Food Safety News and Resources | December
December 2024
16 December | Food Safety News and Free Resources1 |
Unusual recall: supplements for mismatched capsules (Australia) |
Unusual recall: forgotten ingredient (UK) |
Foodborne illness statistics for Europe for 2023 |
Bird flu in milk update (USA) |
Webinar - Unveiling Global Food Safety Challenges: Analyzing RASFF Notifications, 20th December |
⚠💊 Unusual recall: supplements for mismatched capsules (Australia)
Herbal medicine capsules have been recalled because some packs contain “suspicious unknown capsules different in appearance”. An investigation by the regulator revealed the unknown capsules appear to contain cocoa powder and probiotics.
https://amp.9news.com.au/article/8de34dd5-bb7f-4350-bb2a-47e007ce1c6f
⚠🧄 Unusual recall: forgotten ingredient (UK)
Crushed garlic in tubes has been recalled because it doesn’t contain an ingredient required to prevent microbial growth. This makes the product potentially unsafe.
https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-51-2024
📊 Foodborne illness statistics for Europe for 2023
Fatalities from foodborne illness were at their highest in a decade in 2023 in Europe*, although there was a slight decrease in the number of outbreaks in 2023 compared to 2022. Salmonella was the leading cause of illnesses and deaths, accounting for 16 deaths. Salmonella in ‘eggs and egg products’ was the agent-food pair of most concern. There was a steady rise in the number of listeriosis cases between 2019 and 2023 with 19 outbreaks and 11 deaths in 2023. The risks to the population from listeriosis are rising due to the ageing population.
One-third of outbreaks with strong evidence were from food prepared in domestic premises, with the most common known contributing factor being ‘inadequate heat treatment’.
One-quarter of outbreaks with strong evidence were caused by food consumed in a food service or catering service situation. The number of outbreaks from these sources increased by 25%, the number of cases increased by 48% and the number of hospitalisations increased by 102% compared to the previous year. The top-ranked contributing factor for food service outbreaks was an infected food handler.
* The report included monitoring and surveillance from 27 EU Member States (MSs), the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) and 10 non-MSs
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2024.9106
🧪 Bird flu in milk update (USA)
A National Milk Testing Strategy has been announced by the USDA and the Plant Health Inspection Service. It will require that raw milk samples be collected and shared with the USDA for testing for H5N1 surveillance of the milk supply chain and dairy herds.
🎓Webinar - Unveiling Global Food Safety Challenges: Analyzing RASFF Notifications, 20th December
IFSQN is hosting a webinar where participants especially Food Business Operators (FBOs), will gain insights that will help them adapt and fortify their food safety standards, minimizing the persistent presence of known hazards in their operations.
Register here: Unveiling Global Food Safety Challenges: Analyzing RASFF Notifications
In this week’s food fraud news
📌 Reference materials for fish and laboratory methods for herbs and spices;
📌 More about the community of practice (EFF-CoP) and oil authentication methods;
📌 Rice with carcinogenic dye withdrawn from markets;
📌 Coconut powder, beef, supplements with undeclared drugs, sweetened condensed milk and more.
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9 December | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
E. coli lettuce outbreak linked to E. coli onion supplier (USA) |
Serving ware and utensils made from black plastic found with high levels of dangerous flame retardant chemicals (study) |
Biases in food safety management systems – new paper |
Webinar - Onions, Food Safety and the Fight Against Foodborne Pathogens, 10th December |
Webinar - Reducing Recalls: Labelling & Allergen Errors!, 11th December |
Panel discussion: PFAS: Navigating regulations, challenges, risk management and testing in the food supply chain, 11th December |
This is The Rotten Apple, an independent publication dedicated to food safety. Subscribe now to get not-boring, ad-free food safety news straight to your inbox every Monday
⚠ 🥬 E. coli lettuce outbreak linked to E. coli onion supplier (USA)
Sixty-nine people are confirmed to have the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 in an outbreak which was first reported on November 14 and which has sickened 115 people altogether. The sick people attended events catered by the same company. The probable source of the lettuce has been reported as Taylor Farms – the supplier linked to E. coli O157:H7 in raw slivered onions in McDonalds burgers two months ago. The implicated lettuce is no longer available.
🥄 Serving ware and utensils made from black plastic found with high levels of dangerous flame retardant chemicals (study)
A survey of 203 black plastic homeware products, including 28 food service wares and 109 kitchen utensils, purchased in the USA between 2020 and 2022, discovered that 85 percent contained flame retardant chemicals. The results indicate that some products had been made from recycled electronic and electrical equipment. Electronic and electrical products are usually black and contain flame retardants. The survey’s authors say it appears that e-waste recycling has been poorly controlled, resulting in contamination of household items with toxic flame-retardant chemicals that serve no function in the products. Black plastic items containing more than 50 ppm bromine included black plastic sushi trays and slotted turner (egg flip) utensils. Some items had levels that would lead to an intake of concerning levels of restricted and/or toxic chemicals through migration into food.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653524022173?via%3Dihub
Biases in food safety management systems – new paper
A new paper titled Food safety management systems: The role of cognitive and cultural biases in determining what is ‘safe enough’ discusses how biases, both human and AI, influence our perceptions of risk and risk management in food safety. Its key findings and conclusions are: “Cognitive and cultural biases can influence food safety assessment, FSMS [food safety management system] design and perceptions, management and acceptance of food safety risk. A better understanding of their influence and how this informs scientific and lay approaches to hazard analysis and food safety risk assessment could provide more insight into how regulators, food business operators, staff and consumers assess and accept food safety risk.”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924224424004874
🎓 Webinar - Onions, Food Safety and the Fight Against Foodborne Pathogens, 10th December
Join CONTACT in this produce safety webinar series on the fascinating science of onions and food safety.
