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 [2806]

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 [2807].

Increasing Food Safety with Predictive Microbiology

[2808] [2809]
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

[2810]

ComBase Predictor

[2811]
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)

[2884]
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:

[2812]

Links of interest:

[2812]

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

[2813]
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:

[2814]
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.

Chinese infant formula tainted with melamine

[2815]
In China 700 tonnes of infant formula tainted with melamine made before August 6, 2008 are being recalled. They were tainted with melamine to simulate a high protein content. Several babies already died and more than 400 babies have kidney stones or kidney failure. Melamine was found in Sanlu-brand milk sold in China and exported to Taiwan,Bangladesh, Burma, Burundi, Gabon and Yemen. The New Zealand corporation FRONTERA, a global milk powder exporter, has 43% of SANLU shares. Frontera knew of the tainted milk of its partner one month ahead of the scandal, but no action within the corporation was taken to make it public. [2816]

Melamine is a toxic compound which is used in the production of plastics and adhesives. It was been found in imported Chinese pet food. Cats and dogs died or got sick after eating the contaminated pet food in 2007.

U.S. FDA says that some of this infant formula may have entered the US market through speciality markets that serve the Chinese community. The FDA advises not to feed infant formula manufactured in China to infants. The agency stresses that safe milk-based infant formulas are Abbott Nutrition, Bristol-Myers Squibb unit MeadJohnson Nutritionals, Nestle USA, PBM Nutritionals and Solus Products.

Arla closes milk production site in China reacting to the melamine scandal

[2817]
The Danish based Arla Foods group recalled all milk products contaminated with melamine from the Chinese market and closes the production site of its joint venture partner Mengniu Dairy. Arla is the second western corporation, after the New Zealander company Frontera which has been found linked to the melamine milk scandal in China.

The desire to expand its production to low cost and high profit markets increases the risk to get entangled with the production of poisoned baby food being worldwide exported. Food safety should be considered as top priority and profit should not become the main aim of corporations acting on international level. Frontera and Arla have to learn this lesson if they want to stay in the food business.

Salmonella Enteritidis in eggs

[2818]
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

[2819]
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. [2820]

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. [2821]

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. [2822]

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. [2823]

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. [2824]

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. [2825]

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. [2825]

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. [2825]
South Africa, UK, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain received suspicious rice protein concentrate from China.


Chinese infant formula tainted with melamine

[2826]
In China 700 tonnes of infant formula tainted with melamine made before August 6, 2008 are being recalled. They were tainted with melamine to simulate a high protein content. One baby already died and more than 400 babies have kidney stones or kidney failure. Melamine was found formula, Sanlu-brand milk. Some charges were sold to Taiwan for food processing.

Melamine is a toxic compound which is used in the production of plastics and fertilisers. It was been found in imported Chinese pet food. Cats and dogs died or got sick after eating the contaminated pet food in 2007.

U.S. FDA says that some of this infant formula may have entered the US market through speciality markets that serve the Chinese community. The FDA advises not to feed infant formula manufactured in China to infants. The agency stresses that safe milk-based infant formulas are Abbott Nutrition, Bristol-Myers Squibb unit MeadJohnson Nutritionals, Nestle USA, PBM Nutritionals and Solus Products.

Melamine found in Chinese eggs

[2827]
Eggs and probably meat from China are tainted with melamine from feed in October 2008. After tainted milk also eggs of China's Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group were found with 4.7 parts per million of melamine. Under the Harmful Substances in Food (Amendment) Regulation 2008 of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the legal limit for melamine in food is 2.5 ppm.

Liquid as well as dehydrated egg yolk and egg white are exported in bulk container for the production of mayonnaise, sauces, marshmallow fluff or marshmallow creme, bakeries and confectioneries. [2828]

Chinese food scandals such as using cancer causing Sudan Red to adjust the colour of egg yolk, kidney failure causing melamine tainted dog and cat feed and dairy products demonstrates that countries with low production costs endanger quality and safety. Global enterprises should keep in mind that profits from low production costs may entangle the enterprise in a food scandal with destructive outcomes.

The first company outside of China entangled in this scandal is the Philippine company Croley Foods MFG. Corp whose Blueberry Cream Sandwich whose crackers were found to be tainted with melamine, probably traced back to the Chinese egg products.

Heparin scandal

FDA researches on faked heparin from US Baxter

[2829]
FDA launched a far ranging investigation in both the United States and abroad. This included inspecting Baxter's domestic facilities, examining Heparin product in the United States and sending a team of experts to China to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the Changzhou SPL facility that makes the active ingredient for this drug.

