December

Italy seizes tons of spoiled seafood
30 Dec 2008
International Herald Tribune - Associated Press [edited][iFSN]
According to this story, Italian authorities confiscated 160 metric tons (176 tons) of spoiled or fake seafood across Italy in a series of raids over the past two weeks. It is reported that the seizures over the Christmas holidays, were the largest-ever involving seafood. Most of the haul involved frozen seafood that was either expired or was poorly conserved. A fraction involved cheap, foreign fish that was being marketed as more expensive, locally-caught fish.

Belgium - Europe keeps US poultry off the Xmas menu over chlorine use
18 Dec 2008
AFP [edited][iFSN]
It is reported that European Union farm ministers rejected Thursday attempts to lift a ban on US poultry which is washed in chlorine, ensuring that American turkeys will not grace Europe's Christmas dinner tables.

United Kingdom - City food safety scheme to go national
17 Dec 2008
Evening News 24 - Sam Williams [edited][iFSN]
According to this story, a food safety scheme publicly rating the hygiene standards of city restaurants is set to go national after being pioneered by Norwich City Council. It is reported that the scores on the doors scheme was designed and introduced by City Hall food safety officers in 2005 aimed at providing customers with clear and helpful information about the standards of hygiene at any food premises. Following a public consultation, the Food Standards Agency has announced it will be adopting the five star (six tier with five stars, plus a fail) scheme that was invented by city council officers.

European Union - Extension of controls for melamine
17 Dec 2008
FSA [edited][iFSN]
The European Commission has decided to extend the ban on importing certain products from China because of the risk of melamine contamination. Melamine is an industrial chemical that should not be present in food. The ban has been extended to stop the import into the European Union of products from China containing soya or soya products intended for the particular nutritional use of infants and young children. The Commission has also extended the testing for melamine contamination to ammonium bicarbonate intended for food and feed, and food and feed containing soya or soya products from China. The European Commission’s original decision on this issue said that products from China containing milk products should be tested for melamine. Any products found to contain more than 2.5mg/kg of melamine must be withdrawn from the market and destroyed. These requirements came into effect on 15 October 2008 and are laid down in Commission Decision 2008/798/EC. The Agency’s view is that this latest decision includes products made from whole soya beans from China, even if the beans are subsequently processed outside China. The decision will also cover soy sauce from China. The limit remains the same at 2.5mg/kg. The Agency has put in place new declarations to implement the latest decision and notified all enforcement bodies of the extensions to the original decision. We continue to actively monitor the situation and will place relevant updates on our website. Food alerts will be issued if any action is required of enforcement authorities.

United Kingdom - FSA Board advice on BSE testing age
10 Dec 2008
FSA [edited][iFSN] The Food Standards Agency today agreed to support a move to increase, from 30 months to 48 months, the age at which cattle slaughtered for human consumption are BSE tested. This decision was reached after the Board received assurances about the effectiveness of current and future BSE surveillance.
The Board had received advice from the Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee (SEAC) at its meeting in October 2008 that the increased risks to human health from raising the BSE testing age are very small and that maintaining effective surveillance is important to monitor the changes in BSE risk.
At today’s meeting, the Board received a commitment from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to maintain effective surveillance in line with scientific recommendations and statutory obligations. It also considered the results of consultation on the proposals undertaken since October.
The advice will be subject to review and will be reassessed if any changes to elements of the BSE control regime are made that adversely affect the risk assessment.
The proposal to increase the age at which cattle are BSE tested follows recent changes to EU legislation. From 1 January 2009, certain EU Member States (including the UK) may adopt the revised 48 month BSE test age. Health Ministers across the UK must also agree to support the increased BSE testing age before the change can be implemented.

United Kingdom - Six tier scores on the doors approved
10 Dec 2008
FSA [edited][iFSN]
The Food Standards Agency Board has today approved a new six-tier 'scores on the doors' scheme for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which will give consumers clear information about hygiene standards in food businesses. Scotland will continue with a two-tier pass or improvement required system. The hygiene rating scheme will have six levels representing the different standards of food hygiene found by the local authority officials when they undertake a hygiene inspection. The aim is that all ratings will be prominently displayed at the business premises.

