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Confusion about N-60 Testing
11/16/2009
The Meatingplace.com
James Marsden
www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/blog/BlogDetail.aspx?topicID=5107&BlogID=11
In a recent letter to the Inspector General's Office at USDA, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn) asked for an investigation of the scientific merits and potential shortcomings of N-60 testing, the "protocol used by meat processors and USDA to verify ground beef is free from E. coli O157:H7".
In the letter, she states that "To protect the public health, verification testing must be robust and ensure that adulterated product is not sold to the American consumers". She notes in the letter that the Fairbank Farms, the company linked to the recent E. coli O157:H7 outbreak and major ground beef recall employs a test and hold policy and tests finished ground beef every 10-20 minutes and that these procedures which are likely more frequent than the industry average failed to prevent contamination.
She goes on to specifically ask about statistical validity, procedures for sample collection and analysis and application of N-60 test results.
For the complete blog post, please go to http://www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/blog/BlogDetail.aspx?topicID=5107&BlogID=11
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The Long-Term Health Outcomes of Selected Foodborne Pathogens
11/16/2009
Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention
Tanya Roberts, Ph.D., Barbara Kowalcyk, M.A., Patricia Buck, M.S.
www.foodborneillness.org/CFIFinalReport.pdf
Foodborne disease is a serious public health issue that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), causes tens of millions of acute illnesses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and thousands of deaths each year in the United States. While the severity of acute foodborne disease varies greatly, depending on the pathogen and the vulnerability of the person infected, the impact of foodborne illness on children, as well as for the elderly and immunesuppressed (e.g., pregnant women, people undergoing chemotherapy, organ-transplant recipients, HIV/AIDS patients), is more likely to be serious and/or long-lasting.
For the complete report, please visit http://www.foodborneillness.org/CFIFinalReport.pdf
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Federal Register: Listing of Color Additives Exempt From Certification; Paracoccus Pigment
11/16/2009
Federal Register, November 16, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 219)
edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-27394.htm
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
21 CFR Part 73
[Docket No. FDA-2007-C-0456] (formerly Docket No. 2007-C-0245)
Listing of Color Additives Exempt From Certification; Paracoccus
Pigment
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
ACTION: Final rule.
----------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the color additive regulations to provide for the safe use of paracoccus pigment
as a color additive in the feed of salmonid fish to enhance the color
of their flesh. This action is in response to a petition filed by
Nippon Oil Corp.
DATES: This rule is effective December 17, 2009, except as to any provisions that may be stayed by the filing of proper objections.
Submit electronic or written objections and requests for a hearing by
December 16, 2009. See section X of this document for information on
the filing of objections.
ADDRESSES: You may submit electronic or written objections and
requests for a hearing identified by Docket No. FDA-2007-C-0456, by any
of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions
Submit electronic objections in the following way:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Written Submissions
Submit written objections in the following ways:
FAX: 301-827-6870.
Mail/Hand delivery/Courier [For paper, disk, or CD-ROM
submissions]: Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
To ensure more timely processing of objections, FDA is no longer
accepting objections submitted to the agency by e-mail. FDA encourages
you to continue to submit electronic objections by using the Federal
eRulemaking Portal, as described previously, in the ADDRESSES portion
of this document under Electronic Submissions.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and docket number for this rulemaking. All objections received will be
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided. For detailed instructions on submitting
objections, see the ``Objections' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
objections received, go to http://www.regulations.gov and insert the
docket number, found in brackets in the heading of this document, into
the ``Search' box and follow the prompts and/or go to the Division of
Dockets Management, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mical E. Honigfort, Center for Food
Safety and Applied Nutrition (HFS-265), Food and Drug Administration,
5100 Paint Branch Pkwy., College Park, MD 20740-3835, 301-436-1278.
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Poultry processing reduces pathogens on raw chicken: USDA survey
11/16/2009
The Meatingplace.com
USDA
www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/webNews/details.aspx?item=14491
Cold water immersion and other antimicrobial interventions in poultry processing substantially improve the microbiological profile of raw chickens, according to a survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"We observed a substantial reduction in the number of samples positive for Salmonella . . . and Campylobacter, suggesting that the anti-microbial interventions had an effect," USDA scientists wrote in their report on a nationwide data collection program.
The survey found that five percent of the raw chickens in the survey had salmonella after chilling and 11 percent had campylobacter, down from 41 percent and 71 percent, respectively, prior to evisceration. Additionally, the actual number of bacteria on each raw chicken was greatly reduced, by about 99 percent on average with respect to campylobacter and 66 percent on average for salmonella.
For the complete news item, please visit http://www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/webNews/details.aspx?item=14491
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Research uses X-ray to reduce foodborne pathogens on leafy greens
11/16/2009
The Packer
Bob Luder
thepacker.com/Research-uses-X-ray-to-reduce-foodborne-pathogens-on-leafy-greens/
A researcher at Mississippi State University has developed a procedure that uses X-ray technology to greatly reduce the presence of foodborne pathogens like E. coli, salmonella, shigella and listeria on leafy green vegetables.
Barakat Mahmoud, assistant professor of food safety and microbiology at Mississippi State and a spokesman for the Institute of Food Technologies, said the procedure is a form of irradiation, only without the use of radioactive compounds like Cobalt-60 and Cesium-137 used to generate gamma radiation.
“This is just an X-ray machine, electricity converted to photons,” Mahmoud said. “I believe consumers will accept X-ray more than gamma because everyone is more familiar with X-ray.”
