Issue #39 2022-05-23
Food safety impacts from climate change, acrylamide rules, infant formula recall fallout and the New York bagel matrix
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Infant formula recall fallout
How climate change affects the future of food safety
Pancakes, Tortillas, Churros, Doughnuts, Croissants… (Acrylamide Rules)
Just for fun; a bagel matrix
Food fraud incidents and food fraud horizon scanning
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Hi,
Welcome to Issue #39 of The Rotten Apple and happy British Tomato Fortnight (🍅😀🍅).
On a less happy note, this week I share a bunch of depressing predictions about the impact of climate change on food safety. I wrote that piece while breakfasting on toast and coffee, which I then discovered are (probably) cancer-inducing because they contain significant levels of acrylamide. Boo. Recommendations for food businesses and food safety specialists about acrylamide monitoring can be found in this issue.
Also not good: the Abbott baby formula recall continues to have negative impacts on supply chains. The silver lining is that formula shortages in the USA are drawing attention to the unhelpful bureaucratic systems that govern baby food supply chains in that country.
Then, for something a little more upbeat, I’ve got a fun story of two New York spreadsheet nerds who visited every bagel store in New York and made a bagel matrix.
For paid subscribers, food fraud incident news and horizon scanning updates (plus audio) are at the end of this email. A paid subscription also gets you access to a handy downloadable compilation of past issues plus a searchable index of previous topics.
Thank you to everyone who has signed up for a paid subscription. Your support is vital for the continuation of this independent, unbiased, ad-free resource. Don’t forget, subscriptions are company-expense approved and tax-deductible*.
Enjoy your week,
Karen
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Cover image: Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash
Food Safety
Baby Formula Recall Update
The baby formula recall prompted by food safety problems at a major American manufacturing facility has contributed to a serious baby formula shortage in the USA. Most media outlets are blaming the shortage on the FDA and on the fact that there is a monopoly in the sector.
However, it’s not just the food safety shut down of the Abbott facility, that’s causing the problems though. There are distorted supply lines in the USA because of the way that individual states partner exclusively with certain formula brands for large-scale welfare programs. The USA also has harsh import tariffs and rules for infant formula which effectively prevent commercially viable imports when there are domestic shortages.
I unpacked the food safety aspects of the recall in Issues #27, #31 and #32 of The Rotten Apple.
Sources
https://www.foodpolitics.com/2022/05/infant-formula-whats-the-shortage-about/
https://www.cato.org/blog/rock-bye-trade-restrictions-baby-formula
Food Safety
How does climate change impact food safety?
Changes in temperature, new patterns of humidity and rainfall, plus an increase in extreme weather events are predicted to continue with climate change and these will have an impact on food safety, says the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
It’s probably not all bad news. For example, areas that become drier with climate change can expect to experience less mycotoxin-producing mould. However, many of the changes will not be positive. Here are seven predictions made by the FAO about food safety risks from climate change.
(1) Pathogen levels may be increasing in some areas due to changes in temperature and rainfall. Researchers have linked an increase in infections from Salmonella species and Campylobacter species to temperature increases in some regions.
(2) Flooding caused by extreme weather events can distribute pathogens to different parts of the food chain. Floodwaters can also move chemical contaminants around in unexpected patterns, potentially exposing crops to contamination.
(3) Flooding directly causes outbreaks of waterborne diseases like Cholera, when public water infrastructure is compromised.
(4) Water scarcity due to more severe or more frequent droughts might prompt changes to the way the food industry uses water and this might have an effect on how equipment is sanitised or how wastewater is recycled.
(5) Algal blooms pose a food safety risk and may be increasing due to higher ocean temperatures and acidity. Higher rainfall in some areas may also cause more fertiliser run-off, which contributes to algal blooms. Algae produce toxins that can bioaccumulate in fish and shellfish and cause illness to humans who eat the foods. The FAO says that there are rising incidences of algal toxin poisoning in areas with no prior history.
(6) More mould, and hence more mycotoxins, in some areas. Formerly dry, cool areas that have not had mycotoxin problems in the past are becoming warmer and wetter and are now susceptible, with a reported rise in incidents.
(7) Higher temperatures are said to be contributing to increasing antimicrobial resistance in important food-borne and water-borne pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio cholerae.
Real-world examples
Unfortunately, there are plenty of examples of incidents that fit the patterns described by the FAO.