Luxembourg- Food Safety Agency established
10 Dec 2008
Station [edited][iFSN]
The Luxembourg's Minister of Health yesterday outlined Luxembourg's stance on food safety. Following last weekend's recall of Irish pork products and the BSE crisis in recent years, the Minister stated that the Organization for Security and quality of the food chain (OSQCA) is responsible for coordinating all control and related activities across the Grand Duchy. Its mandate includes the recruitment of experts in various fields to ensure that the consumer had a quality service. It is reported that last year, of the 1,200 food alerts issued across Europe, a total of 40 affected Luxembourg.

United Kingdom - FSA Board advice on BSE testing age
10 Dec 2008
FSA [edited][iFSN]
The Food Standards Agency today agreed to support a move to increase, from 30 months to 48 months, the age at which cattle slaughtered for human consumption are BSE tested. This decision was reached after the Board received assurances about the effectiveness of current and future BSE surveillance.
The Board had received advice from the Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee (SEAC) at its meeting in October 2008 that the increased risks to human health from raising the BSE testing age are very small and that maintaining effective surveillance is important to monitor the changes in BSE risk.
At today’s meeting, the Board received a commitment from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to maintain effective surveillance in line with scientific recommendations and statutory obligations. It also considered the results of consultation on the proposals undertaken since October.
The advice will be subject to review and will be reassessed if any changes to elements of the BSE control regime are made that adversely affect the risk assessment.
The proposal to increase the age at which cattle are BSE tested follows recent changes to EU legislation. From 1 January 2009, certain EU Member States (including the UK) may adopt the revised 48 month BSE test age. Health Ministers across the UK must also agree to support the increased BSE testing age before the change can be implemented.

Ireland - €560m to be pumped into water systems
04 Dec 2008
Independent Online [edited][iFSN]
According to this story, the Government is set to pump over half a billion euro into Ireland's water systems in a bid to increase consumer confidence in the quality of the supply. It us reported that mMore than €560m will be provided for water and sewerage treatment through the Water Services Investment Programme next year -- €100m of which will be spent on rural water.

November

United Kingdom - Agency publishes views on “scores on the doors” legal issues
18 Nov 2008
FSA [edited][iFSN]
The Food Standards Agency has today published its views on a number of legal questions around the establishment of a UK-wide “scores on the doors” scheme. Scores on the doors schemes provide consumers with information about hygiene standards in food businesses.
The issues covered include the Agency's legal powers to set up and endorse a UK-wide scheme, local authority powers to operate a scheme and how the Freedom of Information Act relates to scores on the doors. The Agency has recently consulted on proposals for a UK-wide scheme and its Board will discuss the outcome of this at its meeting on 10 December. The Agency is also currently meeting with key stakeholders to consider the consultation results and to discuss with them how to move forward towards a UK-wide scheme. Sarah Appleby, Head of Enforcement at the Food Standards Agency, said: “It is very important that any UK-wide ‘scores on the doors’ scheme is both fair and legally robust. This document addresses some of the key legal issues and these issues will be considered by the Board in December along with the responses to our recent consultation.”

Ireland - Authority defends failure to name producers of contaminated water
18 Nov 2008
The Irish Times - Paul Cullen [edited][iFSN]
It is reported that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has moved to reassure consumers about the quality and safety of bottled water after a leaked report found high levels of contamination in Irish bottled water brands. However, the authority refused yesterday to identify the manufacturers selling the contaminated water, and defended its failure to publish the evidence of widespread contamination of bottled water almost a year after environmental health officers gathered the evidence. According to the FSAI report, 1 percent of bottled water tested in the last four months of 2007 contained E. coli , an indicator of fecal contamination, and 6.3 percent contained coliforms. The Irish Independent also reported that 7.2 percent, or one bottle in 16, failed to comply with legal or EU requirements. The FSAI said consumers should not be worried about the bottled water they buy because any issues identified during sampling last year were corrected immediately, with a number of products withdrawn from the market and corrective action taken by the industry.

Belgium - EU-China agree to beef up product safety controls
17 Nov 2008
m&c - Deutsche Presse-Agentur [edited][iFSN]
According to this story, the European Commission and China agreed Monday to beef up controls on potentially dangerous Chinese products and foods exported to the European Union. It is reported that China will now be obliged to inform the European Union about what it is doing to track down dangerous goods. In return, Chinese officials will be given access to the EU's Rapid Alert System for Feed and Food (RASFF), where controlling authorities can exchange information about what measures are being taken to ensure food safety.