While the FDA has yet to determine the root cause of these adverse events, we have found a Heparin-like compound that is not Heparin present in some of the Heparin Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) produced by Scientific Protein Labs, which maintains a facility in Wisconsin in addition to the Changzhou plant.

This contaminant is present in significant quantities, accounting for 5 to 20 percent of the total mass of each sample tested. It reacts like Heparin in many tests, which is why the traditional release tests did not detect it.

FDA impurity evaluation screening methods

[2830]
To ensure that all is being done to provide a safe supply of this life-saving drug, we are releasing information on two tests that manufacturers and regulators can use to screen for this contaminant.

The two methods include proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H-1 NMR) and capillary electrophoresis (CE). The tests are to be used for ALL Heparin Sodium API prior to batch release. The API material is considered contaminated if there is a doublet peak at 2.1 ppm in H-1 NMR and a shoulder peak in CE, as illustrated in the two attachments. Heparin sodium API must contain only a single peak (singlet) at 2.1 ppm in NMR and a single peak in CE. It is recommended that both screening methods (H-1 NMR and CE) be used in addition to the regulatory and/or compendial specification requirements.

Will other companies follow?:

According to Pharmalot, Pfizer has been looking at making active ingredients in China for a few years. It made a deal with two companies, including Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group, which recently made headlines because of contaminated leukemia drugs that sickened 200 Chinese patients. Pfizer said it never did buy ingredients from Shanghai because it didn't meet the company's standards. [2831]

Pfizer announce it's looking to outsource 30 per cent of its manufacturing to Asia for cost-cutting. It will shut down plants in Brooklyn, NY, and Omaha, NE, plus sell a plant in Germany. [2832]

Tainted German Heparin from Rotexmedica

[2833]
All of the tainted heparin was made from raw heparin produced in China, some of it in small, unregulated family workshops. Heparin is derived from pig intestines. Germany imported 13 Tons and USA received 10 Tons from China. Other 40 countries imported heparin from China in 2007.

Dialysis patients in Germany have become sick using a different brand of the blood thinner heparin than was linked to 19 American deaths. According to FDA Germany recalled heparin made by a German Rotexmedica that uses a different supplier of raw heparin ingredients than Baxter does. Rotexmedica and Baxter gets its supply from China, the world's leading source of heparin.

Out-sourcing and cost-cut on raw ware endangers medical and food safety:

The recent heparin scandal comes in front of other medical and food scandals. How will Baxter and Rotexmedica regain the confidence of their customers?

All companies which importing cheap raw ware or out-sourcing their activities run a serious danger to get involved in scandals like faked heparin of tainted foods. Quality has its price and is directly bounded with image of the country where it was produced.
Both companies seriously damaged the image of their home countries.

Scotch salmon recall 2008

[2834]
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.

Faked scientific papers put in doubt the reliability of scientific studies and scientific journals

[2835]
Dr. Scott Reuben is accused of having published at least 21 faked articles concerning pain drugs, which are suspected to slow postoperative healing. The journal Anesthesia & Analgesia published some of Reuben's fraudulent papers concerning the drugs COX2 inhibitors, Pfizer's Celebrex (celecoxib), the drug Lyrica and Merck's Vioxx (rofecoxib), claiming to reduced post-surgical pain and dependence on steroids and addictive drugs like morphine. Reuben played down animal studies showing that the drugs might hinder bone healing after surgery and might cause heart attack.

Reuben is also being accused of having forged the signature of Dr. Evan Ekman, orthopedic surgeon at Southern Orthopaedic Sports Medicine in Columbia, S.C on submission papers for the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Reuben gained his medical degree at the State University of New York.

The Baystate hospital did not sure that research done there is properly conducted and reported. There was no control from Pfizer on the veracity of studies concerning their products, and the Journals publishing faked studies from Reuben put in doubt the reliability of scientific studies and scientific journals.

The fraud of Reuben has some well known predecessors:

Korean Professor Kim Tae-kook was suspended from KAIST under allegation of faked data

[2836]
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) suspended the bioscience professor Kim Tae-kook for the fabrication of data in two papers, published in Science in July 2005 and Nature Chemical Biology in July 2006, according to the Korea Times.

A postgraduate student, who was a co-author of the paper, unveiled the faked data after failing to replicate the experiments. He notified notified the school.

