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Top Ten Food Safety Stories of 2008

PORKER

Well-known member
Top Ten Food Safety Stories of 2008

Some of these came from me, most from people who do not want my readers to know they correspond with me. Those who were most helpful will be getting bacteria t-shirts and a few cuddly bugs. Here is the top ten:

1. Melamine in Chinese food products – where to start? With the kids, of course. We first heard about melamine in Chinese infant formula, resulting in heartbreaking numbers: 294,000 children sickened, hundreds hospitalized, and at least six infants who lost their lives. The crisis widened as melamine was found in candy, coffee, tea, and numerous other Chinese products, sparking recalls, bans, and now the US testing for melamine in our own products. It’s pervasive, it’s global, and it’s going to be in our food supply for a long time to come. In fact, the WHO has just announced first-ever “safe” levels of melamine consumption.

2. Salmonella Saintpaul in tomatoes—wait—peppers. A final count of 1,442 ill in 43 states, D.C., and Canada, and those are the confirmed illnesses. Using CDC math - which estimates that for every documented case of salmonella in the US, another 38.5 go unreported - the total number sickened was probably closer to 50,000. In an outbreak that stretched for months without a smoking tomato, Americans got an inkling of what can go wrong in a global, mass-distributed food economy. The upside is that now there’s a lot of talk of increasing traceability.

3. E. coli – In addition to the continued rise of E. coli O157:H7 contamination in meat and other products like leafy greens and raw dairy, 2008 saw non-O157 E. coli burst onto the scene in an Oklahoma outbreak that sickened over 300 and caused the death of one. Non-O157 STECs (Shiga-toxin producing E. coli) have been documented and talked about; there have been high-level meetings by food protection agencies to address the issue. But here’s the bottom line: only O157:H7 is listed as an adulterant in meat. Non-O157:H7 STEC’s are not listed yet and not tested for, but still are making people very, very sick.

4. Raw Milk - The food story that has pitted health advocates against health advocates in a debate that sometimes reached the level of a screaming-match. On one side, those who insist that raw milk has numerous healthful benefits destroyed by pasteurization, and on the other side, those who counter (me included) that the bacteria in raw milk can cause terrible illnesses, mostly in kids, (bacteria which is —you guessed it—killed by the pasteurization process), and believe the risk to the public outweighs the rights of consumption. The issue came to a head in California State Bill 201, which sought to set coliform (basically, bacteria) limits in raw milk production, among other things. Even though the bill hoped to address the issues of both camps, the protectors believed it would actually worsen the regulation problem. Both groups lobbied hard. There were movie stars. Sick kids. The bill passed the legislature, but was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger (more on him in Santa’s List).

5. Listeria in Maple Leaf Deli Meats - Twenty Canadians died and hundreds, perhaps thousands, were sickened by an outbreak of Listeria in deli meats and soft cheeses. Most of the deaths were immunocompromised individuals – elderly, young, sick, or pregnant. The story has raised much awareness not only about Canada’s food safety vulnerabilities, but also the importance of more warnings on product labels and menus, as well as a heads up to the general public (you and me).

6. Frozen, uncooked entrees resulting in illness - again. We found out that we’re a microwave culture, and habits are hard to break. Consumers were infected with salmonella after consuming entrees that contained raw chicken products and were NOT supposed to be cooked in the microwave. But dang, they look just like microwave entrees, and just about everything else is microwavable, so confusion is understandable. Will it be WARNINGS WRIT LARGE or just doing away with problem products?

7. Irradiation of fresh iceberg and raw spinach was approved by the FDA. Consumer confidence in the safety of raw leafy greens has been shaken by spinach and lettuce-borne outbreaks and existing sanitizing technology is clearly not enough. Although irradiation is no replacement for good agricultural practices, it appears to be a good addition to the food-safety tool kit. There has been a great deal of debate about the safety of the products once irradiated, a discussion that has as much to do with personal choice as it does scientific research. Clear labeling will allow consumers to make their own decisions.

