USA: Consumers are increasingly worried about food safety

More than a fourth have owned a recalled meat product
Sixty-one percent of Americans are worried or very worried about food and product safety, and 55 percent say they are more worried today than a year ago, according to a survey by legal information services provider Thomson West.The survey, which examined consumer feelings about a range of products including food, toys and home appliances, found that 61 percent of respondents are worried about the safety of food. The only product category that prompted more safety concern was medicine, which 64 percent of consumers said they are worried about.Twenty-seven percent of survey respondents said they have owned a recalled food product. Thomson West's survey results echo the findings of an exclusive survey conducted by Meatingplace and POULTRY, which discovered that 34 percent of consumers are less confident about the overall safety of the U.S. meat supply than they were five years ago. (See Exclusive: Survey suggests fraying consumer confidence in meat safety on Meatingplace.com, Dec. 17, 2007.)
Source: Meatingplace.comAporte: Guillermo Figueroa

Survey shows disconnect between food-safety understanding and action

They know what to do but they don’t do that
Although most consumers indicate a proficient working knowledge of safe food handling practices, they don't always put that knowledge into action, according to an exclusive survey conducted by POULTRY and its sister publication Meatingplace. The majority of respondents, for example, recognize that USDA recommends cooking fresh poultry to at a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees F. At the same time, 63 percent of consumers said they rarely or never use a meat thermometer to ensure the product is properly cooked. One third of respondents said they could tell if a meat or poultry product was cooked just by looking at it.Sixty-one percent follow recommended guidelines to defrost frozen product in the refrigerator, and 59 percent said they regularly read a package's preparation directions. But 40 percent rarely or never read safe-handling instructions.The publications conducted a survey in November of about 600 primary food purchasers nationwide via Zoomerang.com to gauge consumer actions and attitudes. "With the risk of food-borne illness so dependent on food-handling practices, we wanted to gauge what consumers know, or think they know, about handling fresh meat and poultry," said Bill McDowell, vice president of editorial for the magazines. "We were surprised by the results. Consumers actually know more one might guess. The problem is, they don't always do what they should. This gap reveals both a need and opportunity for the industry to accelerate its education and outreach efforts."
Meatingplace.com
Aporte: Guillermo Figueroa

USDA agree on new chicken labeling

Chicken without antibiotics that impact resistance in humans
Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Foods Inc. on Thursday said the company and USDA have agreed to change the wording in its "raised without antibiotics" chicken program.The wording will now read: "Chicken Raised Without Antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans." It is a compromise reached after six weeks of consumer research and discussion, Tyson officials said. "We once again turned to consumers for their guidance and they told us this label more clearly conveys our chickens are not raised with any feed ingredients that could contribute to antibiotic resistance in humans," Dave Hogberg, senior vice president of Consumer Products Marketing for Tyson Foods, said in a news release. "The new labeling allows us to continue producing Raised Without Antibiotics chicken, which nine out of 10 consumers say is important to them."Tyson began the process of modifying the label in November after USDA notified the company that the agency considers ionophores, which Tyson uses in its chicken feed, as an antibiotic. Tyson said it plans to continue using ionophores, a federally approved feed ingredient used to help prevent an intestinal illness in chicken. They are not used in human medicine and don't contribute to developing antibiotic resistance to important human drugs.
Source: Meatingplace.com
Aporte: Guillermo Figueroa

Marine Harvest trasladaría su producción en Chile por enfermedad del salmón

Todavía producimos en la undécima región (de Chile), pero estamos considerando la duodécima

OSLO.- La mayor empresa salmonera del mundo, Marine Harvest ASA, dijo el jueves que podría tener que trasladar parte de su producción en Chile tras un nuevo brote de enfermedad contagiosa del salmón.

Los resultados del tercer trimestre de la empresa se vieron fuertemente afectados por pérdidas provocadas por la enfermedad altamente contagiosa llamada anemia infecciosa del salmón (ISA, por su sigla en inglés).La enfermedad no afecta a los consumidores, pero puede matar a los peces.

