The Human Imprint

Ezine views reach 20,000

It is just over a year since I started publishing Ezine articles and I am really thrilled to have just passed the 20,000 views milestone.

Discussion on Salmonella outbreak

There has been lots of discussion on the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak in the last twenty four hours Salmonella Blog has linked to the Minnesota Star Tribune and their article on how an outbreak in a restaurant was linked and then traced back to jalapeno peppers. The article suggests that the investigation methods used, the way the food safety and agriculture departments interrelate and also the fact that by then tomatoes had been all but eliminated from the investigation helped to speed up the investigation. The article states that:

"27 people who ate at the same Twin Cities restaurant fell ill from the exact rare salmonella strain in the national outbreak. On Monday, federal officials said they found the same strain on a jalapeno pepper in a giant produce warehouse in McAllen, Texas -- the same warehouse identified by Minnesota investigators weeks ago".

On June 30, Ben Miller, the state Agriculture Department's "traceback coordinator," began tracking the suspect peppers' roots. Using restaurant invoices to find the wholesale supplier, he followed the trail to California and Texas distributors. He found the farms that grew the peppers in Mexico.

On July 3, Smith gave the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA information on Minnesota's cases and Miller's traceback. Smith called back on July 9 "so they could be crystal clear about the detail. The pepper [in Texas] was collected on the 11th." Federal officials were also looking at outbreaks in two Texas restaurants linked to salsa that used jalapenos.

Food Poisoning Law Blog has reflected on the food safety investigation infrastructure with a post on a letter written by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, FDA Commissioner with regard to the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak. Senator Clinton asked for details with regard to the following questions:

1. What is your schedule for meetings with stakeholders and industry regarding traceability? With which groups will you be meeting?

2. Given that models exist for traceability, when you will release a “best practices” document?

3. What is your schedule for meetings and implementation of the Food Protection Plan with our neighboring nations, particularly Canada?

4. You have scheduled a meeting with the states on food safety for August 2008. What is the agenda for this meeting, and what does the FDA anticipate as action steps that will emerge from this conference?

I will follow developments at the August 2008 meeting with interest.

Marion Nestle has also written a post about the Government Accountability Office, and a recent report they have produced: Food Safety: Selected Countries’ Systems Can Offer Insights into Ensuring Import Safety and Responding to Foodborne Illness.

The report defines the following areas as key parts of a food safety strategy and I would fully endorse this:

• Farm-to-table oversight (otherwise known as "field to fork");
• Producer responsibility;
• Separate risk assessment and risk management;
• Risk-based inspection systems;
• Certain food imports must meet equivalent safety standards (all food imports should reach equivalent food safety standards);
• Traceback procedures ;
• Cooperation between government veterinarians and public health officials; and a
• Mandatory recall authority.

This strategy can be both market and regulation led and it is important to develop such systems that are appropriate to the stage in the supply chain, the resources that are available and with appropriate training of those who have to implement the systems.

I also read the article on MainStreet.com  "Jalapeno protection - a cheap and easy food safety tip" and whilst I agree with and support most of its content I think that there needs to be a clear distinction drawn so as not to confuse readers.

In the home environment effective handwashing, utensil management and separation of raw foods, ready to eat foods and produce is very important to prevent cross-contamination from foods likely to harbour microorganisms to those that will be eaten without any further steps, such as cooking, to reduce them to a safe level. Soap, or detergent is a chemical designed to remove dirt; it is not a chemical designed to reduce bacteria to a safe level. Washing produce with water or detergent will not on its own reduce bacteria to a safe level if they are present, this will only be done by the practice of disinfection,  and then only the outer surface - as the article says if the bacteria are internal then disinfecting the outside of the leaf or surface may not be sufficient.

In practice in most homes disinfection of produce is not practiced. Food businesses would however be expected to draw this distinction within their protocols. The most important aspect is prevention - not contaminating with bacteria, and viruses in the first place either during growing, harvesting, processing, distribution, retail and/or food service. This requires the implementation of good hygienic practices, standards and protocols and then monitoring to see that they have been followed and are effective. Salmonella can come from a range of sources including workers, pests, equipment, dust, soil, water and so on and at this stage it has not been established where this type of Salmonella originated.   The interaction of factors that affect food safety status are complicated and difficult to unravel and the most important aspect is to ensure that individuals have access to the information that they need to minimise their risk of food poisoning either at the point of purchase or in their own homes.

Ensuring UK food security

Defra has published a discussion paper entitled  "Ensuring the UK's food security in a changing world". The paper pits forward five key questions and aks:

1. Whether Defra has correctly identified the challenges facing global and UK food security.

2. What the views of the food industry and wider public are about the action the UK Government is taking globally and domestically to address these challenges and ensure food security.

3. What further role the agricultural, retail, and food service sectors can play in ensuring UK food security.

4. Whether the food security indicators cover the right areas and measure the right things.

5. What steps we should take together if the indicators suggest there is a problem.

The report also suggests five key indicators of food supply:

1. global availability;
2. diversity of supply;
3. food chain resilience;
4. affordability; and
5. safety and confidence.

