126 | Is Alzheimer's a Foodborne Illness? (incredible new research) | Corruption in Food Supply Chains | Who ya Gonna Call...

Plus, problems with prenatal vitamin supplements

This is The Rotten Apple, an inside view of food integrity for professionals, policy-makers and purveyors. Subscribe for weekly insights, latest news and emerging trends in food safety, food authenticity and sustainable supply chains.

• Is Alzheimer’s a foodborne illness?;

• Corruption in food supply chains;

• Food Safety News and Resources;

• Who ya Gonna Call (just for fun);

• Food fraud news, emerging issues and recent incidents

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Hi!

Welcome to another exciting week in food safety with The Rotten Apple.

This week I unpack a global report on corruption in food supply chains from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and share a bunch of interesting new research in food safety. Find the research in this week’s food safety news and resources by clicking the link in the email.

Hugely interesting (and somewhat scary) science informs this week’s big story. Canadian researchers used the health records of 4 million British people to explore previously suspected links between Alzheimer’s disease and infections caused by a bacterium found in food. What they discovered is incredible, I can’t believe I haven’t seen this in mainstream media yet.

As always, this week’s issue has food fraud news for paying subscribers including a cocoa warning and reports of possible frauds in strawberries, seafood and detergent.

Enjoy your week,

Karen

P.S. Shoutout and huge thank you to new subscribers 👏👏 Doris, Caroline, Ben, Jennifer, ‘Technical’ and Lauren 👏👏 and to everyone who renewed your subscriptions this week – your support makes this newsletter possible, you’re the best!

“This newsletter is a great avenue for keeping up to date with issues and trends relating to food safety.” Caroline (Dairy Industry, Australia)

Is Alzheimer’s a Foodborne Illness?

Helicobacter pylori linked to Alzheimer’s disease

In Issue 111 I wrote about a possible new foodborne pathogen which has been linked to serious chronic gastrointestinal conditions such as Crohn's disease: Helicobacter pullorum.  It’s from the same genus as Helicobacter pylori, which has been considered a leading cause of stomach ulcers since the 1990s.

Ulcer-causing Bacterium (H.Pylori) Crossing Mucus Layer of Stomach. Source: Wikipedia

Now Helicobacter pylori is in the spotlight again, after researchers found confirmation of a possible link between it and Alzheimer’s disease.

A new study set out to understand whether people with a clinically apparent H. pylori infection could be at increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. 

The researchers analysed thirty years of health data of more than 4 million people in the United Kingdom aged 50 and over.  For the analysis, each newly developed case of Alzheimer's disease was matched with 40 dementia-free controls, using a nested case-control approach.  Salmonellosis was used as a negative control exposure.

People with symptomatic H. pylori infection were 11% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than matched control groups.  The risk was highest ten years after the onset of symptomatic H. pylori infection, at 24%.  Salmonellosis was not associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. 

The study built on previous research which suggested links between people with gastritis and neurodegenerative diseases, including observational studies which linked H. pylori infections to increased risks of Alzheimer’s disease.

Helicobacter pylori in foods

H. pylori has been found in raw milk, vegetables, meat and water, as well as in the gastric tissues of food animals such as sheep and cows.  Unhygienic food handling environments and areas with poor sanitation are linked to populations with a higher prevalence of H. pylori infections.

Viable H. pylori can be recovered from inoculated foods for around a week after inoculation.  It does not appear to reproduce in foods but appears to survive well in low-acid, high-moisture foods stored at refrigerator temperatures.

In 2018, researchers writing in the World Journal of Gastroenterology proposed that H. pylori be considered a foodborne pathogen.

Takeaways for food professionals

Food containing H. pylori may pose a risk to consumers, who may develop gastric diseases after exposure to the bacterium.  Such diseases may also increase the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease. 

Raw milk, raw vegetables and meat have been found to contain the bacterium.  H. pylori is thought to contaminate food via the faecal-oral route, that is, the food becomes contaminated from contaminated environments and unsanitary handling practices. 