La empresa planea establecer nuevas instalaciones en una región donde no se ha encontrado ningún rastro del nuevo brote de la enfermedad, que apareció en peces de la firma noruega Cermaq. "Todavía producimos en la undécima región (de Chile), pero estamos considerando la duodécima", dijo el presidente ejecutivo interino de Marine Harvest, Leif Frode Onarheim.El ejecutivo agregó que la salmonera afectada en la undécima región, al sur de Chile, estaba alejada de sus instalaciones y que el riesgo de infección era pequeño."

No escondemos el hecho de que la situación es desafiante y que esto no es divertido", dijo.Marine Harvest, que no tiene licencia para operar en la duodécima región de Chile, comenzará a comprar licencias en el área, pero ello no requerirá de inversiones adicionales, según dijo la empresa.

Fuente: Emol

Aporte: Guillermo Figueroa

Alimentos seguros en el Espacio

Nuevas tecnologías aseguran inocuidad

Actualmente, y pese a las condiciones de ingravidez a las que deben hacer frente los astronautas, estos ya pueden comer de envases abiertos que se encuentran en bandejas, formadas por una hoja de aluminio con imanes o velcros que sujetan los alimentos. La dieta ya es sólida, e incluye alimentos deshidratados o bien termoestabilizados, es decir, como si estuvieran enlatadas pero en bolsas flexibles, o bien irradiados, un proceso que evita la proliferación de bacterias. Para comer el astronauta debe inyectar agua caliente al alimento y mantener el envase entre las manos mientras el agua se incorpora al alimento. Los líquidos se mantienen, por higiene y seguridad, en envases de plástico cerrados al vacío con pajitas que facilitan su consumo.
A pesar de los avances hechos en el campo de la comida espacial, mucho más amplia y con mejor sabor que los primeros alimentos orbitales, uno de los retos actuales es facilitar, especialmente en misiones largas, alimentos frescos. Y es que hasta ahora lo que ha primado en la alimentación de los astronautas ha sido la seguridad, higiene y calidad de los alimentos, dejando de lado los aspectos más organolépticos. Los países que hasta el momento desarrollan alimentos para este fin son EE.UU. y Rusia.
Fuente: Boletines@consumer.es

Aporte; Julio Parra Flores

Poultry News First human case of H5N1 bird flu confirmed in Myanmar

WHO confirm first human case
A 7-year-old girl is Myanmar's (Birmania) first human case of the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, the World Health Organization confirmed.

The girl, who is from Shan state in the eastern part of the country, became ill in November and has since recovered.

WHO is investigating how she was infected. An outbreak of H5N1 in poultry was reported in Shan state around the time she became sick. So far, all of the people who came in contact with the girl are healthy.
Source: Meatingplace.com
Aporte: Guillermo Figueroa

Bacteria in Cows Milk May Cause Crohn's Disease

Mycobacterium paratuberculosis known to cause illness in cattle, may cause Crohn's disease in humans

Crohn's is a condition that affects one in 800 people in the UK and causes chronic intestinal inflammation, leading to pain, bleeding and diarrhoea.The team found that a bacterium called Mycobacterium paratuberculosis releases a molecule that prevents a type of white blood cell from killing E.coli bacteria found in the body. E.coli is known to be present within Crohn’s disease tissue in increased numbers.

It is thought that the Mycobacteria make their way into the body’s system via cows’ milk and other dairy products. In cattle it can cause an illness called Johne's disease - a wasting, diarrhoeal condition. Until now, however, it has been unclear how this bacterium could trigger intestinal inflammation in humans.

Professor Jon Rhodes, from the University’s School of Clinical Sciences, explains: “Mycobacterium paratuberculosis has been found within Crohn’s disease tissue but there has been much controversy concerning its role in the disease. We have now shown that these Mycobacteria release a complex molecule containing a sugar, called mannose. This molecule prevents a type of white blood cells, called macrophages, from killing internalised E.coli.”

Scientists have previously shown that people with Crohn’s disease have increased numbers of a ‘sticky’ type of E.coli and weakened ability to fight off intestinal bacteria. The suppressive effect of the Mycobacterial molecule on this type of white blood cell suggests it is a likely mechanism for weakening the body’s defence against the bacteria.

Professor Rhodes added: "We also found that this bacterium is a likely trigger for a circulating antibody protein (ASCA) that is found in about two thirds of patients with Crohn's disease, suggesting that these people may have been infected by the Mycobacterium."The team is beginning clinical trials to assess whether an antibiotic combination can be used to target the bacteria contained in white blood cells as a possible treatment for Crohn’s disease.