Sweden - Lidl issues scavenger poisoned food apology
13 Nov 2008 The Local - AFP [edited][iFSN]
According to this story, discount German supermarket chain Lidl has issued an apology after workers at one of its Swedish stores deliberately poisoned discarded food in a bid to keep homeless people at bay. It is reported that Lidl Sweden has been informed that cleaning liquids have been poured into the trash to stop trespassers from stealing garbage at one of our stores during a short time period," the Lidl's chief executive in Sweden, said in a statement. "

United Kingdom - Change in notification procedure for products found to be contaminated with melamine
07 Nov 2008
FSA
The Agency is changing its procedure for notifying local authorities about products contaminated with melamine in excess of the level permitted by Commission Decision 2008/798/EC but considered unlikely to be a risk to health. On 15 October 2008 the European Commission adopted Decision (2008/798/EC) requiring that any products originating in or consigned from China containing milk or milk products as an ingredient should be subject to documentary, identity and physical checks, including laboratory analysis, to determine that any levels of melamine present in the product do not exceed 2.5 mg/kg. Those products with more than 2.5mg/kg will be destroyed. As positive sample results have been received, we have noted a widening range of products that have not been in compliance with Decision (2008/798/EC). Therefore, rather then issuing a separate Food Alert for Information for each product, we intend to produce a list of non-compliant products, updated daily to ensure a proportionate notification procedure. This list of non-compliant products will be published on the Agency’s website and can be accessed via the link below. The list will be reviewed daily and updated as required with any new positive results that have been received by 4pm for that day. Any non-compliant products considered to be a risk to health or where the company has not taken the appropriate action will still be notified via individual food alerts for action. Local authorities should have regard to the list of the products published on the Agency’s website on a daily basis to help inform their sampling plans and to raise their awareness should they come across these products on the market during their routine inspections. Local authorities should ensure that the products listed are withdrawn from sale and subsequently destroyed, if necessary using the powers under the Food Safety Act 1990. Local authorities should encourage food business operators to display point of sale notices explaining the reasons for withdrawal to consumers. It is essential that all non unitary authorities liaise at county level to ensure that they co-ordinate their actions.

Europe - Developing the community reporting system for foodborne outbreaks
06 Nov 2008
Eurosurveillance (Volume 13, Issue 45) [edited][iFSN]
A Gervelmeyer, M Hempen, U Nebel, C Weber, S Bronzwaer, A Ammon, Pia Makela
Eurosurveillance
Investigating and reporting of foodborne outbreaks became mandatory with Directive 2003/99/EC. In 2006 and 2007 the Community reporting system for foodborne outbreaks was further developed in an interdisciplinary approach, which is described in this paper. This involved experts on investigating and reporting foodborne outbreaks as well as experts on communicable diseases in addition to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Task Force for Zoonoses Data Collection, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Advisory Forum and representatives of ECDC, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the European Commission. European Union Member States participated in a survey regarding their national reporting systems and the needs for information on foodborne outbreaks at the Community level. The acceptability, the functionality and the data quality of the current reporting system were evaluated. The results were used to propose new variables on which data should be reported. Pick-lists were developed to facilitate reporting and better integration of the Community system with Member States’ reporting systems. The new system is expected to yield better quality data on foodborne outbreaks relevant for risk assessment and risk management while reducing the work load for Member States.

Russia bans imports in Salmonella scare
03 Nov 2008
The Budapest Times [edited][iFSN]
According to this story, Russian authorities have imposed temporary restrictions, effective 7 November, on imports from seven foreign meat processing companies, including three Hungarian ones, after detecting Salmonella in their products, food safety supervisory body Rosselhoznadzor announced on its website. It is reported that the ban applies to the products of Aranycsibe of Tiszavasvári, Master-M of Kisvárda and Tan-Tal of Nyíregyháza, all in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg country. Imports from two German companies, as well as one American and one Argentine firm were also outlawed.

