News and Resources Roundup
November 2022
28th November | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
💀 🍗 Fried Chicken Sickens Hundreds of Children 🍗 💀
A large outbreak of food poisoning in Vietnam, in which 662 school students were admitted to medical facilities and at least one died, has been linked to fried chicken wings that contained Salmonella, Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli bacteria.
🐟 Microplastics in Fish Eaten by Humans – Exposure and Safety – New Research 🐟
New research assessed the presence of microplastics in fish eaten by humans, estimated how much of the microplastic could get into the fish muscle and be ingested by humans and estimated human annual consumption according to fish species.
📌 Food Fraud News 📌
This week’s food fraud news includes
faked certificates of analysis for Listeria in Salmon
organic fruit fraud in Sweden
cassia adulteration in cinnamon
good news about seafood fraud in the United Kingdom
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
🍃 Free Webinar: Overview of the US FSMA Food Traceability (new) Rule 🍃
Wednesday 14th Dec (USA time)
Hosted by SQF and with a focus on how this rule will impact SQF-certified sites.
🦠 WHO Food Safety Group Publishes Guidelines on Antimicrobials in Food Production 🦠
WHO’s recommendations about antimicrobials in food production are: don’t use antimicrobials that are important to human health in food-producing animals; stop using the ones that are in use, and don’t start using new ones when they are made available.
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/259240/WHO-NMH-FOS-FZD-17.4-eng.pdf
21st November | Food Safety News and Free Resources1 |
New traceability rules for high-risk foods in the USA comes into effect this month
The new rule is due to be published on the 21st of November (today!) and will be enforceable from January 2023. It applies to high-risk foods including fresh leafy greens, nut butters, fresh-cut fruits and vegetables and ready-to-eat deli salads,
Another Cronobacter recall
This recall is for goat’s milk infant formula made in the Czech Republic. The recall was prompted after Cronobacter sakazakii was found in the formula during official testing, no illnesses have been reported.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/11/cronobacter-prompts-infant-formula-recall-in-slovakia/
Free webinar: Dry Cleaning for Hygienic Equipment (USA time)
November 30th, 10 am EST
Food safety from a microbiological perspective in dry dairy powder operations is dependent on minimizing water introduction into the environment and equipment – even during cleaning. Removing soils without the benefit of water nor wet chemistry presents efficacy and efficiency challenges. This is even more of a challenge for food safety from an allergen-clean perspective. Sanitary Design can help ensure effective cleaning in dry clean only applications, especially if the design considers the limitations and objectives for cleaning without water. An understanding of why a “war on water” is critical to food safety in dry clean only applications will promote good sanitary design.
⚠Poppy seed tea warning ⚠
More than 20 people have become sick including one who had a heart attack and two in intensive care, after drinking poppy seed tea in Australia.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/11/poppy-seed-tea-linked-to-illnesses-in-australia/
New Expiry/Best Before language coming for France
France currently uses indications equivalent to ‘Use By’ and ‘Best Before’. Products that carry the Use By indication may not be safe to eat after the date whereas foods that display the Best Before equivalent may be marketed and consumed but might not have full nutritional or taste profiles. The new indications will include ‘pour une dégustation minimale’ (for minimum standard taste) and ‘ce produit peut être consommé après cette date’ (this product can be consumed after this date).
Easily verify SQF-certified suppliers and SQF certificates online
Did you know you can easily search online to check the veracity of SQF certificates? Find the directory here:
https://go.sqfi.com/assessment-database/sqf-certified-site-directory/
Free webinar: Get the Most Out of Your Internal Audits
Hosted by IFSQN, this free webinar shows you
· how to get the most out of performing internal audits
· differences between self-inspections and internal audits
· ideas on how to manage your Internal Audit Program effectively
· proper corrective actions.
https://www.ifsqn.com/forum/index.php/calendar/event/625-get-the-most-out-of-your-internal-audits/
Free Webinar on US FSMA with US FDA Experts
This websinar, hosted by SGS covers regulatory updates and FDA’s inspection data in the US and internationally. It allows importers and suppliers of food to hear from and ask questions to US FDA experts.
https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/3968688/5EDE1EC722B19E475768DB605A8023DF?partnerref=newfoodmagazine
Changes to FDA standards for regulators in the USA
The US FDA has made updates to its Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS), which are for state and federal regulators and enforcement agents, not for food businesses. The MFRPSs cover inspection programs and the like for compliance and enforcement agencies.