H. pylori survives in foods at refrigerated temperatures.  Some scientists consider it a foodborne pathogen, with contaminated food and water a possible disease transmission route.

This new research highlights how unexpected, and previously unforeseeable, outcomes could arise from unhygienic food handling practices, with contaminated food potentially leading to long-term health issues including gastric diseases and Alzheimer's disease.

In short: 🍏 A human pathogen, Helicobacter pylori, which causes gastric diseases is found in food and the diseases may be transmitted by foodborne routes 🍏 People who have had symptomatic H. pylori infections are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study which made use of demographic and exposure controls and used data from more than 4 million people in the United Kingdom 🍏

Sources:

Douros, A., Ante, Z., Fallone, C.A., Azoulay, L., Renoux, C., Suissa, S. and Brassard, P. (2023). Clinically apparent Helicobacter pylori infection and the risk of incident Alzheimer’s disease: A population‐based nested case‐control study. Alzheimer’s & Dementia. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13561

‌Quaglia, N.C. and Dambrosio, A. (2018). Helicobacter pylori: A foodborne pathogen? World Journal of Gastroenterology, 24(31), pp.3472–3487. doi: https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v24.i31.3472

‌Zamani, M., Vahedi, A., Maghdouri, Z. and Shokri-Shirvani, J. (2017). Role of food in environmental transmission of Helicobacter pylori. Caspian Journal of Internal Medicine, [online] 8(3), pp.146–152. doi: https://doi.org/10.22088/cjim.8.3.146

🍏 Issue 111 | Does this newly discovered bacterium cause chronic gastric diseases like Crohns?  Helicobacter pullorum 🍏

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Corruption in Food Supply Chains: What Does It Look Like, How Do We Prevent It?

Corruption in food supply chains poses a serious risk to the safety of consumers, and can also harm the environment.

For example, corrupt behaviour by government officials played a role in the China melamine milk scandal of 2008, contributing to the incident which led to 6 deaths and hundreds and thousands of illnesses. It’s alleged that government officials including the deputy mayor of the city where the tainted milk was made applied pressure on the formula manufacturer to keep the scandal quiet and also allegedly paid the families of victims to stay silent (UNODC, 2023).

Another example of large-scale food safety failures resulting from corruption is the ‘weak meat’ scandal of Brazil (2017) in which multiple food sanitation inspectors and politicians are alleged to have taken bribes from the country’s largest meat processors in return for signing off on adulterated, substandard and rotten meat (UNODC, 2023).

Stock image used under licence

Types of Corruption

Active bribery – The promise, offering or giving to a national public official, a foreign public official or an official of a public international organization, directly or indirectly, of an undue advantage, in order to act or refrain from acting in matters relevant to official duties.

Passive bribery – The solicitation or acceptance by a national public official, a foreign public official or an official of a public international organization, directly or indirectly, of an undue advantage, in order to act or refrain from acting in matters relevant to official duties.

Embezzlement – Theft, diversion or misappropriation of property, funds, securities or any other item of value entrusted to a public official in his or her official capacity.

Bribery in the private sector – Active or passive bribery, directly or indirectly, to or by any person who directs or works, in any capacity, for a private sector entity, to act or refrain from acting in breach of his or her duties.

Embezzlement of property in the private sector – Embezzlement by any person who directs or works, in any capacity, for a private sector entity.

Abuse of functions – Performance of, or failure to perform an act, in violation of the law, by a public official in order to obtain an undue advantage.

Trading in influence – Abuse of a public official’s real or supposed influence with an administration, public authority or State authority in order to gain an advantage or influence particular outcomes.

Illicit enrichment – A significant increase in assets of a public official or that cannot reasonably be explained as being the result of his or her lawful income.

Money-laundering – The concealment of the origins of proceeds of crime, often by means of conversion or transfers involving foreign banks or legitimate businesses.

Concealment – Hiding or continued retention of property, knowing that it has resulted from corruption. (UNODC, 2023)

How does corruption impact food safety?

Food companies can engage in corrupt behaviour to avoid meeting food safety compliance requirements that they consider too expensive or too resource-intensive. They can also use corruption to minimise food waste or losses from expired foods, for example by paying inspectors to disregard the sale of expired foods, which poses risks to consumers.

