Subsections

Avoiding food scandals

Food borne diseases and food poisoning have always threaten humanity. Old writings report a high ranking food poisoning in India. According to these reports Buddha Gautama died after eating spoiled meat during his stay as a guest at the house of the metal-worker Cunda at Pava, a village near Magadha capital Rajagraha []

The cause of food scandals
The cause of a scandal is not the scandal in its itself, it is rather the fact that no necessary conditions were consciously provided to avoid it.

Lack of knowledge and low level of ethics are the causes of food scandals.

Even nowadays food scandals cause high costs and loss of confidence of the consumer such as scandals with organics, BSE threat and contaminants in food.

Due to heavy industrial processing some danger arise when precautionary activity fails to protect the consumer. Caustic sodium hydroxide used to clean and sanitize manufacturing equipment was left in Vanilla soymilk in White Wave Silk Brand cartons being recalled in early 2004 is an example of heavy losses due to technical failure.

Food processors are responsible to provide the conditions to avoid food poisoning and to control its effectiveness.
\includegraphics[height=200bp,width=220bp]{library/P1270018.ps} Example of wrong location of level sensor resulting in cleaning agent leftover

\includegraphics[height=200bp,width=220bp]{library/P1270019.ps} No leftover in the storage tank

Transboundary plant pests and animal diseases such as BSE and avian flue are of growing economic and scientific complexity and consequently warrants priority attention.
Government are responsible to provide conditions to avoid transboundary pests and diseases [1688].

Increasing Food Safety with Predictive Microbiology

[1689] [1690] The main sources of food scandals are caused by pathogenic bacteria. Predictive Microbiology is a new tool for food producers to predict safety and shelf life of new products. The common database can become an important step to avoid food scandals.


The ComBase Database

The ComBase Database is a combined database for predictive microbiology and is an outcome from the Common Database for Predictive Microbiology which was launched in June 2003 creating a virtual environment for every food and every bacteria and should contribute to a more rapid understanding of food safety and quality. Its purpose is to make data and predictive tools on microbial responses to food environments freely available via web-based software.

The ComBase Database is an international collaboration between:
Everyone can create an environment by entering data such as the temperature, pH and salt content - all the parameters relevant to his food product during processing, distribution, storage and sale.

The database consists of thousands of microbial growth and survival curves that have been collated in research establishments and from publications. They form the basis for numerous microbial models presented in ComBase Predictor.

Different use of ComBase Browser and Combase Predictor [1691]

ComBase Predictor

[1692]
ComBase Predictor is a tool for industry, academia and regulatory agencies. They can be used in developing new food technologies while maintaining food safety; in teaching and research; in assessing the microbial risk in foods or setting up new guidelines.

The Internet version of the ComBase Predictor, developed by IFR, was launched in February 2006.
ComBase Predictor web-edition is a modified and improved version of the Growth Predictor programme. It comprises a set of twenty three growth models and six thermal death models for predicting the response of many important foodborne pathogenic or spoilage microorganisms to environmental factors, including temperature, pH and salt concentration. Some of the models also include an additional fourth environmental factor, such as the concentration of carbon dioxide or acetic acid.
The Pathogen Modelling Program (PMP)[1714]
ComBase has developed a new set of predictive models known as ComBase-PMP, which will produce predictions based on all the data on the site. The Pathogen Modelling Program (PMP) is available at http://ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=6786.

The PMP is a package of models that can be used to predict the growth and inactivation of foodborne bacteria, primarily pathogens, under various environmental conditions.

Other microbiologocal sites: [1693] Links of interest: [1693]

Sea water and irrigation water as cause of food born diseases

There is a growing concern linked to spread of agents through vegetables contaminated with enterovirus and bacterial pathogens as Shigella from low-standard irrigation water, parasites on tropical fruits and berries, and Vibrio cholera, other enteric bacteria and enteroviruses from sea-foods harvested in polluted sea water.

Sea-food: Polluted water is of public concern. The government of bordering states and international organizations are responsible to issue warnings and to initiate measures to eliminate the causes of the pollution.

Vegetables: Intervention must be on the communal level, a general improvement of hygiene and pollution control.

Animal product health threats

Husbandry [1694]
Many of the scandals of food safety in Europe the last decades have been linked to this intensive husbandry system seen in Northern Europe. As there has also been incidents caused by chemical pollution of feed (Belgium) or direct contamination of food (cooking oil in Spain), most of the diseases in man have been caused by agents either transferred to man from animals to man through animal products or agents form man spread through vegetables contaminated by polluted irrigation water.

Due to the very low prevalence of many foodborne microbiological hazards in Norwegian products, an increased import of some foods to Norway from countries outside the Nordic area will represent a potential Public Health risk.