October

European Union - EFSA consults on draft opinion on nanotechnologies and food and feed safety
17 Oct 2008
EFSA [edited][iFSN]
EFSA is today launching a public consultation on its draft scientific opinion in relation to nanoscience and nanotechnologies and food and feed safety. Nanotechnologies involve the use of substances on a very small scale. This draft opinion focuses on engineered nano materials (ENM) that could be deliberately introduced into the food chain. It elaborates on approaches to risk assessment in this field and as such is not an assessment of any specific application of ENM.
The European Commission (EC) has asked for this opinion as a first step because consideration needs to be given as to whether existing risk assessment approaches can be appropriately applied to this new technology. When finalised, EFSA’s opinion will then help the EC to explore appropriate measures, assess existing legislation and determine the scope of possible further requests for scientific opinions from EFSA in this field.
EFSA’s Scientific Committee (SC), which includes the chairs of all of EFSA’s Panels, is leading this work as it has a multi-disciplinary character and is relevant to a number of the Panels’ respective areas of expertise. They are being assisted by a Working Group of scientists with relevant expertise.
Key conclusions of the draft opinion include:

* Established international approaches to risk assessment[1] currently used for non nano chemicals can also be applied to ENM
* It is currently not possible to satisfactorily extrapolate scientific data on non nano chemicals and apply it to their nano-sized versions. Consequently specific case by case risk assessments should be performed when assessing their safety, based on specific data from relevant safety tests applicable to the particular application
* Possible risks arise because ENM have particular characteristics, due in part to their small size and high surface area. Small size increases their ability to move around in the body in ways that other substances do not, while their high surface area increases their reactivity
* Additional limitations and uncertainties exist, particularly in relation to characterising, detecting and measuring ENM in food, feed or the body. There is also limited information on absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion, as well as the toxicity of ENM
Recommendations are made in the draft opinion for further data, research and investigations to address uncertainties and limitations and therefore strengthen the understanding, evidence base and methodologies to be applied in assessing the risk of ENMs. The opinion also gives an indication to potential applicants of the data they would need to provide to allow for a risk assessment.

Italy seizes shipment of melamine-contaminated Chinese milk
16 Oct 2008
The Epoch Times - Reuters [edited][iFSN]
According to this story, about a tonne of smuggled Chinese powdered milk seized in the Italian city of Naples is likely to be contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine, Italian authorities said on Thursday.

Ireland - FSAI calls for enhanced controls on land-spreading organic materials on land used for food production
16 Oct 2008
FSAI [edited][iFSN]
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today stated that further controls are required to safeguard public health in relation to land that is being used for food production that has been fertilised through land-spreading. In a report published today at a seminar in Dublin, the issues surrounding the land-spreading of organic agricultural (OA) and organic municipal and industrial (OMI) materials on agricultural land used for food production have been highlighted.
The report states that appropriately managed land-spreading provides a sustainable option for the utilisation of organic waste materials. However, food safety must be safeguarded and this requires the implementation of effective controls and the consistent application of good practice by all parties involved. In the absence of these measures, land-spreading of organic materials on agricultural land used for food production may pose both microbiological and chemical risks to food safety.
This report, produced by the FSAI’s Scientific Committee, reviews the current scientific knowledge in relation to the treatment, management and best practice options available to prevent food safety risks from land spreading. It seeks to summarise the legal framework under which controls are implemented. The report also acknowledges opinions from other agencies on the level of compliance with these best practices and highlights the implications that non-compliance may have for food safety.
The report states that ready-to-eat produce (i.e., food not cooked before consumption) pose a particular food safety risk when land on which they are grown is spread with OA or OMI materials. Other foodstuffs have processes applied to them before they reach the consumer and thus, often reduce or minimise contamination risks. Both OA and OMI materials can contain human pathogenic bacteria and OMI material in particular can also contain chemical contaminates from industrial processes. However, there are gaps in current knowledge concerning the transfer of chemical contaminants and pathogens into the food chain through land-spreading of OMI materials on agricultural land used for food production.
Control and monitoring of the source material is of particular importance in the case of OMI, as the source of the material is likely to stem from many different industrial and municipal sources, some of which may not be readily traceable. Trends indicate a significant increase in the use of treated OMI materials in agriculture in Ireland, although at present, the proportion of OMI relative to OA materials spread on agricultural land is very small. However, the report suggests that controls on the disposal of septic tank waste are strengthened as untreated human waste poses a particular risk to the safety of food crops.
Mr. Alan Reilly, Deputy Chief Executive, FSAI acknowledges that there are gaps in current knowledge concerning the transfer of chemical contaminants and pathogens into the food chain through land spreading of OMI materials.
“In 2004 alone, it is estimated that 60.75 million tonnes of OA and OMI materials were spread on agricultural land in Ireland. Hence, in this context it is important to discuss the potential health and safety values of these materials which are being spread on land used for food production. Mismanaged, untreated or re- contaminated OMI and OA materials may contain pathogens or harmful chemicals that can contaminate food and water supplies either directly or indirectly. Therefore greater funding for research and stricter legislation on source treatment and management strategies should be set down to limit possible microbiological or chemical hazards associated with land spreading.”
Mr. Reilly stated that the primary responsibility for food safety rests with the food business operator and it is necessary to ensure food safety throughout the food chain, starting with primary production on the farm.
Related stories
17 Oct 2008 – Food safety report warns on organic fertilizers
Irish Times - Sean Mac Connell and Pamela Newenham

