Industry update – Food safety developments, recalls and incidents (March & April 2025)

 

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

 

Public attitudes to food safety

The UK Food Standards Agency published the latest wave of its ‘Food and You’ survey that measures consumers’ self-reported knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues. Between 24th April 2024 and 1st July 2024, a total of 5,526 adults (aged 16 years or over) from 3,908 households across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland completed the ‘push-to-web’ survey that specifically questioned attitudes relating to topics including ‘Food you can trust’, ‘Concerns about food’, ‘Food security’, ‘Food shopping and labelling’, ‘Online platforms’ and ‘Genetic technologies’. 79% of respondents had no concerns about the food they eat, and 21% of respondents reported that they had a concern. The most common concerns related to food production methods (35%), nutrition and health (26%), food safety and hygiene (23%) and the quality of food (22%). Specific food safety related findings from the survey included that more than three-quarters of respondents (76%) would rely on the ‘sniff test’ to assess whether raw meat is safe to eat or cook with. A further 73% of respondents said they would rely on the sniff test for milk and yoghurt, and 65% of respondents said they would do so with fish. The report also found that many respondents would eat bagged salad (72%) or cheese (70%) after the use-by date, while around six-in-ten respondents would eat yoghurt (63%), milk (60%), or cooked meats (58%) after the use-by date.

 

Avian flu in sheep

Previous articles have highlighted the spread of avian flu through cows and cattle in the USA with detection of the virus in milk samples. The UK Department of Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) reported the first case of avian flu (H5N1) in a sample of milk from a single sheep in England. The case was identified following extensive testing of milk from a flock of sheep co-located on a farm where avian flu had been detected in captive birds.

 

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in eggs

The National Institute for Public Health and Environment in the Netherlands has issued consumer advice to avoid the consumption of privately produced eggs i.e. those produced from chickens kept as a hobby. Surveillance has identified excessive levels of PFAS in these products with the consumption of earthworms by chickens being implicated as a potential source. Long term exposure to excessive levels of PFAS can affect the immune and reproduction systems and impact cholesterol levels in the blood, the liver, and may be associated with kidney and testicular cancer.

 

Artificial intelligence attribution of foodborne disease source

Whole genome sequencing data from 18,661 isolates of Salmonella spp. collected from individual food sources were used by researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ‘train’ an AI model that was then applied to 6470 isolates from humans with unknown exposure. The AI model predicted that over 33% of the human-derived isolates of Salmonella spp. were derived from chicken with 27% derived from vegetables.

 

Hepatitis A

The February Industry Update provided some insight into Hepatitis A virus and food. The UK FSA has recently published updated information regarding the hazard, its spread and how to reduce the risk of Hepatitis A in the home.

 

Convictions for food crime

Four men were convicted for diverting meat that was unfit for human consumption into the food chain. This involved the processing of Category 3 animal by products, which included whole and cut chickens, lamb’s testicles and beef burgers, in an illegal meat cutting plant in London.

 

Allergen labelling guide

The US Food & Drug Administration has issued an updated allergen labelling guide that includes guidance on the labelling of tree nuts, sesame, milk, eggs, incidental additives, highly refined oils, dietary supplement products, and certain specific packing and labelling situations, such as individual units within a multiunit package.

 

Foodborne disease outbreaks

 

A multi-year outbreak of listeriosis in Denmark that resulted in 27 cases (3 possible deaths) has implicated a fish producer with the outbreak strain being found in cases, product and the processing plant. A case of botulism was reported in a man in Vietnam where improperly stored canned pate was identified as the food vehicle. Two cases of botulism (1 death) were reported in Ukraine due to home produced dried, ungutted fish. Similarly, in Ukraine a single case of botulism was reported in a 44 year old due to the consumption of homemade sausage. The UK Health Security Agency (HAS) published an investigation into the outbreak of STEC O145 in Great Britain between May and June 2024. The outbreak, identified through whole genome sequencing (WGS), caused 275 confirmed cases across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with 122 hospitalisations (7 cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome, HUS) and 2 deaths. Consumption of sandwiches containing lettuce were statistically associated with the illness. STEC O103 and O26 have been implicated in 60 cases of illness in Latvia. Although the food vehicle has not been confirmed, production at a dairy had been temporarily suspended. Bacillus velezensis is a bacterium used in agriculture as a biostimulant that acts as an inhibitor of wheat blight caused by Fusarium spp. It has recently been implicated in an outbreak of 11 cases of illness following the consumption of cakes where it had reportedly caused ‘rope’ spoilage. ‘Rope’ spoilage by Bacillus spp. (notably B. subtilis) has been a common historical occurrence but this is the first report of the agricultural biocontrol agent Bacillus velezensis being associated with a foodborne outbreak due to rope spoilage in cakes.

 

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 dominated once again by Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes with large recalls due to STEC contamination also implicating baby spinach and associated salad products in the USA.

 

 

Allergen recalls were broadly unchanged from previous months and spread across a range of categories i.e. gluten, milk, nuts, sulphite and multiple allergens.

 

 

Physical contamination events were dominated by metal and plastic events.

 

 

Chemical recalls included those associated with mycotoxins, pesticides and an unusual incident due to contamination with sodium hypochlorite.

 

 

   

Author

Alec Kyriakides

Independent Food Safety Consultant