Toxic chemical in plastic pallets could be leaching into food

The use of plastic pallets containing the chemical decabromodiphenyl ether (Deca) should be halted on safety grounds.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has urged the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to outlaw use of plastic pallets made with Deca to transport food products because the substance may be leaching into food. The group said the substance, which is a flame retardant, is a known neurotoxin and a suspected carcinogen.
EWG senior vice president for communications warned FDA commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg in a letter this week that significant levels of Deca could build up during the standard food industry practice of “hydro-cooling” when stacked pallets filled with fruit and vegetables are submerged or when water is dripped over them. Because the water is recycled repeatedly during this process, the concentration of Deca increases and opens the possibility for leaving a residue of the chemical on food, said the EWG. “Based on an EWG review of publicly available information it appears likely that Deca treated pallets are being used in ways that could contaminate food with Deca without the necessary pre-market approval,” wrote Wiles. He added: “Food contaminated with Deca used in plastic pallets without pre-market approval could be deemed adulterated under the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, Sec. 402 (21 USC 342).”
The group raised the regulatory concern after receiving written confirmation from Dr. Elizabeth Sánchez of the FDA’S Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition that Deca is “not authorized” as a component of plastic pallets used in the hydro-cooling produce. She said that FDA required pre-market approval for the chemical “to be used in contact with food.”
In his letter to Hamburg, Wiles said: “Given the Agency’s decision that Deca-treated plastic food pallets are not authorized for use in hydro-cooling, the FDA must take action to ensure that they are not, in fact, used for this purpose.”
Fuente: http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/
Aporte: Alejandra Lavín

F.D.A. introduces new food safety rules targeting eggs

Egg producers must disinfect poultry houses
To reduce the incidence of Salmonella enteritidis, eggs producers with at least 3,000 but fewer than 50,000 laying hens must comply within 36 months after the rule’s publication. Producers with 50,000 or more laying hens must be in compliance with the rule within 12 months after its publication in the Federal Register.
Under the rule, egg producers must buy chicks and young hens only from suppliers who monitor for Salmonella spp.; establish rodent, pest control, and biosecurity measures to prevent spread of bacteria throughout the farm by people and equipment; and conduct testing in the poultry house for Salmonella enteritidis. If the tests find the bacterium, a representative sample of the eggs must be tested over an 8-week period. If any of the four egg tests is positive, the producer must further process the eggs to destroy the bacteria, or divert the eggs to a non-food use.
Egg producers also will have to clean and disinfect poultry houses that have tested positive for Salmonella enteritidis, and refrigerate eggs at 45° Fahrenheit temperature during storage and transportation no later than 36 hours after the eggs are laid.
Egg producers whose eggs receive treatments such as pasteurization still must comply with the refrigeration requirements. Similarly, certain persons such as distributors, packers, or truckers holding or transporting shell eggs also must comply with the refrigeration requirements.
To ensure compliance, egg producers will be required to maintain a written Salmonella enteritidis prevention plan and records documenting their compliance. Producers, except those who have less than 3,000 hens or who sell all their eggs directly to consumers, also must register with the F.D.A. The F.D.A. will develop guidance and enforcement plans to help egg producers comply with the rule.

Fuente: http://www.foodhaccp.com/1news/070809m.html


Aporte: Valeria Candia

EE.UU.: Retiran del mercado sopas Knorr por no haber declarado dentro de sus ingredientes la presencia de huevo.

Riesgo para personas alergicas al huevo.

La empresa Unilever United States, Inc. Importó desde Israel una sopa Knorr Kosher Soup Mix - Chicken Vegetable Flavor with Pasta, la cual fue retirada voluntariamente debido a que entre sus ingredientes poseía huevo, el cual es alergeno, sin declarar.

El producto fue fabricado en Israel por encargo de Unilever Bestfoods Israel Ltd. e importado y distribuido en Estados Unidos por otras empresas.

Si bien no se reportaron daños por el consumo del alimento, se corría el riesgo de que personas sensibles y alérgicas al huevo sufrieran graves daños para su salud, razón por la cual fue retirada del mercado de manera voluntaria por sus distribuidores. De acuerdo a declaraciones de la empresa, este es el único producto de la línea Knorr que presentaba este problema.

Los consumidores que han adquirido el producto (perteneciente a la serie 4800170660) pueden botarlo o llamar al servicio al consumidor de la empresa distribuidora que opera las 24 horas para informes o reclamos de dinero.

Aporte: Carolina Rojas

Fuente: http://unbuendoctor.com/detalle_articulos.asp?idenfermedad=1263&tipo=8

Listeria: NEW BAX SYSTEM REVERSE-TRANSCRIPTASE PCR ASSAY

Approval of new PCR based method to test Listeria in foods.

The BAX System Reverse-Transcriptase PCR Assay for Listeria species is a reliable method for detecting Listeria on stainless steel environmental surfaces in only 8 hours. Validation studies demonstrated that the BAX System Reverse-Transcriptase PCR Assay results were better than the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) reference culture method.

