Romania-Trichinellosis, a Romanian Never-Ending Story. An Overview of Traditions, Culinary Customs, and Public Health Conditions 23 May 2010
British Food Journal [edited][FSNet]
The purpose of this research was to assess public perception of food-related hazards by Portuguese consumers at major metropolitan areas. A contrast was searched between controllable and non-controllable hazards.
The Perceived Food Risk Index developed by Fife-Schaw and Rowe, was administered to a sample of 666 subjects through a door to door interview using a random route walk procedure and following a quota sampling controlled for sex, age and location. Risk perception was evaluated over ten risk characteristics, for each of the hazards.
Through principal component analysis, two main components were identified: “Knowledge” and “Dread”. A perceptual map of the hazards was built over these two dimensions. A high level of worry and concern associated with fatty foods was found, clearly contradicting the expected attenuation of risk perception associated to greater perceived personal control. Contrarily to previous findings for other populations, GMOs yielded lower levels of both “Knowledge” and “Dread”. Based on risk perceptions, consumers were grouped in four segments: optimists, unconfident, fearless, and fearful.
This work adds to knowledge on the Portuguese consumer and its risk perceptions, a fairly unreported topic, thus helping to the success of food safety communication by different stakeholders. 24 May 2010
FSA [edited][FSNet]
The Agency today publishes its 'Annual report of incidents 2009', which provides details of more than 1,200 investigations into food incidents and outlines proposals for the future.
There were 1,208 incidents last year, a slight decrease from 1,298 in 2008, although the total figures have remained relatively constant for the past four years. The incidents included the high profile case of Salmonella associated with some eggs from Spain and a successful prosecution of people operating an unapproved meat plant in West Yorkshire. The report gives details of these cases and what action was taken to protect consumers.
The report gives a breakdown of incidents by category, with the major categories being: microbiological (18% of incidents), environmental contamination (17%), natural chemical contamination (12%) and on-farm incidents (12%).
To improve the means by which the Agency prevents and responds to incidents, five incident-handling workshops were held with local authorities to clarify roles and responsibilities and strengthen working relationships. Similar workshops are also planned for this year.
The Agency also reviewed its communications with local authorities during incidents and, as a result, is changing its procedures regarding food alerts.
Action taken by the Agency in 2009 included the issuing of 91 Alerts, of which 49 were Allergy Alerts. Alerts give consumers and enforcement officers the information they need directly by email or SMS text message, as well as online.
The Agency uses the following definition of an incident:
'Any event where, based on the information available, there are concerns about actual or suspected threats to the safety or quality of food that could require intervention to protect consumers’ interests.'
Incidents fall broadly into two categories:
Incidents involving contamination of food or animal feed in the processing, distribution, retail and catering chains. These incidents may result in action to withdraw the food from sale and, in certain circumstances, to recall, alerting the public not to consume potentially contaminated food.
Environmental pollution incidents, for example fires, chemical/oil spills and radiation leaks, that may involve voluntary or statutory action (such as orders made under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985). 23 May 2010
Cope, S., et al. Food Policy (2010), doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2010.04.002 [edited][FSNet]
As a consequence of recent food safety incidents, consumer trust in European food safety management has diminished. A risk governance framework that formally institutes stakeholder (including consumer) consultation and dialogue through a transparent and accountable process has been proposed, with due emphasis on risk communication. This paper delivers actionable policy recommendations based on consumer preferences for different approaches to food risk management. These results suggest that risk communication should be informed by knowledge of consumer risk perceptions and information needs, including individual differences in consumer preferences and requirements, and differences in these relating to socio-historical context associated with regulation. In addition, information about what is being done to identify, prevent and manage food risks needs to be communicated to consumers, together with consistent messages regarding preventative programs, enforcement systems, and scientific uncertainty and variability associated with risk assessments. Cross-cultural differences in consumer perception and information preferences suggest a national or regional strategy for food risk communication may be more effective than one applied at a pan-European level. 13 May 2010
Society for Risk Analysis [edited][FSNet]
The inclusion of activists and members of the general public on teams of technical experts can, in some cases, beneficially expand the focus of food risk reviews, according to a new study by food experts in the United Kingdom (U.K.). The results are important to government agencies and policymakers interested in including more public input and enhancing public trust of expert recommendations on food safety.
The authors draw conclusions from three case studies related to children’s risk from pesticide residues in apples, infection from a bacterial contaminant in chicken, and a hypothetical contamination of animal feed with a toxin.