Kim's 2006 paper suggested ideas for increasing the human lifespan by "reprogramming" cells. It was one of Kim's students who first suspected the credibility of Kim's research, the school said.

Professor Lee Gyun-min from KAIST said that false data were found in both articles and there is strong evidence that these were deliberately done under Kim's supervision.

The Kim 2005 paper published in Science journal

[2837]
Tae Kook Kim and colleagues 2005 wrote that magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) coated with a small molecule of interest are taken up by living cells and can be used to detect target proteins and activation of signaling pathways. The new technology that identifies molecular targets was called magnetism-based interaction capture (MAGIC). The authors stressed that the use of MAGIC in genome-wide expression screening identified multiple protein targets of a drug.

The Daxiang Cui 2007 research citing the Kim's paper published in Cancer Research journal

[2838]
Daxiang Cui and colleagues 2007 cite the Kim 2005 paper. According to Cui also magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) were used. These nanoparticles were modified with different generations of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers and mixed with antisense survivin oligodeoxynucleotide (asODN). The MNP then formed asODN-dendrimer-MNP composites, which can enter into tumor cells within 15 min, and cause down-regulation of the survivin gene and protein, and inhibited cell growth in dose- and time-dependent means. The authors wrote that PAMAM dendrimer-modified MNPs may be a good gene delivery system and have potential applications in cancer therapy and molecular imaging diagnosis.

The Kim paper 2006 published in Nature Chemical Biology

[2839]
According to Tae Kook Kim and colleagues 2006 most somatic cells encounter an inevitable destiny senescence. The authors claimed that the intrinsic 'senescence clock' can be reset in a reversible manner by selective modulation of the ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) protein and ATM- and Rad3-related (ATR) protein with a small molecule, CGK733. Employing the magnetic nanoprobe technology MAGIC, described in 2005 the ATM protein was targeted by CGK733 blocking their signaling pathways with great selectivity. These results might reflect the specific targeting of the kinase activities of ATM and ATR by CGK733 without affecting any other domains required for cell proliferation.

The case of professor Hwang Woo-suk

[2840]
In January 2006 the Science journal had to retract two Korean papers written by Hwang Woo-suk after his stem-cell cloning research was found to have faked data. Both scientist, Kim and Hwang have now discredited Korean scientific work. Hwang Woo-suk was a professor of theriogenology and biotechnology at Seoul National University (dismissed on March 20,2006) who rose to fame after claiming a series of remarkable breakthroughs in the field of stem cell research. Until November 2005, he was considered one of the pioneering experts in the field of stem cell research, best known for two articles published in the journal Science in 2004 and 2005 where he fraudulently reported to have succeeded in creating human embryonic stem cells by cloning. Both papers were later editorially retracted after they were found to contain a large amount of fabricated data. He has admitted to various lies and frauds.

On May 12, 2006, Hwang was indicted on embezzlement and bioethics law violations linked to faked stem cell research. Korea Times reported on June 10, 2007 that The university expelled him and the government rescinded its financial and legal support. While being charged with fraud and embezzlement, he has kept a low profile at the Suam Bioengineering Research Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, where he is officially engaged in animal cloning. The government barred Hwang from conducting human cloning research. [2841]

The case of Prof.Friedhelm Herrmann

[2842]
German professor Friedhelm Herrmann, leading cancer research specialist at the universities of Mainz, Freiburg and Ulm and the Max-Delbrück institute for molecular medicine in Berlin, faked about 80 papers. These papers were published in respected US and European journals. Many of them were withdrawn but their impact on medical research is unknown. Professor Ulf Rapp who analysed the fraud said that the group around Herrmann developed an aversion to using genuine data.

The guardian states that faking scientific research is not a criminal offence under German law.

German anthropology professor at the University of Frankfurt, Germany, is sentenced to one year and 6 month imprisonment

[2843] [2844]
The former professor Reiner Rudolph Robert Protsch (von Zieten) was sentenced to 1 year and 6 month imprisonment for several deep wrongs. The verdict says the court ruled only over illegal appropriation of objects and falsification of documents, it did not judge the scientific frauds committed by the former professor of the University of Frankfurt, Germany. The court stressed that it would leave it to the scientific community to judge on that.

The fraudulent publications of Protsch may mean an entire tranche of the history of man's development will have to be rewritten. [2845]

The university of Frankfurt admitted that it should have discovered the professor's fabrications far earlier. The administration of the University of Frankfurt had ignored the professor's misconduct for 30 years despite existing proof for his mistakes.