A complementary technology is reverse-transcriptase PCR, which is used to detect RNA. Much like DNA, bacteria possess specific RNA sequences that are unique to the targeted organism. Each bacterial cell contains one DNA molecule and very large numbers of RNA molecules. Reverse-transcriptase PCR utilizes the multiple RNA copies to provide a “jump-start” to the DNA-based method and reduce overall time to result. In a typical BAX system application of reverse-transcriptase PCR, ribosomal RNA (r RNA) from the sample combines with the tableted PCR reagents, including primers, DNA polymerase, reverse transcriptase (an RNA- dependent DNA polymerase), nucleotides, and an RNA internal positive control that functions as a check for the activity of the reverse transcriptase and PCR steps of the assay.

When the mixture goes through a series of timed heating and cooling cycles, primers initially annel to the many copies of r RNA sequences. Increasing the temperature activates reverse-transcriptase, which synthesizes single strands of complementary DNA (c DNA). The temperature is then raised higher to inactivate the thermolabile reverse-transcriptase enzyme and activate the thermostable Taq polymerase.

Aporte: Ninoska Cordero Mattos

Fuente: Inside Laboratory Management. AOAC International

Hormona liberada por pollos con estrés podría ser la clave para la lucha contra el Campylobacter

La liberación de una hormona en momentos de estrés podría ser clave para entender por qué algunas bacterias que provocan toxi-infecciones alimentarias son más invasoras en los animales después del transporte.
La investigación de la Universidad de Bristol, Inglaterra, analizó el comportamiento de Campylobacter en pollos. Encontraron que los animales liberaron niveles más altos de la hormona noradrenalina en situaciones de tensión, lo que ayuda a bacterias como Campylobacter y Salmonella a crecer y propagarse con mayor rapidez.
Otra conclusión del estudio señala que Campylobacter pueden interactuar con diferentes organismos en el intestino de los animales, haciéndolo aun más invasivo. Los resultados de la investigación proporcionan información vital para el control de la infección en el entorno de producción, haciendo más inocuos los pollos y por consiguiente disminuyendo los casos de gastroenteritis asociados a estos agentes.
El estudio, dirigido por el Profesor Tom Humphrey, demostró que después del transporte los niveles de bacterias como Campylobacter son más altos en el intestino de los animales que durante su estadía en la granja. Por datos anteriores se ha demostrado que las bacterias que provocan toxi-infecciones alimentarias pueden aumentar su concentración hasta diez veces en los intestinos de animales y duplicar el número de infectados después del transporte.
Después de estudiar cerca de 800 lotes, se descubrió que la proliferación de las bacterias puede estar asociada con la liberación de la hormona del estrés llamada noradrenalina.
La noradrenalina permite al organismo a obtener niveles más altos de hierro lo que les permite crecer más rápido. El estudio busca entender el efecto del medioambiente en los animales a fin de reducir el impacto de bacterias como Campylobacter, si embargo, para poder establecer mejores condiciones en la explotación y transporte de animales en el futuro, el problema debe ser visto a lo largo de toda la cadena alimentaria.
FUENTE: http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/Hormone-released-by-stressed-chickens-could-be-key-to-combating-Campylobacter-study

APORTE: Pamela Ubilla Thennet

More E. coli sampling, Salmonella program among Obama panel recommendations

New standards to reduce Salmonella spp. in poultry and increased E. coli sampling in beef products.

The recommendations are centered around three core food safety principles, the group said:
* Preventing harm to consumers is our first priority.
* Effective food safety inspections and enforcement depend upon good data and analysis.
* Outbreaks of foodborne illness should be identified quickly and stopped.

E. coli and Salmonella spp. prevention

By the end of July, the group stated in a report, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service will issue improved instructions to its workforce on how to verify that establishments that handle beef are acting to reduce the presence of E. coli. Also by the end of July, FSIS will increase its sampling to find this pathogen, focusing largely on the components that go into making ground beef, the group said.

By the end of the year, FSIS will develop new standards to reduce the prevalence of salmonella in poultry. The agency will also establish a salmonella verification program with the goal of having 90 percent of poultry establishments meeting the new standards by the end of 2010.

Illness traceback and response

The Food Safety Working Group also announced several actions aimed at managing foodborne illness outbreaks more effectively and sharing information in an emergency. These actions include:

* Within three months, FDA will issue draft guidance on steps the food industry can take to establish product tracing systems to improve national capacity for detecting the origins of foodborne illness.
* Within three months, federal agencies will implement a new incident command system to address outbreaks of foodborne illness.
* Within six to 12 months, FSIS will improve collaboration with states by increasing the capacity of its public health epidemiology liaison program to state public health departments through additional hires and expanded outreach.
* CDC will work with states to evaluate and optimize best practices for aggressive and rapid outbreak investigation, and will launch a new system to facilitate information-sharing and adoption of best practices within 12 months.
* The federal government will enhance foodsafety.gov to better communicate information to the public and include an improved individual alert system allowing consumers to receive food safety information, such as notification of recalls. Agencies will also use social media to expand public communications. The first stage of this process will be completed in 90 days.

Aporte: Gabriel Zeballos R.
Fuente: http://www.meatingplace.com/