Food Safety

UK Imposes Moratorium on Desinewed Meat

Desinewed meat, produced with low-pressure separation equipment to remove flesh from meaty bones, is outlawed in the United Kingdom beginning tomorrow.
The UK’s Food Safety Agency is imposing what it calls a moratorium on the product it considers to be perfectly safe in order to satisfy the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office.
Nobody in the UK is happy about it, especially the way the EC’s Food and Veterinary Office in Brussels went about making it happen.   After a routine March 6-14 visit to the UK, the EC office on March 28 wrote FSA to demand that low-pressure desinewed meat be categorized and labeled as mechanically separated meat (MSM).

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The UK had five days to respond, and if it did not go along, British minced meat, meat products and meat preparations could be barred from the EU market.
And the Catch 22 was that ruminant bones used in producing desinewed meat with low pressure are prohibited in anything labeled as MSM.
That brought the first moratorium, imposed on April 28, prohibiting ruminant bones in desinewed meat.  It will be extended to cover poultry and pork bones on Saturday, May 26, unless there is a last-minute reprieve.

USDA Works to Create Organic Aquaculture Standards

Consumers are likely to see much more domestic farm-raised seafood bearing an organic label in the not-too-distant future. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a memo this week about forward with developing an organic aquaculture certification program.seafoodX-350.jpgAccording to Seafood Source, “Existing U.S. rules do not allow any seafood to bear the coveted ‘USDA Organic’ label due to the lack of standards for organic aquaculture production and certification, though some seafood products are labeled as organic because they’ve been certification by a third-party outfit such as Naturland in Germany.”

Indiana Seeks Public Comment On Raw Milk

The Indiana State Board of Animal Health  (BOAH) is seeking public comment on raw milk consumption and sales that will be compiled and submitted as a report to the the Governor and the Legislative Council.

The sale of raw milk for human consumption is currently illegal in Indiana, but it is legal to sell raw milk for consumption by pets.  In January, Senator John Waterman (R-Shelburn)  added wording to a Senate bill that would have allowed small farms to sell raw milk sales for human consumption under the following conditions:

Ban on Korean Shellfish Includes Canned Shellfish

The Food and Drug Administration late Friday clarified an earlier warning that all oysters, clams, mussels and scallops from Korea should be considered adulterated and removed from the market, and said that ban includes canned products.

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And earlier FDA constituent update had said the ban excluded canned products.

USDA Report Says Pesticide Residues Aren’t a Food Safety Concern

After testing 12,845 samples of fresh produce and other foods, the U.S. Department of Agriculture once again says pesticide residues are not a safety issue.
That’s according to the latest Pesticide Data Program Annual Summary released Friday by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. The report details the analysis of samples collected in 2010. The data program has been ongoing since 1991.

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The conclusion: as in other years, overall pesticide residues found on the foods tested well below the tolerances levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Only 0.25 percent of samples — fresh and processed fruit and vegetables, oats, eggs, catfish, baby food, groundwater, and treated and untreated drinking water — tested at levels exceeding EPA tolerances, according to the news release announcing the report.

USDA to mask sodium benzoate preservative with new ‘anti-microbial’ label to trick consumers

By Ethan A. Huff,
(NaturalNews) Kraft Foods Global, Inc. and a food chemical company known as Kemin Food Technologies, Inc. have both propositioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in recent years to approve the use of propionic acid and salt solutions in various new food applications, including in raw meat and poultry products, sausages, hot dogs, soups, stews, salads, and brine injections. According to a recent May 7 petition filing, the Des Moines, Ia.-based…

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Recalls

Contaminated Beef Mars Australia’s Usually Clean Track Record

The ground beef product that was recalled last week by two South Carolina-based manufacturers was imported from Australia and contaminated before it arrived, according to one of the importers.
After testing conducted by the South Carolina Meat and Poultry Inspection Department revealed E. coli in a sample of boxed beef from Australia, two U.S. companies – G & W, Inc. and Lancaster Frozen Foods – recalled almost 7,000 pounds of ground beef products made with meat sourced from the foreign producer.
“We never sold the box that was contaminated but we went ahead and did a recall on everything that was in that lot number,” Emily Clayton, director of operations at G & W told Food Safety News.

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A detailed list of those products made with beef from the contaminated lot is available here.
The boxed beef was imported in March and then stored in freezers before being processed into ground beef products, which were produced between March 2 and May 11 at Lancaster Frozen Foods and between March 2 and April 12 at G&W.
While several hundred pounds of the product had not yet been distributed, the majority of it was processed and sold, says JoAnna Clayton, vice president of G & W.

California Warns of Botulism Risk in Jarred Soups

California Department of Public Health (CDPH) director Dr. Ron Chapman warned consumers on Thursday not to eat Taste of Roux, LLC jarred vegetarian soups because they may have been improperly produced, making them susceptible to contamination with Clostridium Botulinum.

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No illnesses have been linked to any of the affected products at this time.
Ingestion of botulism toxin from improperly processed jarred and canned foods may lead to serious illness and death.
Taste of Roux, LLC of Valley Village, California is recalling its Lentil, Black Bean, Tomato, Carrot Ginger, Vegetarian Chili, and Detox jarred soups.  The soups were sold under the Taste of Roux label and packaged in quart and pint glass jars with screw-on metal lids.  The product labels do not include any coding or use-by dates.

