QA/QC - Articles and news items
Issue 1 2010, Past issues / 22 February 2010 / Debra Smith, Research Manager, Food Hygiene Department, Campden BRI
The importance of hand hygiene in the transmission of infection in the medical field has been recognised since Semmelweis’s observations in 1847 that the implementation of hand washing brought about a reduction in the deaths of women from puerperal fever1.
In the food industry, links between food workers and the spread of diseases, including the impact of poor hand hygiene has been well established2,3. Additionally, the food industry has recently acquired a better understanding of the ways by which food products may become contaminated from environmental sources, i.e., via surfaces, air, fluids and people4.
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Issue 1 2010, Past issues / 22 February 2010 / Olga Szulecka, Sea Fisheries Institute, Gdynia
At present, food safety is one of the main priorities among European Union policies. The very significant element of food safety is traceability, i.e. “the ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food-producing animal or substance intended to be, or expected to be incorporated into a food or feed, through all stages of production, processing and distribution1.”
Article 18 of the main EU legal act in the field of food and feed safety – Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council – requires that “the traceability of food, feed, food-producing animals, and any other substance intended to be, or expected to be, incorporated into a food or feed shall be established at all stages of production, processing and distribution1.”
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Issue 3 2009 / 10 September 2009 / A.C.M van Zuijlen & S.J.C.M Oomes, Unilever R&D; P. Vos, Check-Points B.V. and S. Brul, University of Amsterdam
Spores from mesophilic aerobic sporeforming bacteria (Bacillus) are sometimes able to survive the thermal process of commercial sterile products and sporadically cause spoilage or food poisoning. Because of an increasing demand for more fresh products, ideally the processing temperatures should be tailored to inactivate the actual spore load rather than applying worst case scenarios. In doing that, unnecessary loss of product quality can be prevented without running the risk that the product will spoil or cause safety issues.
In that respect, high heat resistant spores are of growing concern. These spores are introduced either into the product through ingredients with a high spore load or through growth and successive sporulation in the line during processing. To ensure an adequate level of thermal treatment to inactivate all spores in the process, their level in the ingredients must be known.
This paper describes new genomics based methods that allow for the rapid detection of bacterial spores in ingredients and semi final products. (more…)
Issue 2 2009 / 1 June 2009 / Jacob Færgemand, Sales and Technical Director Food, Bureau Veritas Certification
The launch in September 2005 of the ISO 22000 series, developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 34, Food products, signalled the arrival of a truly global option for ensuring safe food supply chains. This article gives a technical overview of the different standards in the series and how they can be put to use.
The safety of feed and food at any point in the chain from producer to consumer is of worldwide concern. Food safety hazards may be introduced at any stage, therefore adequate control throughout the production chain is essential.
Examples of outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in livestock, such as foot and mouth disease and of micro-organisms like salmonella and listeria have highlighted the risks of food contamination.
Unsafe food is a risk for all – consumers can become seriously ill and the industry can face costly corrective actions. The underlying belief that harmonisation is possible across today’s global industry is not enough, nor are sound food safety directives on their own.
Communication and raising awareness of potential hazards throughout the entire food chain – and therefore not restricted to one company or department – is crucial. Food safety is a joint responsibility for all of the participating parties. (more…)
Issue 2 2009 / 1 June 2009 / Dr Peggy Braun, Institute of Food Hygiene, Veterinary Faculty, University of Leipzig
Increasing interest by consumers, producers and retailers in food safety, supported by several regulations of the European Commission (e.g. EC-regulation 178/2002; EC-2073/2005 amended by EC-regulation 1441/2007), gives accurate shelf-life determination of products a new consequence. Although there is rapid progress in food processing and new concepts such as predictive microbiology have found practical applications, differences between the predicted and actual shelf-life have to be noted. The reasons may be related to the wide range of reactions which cause food spoilage. According to EC-regulation 178/2002 (article 14, 2b, 5), spoiled products have to be considered as unsafe and as unfit for human consumption. In that case, food shall not be placed on the market.
Spoilage can be defined as any change which renders a food product unacceptable for human consumption1. Deteriorations of products also result in significant economic consequences; Lund et al.2 estimated that approximately one-third of the world’s food production is lost annually as a result of microbial spoilage.
Microbial spoilage is caused by the growth and metabolic activity of so-called specific spoilage organisms (SSO), a term which was introduced by Dalgaard3. (more…)
Issue 1 2009 / 20 February 2009 / Gijs A. Kleter, RIKILT – Institute of Food Safety, Wageningen University and Research Center
In the mid-nineties, genetically modified crops (GM) that had been obtained through recombinant DNA technology were grown commercially at a large scale for the first time. The agricultural area that is covered with these crops has since then grown steadily, reaching 114 million hectares globally in 20072. GM crops and the foods and animal feed that are derived from them commonly have to be approved for marketing, for which they also have to undergo a safety assessment.