Ireland - Health agencies face major shake-up
14 Oct 2008
Irish Times - Eithne Donnellan and Martin Wall [edited][iFSN]
According to this story, several agencies in the health sector are expected to be merged or abolished in the weeks ahead as part of the Government's drive to cut costs. It is reported that the Irish Medicines Board (IMB) and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) are likely to be merged and the announcement may be made as early as today in the context of this year's Budget. It was already known that the Government was looking at the rationalisation of State agencies in general, but sources were indicating last night that the extent of the cull in the health sector would be surprising.

Ireland - Private testing surges as water fears rise
06 Oct 2008
Independent.ie - Breda Heffernan [edited][iFSN]
It is reported that thousands of worried homeowners are having water supplies tested independently after a series of contamination scares over the past year. According to this story, testing companies have reported a boom in business since the latest water scares which saw drinking water supplies around the country contaminated with lead, Cryptosporidium and arsenic.

United Kingdom - Health alert delay concerns officials
05 Oct 2008
London Free Press - Jonathan Sher [edited] [iFSN]
It is reported that a sometimes-deadly strain of E. coli that's afflicted dozens of people in Michigan and Illinois and two in Chatham-Kent has been linked to a brand of institutional-sized bags of lettuce that have also been distributed in London. Local health officials began to contact food establishments yesterday -- a full week after Michigan issued a public health alert Sept. 26 for those who may have eaten shredded iceberg lettuce sold in five-pound bags by Detroit-based Aunt Mid's Produce. That time lag drew criticism and concern yesterday from both the local medical officer of health and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

September

United Kingdom - British agency orders ports to inspect imports for contaminated milk
29 Sep 2008
guardian.co.uk - Ian Sample [edited][iFSN]
According to this story, British ports will begin inspecting air freight and shipments of imported food from tomorrow in a major food safety operation triggered by the contaminated milk scandal in China. It is reported that the Food Standards Agency put more than 80 ports and airports on alert yesterday and ordered health officials to intercept and test any food products arriving via China that contain more than 15% milk, including cakes, chocolate, biscuits, bread and protein drinks.

Ireland - Safety authority urges research into nanotechnology's use in food sector
22 Sep 2008
Irish Times -Olivia Kelly [edited][iFSN]
According to this story, research into the risks of using nanotechnology in food is "urgently" needed before products containing food manipulating particles hit the Irish market, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has said. It is reported that little is known about the effects on the human body or the environment of this emerging food science and regulation of the industry is "deficient" a new FSAI report has found. Food nanotechnology involves the use of tiny particles (nanoparticles) which can be 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, to modify processed food.

United Kingdom - Grants of a million pounds to help improve food safety
11 Sep 2008
Food Standards Agency [edited] [iFSN]
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has awarded grants of nearly a million pounds to help food caterers and food retailers improve food safety. This is the third year that the FSA has given these grants as part of its ongoing commitment to helping food businesses comply with EU hygiene regulations. Local authorities will administer the grants of up to £50,000, and will involve community groups, local colleges and a range of other organisations in delivery of support to businesses. The grants will help almost 5,000 businesses to implement Safer Food Better Business (SFBB) – an innovative and practical approach that helps small businesses put in place food safety management systems. This year the FSA grants have focused on those caterers and retailers who are harder to reach. SFBB has been developed by the FSA in partnership with industry and local authorities with specific advice available for different cuisines and groups such as care homes.