8. Multistate Outbreak of Human Salmonella Infections Caused by Contaminated Dry Dog Food. Well, it actually happened in 2006 and 2007 but was reported in 2008. The CDC, state health officials and the FDA investigated this prolonged, multistate outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Schwarzengrund infections. The source was identified as dry dog food produced at a manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania. Hundreds of humans, and presumably a few dogs became ill. Bottom line, after handling pet food, pet owners should wash their hands immediately, and infants should be kept away from pet feeding areas (don’t let them eat the food).

9. Westland/Hallmark recall due to downer cows – This is on the list, in the last position, because many believed it was a food safety story, even though it technically wasn’t. An undercover video made by the Humane Society revealed that Chino-based Westland/Hallmark were slaughtering and selling the meat from “downer cows” - animals too sick to walk to slaughter. This is an absolute no-no, as cow sickness could mean bad meat. Because of the video and the resulting bru-ha-ha, 143 million pounds of beef was recalled – the largest meat recall in American history. Why is this not really a food safety story? Because no contaminated meat or illnesses were documented. But shining a spotlight on poor practice led to better practice, and that should lead to safer food.

10. Well, the 10th. We still have 13 days left in the year, so I am leaving this one blank in the likely chance something will come up or a commentator has one that I simply missed.

Posted on December 18, 2008 by Bill Marler
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Melamine Recalls

FDA Detects Melamine Contamination in Flavored Drink (October 6, 2008)
FDA Updates Health Information Advisory on Melamine Contamination (Sept 26, 2008)
FDA Updates Health Information Advisory on Melamine Contamination (Sept 23, 2008)
FDA Updates Health Information Advisory on Melamine Contamination (Sept.20, 2008)
FDA Issues Health Information Advisory on Infant Formula (Sept. 12, 2008)
Company Recalls


Interfood Shareholding Company Issues a Nationwide recall of Wonderfarm Brand Biscuits Because of Possible Health Risk (Dec. 9, 2008) New!
Walgreens Recalls 173 Teddy Bears With Chocolate Bars Sold Since Late September 2008 (Dec. 5, 2008)
Everlasting Distributors Inc. Issues a Nationwide Recall of Fresh and Crispy Jacobina Biscuits Because of Possible Health Risks (Oct. 29, 2008)
Lotte USA, Inc. Initiates Nationwide Recall of Koala's March Crème filled Cookies (Oct. 17, 2008)
HUA XIA Food Trade USA, Inc. Recalls YILI Brand Sour Milk Drink and YILI Brand Pure Milk Drink, Because of Possible Health Risk (Oct. 10, 2008)
Tristar Food Wholesale, Inc. Issues a Nationwide Recall of Blue Cat Flavored Drink Because of Possible Health Risk (Oct. 3, 2008)
Mr. Brown 3-In-1 & and 2-In-1 Powdered Packets in Bag Coffee Mixes Due To Health Risk (Oct. 1, 2008)
QFCO, Inc. Recalls White Rabbit Candy Because of Possible Health Risk (Sept. 26, 2008)
 

PORKER

Well-known member
ScoringAg Comments on Fresh Melon Industry's Recent Salmonella Case One of the largest food recalls in 2008,
Bradenton, FL, United States, 04/01/2008 - The fresh melon industry in Honduras and Costa Rica was effectively shut down within 24 hours of word hitting the wire that Salmonella Litchfield – said to be as hard on the human digestive system as E. coli O157:H7 – had been detected by officials.


The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) first found the problem in Quebec, followed quickly by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

This is not merely a cautionary tale. Many people are sick and have been hospitalized. Still, the president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, ate a Honduran melon on CNN, attempting to show it was safe, and tried to reverse the onus by arguing American officials should prove the seriousness of the problem rather than force Honduras to disprove the problem.