In order to get marketing approval for a GM crop, an application has to be submitted to the authorities with a dossier that includes data on its safety. The principles for safety assessment have been globally harmonised because of efforts made by various international organisations.
GM crops are grown in an expanding number of nations, such as the United States, Canada, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, China, India and South Africa. Most of these crops are commodity crops, including canola, cotton, maize and soybean2 (Figure 1 on page 54). Their derived products may be present in food and feed marketed elsewhere, though, given the global trade in food and feed commodities. (more…)
Issue 1 2009 / 20 February 2009 / Leon Gorris, Senior Scientist Risk Assessment, Unilever and Yasmine Motarjemi, Corporate Food Safety Manager, Nestlé
This paper argues the case for increased awareness of the importance of training and competence in management of food and water safety, prevention of food-borne and waterborne illnesses and improvement of health and nutritional status. The challenge is huge as almost everyone needs to receive education commensurate with his or her role in the food chain and the assurance of water safety.
While laudable efforts are made to train and educate professionals as well as consumers in food and water safety and nutrition, these capacity building efforts will benefit from a better coordination and strategic planning at the global level and from a broader support of governmental initiatives by the food industrial and allied sectors, coupled to a more effective implementation at the local level. This paper presents the vision of Industry Council for Development on the subject and proposes a strategy for improving the infrastructure for training, education and capacity building in food, water and nutrition The strategy is based on effective leveraging of resources through public-private sector partnership. (more…)
Issue 4 2008 / 3 December 2008 / Professor Patrick Wall, Associate Professor of Public Health, University College Dublin
In the 1990s, a chronology of food scares, culminating in BSE, damaged consumer confidence in the safety of food, in the commitment of industry to produce safe food and in the ability of the regulatory agencies to police the food chain. These scares precipitated a review by many EU Member States of how they coordinated their food safety control programmes. Most member states now have Food Safety Agencies with consumer protection as their primary objective, rather than promoting industry and trade.
The threats to public health through the food chain caused the EU Commission to reform EU food legislation and in 2002, Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament set down the general principles and requirements of food law and established both the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the EU Food and Veterinary Office.
EFSA is funded from the Community budget but operates independently of the Community Institutions and was set up to be the keystone of EU risk assessment regarding food and feed safety, nutrition, animal health and welfare, plant protection and plant health in an attempt to provide a scientific basis for policies and risk management decisions. At times in the past, policies were formulated and items moved up the political agenda in proportion to the media coverage of the issue rather than in proportion to the risk to the public’s health. The EU Food and Veterinary office is part of DG Sanco and it is responsible for ensuring that Community legislation on food safety, animal health, plant health and animal welfare is properly implemented and enforced, both within member states and in those third countries from where the EU imports products. (more…)
Issue 4 2008, Past issues / 3 December 2008 / A. Le-Bail and R. Zuniga, ENITIAA – GEPEA; T. Lucas, Cemagref; M. Sikora, University of Agriculture Balicka; C. M. Rosell, IATA-CSIC; D. Curic, University of Zagreb; T. Park, TTZ-EIBT; V. Kiseleva, Russian Academy of Science, IBCP RAS; M. Pitroff, MIWE; I. Van Haesendonck, PURACOR; M. Bonnand-Ducasse, BIOFOURNIL; M. Koczwara, BEZGLUTEN; V. Cerne, SCHAER R&D
The European bread industry is using refrigeration more and more to extend the shelf life of bakery products. The associated technologies, called bake-off-technology, allows the retail of freshly baked breads made from industrial frozen (and non frozen) products. Energy used for bread making, nutrition facts and quality of the final products are often interacting. Selected results taken from the ongoing European funded project ‘EU-FRESHBAKE’ (2006-2009) are presented, highlighting the coupling between product quality and process.
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Issue 4 2008, Past issues / 3 December 2008 / Kath Veal, Business Manager Regulatory Services, Leatherhead Food International
Global regulatory food advice is one of the core areas of expertise at consultancy and research firm Leatherhead Food International. The regulatory advisors work within three teams specialising in United Kingdom, European (EU) or International regimes. Working with not only generic EU controls, but the detail of individual member states regularly illustrates the lack of harmonisation within Europe and our global coverage gives us a strong awareness of the challenge of international trade.
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