Food trade
US CDC , analising concludes that certain aspects of food trade represent a considerable public health hazard.

At the same time, the western consumer is today probably less exposed to some environmental pollutants than some years ago.

A main pattern is that the main hazards are linked to animal products from the subsidized, industrialized western agriculture and some seafood and vegetables from poor/tropical countries.

As a last comment, it is worth reminding that the main food item traded is various forms of grains, where trade represents a minor if any health hazard. It is also worth remembering that the main trade routes of foods are linked to grains from rich countries to poor countries, estimated to approximately 70 million metric tones each years and expected to increase dramatically as most of the unexploited soils are found in countries like USA, Canada and Australia and only middle-income countries like Argentina and Brazil may increase their contribution.

Trade in meat and bone meal and live cattle [1695]
FAO issued a press briefing on 26 January 2001 that urged countries around the world, not just those in Western Europe, to be concerned about the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and its human form, the new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD).

In a statement issued in Rome, FAO called for action to protect the human population, as well as the livestock, feed and meat industries. It suggested that all countries which have imported cattle or meat and bone meal (MBM) from Western Europe, especially the UK, during and since the 1980s, can be considered at risk from the disease. It added that countries at risk should implement effective surveillance for BSE in cattle and controls on the animal feed and meat industries.

Along with the export and import of feed materials, trade in animal by-products has also increased. BSE was first diagnosed in the UK in 1986. It was not until 1989 that it was suggested that meat and bone meal was the probable source of the BSE infection in the UK. At this time, meat and bone meal was banned from ruminant feeds in the UK. However, export to Europe continued until 1996. It was in 1994 that the feeding of meat and bone meal was banned in the European Union and not until January 2001 that a ban on the use of ruminant meat and bone meal and certain other animal proteins in feedstuffs for all farm animals, to avoid risks of cross-contamination, was introduced. At the same time, Europe effectively banned the export of meat and bone meal to third countries for use in animal feed.

In the face of a wave of consumer doubt fuelled by new evidence of the spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in the European Community, the WHO, OIE and FAO have jointly agreed to conduct a further consultation on BSE, Trade and Public Health in June 2001. This meeting will review current evidence on the safety of bovine based foods, the risk that BSE may be occurring in countries where no cases have yet been reported and make recommendations on how to avoid an international epidemic of BSE and vCJD.

Examination of the trade data shows that meat meal was exported from the UK and Europe to more than 100 countries during the critical period from 1986 onwards. Besides the export of meat meal to Europe from the UK until 1996, there was export from other European countries which have subsequently been found to have BSE in their native herds.

Increased output from cattle was achieved by combined breeding and feeding programmes. Cattle were bred that had high milk production when fed high protein feeds, so forage based feed was supplemented with a high protein feed additive bought from feed manufacturers.

This supplemental protein came from both plant sources, such as soybeans, as well as animal sources. Meat and bone meal (MBM) from rendered carcasses, feathers, blood and fish were all used in small amounts during the last century.

Animal protein sources had some advantages: it had better outcomes than soy, and it was cheap. Animal by-products were plentiful, and recycling it back into feed created a market for the waste.

Animal by-products are any part of an animal that is unfit for human consumption: bones, skin, meat trimmings and offal. The raw material is sent from slaughterhouses to rendering plants where it is then processed by crushing and heating it in order to allow moisture to evaporate. The fat, also called tallow, is separated from the protein, also called greaves. The greaves are processed further to create MBM.

Within the EU over 10 million tonnes of animal by-products are produced annually. It has been estimated that only 68% of a chicken, 62% of a pig, 54% of a bovine, and 52% of a sheep or goat is consumed directly.

Conclusion
FAO is uniquely placed to make recommendations on how to avoid an international epidemic of BSE and vCJD, given its scientific and technical expertise in animal nutrition, its computerized Animal Feed Resources Information System, close collaboration with the Codex Alimentarius Commission and experience in development programmes.

FAO has assisted other member countries to establish or to update animal feed legislation and is in a position to provide technical support to improve current feed analysis and feed tables and to create tables of nutrient requirements.

Salmonella Enteritidis in eggs [1696]
It was a pandemic which was spread through infection of centralized units for production of day-old chicken and became pandemic by trade. The pandemic did not spread in Sweden and Norway.

Stringent procedures for cleaning and inspecting eggs were implemented in the 1970s and have made salmonellosis caused by external fecal contamination of egg shells extremely rare. However, unlike eggborne salmonellosis of past decades, the current epidemic is due to intact and disinfected grade A eggs. The reason for this is that Salmonella enteritidis silently infects the ovaries of healthy appearing hens and contaminates the eggs before the shells are formed.