14th November | Food Safety News and Free Resources |
⚠ Alert!!! Peanut Proteins in Soya Lecithin ⚠
Retail packs of soya lecithin have been recalled because of undeclared peanut present in the products in Ireland. This could affect other brands and wholesale/bulk sources too.
💀 Blitz on THC-Containing Confectionary
Authorities are confiscating confectionary that is made to look like children’s sweets/candy in the USA. A child died earlier this year, allegedly from eating such candy.
Salmonella in Leafy Greens (Europe)
Swedish authorities have declared an outbreak over, after 102 people were sickened by Salmonella from arugula/rocket/rucola in salads
Lead in Foods, Test Results (USA)
Multiple Foods Found to Contain Lead in Testing Blitz by US FDA
For a list of results, see this LinkedIn post by a food safety consultant.
Microplastics coming from cutting boards
A new research paper about microplastics in fish and chicken purchased in the Middle East reports that the source of the microplastics is the plastic cutting boards used in the preparation of the food.
Ethylene Oxide in Food - an Overview of Contamination, Risks and Regulations
This information page, published by the IFST (UK professional body for those involved in all aspects of food science and technology), provides a good description of the recent challenges caused by Ethylene Oxide in the European and Interational food supply chains.
Halal Manufacturing - Free Webinar (2 timezones)
17th November, hosted by Merck/Millipore. The webinar addresses the following topics:
Criteria for halal-compliant manufacturing
The risk of carrying non-halal contamination into certified facilities
Q&A session
Session 1, 09:00 Central European Time
Session 2, 16:00 Central European Time
Staphylococcus aureus found on the hands of food service workers
New research found 11 per cent of food service workers had S. aureus on their hands, with almost half of the bacterial strains resistant to a common antibiotic, erythromycin.
The Pesticide ‘Footprints’ of Various Countries - Scientific Paper
Quote: “China, Germany, and United Kingdom are the top three net importers of pesticide hazard loads embodied in commodities, while the USA, Brazil, and Spain are the three largest net exporters.”
Crisis Planning for small operations
Do you have just one trained first aider, or one deep fryer or one person who knows how to use important software? That’s a recipe for disaster.
This practical guide to preventing small problems becoming full-blorwn business disruptions is written for resesartarants and cafes but will also be useful for small-scale manufacturing operations and packing hourses.
7th November | Food Safety News and Free Resources2 |
💀 Listeria from Italian sausage: 90 people affected and 3 deaths 💀
There are now at least 90 people affected by a Listeria outbreak that has been linked – for some patients at least – to sausages made with chicken and turkey.
🙉 More than half of USA food importers fail to meet legal standards🙉
The US FDA has revealed that more than 50 per cent of human food importers who were inspected in the past year did not comply with the FSVP (Foreign Supplier Verification Program) rules. Common problems were (a) did not develop an FSVP; (b) did not evaluate the risk of imported food; (c) did not document evaluations; (d) did not have a supplier verification procedure; (e) did not do a hazard analysis. Okaaaay.
Food Safety and Food Fraud Issues Found at High Risk Operations in Italy
Investigations that were prompted by a large Listeriosis outbreak in Italy have led to findings of serious food safety problems at multiple businesses, with around 1,100 businesses visited and 23 shut down or suspended. Food fraud issues related to the falsification of laboratory reports were also discovered - Italy
📌 Food Fraud News 📌
This week’s food fraud news includes
is Starbucks putting undeclared potassium in their coffee???
fake lab reports for food safety tests
mislabelled jellyfish
fake “Scotland-grown” tea (yes seriously!)
Become a paid subscriber to access The Rotten Apple’s food fraud news.
Repeat Food Safety Violations at Supplement Factory - Company Allowed to Keep Trading 😕
A company that repeatedly failed to meet standards for good manufacturing practices, food safety standards and hazard prevention requirements over a period of nine years has been allowed to keep trading – USA
🧪 Harmful Chemicals Offender is Sentenced 🧪
A man who poisoned food in retail stores in 2018 has pleaded guilty and been sentenced for tampering with food in supermarkets – United States of America
Free Resource: Corn Testing Webinar
18th November
This free webinar hosted by Eurofins is all about corn.
It promises to “highlight the different contamination risks and threats in corn supply chains and suggest how testing solutions can best mitigate these risks”. Includes mycotoxin/aflatoxins, allergen cross-contamination management, GMO screenings.