August

Serbia - Healthy food “from farm to fork ”: new stage of EU-funded assistance
25 Aug 2008
European Agency for Reconstruction [edited] [iFSN]
A new stage has been launched in the five-year EU-funded programme of the European Agency for Reconstruction to help improve food safety in Serbia. In a two-year project costing €1.5 million, a German team will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management to review and consolidate the system of animal identification and registration - which, with EU help, has been developed over this period - and to bring it fully into line with EU practice and legislation.

Northern Ireland - 500 reasons to celebrate the Eat Safe award
22 Aug 2008
Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland [edited] [iFSN]
The ‘Eat Safe’ award scheme is celebrating success in Northern Ireland, with the number of eateries awarded the Eat Safe logo reaching a landmark 500. From hotels to residential homes and primary schools to pizzerias there are a growing number of diverse kitchens entitled to display the logo. The prestigious award, which promotes excellence in food hygiene, is given to catering businesses that go above and beyond legal requirements.
So, consumers can be confident when they see an Eat Safe logo, that their food has been prepared with the utmost care.
The scheme was introduced in Northern Ireland in 2003, to act as an incentive to caterers to strive for high food hygiene and food safety management standards, and each Eat Safe recipient is awarded with a recognisable sign of excellence. The award is administered by the environmental health departments of local councils in conjunction with FSANI.

Portugal - Easing food safety standards for traditional products
20 Aug 2008
IPS - Mario de Queiroz [edited] [iFSN]
According to this story, Portugal has decided to interpret the strict European Union regulations on food safety with a domestic slant. It is reported that the increasingly stringent EU regulations had begun to pose a serious threat to a sector that is important to the Portuguese economy: gastronomy based on home cooking and artisanal products. To remain in step with the EU, Lisbon created a special police body. Portugal went from a near total lack of food safety oversight to the other extreme, furnishing the new Agency for Food and Economic Security (ASAE) with exceptional powers: But in the face of the public outcry in a country where laws and regulations are not always so strictly enforced, the government of socialist Prime Minister José Sócrates was forced to backtrack, and decided to adapt EU food safety regulations to the Portuguese reality -- and to the need to continue attracting tourists. Small-scale production will now be less complicated. Selling eggs, honey or fish in small quantities will be simpler, and will face fewer safety and hygiene restrictions. Artisans and cottage industry food producers are now exempt from having to secure special licences, and more flexible rules will apply to the small-scale slaughter of livestock. To loosen the restrictions, Portugal invoked provisions of the 2004 and 2005 EU regulations allowing member countries to establish their own rules for small-scale producers in the case of certain foods. The new Portuguese government rules set upper limits on what classifies as small-scale production for each product, including homegrown eggs, honey, fish and seafood, beef, poultry and wild game. Producers must also register with the national veterinary office. The nationally adapted EU regulations allow small producers to make their products at home -- a provision that especially favours the production of a broad range of traditional cheeses and preserves.

France – French restaurants violating food safety rules
14 Aug 2008
Telegraph.co.uk - Henry Samuel [edited] [iFSN]
Acccording to this story, in a swoop dubbed "operation holiday food", an army of inspectors seized and disposed of 30 tons of produce after visiting almost 10,000 venues - more than twice the amount confiscated last year. It is reported that in all, 27 per cent of the sites inspected failed to meet food quality and hygiene norms. Breaches included selling mouldy ingredients, food handed out past its sell-by date or thawed and refrozen produce. Some 37 establishments were ordered to close, and over 400 warnings and fines handed out. In one holiday centre selling food, 52 kilos of frozen produce was binned. "The image of France is at stake", said the French agriculture minister, who released the figures while visiting a motorway grill house. He wants to change his ministry's name to include the word "food".