Smoked Bratwurst Recalled For Undeclared Soy

Zenner’s Quality Meat Products, Inc. of Oregon is recalling about 3,660 pounds of bratwurst because it contains soy protein, one of the major food allergens, that is not declared on the label.

Read Full Article Here

Raw Milk Aged Cheeses Are Relatively Safe, According to Study

May 25, 2012 By

According to a study published in Food Microbiology, raw milk aged cheeses are relatively safe. The cheeses must be aged at least 60 days, at temperatures not less than 35 degrees F. The aging process produces low pH, low water activity, and high salt content that renders the cheese inhospitable to bacteria, yeast, and molds.

The regulations regarding raw milk aged cheeses were enacted in 1950, ”long before contemporary pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli 0157:H7, and Campylobacter had been recognized,” according to the study. Those bacteria can tolerate inhospitable environments such as low pH and low water activity.

In the last 20 years, “many small and several large foodborne outbreaks linked to consumption of cheese made from unpasteurized milk have occurred, both in Europe and in the U.S.” according to the study.

Read Full Article Here

Dried Shitake Mushroom Slices Recalled

L.A. Link (Huntington Beach) Corp. of of Cerritos, CA is recalling dried shitake mushrooms sold at Costco Wholesale locations in Washington, Oregon and California because they may be contaminated with chemical residues not approved for dried mushrooms.

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A sample of the product tested by the Food and Drug Administration was found to be contaminated with fluoranthene, pyrene and carbendazim.

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Allergen Alert

Allergen Alert: Frozen Chicken Breasts With Wheat

Mt. Airy Meat Center of Mt. Airy, N.C. is recalling approximately 100 pounds of frozen, raw chicken breasts because they contain wheat, a known allergen not declared on the label, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Thursday.
The problem was discovered by FSIS during a routine label review. In the recall alert, Mt. Airy Meat Center said it repackages chicken for individual retail sale; the company explained that the problem may have occurred due to a change in suppliers.

Allergen Alert: Bratwurst With Soy Protein

Zenner’s Quality Meat Products of Portland, OR is recalling approximately 3,660 pounds of a bratwurst because it contains soy protein, an allergen not declared on the label.

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FSIS and the company say they have not received any reports of adverse reactions.
The recall is of 2.25-lb. packages “Zenner’s Smoked Brotwurst” with a sells by date through 7/17/12 and the establishment number 6308.

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Articles of Interest

Majority of Americans Confident in Safety of Food Supply, Survey Finds

The vast majority of Americans have confidence in the safety of the U.S. food supply, according to a new survey by the International Food Information Council, a food industry communications group.

The “2012 Food & Health Survey” shows a jump over last year’s confidence numbers, which IFIC found particularly interesting considering the survey was fielded during the first two weeks of April when food safety headlines — about Salmonella sushi, E. coli beef and new limits in antibiotics in agriculture — were widespread.

The survey found that 78 percent of those surveyed were either “somewhat confident” or “very confident” in the safety of the domestic food supply. Last year that number was closer to 50 percent.

applegirl_iphone.jpg“This year was a little higher,” said Marianne Smith Edge, the senior vice president of nutrition and food safety at IFIC, though she noted that the question was phrased differently this year. Instead of asking those surveyed if they were “extremely confident” they changed it to “very confident” on the high end of the spectrum.

Though the vast majority of Americans have thought about the safety of food and beverages over the past year — 85 percent reported giving “a little” or “a lot” of thought —  most Americans think the chances are low they will themselves come down with foodborne illness.

“What I think is interesting is that more than 50 percent think their chance is extremely low,” said Smith Edge. Fifty seven percent of consumers said they “strongly” or “somewhat agree” that the chances they will get a serious foodborne illness are extremely low. Some consumers disagreed: 27 percent “somewhat disagree” and 9 percent “strongly disagree.”

Read Full Article Here

Rand Paul Wins One in Senate Passage of FDA Bill

Kentucky libertarian Sen. Rand Paul was not entirely successful with his amendments to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) User Fee Re-authorization Bill before it passed the Senate Thursday by a 96 to 1 vote.

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The bill, setting user-fees to provide about half of FDA’s $4.5 billion budget for next year, showed the Senate can fully debate, amend and pass a needed law.
Paul was fully engaged in the process with multiple amendments. One – to disarm FDA agents, stop raids on natural food stores and Amish farms and end the agency’s scrutiny of truthful claims for dietary supplements – received only 15 votes.
But Paul did get his language included in the bill that forces FDA to accept data from clinical investigations conducted outside of the U.S., including the European Union, because Paul says it will speed getting life-saving drugs to the market.
Paul hailed passage of the bill because it contained some of his words.

Jensen Farms Files for Bankruptcy

Cantaloupe grower responsible for 2011 Listeria outbreak

Jensen Farms, the Colorado cantaloupe grower responsible for last year’s Listeria cantaloupe outbreak, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy filings list a number of wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits filed against the farm that resulted from the outbreak that sickened 146 people and killed 36.

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According to Jensen Farms’ bankruptcy lawyer, in an interview with the Denver Post, Jensen’s decision to file for bankruptcy will eventually free up millions of dollars in insurance money and other funds to pay victims.

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