Vibrio bacteria are marine pathogens that cause foodborne illness from contaminated seafood, especially molluscs like oysters. They don’t grow if the water is too cold. Australian researchers are warning of increasing risks from Vibrio parahaemolyticus as warming waters contribute to more outbreaks (source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/02/scientists-warn-of-emerging-vibrio-risk-say-there-should-be-mandatory-reporting/)
And New Zealand officials reported a ten-fold increase in Vibrio infections in the past year (https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/03/officials-in-new-zealand-report-10-fold-increase-in-vibrio-infections/)
In Europe, authorities are becoming more concerned about risks from Ciguatera poisoning, which occurs in fish from warm waters (https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.849857)
And Japanese researchers report an extension to the seasonal period in which shellfish poisoning occurs, due to warming waters (https://www.tellerreport.com/life/2022-02-19-discovered-a-new-type-of-microorganism-that-removes-%22shellfish-poison%22-that-leads-to-restrictions-on-the-shipment-of-shellfish.H1HcwukJe9.html)
In short: 🍅 Climate change is already impacting food supply chains 🍅 Changes to growing and storing conditions for food have changed the food safety risks 🍅Notable changes include new areas experiencing mycotoxin problems, increased risks from algal blooms and more Vibrio pathogens in shellfish 🍅
Source: Thinking About the Future of Food Safety, FAO (2022) https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb8667en
Food Regulations
Pancakes, Tortillas, Churros, Doughnuts, Croissants…
Acrylamide is a naturally-occurring chemical that is (probably) a human carcinogen. And it’s in tonnes of tasty foods like potato chips, pancakes, churros, doughnuts and croissants. And …. Noooooo!... I just learnt this…. Coffee!!! (good news for coffee snobs, though: instant coffee is much worse than freshly roasted coffee).
Acrylamide forms when plant foods are cooked at high temperatures, in processes such as roasting, frying, grilling and toasting. It’s also in cigarette smoke.
The European Union (EU) has proposed rules that will regulate acrylamide limits in foods. They are already monitoring levels and since 2018, have been encouraging food manufacturers to aim for ‘As Low As Reasonably Achievable’ (ALARA) levels in food. Eighty-five percent of foods tested in the EU monitoring program currently meet the acrylamide benchmarks.
In addition to regulatory monitoring, food manufacturers in all countries should also be self-monitoring acrylamide levels in their products, to build up a historical dataset for comparison against current benchmarks and proposed future limits.
If the rules are accepted by member states they could come into force in Europe as early as next year.
There is no indication that acrylamide regulations will be created in other major English speaking countries. The USA does not have acrylamide limits for food, although there are limits for food packaging and drinking water.
Takeaways
As a consumer, you can reduce your exposure to acrylamides by limiting your intake of at-risk foods. To find out which foods are most at-risk, choose an information source from your geographical region, because the main dietary sources of exposure vary from country to country.
As a food business, if you make or sell foods that are known to contain acrylamide, and you are not already monitoring levels, then now is the time to start.
As a food safety specialist, you should consider acrylamide hazards when creating HACCP plans for plant-containing foods that are subject to high-temperature processes.
In short: 🍅 Acrylamide levels in food are under increasing scrutiny 🍅 Regulations are proposed for the European Union 🍅 Manufacturers of acrylamide-containing foods should (aleady) be monitoring levels 🍅
Sources
https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2022/05/04/Be-aware-of-EU-acrylamide-changes
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/acrylamide-fact-sheet
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24325083
Just for Fun
The Couple Who Made a Bagel Matrix
Jessi Highet and Mike Varley are artists in their 30s who live in Brooklyn, New York.
In 2020 they planned a massive, mad project, to explore and catalogue their city.
They spent 13 months of 2020 – 2021 walking the streets of New York, at a blistering pace of 26 miles (42 km) per day, five days a week. That’s a LOT of walking! They walked from 9:30 am to 8:00 pm each day, in conditions ranging from blistering heat to raging blizzards.
To pass the time - and because walking 42 km makes anyone hungry - they decided they would visit bagel shops. All the bagel shops! At each shop they decided they would buy a certain type of bagel - bagel with scallion cream cheese - photograph it, rate it and then plot the data to create a bagel matrix.
They documented their travels and their bagel ratings on a website and are now selling high-resolution photographs of individual bagels, as NFTs (non-fungible tokens, a block-chain technology).
They celebrated the last day of their walking project by walking 26 miles to a park in Brooklyn, where they got married in a pre-arranged ceremony. As you do. The menu for the reception? Bagels, of course!
Sources
https://everythingiseverything.nyc/about
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