The report is accessible here if you want to read more.

 

Salmonella Saintpaul and jalapeno peppers

It is three weeks now since I last wrote a post on Salmonella Saintpaul. The CDC report that as of July 17th 1237 people have been infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. The internet is full of reports about Salmonella Saintpaul as the investigation may have moved forward towards finding the potential source. Yesterday the FDA issued two recall press releases. The first was for Grande Produce, LTD. CO of Hidalgo, Texas who was recalling Jalepeno Peppers and Serrano Peppers distributed between May 17th and July 17th, 2008; and Avocados, all sizes, with lot #HUE08160090889. This was due to the potential presence of Salmonella,  although the recall notice stated that:

"According to the Texas and North Carolina Departments of Health, the strain of Salmonella found in this company's jalapeño and serrano peppers and in its avocado is not Salmonella Saintpaul, and is not believed to be related to the current Salmonella outbreak.

The recall is a result of sampling not by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but by the Texas Department of State Health Services (Texas Health) and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (North Carolina Health ) which revealed that these products contained the bacteria.

The company has voluntarily initiated a recall of its already distributed products and has stopped future distribution while the FDA, Texas Health, North Carolina Health and the company continue to investigate to determine the source of the problem."

The second recall press release was a recall of Jalapeno Peppers by Agricola Zaragoza,   Inc. of McAllen, TX that had been distributed since June 30th,   2008 because they too were potential ly contaminated with Salmonella. The recall note states that:

"The recall is a result of sampling by FDA, which revealed that these Jalapeno Peppers were contaminated with the same strain of Salmonella Saintpaul   responsible for the current Salmonella outbreak. It is unknown at this time which, if any, of the more than 1,200 illnesses reported to date are related to this particular product or to the grower who supplied this product. Distribution of these products has been suspended while FDA, the Texas Department of State Health Services and the company continue their investigation as to the source of the problem."

Cryptosporidium outbreak in UK

Over the last four weeks there has been an ongoing issue with Cryptosporidium contamination of water. Routine tests by Anglian Water found cryptosporidium in a sample from supplies back at the end of June. 108, 000 homes were affected with the "boil" notice., which was lifted on July 4th. The homes affected could not drink tap water for ten days and 13 people were found to have Cryptosporidium. Anglian Water has confirmed that a small rabbit that gained access to the treatment system caused the contamination at the Pitsford Water Treatment Works. The Northampton Chronicle reports that a further 13 cases are still under investigation, but over 700 people have reported symptoms of the illness to their doctor.

For more details on Cryptosporidium and water follow the link to the Drinking Water Inspectorate website.

Woodland birds under threat

The Independent carried an article on a very alarming report on bird numbers and the marked decline in woodland birds as well as farmland birds in recent years. Whilst some issues may be related to changes in farm use I wonder how much is due to the impact of climate variation on migration routes. Last year the weather was so extreme the housemartins and swifts around the house were throwing many of their chicks out of their nests maybe because they didn't have enough food for all of them. This year all seems to be well and the parents are busy on the wing finding food. Four years ago we had forty nests around the house - this year probably twenty are inhabited. Follow the link to find out more.

Hospital superbugs down by a third

The Telegraph reports that in the first three months of 2008 there were 10,586 cases of C diff in   patients aged 65 and over which is a 32% reduction on the same period in 2007. There were 966 cases of MRSA bloodstream infection in the first   three months of 2008 which is a drop of 11 per cent on the previous three   months. Figures for the whole year show a drop of 30 per cent in MRSA cases between   2006/7 and 2007/8. Let's hope this trend continues.

Beavers born in the UK for the first time in 400 years

The Telegraph reports that 12 kit beaver have been born for the first time in 400 years in the UK in Cirencester, Gloucestershire.

Water bills may rise to offset environmental impact

Following my Nuffield study on water I was interested to read the recent Guardian report on water resources. The article reports that water costs could rise after water companies have been told to look for alternative sources of water due to the current environmental impact of abstraction.

The Environment Agency found widespread damage and threats to wildlife, including chalk rivers, wetlands, and other protected water habitats. This could open the way for greater water transfer or the building of  desalination plants.

I feel that all this discussion will open the way for on farm reservoirs which can capture winter rainfall, potentially assist to avert flooding and are more flexible than a large reservoir, create a lot of unique wildlife habitats and are much more cost effective. There are a number of innovative ways to address this issue and we need to move forward not look back at old technology and old mechanisms of managing water supply and demand.

Sixth food safety ebook published

The sixth book in the Food Safety Series has just been published - Equipment and Maintenance. These books are designed to be a stand alone resource that build together to form a comprehensive guide to the procedures, protocols and monitoring systems that need to be implemented to ensure food safety by manufacturers, processors and food producers. Do check them out. Follow the link to find out more and preview the contents at the e-books storefront.