Nine researchers from universities, government agencies and research institutes collaborated on the article, “Can a participatory approach contribute to food chain risk analysis?,” which appears in the May, 2010 issue of the journal Risk Analysis, published by the Society for Risk Analysis.
The researchers conclude that technical complexities in risk reviews do not necessarily pose barriers to broader public participation and that including multiple non-technical representatives tends to broaden the focus of reviews. For example, in the risk review for a pesticide in apples, some non-technical members urged the group to consider how pesticide mixtures may have an impact on the risk, a factor not taken into account in the one-chemical-at-a-time approach previously adopted by scientists. Likewise, the non-technical participants pushed scientists to focus on how people’s behavior varies to enhance the gathering of exposure information on infection from contaminants in chicken.

Ireland- Management of health risks associated with oysters harvested from a Norovirus contaminated area, February - March 2010
13 May 2010
Eurosurveillance, Volume 15, Issue 19 [edited][FSNet[
Oysters from a harvesting area responsible for outbreaks of gastroenteritis were relaid at a clean seawater site and subsequently depurated in tanks of purified seawater at elevated temperatures. This combined treatment reduced norovirus levels to those detected prior to the outbreak. On the basis of norovirus monitoring the sale of treated oysters was permitted although the harvest area remained closed for direct sale of oysters. No reports of illness have been associated with the consumption of treated oysters.
Oysters are filter-feeding bivalve molluscs which may become contaminated with human pathogens when grown in sewage-contaminated waters, which can lead to illness as the oysters are often consumed raw. In Europe, regulations are in place to prevent this risk. Shellfish harvesting areas are classified into three categories (A, B or C) depending on the extent of faecal contamination of the area as judged by levels of Escherichia coli. Shellfish treatments are prescribed depending on the classification. Despite these controls outbreaks of illness associated with oyster consumption continue, in particular outbreaks of gastroenteritis associated with norovirus (NoV)-contaminated oysters. Until recently, suitable methods for the quantitative detection of NoV in shellfish have not been available.
A high prevalence of NoV in oysters from a range of harvesting areas throughout Europe has been shown by PCR. Quantitative real-time PCR procedures are currently undergoing standardisation at the European level. Where quantitative data exists, NoV levels detected in shellfish harvest areas are often low and near the detection limit. The public health significance of oysters containing low levels of NoV is unclear.
Various intervention steps are available to reduce the microbiological load in sewage-contaminated shellfish. These include relaying shellfish in clean seawater areas to allow them to purge contaminants. A similar, more controlled process is performed in tanks of seawater purified by disinfection. This process is called depuration and is used extensively throughout Europe. Depuration is commonly carried out for 24 to 48 hours at ambient temperatures. It has been demonstrated to eliminate bacteria from shellfish but has little impact on virus levels in oysters. However, depuration carried out at elevated temperatures (17-20 ºC) for extended periods of three to five days reduces virus levels in oysters significantly.
Over a five week period in January and February 2010, more than 70 cases of gastroenteritis in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK) were due to the consumption of oysters originating from an Irish harvesting area. The infections in England have been recorded as part of a wider report on European-wide outbreaks. Oysters connected to two illness incidents in Ireland were available for testing and contained 2,040 and 2,350 NoV genome copies per g, respectively.
The oysters responsible for the outbreak described here originated from a category A classified water with E. coli levels consistently below 230 MPN (most probable number) per 100 g. Oysters from category A areas are approved for consumption without treatment. In practice, oysters from this harvest area were depurated at ambient temperature before sale. However it is well documented that depuration at low temperatures has little impact on reducing virus levels in shellfish. The recent outbreaks of NoV infection associated with consumption of oysters from this harvesting site confirm the inadequacy of the current control measures and treatment processes to fully protect consumers in Europe.
Low levels of NoV are commonly detected in oysters, particularly during the winter months. A limited data set from 2009 suggests that NoV levels in oysters from the harvest area in question are also generally low. No reports of illness associated with this area were recorded during this period. In January and February 2010 however, the levels of NoV increased significantly, probably due to the seasonally high level of the virus in the human population and the particularly cold temperatures. This increase in NoV levels was clearly associated with outbreaks of NoV gastroenteritis in consumers. In response the competent authorities in Ireland closed the harvest area for direct sale of oysters and it remains closed at the time of publication of this report.