There is a sour smell of fraud left back on scientific papers and some of the glamour and respect toward the title of academic professor has vanished.

Faked data of two Austrian studies of mobile radiation effect force their withdrawal

[2846]
According to the rector of the University of Vienna Wolfgang Schtz the data of a study published in 2005 and another from 2008 were manipulated by a coworker. The fake was discovered by outside readers of the studies and not by the publishing authors.

Elisabeth Kratochvil, being Diem here former name, compiled the faked data.

The two involved studies of the Vienna University:

Diem et al 2005

Diem 2005 fibroblasts
According to Diem et al 2005, cultured human and rat cells presented DNA strand breaks when exposed to intermittent and continuous radiofrequency electromagnetic fields used in mobile phones, with different specific absorption rates and different mobile-phone modulations. The author concluded that the DNA cannot be based on thermal effects. Effects were stronger with intermitent exposure, compared with continuous exposure to the radiation.

Schwarz et al 2008

[2848]
The authors report that UMTS exposure may cause genetic alterations in human cultured fibroblastsin some but not with lymphocytes.

Doubts on the data of the studies

[2849]
Alexander Lerchl from the University of Bremen found inter-individual differences of the values compared with previously published data from the same group of researchers. He stressed that he data given in the figures and the tables reveal peculiar miscalculations and statistical oddities which give rise to concern about the origin of the reported data. These doubt leaded finally to unveil the fake of the two studies of the leading authors Hugo Rüdiger and Franz Adkofer.

The faked studies of the university Vienna were the core of REFLEX, a 3 Million Euro project of the European Commission held between 2000 and 2004. [2850]

The EU REFLEX Project

[2851]
The Report of the European Union's REFLEX Project (Risk Evaluation of Potential Environmental Hazards from Low Frequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure Using Sensitive in vitro Methods) was released in November, 2004. The Project studied ELF and RF exposures to various cell types. Prof. Dr. Franz Adlkofer was project coordinator.

Mobile phone radiation effects on human health

[2852]
Michael Kundi comments data of thermal, nonthermal and microthermic effects of mobile phone radiation. Kundi describes genetic damages caused by low radiation of mobile phones.The author says that there are sufficient data from studies available to support precautionary measures promulgated by the Austrian Ministry for Health and Women.

T Mobile criticizes Austrian government expert on mobile telephone radiation study

[2853] [2854]
Dr. Gerd Oberfeld, expert for mobile phone radiation and WLAN radiation of the Austrian government presented a study which underlines serious health concerns related to these radiations. Margit Kropik from T-Mobile Austria presented critics on the methodology used in this study. According to Heinz Münzer, director of the infrastructure of Mobilkom Austria, the study is based on untrue informations related to facts on network used in the region.

Study says that excessive use of mobile phones should be avoided

[,]
The number of complaints was higher for people using the digital (GSM) system with pulse modulated fields, than for those using the analogue (NMT) system. Our results correlate with the results observed by Sandstrom et al. [2856]

The authors found a relationship between headache, fatigue, dizziness, tension and sleep disturbances in subjects exposed to mobile phones emissions. It is advisable therefore; that the use of mobile phones is a risk factor for health hazards and suggest that excessive use of mobile phones should be avoided by health promotion activities, such as group discussion, public presentations and through electronic and print media sources. The authors call for preventive measures.

Six faked journals from Elsevier launch another discredit scandal on scientific publications

[2857]
The scientific press faces another discredit caused by six faked publications in form of scientific journals. Only favourable results are published in these journal published by Elsevier Journals. A series of professors act as authors being sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry, such as Merck and others.

Ghostwriters is a service maintained by MECC's, medical education and communication companies. Articles are written for medical journals that appear under the names of acquainted scientists and professors, which take only a glance on what they sign for. Articles may be controlled, modified and changed by the sponsoring company. Data are used to support directly or indirectly the marketing of products.


Guidelines on conflict of interest disclosure for scientific and medical journals

[2858]
The Center for Science in the Public Interest today urged editors of journals of science and medicine to adopt a common standard for disclosing financial conflicts of interest among their authors, editors, and peer reviewers.

The guidelines require authors to disclose any financial relationship of any size from the previous three years. That would include

Guideline on conflict of interest disclosure for scientific and medical journals

[2859]

For Authors:

All manuscripts for articles, original research reports, editorials, comments, reviews, book reviews and letters that are submitted to the journal must be accompanied by a conflict of interest disclosure statement, or a declaration by the authors that they have no conflicts of interest to declare.