Register here: Webinar Registration - Zoom
🎓 Webinar - Reducing Recalls: Labelling & Allergen Errors!, 11th December
Following last month’s Food Safety Essential Session, the webinar will discuss the second of the Two Key Food Safety Management Issues facing the food industry: Labelling and Undeclared Allergens. Hosted by IFSQN, take the next step in strengthening your food safety management!
Register here: Reducing Recalls: Labelling & Allergen Errors
🎓 Panel discussion: PFAS: Navigating regulations, challenges, risk management and testing in the food supply chain, 11th December
Hosted by New Food Magazine, this panel discussion features industry experts on new regulations around PFAS, along with the challenges and approaches to managing the issues.
Register here: PFAS: Navigating regulations, challenges, risk management and testing in the food supply chain - New Food Magazine
In this week’s food fraud news:
📌 The suitability of analytical methods for assessing food authenticity - reference doc (recommended);
📌 Seafood traceability - new report;
📌 Sheep carcasses, olive oil, expiry date tampering;
📌 Possible lower risks with changes to EUDR exemptions.
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
2 December | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
Recall: Cucumbers for Salmonella (USA, Canada) |
That’s unusual: a rescinded (cancelled) recall (USA, Canada) |
Raw milk recalled for bird flu (USA) |
PFAS in fish (Switzerland) |
Cadmium in tomatoes (Europe) |
Salmonella in raw poultry, new framework – your chance to comment (USA) |
Webinar - The Annual Food Safety Culture Virtual Conference, 11th December |
Webinar - Cooking Instructions Validation: How to Ensure the Safety of Not-Ready-to-Eat Products, 12th December |
This is The Rotten Apple, an independent publication dedicated to food safety. Subscribe now to get not-boring, ad-free food safety news straight to your inbox every Monday
⚠🥒 Recall: Cucumbers for Salmonella (USA, Canada)
Whole fresh American cucumbers in bulk cartons are being recalled because they are associated with salmonellosis illnesses that have affected 68 people with at least 18 hospitalizations. The cucumbers are from one company and one grower.
⚠ 🛑 That’s unusual: a rescinded recall (USA, Canada)
A laboratory error has been blamed for an erroneous recall of fresh green onions. The green onions (1,271 cases) were recalled after a single product sample returned a positive Salmonella result. However, when the isolate was sequenced it was found to be a genetic match for the laboratory’s positive control strain. An investigation revealed that the sample had been contaminated within the lab. The recall was rescinded by the US FDA and safety alert notice(s) were removed from the Government of Canada’s Recalls and Safety Alerts website.
⚠🥛 Raw milk recalled for bird flu (USA)
A sample of raw milk from a dairy tested positive for an H5 virus, most likely H5N1, prompting a recall of one lot of raw milk sold by a dairy in California. The testing was carried out by a local government health office, which is testing raw milk products from retail stores.
🐟 PFAS in fish (Switzerland)
Six common species of fish in Swiss lakes were analysed for PFAS levels. “Significant” contamination was found, particularly in Perca fluviatilis with perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) levels often exceeding EU safety limits.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00216-024-05524-1
🍅 Cadmium in tomatoes (Europe)
A possible new or newly discovered hazard in tomatoes, cadmium contamination, has been brought to the attention of food businesses in Europe and the United Kingdom after two safety alerts in September for high levels of cadmium in tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. It’s possible that recent flooding in tomato-growing areas of Europe has brought cadmium-contaminated soils or water into previously uncontaminated areas.
https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2024/10/09/heavy-metals-in-tomatoes/
🐔 Salmonella in raw poultry, new framework – your chance to comment (USA)
Stakeholders have a chance to comment and ask questions about the proposed final product standards under the proposed framework for Salmonella in raw poultry products. Process monitoring and control will be addressed in a second meeting.
More information: https://www.qualityassurancemag.com/news/fsis-to-host-virtual-public-meetings-on-salmonella-framework/
🎓Webinar - The Annual Food Safety Culture Virtual Conference, 11th December
Hosted by QA, this webinar will provide a more fundamental understanding of food safety culture, what it looks like, why it’s important, and where there are opportunities to improve it.
Register here: Webinar Registration - Zoom
🎓Webinar - Cooking Instructions Validation: How to Ensure the Safety of Not-Ready-to-Eat Products, 12th December
Join Food Safety Magazine for an insightful webinar where experts will discuss how the cooking instructions for new and renovated products are validated to ensure the lethality of microbial bacteria during the cooking process.
Register here: Cooking Instructions Validation: How to Ensure the Safety of Not-Ready-to-Eat Products Registration
In this week’s food fraud news:
📌 Olive oil test method;
📌 Analysis fraud;
📌 Carbonated beverages;
📌 Fake oils.
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
Past Issues of Food Safety News
Food Safety News, November 2024
Food Safety News, October 2024