This reveals a complete lack of understanding of the most basic principles of food safety on the president’s part. Even if eating these melons has a lower risk of illness than getting struck by lightning, the big question is why couldn’t Honduran and Costa Rican officials isolate the problem. Don’t they have the ability to trace product back to its field of origin?

This is a case where merely identifying the country of origin and knowing the rough date of harvest doesn’t cut it. Consumers have little “appetite” for risk. Building confidence in the food we eat, just like building a brand, is the sole responsibility of the seller.

That’s why corporations and governments the world over speak loftily of the need for food “traceability” which can enable a food recall based on a lot numbering system and an audit trail. The idea is to limit exposure to risk by isolating problems. The more accurate the traceability, the less the exposure. A lot of taxpayer money is being poured into improving the traceability standards of modern food-exporting economies.

But how does traceability differ from the related but distinct concept of traceback that was developed by William Kanitz and his staff at ScoringAg and ScoringContainers, divisions of ScoringSystem Inc.

Traceability, in theory and in practice, is a first step towards the much more accurate and beneficial full traceback system. Arcane food companies and food-exporting countries that lack accurate lot numbering should get with the times and develop a traceability system before it’s too late or their tardiness will eventually result in a recall like the one above. But should one then go beyond this first step?

Think of it like this. If you think you’re merely susceptible to food safety issues, then basic traceability might do the trick; but if you’re vulnerable to such issues, full traceback becomes essential.

Honduras and Costa Rica had Eurogap certification, which includes strict and highly bureaucratic traceability standards. They also had certification from private certifiers which required third-party verification that their traceability was at least functioning. And yet they couldn’t isolate the source of the contamination, which meant a full-blown recall was necessary. The problem could have been as simple as a single employee failing to wash his hands, but for lack of full traceback, two national economies will suffer.

Traceability means you’re at least trying, while traceback means you can. ScoringAg and ScoringContainers works in seconds through a fully automated, global-locating, real-time audit trail that resides on a secure database, accessible anywhere in the world through the internet.

Traceback results from embracing traceability, not merely as a bureaucratic regulatory requirement, but as an investment in your company brand or national reputation. It goes to the limits of technology and provides item-level traceability right down to every package, or in this case, every box of melons, from the retail store back to the producer, covering all warehousing, shipping, storage, harvest and employee data in between.

There are many traceability “solutions” available in the world today, but only ScoringAg allows for the uncomplicated accounting of all information pertinent to the integrity of food destined for human consumption.

The fact of the matter is that even the FDA doesn’t have the manpower to dive into manual audit trails, even when such trails are supported by electronic audit trails on computers in the country of origin. Many companies grappling with traceability dream of reducing their sample-recall time from days to hours, but ScoringAg reduces it to minutes, even in the case of actual-recall time.

Is testing a solution? Not after the fact it isn’t. There’s a lot of demand to start testing value-added crops such as certified organic in order to prevent fraud and negligence (go to isitorganic.ca for more info). Nothing’s worse than paying extra for something and wondering if you’re really getting what you’re paying for. But the case above isn’t about value-added food; just regular, everyday products that anyone might buy.

While random, unannounced, quality control testing should be part of a company’s, or a nation’s, traceback system, it can’t prevent what happened in Honduras and Costa Rica. In short, even with a hundred times the manpower, the CFIA and FDA had no choice but to play it safe and recall all the melons. And now the hard-working farmers of Honduras and Costa Rica will pay a very dear price.

Conclusion: Traceability is a buzzword. Traceback is the ideal.
For more information visit www.ScoringAg.com or www.ScoringContainers.com

Written by Mischa Popoff, B.A. (Hon.) Osoyoos, BC Canada
 

PORKER

Well-known member
The Big reason Farmers and Ranchers are not in the LOOP, We are in a strangle hold ! Just a few control many!!

Link;

http://www.umass.edu/tei/TEI_2005/PPT/The%20Future%20of%20Food%20Systems%20-%20UMass%20022607.ppt#317,28,Structural changes in the food system
 
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