tellurium exposure and hypertension has been published. The authors discuss how tellurium, a rare metalloid, can become a food contaminant via soil contaminated by mining and manufacturing activities. In the study, people and mice with higher levels of tellurium in urine had higher blood pressure. Foods that raised tellurium urine levels when eaten included cereals and legumes.
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0160412024003210
📑 Global recall roundup
The wonderful folks at RQA Group have published their quarterly product recall bulletin.
The main drivers for food recalls across the included jurisdictions (EU, UK, Australia, FDA, USDA) continue to be microbiological contamination and allergen-labelling issues.
The most recalled product category is prepared dishes, pasta and noodles. In the US (FDA), Salmonella recalls have overtaken Listeria as the leading cause of microbial-related recalls “by a significant margin”. The US is on track to have more than double the number of Listeria and Salmonella recall events in 2024 compared to 2023.
The number of recall events and, for the EU, RASFF notifications are up compared to 2023.
One piece of positive news: US FDA recalls due to preventable mislabeling mistakes are way down this year, at just 26% compared to 46% in 2024.
https://www.rqa-group.com/product-recall-bulletin-q2-2024/
⚠🍩 Another cinnamon lead recall (USA)
The US FDA recommended another business recall its ground cinnamon brands after targeted sampling of discount cinnamon brands from multiple retailers revealed they contained high levels of lead. The lead concentrations in these brands have not been disclosed.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/08/more-cinnamon-recalled-over-elevated-lead-levels/
🎓 Webinar - Proactive Compliance: Mastering Pesticide MRL Regulations in the U.S. and Europe, 20th August
Hosted by FoodChain ID, the webinar will explore pesticide MRLs' intricate and dynamic landscape, focusing on the U.S. and Europe, and provide strategies and advice for ensuring compliance.
Register here: Webinar Registration - Zoom
In this week’s food fraud news:
📌 Packaging fraud warning;
📌 Red meat investigations report;
📌 Olive oil, berries warnings ;
📌 Fraudulent adulteration of foods with antibiotics, alabaster powder, animal offal.
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5 August | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
Update: Listeria deli-meat outbreak (USA) |
More cinnamon lead alerts and recalls (USA) |
Chocolate and heavy metal contamination, 8 year survey (USA) |
Safety of ashwagandha questioned |
Chemical migration from food contact items – new research |
Guidelines: Traceability of geolocation for EU deforestation rules |
Red Yeast Supplements Safety and Fraud (Global) |
Foodborne illness pathogens: prevalence data published (China) |
AI use cases for food safety |
Webinar - Enhancing Pet Food Safety from Farm to Fork, 12th August |
Webinar – Compressed Air Monitoring, Common Sources of Contamination, On-demand |
⚠ Update: Listeria deli-meat outbreak (USA)
The deadly Listeria outbreak linked to the consumption of deli meats has now been associated with Boar’s Head Provisions Co. Liverwurst. The liverwurst is being recalled after a sample collected by a state health department was found to contain the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes. Other deli meats from the same brand, including ham, salami, bologna, and bacon have also been recalled.
⚠ More cinnamon lead alerts and recalls (USA)
The US FDA has advised consumers not to eat or buy another brand of cinnamon with unacceptably high levels of lead: 20 ppm. This is around 100 times lower than the lead in the food fraud-affected cinnamon in the WanaBana cinnamon applesauce recall of 2023, and is more likely to be accidental contamination than deliberate adulteration.
A further brand is being recalled due to elevated levels of lead.
https://www.qualityassurancemag.com/news/fda-issues-public-health-alert-for-cinnamon-product-containing-lead/ and https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/07/cinnamon-sold-in-new-york-recalled-after-testing-finds-elevated-levels-of-lead/
🍫 Chocolate and heavy metal contamination 8 year survey (USA)
New research, which examined the presence of lead and cadmium in dark chocolate and cocoa products in the USA between 2014 and 2022 in 72 products has been published. The results were compared to the maximum allowable levels as defined in the Californian law known as Prop 65. Forty-three percent of samples exceeded the allowable dose of lead and 35% were above the allowable dose level for cadmium in Prop 65, although most were below the US FDA interim reference limits for lead. None of the samples exceeded Prop 65 limits for arsenic.
