In this article we welcome guest author and industry expert, Alec Kyriakides, to explore some of the food safety developments, recalls and incidents that have happened recently.

 

Food Safety Developments

 

Getting the facts right

The positive benefits from advances in technology that we have seen in recent decades allowing universal access to information through online platforms and social media brings with it a significant risk of misinformation. The European Union has recently published guidance including ten steps to identify disinformation, thereby improving resilience and confidence in use of information sources.

 

Geospatial insights

For those with a keen interest in understanding the interplay of climate and environmental risks with other vulnerability factors such as security and socio-economic stresses, a new tool ‘Strata’ is available to map and visualise these factors at global, regional, country and local level. The tool funded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Union (EU) includes 26 indicators related to climate, environment, peace and security and socio-economic vulnerability.

 

United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

The 10th edition of the Sustainable Development Report has been published ahead of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), scheduled to take place from 30 June to 3 July. The report is focussed on “Financing the SDGs by 2030 and Mid-Century” and also provides an update on progress against the SDGs by signatories to the goals. Although there are many positive elements in the report it is somewhat concerning that the report notes at the global level, none of the 17 goals are currently on course to be achieved by 2030.

 

Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections and Listeriosis in the European Union

STEC infections and listeriosis in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) were reported to be at their highest levels since 2007, when EU-wide surveillance began. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) noted in the latest report from 30 EU/EEA countries that there were 10 901 confirmed cases of STEC infection, representing a 22% increase compared to 2022 and the highest annual notification rate (3.2 per 100 000 population) recorded to date. The rise was partly attributed to improvements in laboratory diagnostic tests. Cases of listeriosis were also reported to be the highest annual number recorded to date with 2 993 listeriosis cases and 340 deaths.

 

United Kingdom data on infectious intestinal disease

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published its data on infectious disease in the year 2024 and highlighted a significant rise in infections caused by Campylobacter spp. and Salmonella spp. in England. Campylobacteriosis cases increased by 17.1% from 60,055 in 2023 to 70,352 in 2024, reaching 121.9 reports per 100,000 population. This is reported to be the highest number of cases in the past decade. Salmonellosis infections also reached a decade high, with a 17.1% increase from 2023, rising from 8,872 cases in 2023 to 10,388 cases in 2024. Infections caused by the parasite Cryptosporidium spp. decreased by 16.4% compared to 2023, with 5,708 cases reported in 2024. It was noted that large outbreaks linked to lambing events and petting farm venues, and an outbreak in South Devon associated with mains water led to spikes in infections in April.  Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections in 2023 decreased slightly by 2.2% compared to 2022 overall. It was noted that despite the slight decrease in cases, the number of STEC non-O157 cases increased by 14% (from 1,988 cases in 2022 to 2,260 cases in 2023). This was attributed to an increase in the number of diagnostic laboratories using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in recent years.

 

Tea fraud

Continuing the ongoing theme of food fraud in recent articles, a fraudster was sentenced to 3.5 years in jail for falsely supplying tea valued at over £550, 000 that he claimed was “Scottish grown tea”. The fraud spanned 5 years and he was able to supply high end hotels with tea at highly inflated prices that was most likely sourced from Sri Lanka or India.

 

United Nations Inustrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Food Safety Approach 2,0

UNIDO has published its latest strategy on food safety with three focussed pillars; Pillar 1 Support safer and resilient food business; Pillar 2 Creating an enabling environment for robust food safety systems; and Pillar 3 Foster food safety advocacy and partnership.

 

UK Food Safety Annual Report

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) have published their annual ‘Our Food’ report, the fourth report since the UK left the EU. It reviews food safety and standards across the UK for 2024 and is an independent and evidence-based annual assessment of food standards across all four nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). The report indicates that food safety and authenticity remained relatively stable in 2024 but that the food system was under significant pressure. Areas highlighted included lack of local authority resources leading to a backlog in official inspections and a reduction in food sampling. FSA / FSS surveillance of food products continued to identify a failure by some businesses to correctly label allergens on products and presenting risks to consumers.

 

Foodborne disease outbreaks

 

A number of salmonellosis outbreaks were reported this month implicating a range of foods. An outbreak in Austria implicating cashew butter with raspberries resulted in 13 cases from six federal states with the majority of cases affecting children between the ages of 1 and 3 years. Another salmonellosis outbreak in Austria implicating egg, eggs products and chicken meat resulted in 10 hospitalisations from the 35 people affected. Eggs were also implicated as the vehicle of a salmonellosis outbreak in France affecting over 100 people and eggs are suspected to be linked to a large outbreak in the United States with 79 cases and 21 hospitalisations. This prompted the recall of over 1.7 million eggs in the US. The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported a small outbreak caused by pistachio cream causing 4 cases with one hospitalised. Other microorganisms causing outbreaks of infection included STEC that caused 25 illnesses (24 in children) resulting in 10 hospitalisations and the death of a child with the implicated food being meat from butchers, a listeriosis outbreak (17 cases, 16 hospitalisations, 3 deaths) in the USA implicating chicken fettucine Alfredo meals and two clusters of Hepatitis A infections in the UK affecting nearly 100 people although the exact sources have not yet been established.

 

Food Recall Highlights

 

The data used for this food recall highlights review is sourced from open access recall databases covering different countries and continents including the USA (Food & Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture), the UK (Food Standards Agency), Germany (Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety) and Australia (Food Standards Australia New Zealand).

 

Microbiological recalls were spread evenly across the enteric pathogens Salmonella spp. and STEC together with Listeria monocytogenes. Although the usual food suspects drove these recalls, there were some notable additions including Salmonella spp. in eggshell membrane capsules sold online and L. monocytogenes in black olives plus a botulism risk from un-eviscerated fish.

 

 

Allergen recalls were spread across a variety of the allergens although milk returned to its dominant position as the main cause.

 

 

Physical contamination events remained low this month with glass in foods packaged in bottles highlighting the importance of glass breakage control.

 

 

Chemical recalls included a wide mix with no contaminant dominating recalls.

 

 

Other: Confectionery (Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons, MOAH, and Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons, MOSH), spice mix (ethylene oxide), biscuits (unauthorized animal ingredients), ambient fruit snack (cochineal Red A), caffeinated beverage (Anthraquinone)

 

 

 

   

Author

Alec Kyriakides

Independent Food Safety Consultant