Government agencies and the egg industry have taken steps to reduce Salmonella enteritidis outbreaks. These steps include the difficult task of identifying and removing infected flocks from the egg supply and increasing quality assurance and sanitation measures.

The Centers for Disease Control has advised state health departments, hospitals, and nursing homes of specific measures to reduce Salmonella enteritidis infection. Some states now require refrigeration of eggs from the producer to the consumer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is testing the breeder flocks that produce egg-laying chickens to ensure that they are free of Salmonella enteritidis.

Eggs from known infected commercial flocks will be pasteurized instead of being sold as grade A shell eggs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued guidelines for handling eggs in retail food establishments and will be monitoring infection in laying hens.

Research by these agencies and the egg industry is addressing the many unanswered questions about Salmonella enteritidis, the infections in hens, and contaminated eggs. Informed consumers, food-service establishments, and public and private organizations are working together to reduce, and eventually eliminate, disease caused by this infectious organism.

Tracing the causes of Salmonella spread [1697]
According to Fábio Tavares Zancan and colleagues Salmonella Enteritidis may have reached the farms by vertical transmission. In the hatchery, cross-contamination among contaminated and non-contaminated eggs may occur and can be found in samples collected inside the hatchery and inside transport boxes.

In Brazil, the outbreaks provoked by Salmonella Enteritidis appeared after the outbreaks in Europe, USA and Japan, probably because grand-parent flocks came from the areas where salmonellosis outbreak started.

The results of the study of Zancan indicate that, despite the efforts to control Salmonella in poultry farms, they may still become contaminated through the vertical route by day-old birds that are purchased in countries where outbreaks of salmonellosis were noticed.

Melamine in pet food and human consumption

In March 2007, there has been an outbreak of cat and dog deaths and illness associated with pet food manufactured with vegetable proteins contaminated with melamine and melamine related compounds imported from China. In response to this outbreak, FDA has been conducting an aggressive and intensive investigation. Pet food manufacturers and others have recalled dog and cat food and other suspect products and ingredients. [1698]

Products imported from China which, according to FDA, may be contaminated and are subjected to detention without physical examination, including: Wheat Gluten, Rice Gluten,Rice Protein,Corn Gluten, Corn By-Products, Soy Protein, Soy Gluten, Mung Bean Protein. [1699]

There does not seem to be any reported human case of acute intoxication directly caused by melamine. There was no evidence of harm to humans associated with the processed pork product from hogs fed with melamine contaminated feed, and therefore no recall of meat products were issued. [1700]

FDA and USDA have also traced contaminated feed to swine farms in several states. The same procedures are being followed in relation to both swine and poultry; animals are being quarantined by state order or voluntarily held by the owners and USDA is offering compensation for depopulation and disposal of both swine and poultry that have been fed contaminated products. [1701]

Melamine resin is often used in food packaging and tableware, melamine at ppm level in food and beverage has been reported due to migration from melamine-formaldehyde resin products. Small amounts of melamine have also been reported in foodstuff as a metabolite product of cyromazine, an insecticide used on animals and crops. [1702]

A study by USSR researchers in the 1980s suggested melamine cyanurate which is formed between melamine and cyanuric acid and is used as fire retardant could be more toxic than either melamine or cyanuric acid alone. Current research has focused on the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid in causing renal failure. [1703]

The use of "melamine scrap", described as leftover from processing of coal into melamine for use in creating plastic and fertilizer, was described as widespread. Melamine is said to have been chosen in order to inflate crude protein content measures and to avoid tests for other common and illegal ingredients,such as urea. [1703]

The original Xuzhou Anying wheat gluten was "human grade", as opposed to "feed grade", meaning that it could have been used to make food for humans such as bread or pasta. At least one contaminated batch was used to make food for humans, but the FDA quarantined it before any was sold. [1703]
South Africa, UK, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain received suspicious rice protein concentrate from China.

Scotch salmon recall 2008

[1704]
The seafood supplier Marine Harvest recalls an enormous quantity of salmon products tainted with what is thought to be dieselan could come from a well boat used for transportation. Consumer say the salmon has an unpleasant "white spirit" taste.

The FSA says that based on the information received by the Agency, the chemicals implicated in the problem are present at low levels which are very unlikely to be a risk to health. The retailers implicated are Costco Wholesale UK Ltd and Tesco.

Scotland is the world's third-biggest salmon producer behind Norway and Chile. According to the Food Standards Agency the contamination is very unlikely a risk to human health, but advises consumers not to eat the products. The Agency says that it appears to be a quality rather than a safety matter. The alert does not affect organic salmon.

OurFood (c) 1998 - 2008 by Karl Heinz Wilm - Imprint (Impressum)