All articles that are published in the journal will be accompanied by a conflict-of-interest disclosure statement, or a statement that the authors have replied that they have no conflicts of interest to declare.

What to report:

Any financial relationship from the past three years (dating from the month of submission) of any size should be disclosed. These potential conflicts of interest include:
- Direct employment, either full or part-time;
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- Consultancies;
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For Editors, Articles Editors, and Peer Reviewers:

Journals should require that all senior editorial personnel avoid all financial relationships that might constitute a conflict of interest. Editorial managers should also avoid personal, political, or intellectual entanglements, organizational or otherwise, that could be construed as establishing a particular bias that might influence one's judgements.

The policy also outlines an enforcement mechanism for willful violations of disclosure rules. Journals should make it their policy not to publish authors who have previously failed to disclose their ties to industry.

Organic eggs contaminated with lead

[2860] Supermarket chain Waitrose has recalled organic eggs after a flock of its chickens consumed lead shot from a nearby clay pigeon shoot getting into the farm.

Italian Mozzarella and processed Cheese with nauseating ingredients

[2861]
A new scandal made public in 2008 concerned 11 000 tons of Italian Mozzarella and processed cheese which was produced from rotten cheese. Maggots, metal parts, mice excrements and other nauseating contaminants were found in Italian produces. Cheese leftovers from 1980 used as raw material were found in factories in northern Italy and one Italian factory situated in Bavaria (Germany). This scandal came after dioxin had been found in Italian Mozzarella.

Tainted alcoholic beverages induce deadly methanol intoxication

[2862]
Turkey is known for illegal home distilleries producing fake alcoholic beverages with high methanol content, which are sold in markets and restaurants.

The latest deadly case happened in late March 2009 when German students, on a trip to Antalya, Turkey, bought two bottles of vodka and two bottles of cola, for 25 euros in the hotel where they were staying. Three students dyed and four were intoxicated. Methanol poisoning was confirmed as the cause of death.

Other known methanol poisoning in Turkey were reported in 2005 whit 22 deaths in Istambul drinking tainted Raki.

Another case related to methanol caused the death of 5 persons in Bursa, near Istambul.

Methanol was formerly obtained by the distillation of wood and called wood alcohol. Methanol is intoxicating but not directly poisonous. It is toxic by its breakdown (toxication) by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver by forming formic acid and formaldehyde which cause permanent blindness by destruction of the optic nerve.

US Maximum level of methanol in wine

[2863]
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised ATF that 0.1 percent of methanol by volume in wine was a safe level. Any wine containing methanol in excess of this amount is deemed adulterated pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 34l(a)(2)(C) and 348.

Methanol intoxication in Nepal

[2864]
Rajbhandari et al., 2008 describe an outbreak of methanol poisoning July-August 2008, leading to death of 10 people in Nepal. "Sofi", a locally brewed alcoholic drink, was adulterated with methanol.

The lethal dose of pure methanol is estimated to be 1-2 mL/kg; however, permanent blindness and death have been reported with as little as 0.1 mL/kg5.

The metabolic pathway of methanol: Methanol is converted to formaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase then to formic acid by aldehyde dehydrogenase, which is then degraded to carbon dioxide (CO2) and water, where folate is a cofactor. In this reaction, formic acid causes metabolic acidosis and CNS damage.

The authors stress that the production of formic acid takes time which explains the delay in the onset of the symptoms. They deplore that they have not been able to educate the local people due to the ignorance of rural people and the ineffective support from government, leaving uncontrolled adulterated products on market posing a health risk of the population.

High percentage of counterfeit alcoholic beverage on the Brazilian market

[2865]
Nagato et al. 2001 verified the authenticity of alcoholic beverages (whisky, vodka, ginger spirit, etc.) from 1993 to August 1999. The authors found that 64.3% of the analysed products were counterfeit, and 2 products presented levels of methanol above the limit tolerated by the Brazilian legislation (200mg/100mL absolute alcohol). The authors point out that there is a high percentage of counterfeit alcoholic beverages on market. They stress the risk to human health because of the presence of methanol, and call for a stringent control of these products.

Deliberate addition of methanol to wines

[2866]
Swiss tolerable values of metanol in various brandies are set, depending on the beverage, at 2-15 g/L of pure alcohol, and 0.15-0.3 g/kg for wines. Much higher levels had been obtained in cases of adulterated wines in Italy in 1985, following deliberate addition of methanol. Consumption of such beverages provoked several deaths or permanent blindness.