July

United Kingdom - Fears over restaurant hygiene standards
31 July 2008
Norwich Evening News 24 - Dan Grimmer [edited] [iFSN]
According to this story, hygiene standards in restaurants and food outlets around Norwich could suffer if Government plans are introduced which would force the city council to scrap its pioneering five-star food safety scheme. At the moment, places which serve food in the city are rated according to five categories, and council officers believe Norwich City Council's pioneering system helps keeps standards high. But, it is reported that proposals made by the Food Standards Agency under a national scheme would see Norwich's five-star system, which has been introduced by more than 150 local authorities, come to an abrupt end. Food safety officers at City Hall fear proposals to introduce a national standard, which could see a simple pass or fail scheme or grades from zero to three stars, would mean restaurateurs would not have the same motivation to constantly strive for better standards.
The current reports can be visited at www.norwich.gov.uk/intranet_docs/A-Z/Environmental%20Health/2005/Food_Awards/Safer_Food_Master_List.pdf

United Kingdom - Online incident report form for food authorities
25 July 2008
Food Standards Agency [edited] [iFSN]
The Food Standards Agency has launched an online system for all UK local and port health authorities, to notify the Agency of food incidents. Previously, the reporting system was only available to industry. Local and port health authorities have a commitment to notify the Agency of food incidents under the Food Law Code of Practice. The Agency first launched the online incident report form for industry in January 2005, so food and animal feed businesses can notify the Agency if a food or animal feed product needs to be recalled or withdrawn. Following a recommendation from the Food Incidents Taskforce, which aims to reduce the likelihood of food contamination incidents occurring, the Agency consulted key stakeholders on a revised online incident form in 2006. After development work, the new form was launched in August 2007 and later extended to a small pilot group of local authorities.
Following the successful pilot, the system has now been made available to all UK local authorities.

United Kingdom - New guidance on vacuum-packed food
25 July 2008
Meat Info [edited] [iFSN]
The Food Standards Agency has published new guidance and a factsheet on the safe production of vacuum- and modified atmosphere-packed foods. The guidance has been developed for small businesses and environmental health officers to tackle the problem of Clostridium botulinum . The FSA said although vacuum packing techniques increase the shelf-life of chilled foods by removing air, certain bacteria including C. botulinum are still able to grow. The FSA guidance sets out processes, such as heat treatment, pH and salt levels, that should be used if food businesses are setting a shelf-life of more than 10 days.

European Food Safety Authority reaffirms safety of BPA
23 July 2008
North American Metal Packaging Alliance, Inc. (NAMPA) [edited] [iFSN]
Despite continuing controversy over the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food and beverage packaging, its safety was emphatically reaffirmed today by one of the world's most renowned international government authorities on food safety. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) stated unequivocally that the human body rapidly metabolizes and eliminates BPA, and therefore it presents no risk to infants, children, or adults. In making its determination on the safety of BPA, EFSA took into consideration what it termed the 'gold standard' study, conducted by RTI International and just published in the peer-reviewed journal Toxicological Sciences. This RTI study found "no evidence of reproductive or developmental adverse effects from dietary exposure to BPA at estimated human BPA exposure levels ... to doses up to 50,000 times higher than the estimated human exposure levels."

European Union - Food safety regulation
22 July 2008
Texas International Law Journal- Leibovitch, Emilie H [edited][iFSN]
As the threat of foodborne illnesses is becoming increasingly obvious, the future of the European Union (EU) is becoming clearer. The study of food safety regulation in the EU sheds light on the future of the European regulatory system as a whole. Looking at the evolution of the European Union and the EU institutions, and how food safety has been regulated over the years, one can predict a centralization of regulatory powers in the EU.
Despite the fact that the present decentralized system is not able to prevent food scares, the centralization of food safety regulatory powers in the EU has been both supported and criticized. However, an analysis of the present food safety measures in the EU demonstrates that the movement toward centralization has already begun.

Russia bans contaminated Australian meat
21 July 2008
Herald Sun [edited] [iFSN]
According to this story, Russia has banned imports of meat processed at four Australian plants because of microbial contamination. Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) said the move against three kangaroo meat processing plants and one beef plant was not a blanket ban on Australian imports. It is reported that processing plants in seven other countries - Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Argentina and Spain - were also targeted in the Russian crackdown.