Source: Gastroenterology

Aporte: Guillermo Figueroa

Antibiotic resistant Salmonella outbreak in Arizona

Unknown food product blamed

At least 14 people in Arizona have been struck with a particularly powerful strain of _Salmonella_ with about half them needing hospital care, state health officials said. Workers inside the state health lab have been on the trail of the outbreak since late October 2007.

They are growing samples of the Salmonella spp. pathogenic bacteria taken from those people who have been ill from the pathogen to see if has the same genetic fingerprint (PFGE) as the kind of Salmonella spp. that's made people sick in California, Nevada, and Idaho, said Ken Komatsu, Arizona Department of Health Services epidemiologist.

"This particular strain has a fairly high rate of hospitalization," Komatsu said. "Half of our cases have been hospitalized."

The latest outbreak is showing another unusual characteristic. Komatsu said the ability of the strain to resist antibiotics may partly explain why so many people who are getting it need hospital care. It's also unusual because cases are more likely to occur in summer than late fall or winter.

Experts said they think the outbreak got started when many people bought and ate some kind of an yet unknown food product that was sold by a chain store. The product involved has not yet been identified.

Source: ProMED Rapporteur Brent Barrett

Aporte: Guillermo Figueroa

Extinction threat to wild pacific salmon

Parasites from aquaculture farms affect wild salmon in Canada

Wild pink salmon around the Broughton Archipelago are declining rapidly and will die out within 10 years if no action is taken, say researchers. They say the data, published in Science, raises serious concerns about the global expansion of aquaculture. Sea lice from farms [aquaculture farms - Mod.TG] are known to infect wild salmon, but until now the impact on wild populations has been uncertain.

"The impact is so severe that the viability of the wild salmon populations is threatened," said lead researcher Martin Krkosek from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

Using a mathematical model of population growth rates, they show that sea lice from industrial fish farms are reducing the numbers of wild pink salmon -- a Pacific salmon species -- to the extent that the fish could be locally extinct in 8 years or less.

Dr. Krkosek said the population growth rate was "severely depressed. It means that the probability of extinction is 100 percent and the only question is how long it is going to take," he told BBC News.

Natural parasites: Scientists say commercial open-net salmon farms are a "haven" for sea lice -- naturally occurring parasites that attach to the skin and muscle of salmon. Mature fish can survive being infested by a few lice but tiny juvenile salmon are particularly vulnerable to attack. They come into contact with sea lice when they swim past fish farms on their migratory routes from rivers to the sea.

The report in Science has implications for other parts of the world where salmon is farmed, such as Norway and Scotland. Other species of salmon are known to become infected with sea lice, but they vary in their ability to withstand this.

Seminario: Chile 2015 Potencia Alimentaria

El seminario, organizado por Fundación Chile y el Ministerio de Agricultura, se llevó a cabo el día 7 de diciembre en CasaPiedra, y contó con la participación de Álvaro Rojas, Ministro de Agricultura; José Antonio Viera Gallo, Ministro Secretario General de la Presidencia; Alberto Montanari, Presidente de Chilealimentos; Gonzalo Jordán, Gerente del Área Agroindustrial de Fundación Chile; y Kees de Gooijer, CEO de Food & Nutrition Delta, de Holanda. Éste último como invitado especial y representante del segundo país exportador de alimentos del mundo.

Una de las principales conclusiones de este seminario es que el 2008 sea reconocido como el año de la innovación y el desarrollo tecnológico para el sector agro-alimentario y forestal de nuestro país, según señaló el Ministro Rojas en su intervención.

En este sentido, el ministro destacó la labor que está desarrollando en conjunto con Fundación Chile, el INTA de la Universidad de Chile y la Facultad de Ingeniería de la Universidad Católica respecto del Diagnóstico de las Capacidades Chilenas para la Innovación en el Sector Alimentario con miras al 2015. En uno de los aspectos principales de su discurso Rojas insistió en la necesidad de mejorar la oferta del país, siempre respetando los mayores estándares de calidad e inocuidad. Para esto es fundamental que tanto el estado como las empresas del sector realicen una fuerte inversión que permita aumentar la competitividad y el procesamiento de los alimentos, con lo que se podrá optar a mayores ingresos.