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 guide for students

Recognising the risks that new students face in relation to the safe preparation and storage of food when first moving away from home and into student accommodation, the UK Food Standards Agency has produced a ‘Student guide to food safety and hygiene’. It provides specific advice on the durability of food (Use-by and Best-before dates), food hygiene in a shared fridge, cooking food properly, handwashing, leftovers, allergens and a whole host of other important food safety tips for students.

 

Cattle botulism

A large outbreak of cattle botulism has been reported across several counties in England with over a hundred animals reportedly dying or having to be culled. A batch of contaminated feed has been implicated as the source of the outbreak and this has been removed from sale. Cases of cattle botulism are not uncommon and often result as a consequence of the feeding of forage, contaminated with carcase material, including carcases that have been ensiled during grass cutting. Chicken litter has also been cited as a potential source where it may be used as a source of fertiliser but where the presence of dead birds may be accessed by cattle. Carcases can also be dispersed by scavenging birds and occasional cases have been reported in animals fed silage made from fields fertilised with broiler litter. Clostridium botulinum toxin-types causing cattle botulism differ to those affecting humans and the risk to humans from the sources of infection or through the consumption of products from animals exposed to such sources is low. This risk has been considered in detail by the UK Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF).

 

Food crime

The recent conviction of an Australian woman for preparing a meal with poisonous mushrooms resulting in the death of three relatives highlights the recognised potential for the use of food as a means to cause intentional harm. Food crime of this nature can be targeted at food businesses and include acts of fraud, sabotage and terrorism and requires a strong food defence programme in a business to mitigate these risks. Food defence is covered in a forthcoming article from BRCGS that also highlights a useful and free food crime risk profiling tool published by Food Standards Scotland.

 

Consumer Confidence in Food

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) published its latest ‘Food and You 2’ survey that measures consumers’ self-reported knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues amongst adults in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The survey captured 5,690 adults (aged 16 years or over) from 3,965 households between 9th October 2024 and 7th February 2025. Key takeouts from the survey included high levels of confidence in the safety of food they buy to eat (94% respondents), confidence in the food supply chain (77% respondents) and that the FSA can be relied upon to protect the public from food-related risks (such as food poisoning or allergic reactions from food) (83%). The report highlights a number food safety behaviours including always washing hands before preparing or cooking food (70%), washing hands immediately after handling raw meat, poultry, or fish 92%), awareness of fridge temperature recommendations (0-5C) (60%) and never eating chicken or turkey when it is pink or has pink juices (89%). Similar surveys have been published in the USA and reported in previous articles.

 

Antimicrobial resistance platform

The World Health Organisation (WHO) launched an enhanced version of its Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) dashboard, designed to support the global efforts to improve worldwide monitoring of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and use (AMU). The dashboard includes AMR and AMU data for the period 2016–2023, as reported by 141 countries, territories, and areas (CTAs) participating in the WHO global surveillance initiative. It includes over 23 million bacteriologically confirmed infection episodes reported by 110 CTAs contributing to GLASS between 2016 and 2023 and although primarily focussing on human infections and use, it provides interesting information regarding emerging antimicrobial resistance globally.

 

Sustainability Development Goals

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) published a new report on the progress towards the sustainability development goals assessing progress on 22 indicators under the Organization’s custodianship spanning six Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger), 5 (Gender Equality), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 14 (Life Below Water), and 15 (life on Land).

The report highlights that the world is close to achieving one-quarter of the relevant targets, while another quarter remains far or very far from completion. For the remaining half, countries in general are moderately positioned to meet them.

 

Analysis of risks facing Europe

A report published by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) on the “Analysis of Risks Europe is facing” presents an “analysis of current and emerging risks in Europe, highlighting the need for a proactive and coordinated approach to risk anticipation, risk assessment and risk governance”. It examines 47 risks and explores concepts such as cross-border risks, emerging risks, and High-Impact Low-Probability (HILP) events. The report supports the development of an EU-wide risk assessment framework fostering a shared

understanding of different risks and methodologies to assess them, laying the groundwork for a more comprehensive and integrated multi-hazard risk assessment framework.

 

EU Rule on Textile and Food Waste

The European Parliament has recently published new EU rules to reduce textile and food waste. The rule comes into effect in 2023 and places a responsibility on producers that make textiles available in the EU to cover the costs of their collection, sorting and recycling, through new producer responsibility (EPR) schemes to be set up by each member state. These provisions will apply to all producers, including those using e-commerce tools and irrespective of whether they are established in an EU country or outside the Union. In addition, EU countries will have to take measures to ensure that economic operators having a significant role in the prevention and generation of food waste (to be identified in each country) facilitate the donation of unsold food that is safe for human consumption

 

Foodborne disease outbreaks

 

Salmonellosis outbreaks reported in September included a Canadian outbreak linked to dog food and treats with 27 cases and 6 hospitalisations. A large outbreak affecting 49 people with 15 people hospitalised was reported in Austria caused by a rare strain, Salmonella Kenya. The food source has yet to be identified. An outbreak in the USA implicating a range of home delivery service products has resulted in 16 cases and 7 hospitalisations. An  outbreak implicating a range of frozen foods in the USA has now increased to 12 cases with 4 hospitalisations across 11 states. Finally another outbreak of salmonellosis with 35 cases caused by the unusual serotype Salmonella Lomalinda, where the food has yet to be identified, is also being investigated. An outbreak of listeriosis was reported in Denmark affecting 5 elderly patients, all of whom were hospitalised, with the implicated food identified as fish cakes from a single manufacturer. Two other outbreaks of listeriosis in the USA, where the food source has not yet been established, affecting 8 and 25 individuals respectively are currently under investigation. A large outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) infections has been reported in Germany with 45 cases, of which 12 were in children with haemolytic uraemic syndrome. The outbreak strain has been identified as E. coli O45:H2 but the food source has not yet been identified. Over seventy cases of STEC infection have been reported in a Belgian outbreak implicating raw minced beef served as part of meals provided to eleven care homes. Nine people have reportedly died in the outbreak. Vibrio vulnificus infections following the consumption of oysters resulted in two recent deaths in Louisiana, USA.

 

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 by Listeria monocytogenes across a wide range of foods highlighting the challenge with controlling the organism. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) was also a prominent cause of recalls followed by Salmonella spp.

 

 

Allergen recalls were dominated by gluten contamination where a single allergen caused the recall although multiple allergens remain a significant driver of such events. The presence of canola rapeseed protein in a vegan protein bar that was recalled due to potential risk of triggering a mustard allergy was a notable recall.

 

 

Physical contamination events included a number due to the presence of ingredients that could cause a choking hazard due to the difficulty in chewing and swallowing the product.

 

 

Chemical recalls continued to include recently prominent drivers including the presence of Caesium-137 and also excessive levels of lead.

 

 

  

   

Author

Alec Kyriakides

Independent Food Safety Consultant