The median concentrations of metals were low despite some samples having high concentrations, which indicates some samples were ‘outliers’. Organic labelled products were significantly more likely to contain high levels of lead and cadmium than conventional (non-organic) products. Products with trade certifications such as Fairtrade or non-GMO did not have significantly different heavy metal concentrations than other products.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.1366231/full
🌿 Safety of ashwagandha questioned
The UK’s Food Standards Agency is collecting an ‘evidence package’ for risk assessments of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) which it says is a potentially risky herbal supplement that has been linked to thyroid toxicity, liver toxicity and hypoglycaemic effects. They are calling for evidence related to the safety of the herb and say they will welcome data from businesses, experts, trade organisations, local authorities, consumers and those undertaking research in a topic related to this field. French authorities have also issued warnings about ashwagandha in recent months.
https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/consultations/ashwagandha
🍼 Chemical migration from food contact items – new research
Researchers have analysed chemicals which migrated from fourteen plastic food contact items such as oven bags, serving ware, hydration bladders and cling film made from seven commonly used polymer types into water and water-ethanol mixtures. They explored the characteristics of the chemicals which migrated out of the food contact items and found many are “toxic” and some are endocrine disruptors. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyurethane released the worst chemicals in the migration tests.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024003775?via%3Dihub
📖 Guidelines: Traceability of geolocation for EU deforestation rules
The European Commission has published guidelines for food operators and traders who must collect geographic coordinates of the plots of land where commodities covered by the EU deforestation rules were produced. A new guidance document explains how and why operators must collect coordinates and provides answers to questions such as “What if part of a product is non-compliant?”
https://green-business.ec.europa.eu/deforestation-regulation-implementation/traceability_en
🏮 Red Yeast Supplements Safety and Fraud (Global)
Researchers have reviewed the quality, safety and authenticity of red yeast supplements purchased online (n = 35) and found safety, quality and authenticity problems in 11 percent of the samples, including:
No lot number on the pack;
No warnings, as required by EU law, on label;
Inaccurate claims regarding the concentration of monacolin K;
Too high concentrations of monacolin, a natural statin;
Synthetic statins were not found in any samples but 3 samples (n = 35) were suspected to contain intentionally added lovastatin, a natural statin.
One sample was “severely contaminated” with Acinetobacter species.
https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/13/12/1919
🦠 Foodborne illness pathogens: prevalence data published (China)
Illnesses from pathogens including Salmonella, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Shigella, diarrheagenic E. coli (DEC), and norovirus have been tracked and their prevalence reported. Norovirus had the highest incidence rate, although most infections were not from foodborne transmission.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/07/norovirus-tops-incidence-estimates-study-in-china/
🤖 AI use cases for food safety
A paper in the journal Annual Reviews explores possible use cases and actual use cases for artificial intelligence (AI ) in food safety. Obstacles to the commercialization and implementation of AI tools for food safety applications are also discussed.
https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-food-060721-013815#right-ref-B18
🎓 Webinar - Enhancing Pet Food Safety from Farm to Fork, 12th August
Hosted by the International Association for Food Protection, the webinar will provide a summary of the pet food safety session from the Arkansas Association for Food Protection 15th Annual Meeting.
Register here:
Enhancing Pet Food Safety from Farm to Fork - International Association for Food Protection
🎓 Webinar – Compressed Air Monitoring, Common Sources of Contamination, On-demand
This free on-demand webinar, hosted by IFSQN, outlines the most common sources of contaminants like particles, water, total oil, and microorganisms in compressed air systems. Learn more about the types of materials in systems that promote clean, dry air, and how to test for dangerous contamination that may impact end products.
In this week’s food fraud news:
📌 Wine made from juice, alcohol and dye;
📌 Citrus fruits “irregularly traded”;
📌 Cocoa bean smuggling;
📌 Cheese, tuna, spices, premium spirits and more.
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.