Another form of corruption occurs when bad actors influence government decision-makers to impose import or export-related food safety measures which can act as non-tariff barriers to international trade.

Weaknesses in the food system stem from vulnerabilities at national levels and the challenges of shared responsibilities in enforcement. For example, in the 2013 horsemeat scandal, the UK Food Standards Agency had control of food safety, while meat labelling was the responsibility of a different agency, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

The table below includes examples of corruption in stages of the food supply chain, including primary production, processing, packaging and labelling, transport and storage, wholesale trade, international trade, food retailing and food service.

These examples include farmers, retailers and food service outlets bribing officials to disregard food safety or compliance breaches; price-fixing among food manufacturers; multinational agriculture companies seeking to unduly influence governments to benefit their business interests at the expense of animal welfare or the environment and unethical practices in the submission of potentially harmful chemicals for approval as food additives.

Examples of corrupt activities in food supply chains. Write to the author for a text-based version of this table (email therottenapple@substack.com)

Specific incidents of corruption which have impacted food safety include:

• the bribing of a senior official at the Central Insecticides Board of India by a multinational chemical company to avoid the proper process for registering three agricultural chemicals;

• the bribing of purchasing managers at food companies to secure lucrative contracts for tomato paste supply, and illegal price fixing of tomato paste by a large US tomato processor. Some of the tomato paste was sold with false information about its quality and mould count;

• the bribing of senior food safety officials to turn a blind eye to large-scale cooking oil adulteration in China, with hazardous cooking oil allowed to be sold;

• a food safety inspector arranging for false samples of milk and whey powders to be tested to achieve approvals in place of contaminated milk, in return for financial compensation by the dairy company;

• an international meat transportation company which bribed inspection officials who were supposed to be inspecting transport containers for the presence of pathogens and biosecurity risks.

Sources for all these examples can be found in UNODC (2023), pages 32 - 34, 36, 39.

What is being done?

Systems which promote greater transparency in food trading are being implemented.  For example, in Thailand, there is a platform where food exports and imports can be publicly declared by companies and agencies.

Systems which reduce opportunities for inspectors to accept bribes are being implemented.  For example, in Bulgaria, food inspections are now operated on a rotating basis with second inspections conducted by different individuals to reduce opportunities for corruption. 

Systems to allow consumers to report food safety breaches are being implemented in countries like Turkiye, and whistleblower protections are being strengthened internationally.

Enforcement agencies from different countries and within countries are strengthening systems to allow for cooperation and coordinated responses. For example, Spanish and Italian agencies cooperated to dismantle an illegitimate olive oil supply chain in 2023.

In short: 🍏 Corruption in food supply chains can have negative impacts on the safety of food 🍏 Corruption takes many forms and can have wide-ranging effects that impact many consumers 🍏 Greater transparency, improved whistleblower protections and better cooperation mechanisms between agencies can reduce food supply vulnerabilities to corruption 🍏

Source:  United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2023) Something’s Off, Corruption Risks Related to Food Safety and its Public Health Threats. Available at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/corruption/Publications/2023/UNODC_Somethings_Off_Corruption_Risks_Related_to_Food_Safety_and_its_Public_Health_Threaths_2023.pdf.

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Food Safety News and Resources

Our news and resources section has not-boring food safety news plus links to free webinars and guidance documents: no ads, no sponsored content, only resources that I believe will be genuinely helpful for you.

This week: new food safety research, including Vibrio pathogens, allergens and chemical contaminants.

Click the preview below to access it.

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Just for Fun: Who Ya Gonna Call?

[Goat’s Butter!]

Thanks to Amanda Evans-Lara from HACCP Mentor for this beauty!

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Below for paying subscribers: Food fraud news, horizon scanning and incident reports

📌 Food Fraud News 📌

In this week’s food fraud news:

📌 Vitamin supplements for pregnant women with label discrepancies;
📌 Lead levels in spices;
📌 Cocoa warning;
📌 Detergent, strawberries, seafood.