Food Safety News and Resources | February
February 2025
3 February | Food Safety News and Free Resources1 |
Unusual Recall #1: Choc-covered pretzels that cause a burning sensation in the mouth (UK) |
Unusual recall #2: Carbonated beverages for chlorate (Europe and UK) |
Allergen death root cause (UK) |
Humans at risk from Bird Flu (Avian Influenza) H5N1 (North America) |
Boars Head follow up – more plants with filthy conditions (USA) |
Webinar – FSMA Final Rule by the Institute for Food Safety at Cornell University, 4th February |
Webinar - Making Positive use of Complaints to Improve Product Quality and Safety, 5th February |
Webinar - Recall Readiness: How to Conduct a Mock Recall and Ensure Traceability, 11th February |
🔥 Unusual Recall #1: Choc-covered pretzels that cause a burning sensation in the mouth (UK)
Two products have been recalled in the UK because they “may cause a burning sensation in the mouth when consumed, potentially causing discomfort and making them unsafe.”
No further information was provided by the brand owners or the Food Standards Agency.
https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-07-2025
🧼 Unusual recall #2: Carbonated beverages for chlorate (Europe and UK)
Cans of cola, diet soda and sparkling apple juice have been withdrawn from the market after bottles identified “elevated levels” of chlorate during routine testing. Chlorate can be present as a by-product of chlorine-based sanitiser use or water treatment.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3rwv9j74q9oand https://www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxkn393rwwo.amp
💀 Allergen death root cause (UK)
A milkshake prepared in a blender that had not been washed properly contained traces of hazelnuts and almonds, leading to the death of an allergic consumer in London in 2023.
The case was heard in London last week.
There were no systems in place in the café to prevent cross-contamination.
The café operator was captured on closed circuit television (CCTV) preparing the milkshake in the unwashed blender. He admitted 5 breaches of the Food Safety Act and was ordered to pay a fine of £18,000 and perform 100 hours of community service.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/27/girl-12-nut-allergy-died-cafe-failed-wash-blender/
🐓 Humans at risk from Bird Flu (Avian Influenza) H5N1 (North America)
The New England Journal of Medicine has published an editorial titled “The Emerging Threat of H5N1 to Human Health”. In it, the authors describe how the virus could become significantly more dangerous to humans with just one genetic mutation, and opine that we don’t have a clear understanding of exposure, transmission or viral evolution, which will prevent us from being able to protect our communities from a pathogen “that has proven to be a formidable challenge to human and animal health”.
Comment: This is not a food safety issue but a human safety issue. I’m including it here because I too am worried that we are not doing enough monitoring, surveillance and active biosecurity to mitigate the very real possiblility that this will become a deadly human pandemic.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2416323
“They’ve had every possible warning that this is a virus that could go pandemic.” Dr. Tom Peacock, a virologist at the Pirbright Institute in Britain, via The New York Times
🐗 Boar’s Head follow up – more plants with filthy conditions (USA)
A freedom of information request has revealed the hygiene conditions at Boar’s Head plants in addition to the one that produced deadly, Listeria-contaminated liverwurst are also concerning.
Violations from other sites, listed in an article by Food Poisoning Bulletin, include condensate dripping onto finished product, long-term and “heavy” accumulations of congealed food debris on food contact surfaces, large mould patches and rusty equipment.
https://foodpoisoningbulletin.com/2025/inspection-reports-from-boars-heads-other-plants/
🎓 Webinar – FSMA Final Rule by the Institute for Food Safety at Cornell University, 4th February
This free webinar is co-hosted with the New York Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence and addresses the FSMA Final Rule for Food Traceability. It includes:
a brief recap of the key requirements of the Traceability Rule;
the “facts, fiction, and future” of the rule,
a discussion with a panel of experts and a moderated Q&A.
https://cornell.zoom.us/meeting/register/KjJ957V3SmqVMqR9tpxSOQ#/registration
🎓Webinar - Making Positive Use of Complaints to Improve Product Quality and Safety, 5th February
Hosted by IFSQN, the webinar will feature a brief presentation on how to efficiently analyze complaint data and leverage customer feedback to uncover improvement opportunities that may not be apparent during routine processing or standard process control checks.
Register here:
Making Positive Use of Complaints to Improve Product Quality and Safety
🎓Webinar - Recall Readiness: How to Conduct a Mock Recall and Ensure Traceability, 11th February
Food Safety Magazine is hosting a webinar on how to be prepared during a recall, and how your company can efficiently handle the recall process.
Register here:
Recall Readiness: How to Conduct a Mock Recall and Ensure Traceability Registration
In this week’s food fraud news:
📌 Two food fraud trends;
📌 Botanicals insight;
📌 Turmeric - a new unauthorised colourant;
📌 Wow results for shrimp fraud, and more.
Past Issues of Food Safety News
Food Safety News, January 2025
Food Safety News, December 2024
Food Safety News, November 2024