For the complete news item, please visit http://thepacker.com/Research-uses-X-ray-to-reduce-foodborne-pathogens-on-leafy-greens/Article.aspx?articleid=941138
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UPDATE 3-US stops 19 Canada canola meal loads from Cargill
11/16/2009
Reuters
Rod Nickel
www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN1649141820091116
* All shipments from Saskatchewan plant
* Salmonella problem causing less canola crushing
* Some companies now shipping to other markets
* Crushing industry meeting with U.S. FDA (Adds Cargill comment)
By Rod Nickel
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refused 19 shipments of Canadian canola meal from Cargill [CARG.UL] in October after finding they contained the harmful bacteria salmonella.
The shipments all came from Cargill's Clavet, Saskatchewan canola-crushing plant, according to reports posted on the FDA's website. The plant was already under shipping restrictions from the FDA for earlier canola meal shipments with salmonella, along with two plants owned by Bunge (BG.N) and one by Viterra (VT.TO).
Salmonella is bacteria that caused widespread food-born illness in the United States this year. But canola meal is used as livestock feed for cattle and the Canadian canola industry has suggested it should not be treated as strictly as food products. Industry officials have also said salmonella is present virtually everywhere, from farms to plants to rail cars.
For the complete news item, please visit http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN1649141820091116
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Schools in the dark about tainted lunches
11/16/2009
USA Today
Blake Morrison and Peter Eisler
www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-11-16-del-rey_N.htm
RACINE, Wis. — Students at Starbuck Middle School stumbled through the halls just after lunch on Oct. 31, 2007, holding their bellies and moaning. When the vomiting began, teachers knew that it wasn't a Halloween prank.
By midafternoon, almost 70 children waited outside the nurse's office at the school near Milwaukee. "There were so many kids there, it was like, 'Holy cow!' " recalls Michael Hannes, then a seventh-grader who felt "like someone kept punching me in the stomach."
Days would pass before local health officials determined that the tortillas served at Starbuck and four other schools in Racine were to blame for 101 illnesses. An Internet search showed them the stunning particulars: The company that supplied the tortillas had a long history of making children sick.
For the complete news item, please visit http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-11-16-del-rey_N.htm
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Raw Milk Sales Could Reinvigorate U.S. Dairy Farms
11/16/2009
New York Times
HILLARY BRENHOUSE
www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/business/global/17iht-rbofmilk.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=salmonella&st=cse
For four generations the Gibbs family milked cattle on their farm in a fertile valley in Allamuchy Township, New Jersey. Facing dismally low milk prices, Frank Gibbs and his sons, Brant and Keith, struggled this year to continue the tradition. But a month ago, they sold off their entire herd of nearly 200 cows.
They are not the only ones. There are now fewer than 100 New Jersey dairy farms, less than a third of the number 10 years ago.
One potential solution had eluded them, because the sale of higher-priced “raw,” or unpasteurized, milk is illegal in their state.
In September, the uniform price paid to a New Jersey farmer for pasteurized milk was $1.11 per gallon, or roughly four liters. That is 66 cents less than in July of last year.
For the complete news item, please visit http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/business/global/17iht-rbofmilk.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=salmonella&st=cse
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Parasitological Contamination in Salad Vegetables in Tripoli-Libya
11/14/2009
Food Control, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available online 14 November 2009
Amal Khalifa, Abougrain , Mohamed Hadi, Nahaisi , Nuri Sahli, Madi , Mohamed Mohamed, Saied , Khalifa Sifaw, Ghenghesh
www.sciencedirect.com/
Abstract
Background: Fresh vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. Raw vegetables can be agent of transmission of intestinal parasites. The aim of the present study was to determine the parasitological contamination of salad vegetables sold at wholesale and retail markets in Tripoli-Libya
Methods: A total of 126 samples of salad vegetables obtained from wholesale and retail markets were examined for helminth eggs and Giardia spp. cysts of using standard methods.
Results: Of the 36 tomato, 36 cucumber, 27 lettuce, and 27 cress samples examined eggs of Ascaris spp. were detected in 19%, 75%, 96% and 96%, respectively; eggs of Toxocara cati in 11%, 14%, 48% and 41%; eggs of T. canis in 3%, 8%, 37% and 33%; and eggs of Taenia/Echinococcus spp. in 6%, 25%, 33% and 30%, respectively. Cysts of Giardia spp. were detected in 3%, 19%, 4% and 11%, respectively.
Conclusion: Parasitological contamination of raw salad vegetables sold in wholesale and retail markets in Tripoli may pose a health risk to consumers of such products.
For the complete research article, please visit http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T6S-4XPB6WD-2&_user=716796&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000040078&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=716796&md5=7b3a13dd202b67a1706baecdb81513c9
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USDA CONSUMER ALERT: Keeping Food Safe During An Emergency
11/13/2009
US Dept. of Agriculture
Diane Van, and Adrian Gianforti
www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/NR_111309_01/index.asp
WASHINGTON - November 13, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing recommendations to those affected by storms and flooding in states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of America. USDA is hopeful that this information will help minimize the potential for foodborne illnesses due to power outages and other problems that are often associated with severe weather events.
"In the hours after a storm with heavy rains that can cause local flooding and power outages, food safety can become a critical public health issue," said USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Jerold Mande. "With a little bit of advance planning, people can make sure they have access to safe food and water even in the aftermath of severe storms."
For the complete press relase, please visit http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/NR_111309_01/index.asp
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Displaying Articles 11 to 20 of 50
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Food safety news is compiled from a number of sources and is provided only
for informational purposes. Many of the news stories have been compiled,
selected, and edited by the Food
Safety Network at the University of Guelph with permission. News stories
from other sources are added as appropriate. Accuracy and completeness cannot
be guaranteed by Iowa State University. Headlines are sometimes rewritten
for clarity or to fit space. Original sources are indicated whenever possible
and full stories may not be posted to honor the original author copyright.
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