The minimal human lethal dose has been estimated within a range of 0.3-1.0 g/kg BW. Chronic toxicity is not well characterized.

Tolerable daily dose of methanol

[2867]
Paine and Davan 2008 facing the fact that illicit drinks made from "industrial methylated spirits" (5% (v/v) methanol:95% (v/v) ethanol) represent a serious health hazard, determined the maximum concentration of methanol in an alcoholic drink that an adult human could consume without risking toxicity due to its methanol content. The authors found a tolerable daily dose of methanol in an adult as 2 g and a toxic dose as 8 g. These results are in accordance with the current EU general limit for naturally occurring methanol of 10 g methanol/l ethanol (which equates to 0.4% (v/v) methanol at 40% alcohol]) provides a greater margin of safety for ethnic, age and other factors.

Higher alcohols are not the cause of adverse effects of surrogate alcohol

[2868]
Higher alcohols occur naturally in alcoholic beverages as by-products of alcoholic fermentation, and are regarded as important flavour compounds, however, high levels of the fusel oils may be toxic.

Lachenmeyer et al., 2008 found that the reasonable preliminary guideline level for a maximum tolerable concentration would be 1000 g/hl of pure alcohol for the sum of all higher alcohols, such as 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, isobutanol, isoamyl alcohol and 1-hexanol. The authors stress that this level is higher than the concentrations usually found in both legal alcoholic beverages and surrogate alcohols. Higher alcohols are therefore not the cause for the adverse effects of surrogate alcohol.

Addiction to alcoholic beverages

[2869]
Sprung et al., 1988 postulates that ethanol is oxidised to acetaldehyde which may condense with endogenous amines to form tetrahydroisoquinoline (TIQ) and - tetrahydro-beta-carboline (THBC) alkaloids which ultimately might be responsible for addiction. Chronic alcoholics prefer normal alcoholic beverages instead of an ethanol solution. Sprung believes that this peference is due to the additional content of methanol of these beverages which is metabolised to formaldehyde which is more reactive to form TIQ and THBC than acetaldehyde. The authors concluded that methanol may be more important than ethanol in addiction to alcoholic beverages.

Methanol in African beverages

[2870] [2871]
Homemade alcoholic beverages from millet, maize or palm oil alcohol are sold on the African streets. They may contain methanol because of the rudimentary equipment used in the production.

Methanol poisoning continues to be a public health problem in Tunisia. Brahmi and colleagues reported 16 cases of methanol intoxicatioin in Tunesia 2003/2004.

Hepatotoxicity of ethanol

[2872] [2873]
The fatal dose of ethanolindexEthanol, hepatotoxicity is 300-400 mL of pure ethanol (600-800 mL of 50% spirits), for the average adult if consumed in less than one hour.

According to Lieber 1993 alcohol is hepatotoxic because of secondary malnutrition and through metabolic disturbances associated with the oxidation of ethanol, such as redox changes produced by the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) generated via the liver alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) pathway affecting the metabolism of lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, and purines.

In addition to ADH, ethanol can be oxidized by liver microsomes, the cytochrome P450 (P4502E1) contributing to increased acetaldehyde generation. P-450 induction also explains depletion (and enhanced toxicity) of nutritional factors such as vitamin A.

Ethanol causes not only vitamin A depletion, but it also enhances its hepatotoxicity. Supplementing vitamin A to alleviate the effects of deficiency and night blindness , the authors stress that it is important to consider the narrow therapeutic window of alcoholics to avoid adverse effects.

Fusel oil, another poisonous component of alcoholic beverages

[2874]
Fusel alcohols, also sometimes called fusel oils, are higher-order alcohols formed by fermentation and present in cider, mead, beer, wine, and spirits to varying degrees. The most important are 1-propanol, 2-propanol, butanol (various isomers), amyl alcohol, furfural.

Fusel alcohols are formed when fermentation occurs at higher temperatures, at lower pH, and when yeast activity is limited by low nitrogen content. During distillation, fusel alcohols are concentrated in the fraction at the end of the distillation run.


Other alcoholic beverage adulterations, diethylene glycol:

is mostly used as an industrial solvent and additive, and is not a normal constituent of alcoholic beverages. Its was used to sweeten Austrian and German wines. This food scandal was discovered in 1986.

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