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

 Food Safety Culture

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has produced an excellent guidance note on Food safety culture. The document is designed to provide guidance on the use of food safety culture in food businesses and also to assist official agencies in the incorporation of food safety culture into official controls. It is a very helpful and up to date text on this subject with a great mix of theory, worked examples and useful checklists.

 

Veterinary medicines and antimicrobial resistance

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) of the United Kingdom collects data on the use of veterinary medicines in animals used for food production and also monitors reports on the anti-microbial resistance of bacteria isolates from these sources. The annual report for 2024 was published this month and there are some very useful online tools to interrogate the data. The summary highlights that sales of veterinary antibiotics for use in food-producing animals, adjusted for animal population, were 2% lower than the previous year and have decreased by 57% since 2014. The percentage of multidrug resistant (resistant to three or more antibiotic classes) isolates of E. coli in healthy pigs and poultry at slaughter has dropped to its lowest level of 27% representing a substantial decrease in the last decade from over 50%. Resistance to ciprofloxacin in Campylobacter jejuni from broilers and turkeys has increased since 2022 despite minimal use by these sectors.

 

Food Fraud

Food adulteration and authenticity features quite frequently in this article and so it is timely to remind you of the excellent resource available through the European Commission who publish a monthly report on EU Agri-Food fraud suspicions. This is an excellent way to stay up to date on the latest food fraud threats to your supply chain. And if you are interested in more detail on food fraud mitigation measures have a look at the Food Authenticity Network who have a number of useful resources to support the management of this risk. In a development regarding methanol adulteration of alcoholic drinks, the UK Foreign Office has issued advice on countries of highest risk.

 

Ultra processed foods (UPF)

A recently published article in The Lancet on evidence indicating a potential link between the consumption of ultra processed foods (UPF) and diet related chronic disease has raised the debate on this ‘group’ of foods. This is a highly contentious area of research and there is no clear consensus on the health effects of UPF. A number of bodies have published summaries on UPF, the challenges associated with their definition and also in determining their impact on dietary health (Food Standards Agency, British Nutrition Foundation).

 

Guidance on the characterisation of microorganisms in support of the risk assessment of products used in the food chain

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a document providing a detailed review of considerations needed in the preparation of applications for “regulated products to be used in the food chain containing, made from or produced by using microorganisms, genetically modified or not, that are subject to risk assessment within EFSA's remit before their placement on the EU market”. It provides a very useful text on hazard identification in support of the risk assessment of microorganisms and establishes the data requirements to conduct the risk assessment.

 

Algal toxins

The production of algal toxins by dinoflagellate algae during algal blooms, can present a significant health risk from the consumption of affected fish and shellfish. The toxins can affect the marine species as well as humans and recent research published by the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia has identified the causative species of major algal blooms in South Australia.

 

Foodborne disease outbreaks

The most notable outbreak in the month was caused by the presence of spores of Clostridium botulinum in infant formula milk that has resulted in 37 cases of infant botulism across 17 States in the USA. Unlike classic botulism caused by preformed toxin in a food, infant botulism is caused by the consumption of spores of the organism that germinate in the immature gut of the infant where the organism grows and produces toxin. A salmonellosis outbreak in Canada associated with a number of pistachio and pistachio-containing products has so far caused 117 illnesses with 17 individuals hospitalised and has resulted in a number of product recalls. The large salmonellosis outbreak in Vietnam implicating Banh mi, a baguette sandwich filled with a variety of meat and pickled vegetables, purchased from two bakery stores has caused over 300 cases with a large proportion hospitalised. A report of a Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) outbreak implicating walnuts was published by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The outbreak that occurred in March 2024 affected 13 individuals across two states with 7 individuals hospitalised and two developing haemolytic uraemic syndrome. The walnuts were traced to a single grower and the organism was isolated from a leftover walnut from one patient. 

 

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 mainly due to contamination with Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella species although there were a number of recalls due to the risk of botulism from dried fish and ambient sauces and also the infant botulism outbreak detailed above.

 

Allergen recalls were dominated by multiple allergens with milk driving the single allergen recalls.

 

Physical contamination recalls were spread evenly this month caused by the four classic foreign object contaminants.

 

Chemical recalls included a number due to the presence of unapproved ingredients classed as novel foods that had not gone through the appropriate approval process.

  

   

Author

Alec Kyriakides

Independent Food Safety Consultant