Ireland - Badger cull has desired effect in Ireland
17 Jul 2008
Farmers Weekly Interactive [edited] [Promed]
It is reported that the incidence of bovine TB in the Republic of Ireland continues to decline, as the department of agriculture in Dublin presses on with its cull of infected badgers. A government spokeswoman explained that, even though there had been a slight increase in 2007, this was because the level of testing had increased substantially following the opening of a new laboratory. Slaughterhouse inspection procedures had also improved. The Irish government is adamant that badger culling is a key factor in containing the disease.
Related stories
18 Jul 2008 – TB outbreak raises fears of ban on UK calves
Source: Business Scotsman [edited] [Promed]
15 Jul 2008 United Kingdom - Badger cull policy discussed (Wales)
Wales Online, Western Mail report [edited] [Promed]

European Union – French Presidency hopes to improve food safety
16 July 2008
EurActiv.com [iFSN]
The French EU Presidency's health priorities are five-fold: food safety, healthy ageing, cross-border health care, health determinants such as alcohol and tobacco and pharmaceuticals, The French Health Minister told Parliament. France wants to focus on the areas where the added value of EU-level action is undeniable. On food safety, the aim is namely to review member states' progress in areas such their level of preparedness to deal with avian influenza and make sure that reform of the European Food Safety Authority is continued. The programme includes a progress review on the pesticides package, strengthened food safety controls on imports of agricultural products and reform of animal health policy.

United Kingdom – E. coli inquiry calls for more evidence
11 Jul 2008
Wales Online/BBC [edited] [iFSN]
The long-running E. coli public inquiry is, according to these stories, calling for more evidence as its switches track to preventing another deadly outbreak occurring. The Professor who chairs the inquiry, today announced he will also produce recommendations to stop an outbreak similar to the one in the South Wales Valleys in 2005, from happening again. His decision comes as the inquiry team is still considering tens of thousands of pages of evidence about the 2005 outbreak, which killed five-year-old school pupil Mason Jones and infected more than 150 other children and adults.

European Union - Parliament adopts stricter rules for food additives
09 Jul 2008
European Union Information Website [iFSN]
MEPs rejected firm bans on colourings in favour of stronger labelling systems, although Green MEPs regretted that these will not cover GMO additives.
Parliament's final report on food additives, adopted on 8 July, underlines that sweeteners, colourings, preservatives, antioxidants, emulsifiers, gelling agents and packaging gases can only be authorised if they are safe for consumers and if there is a technological need for their use. In addition, additives need to present "advantages and benefits to consumers". The Environment Committee's recommendation for a ban on bright colouring additives in food - which came after scientific research found that they can cause hyperactivity in children (see EurActiv 07/05/2008) - did not get the House's approval. Instead, MEPs agreed that foods containing some of those colours must, in addition to the traditional E number, carry a label stating that the product "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children". Furthermore, the Parliament stressed that a food additive can only be authorised if it is safe to use, if there is a technological need for its use and if its use does not mislead the consumer. Regarding nanotechnology in food additives, the House did not stick to its first reading call for separate limit values for nanotech. Instead, the legislation now states that a new authorisation process and safety evaluation must be carried out if an additive's production process is changed. The report on flavourings, which are used to modify the smell and taste of foodstuffs, introduces stricter rules for the use of the term 'natural' when describing flavourings. A flavouring shall be deemed 'natural' only if 95% of its element is of natural origin. This is a slightly stricter limit than the 90% proposed by the Commission. The new legislation also sets stricter rules on the level of toxins in "certain food ingredients with flavouring properties" such as herbs and spices. However, the Parliament ruled that these limits will not apply to fresh, dried or frozen herbs and spices used either in restaurants or in industrially-processed food. The Commission had proposed only exempting the restaurants. As for enzymes, used in foodstuffs as an alternative to chemicals to improve texture, appearance and nutritional value, the House ruled that they can only be authorised if they do not mislead consumers regarding the freshness, nature and quality of the products or their naturalness and nutritional quality. Next steps:
In parallel to the authorisation procedure for new additives, flavourings and enzymes the substance already on the market will gradually be re-evaluated. Currently authorised substances may remain on the market but, after the updating process is complete, any substance not on the approved list will be banned. By 2010: The regulations could come into effect.

United Kingdom - Do you know how hygienic your favourite eating house is ?
03 Jul 2008
Food Standards Agency [edited] [iFSN]
The Food Standards Agency is consulting on a scheme to help consumers know at a glance how well their local takeaway or restaurant has done in food safety inspections. Scores on the Doors is a scheme whereby food businesses are given a score to show the hygiene standards found in their premises during inspections by local authority enforcement officers to check that they are complying with legal requirements. Each food outlet may display the score on its door or window so the public can clearly see how well the establishment has done. Details would also be available on the local authority’s website. Various ‘Scores on the Doors’ schemes have been piloted across the UK including in Swansea and Wrexham. The FSA is now asking those who have trialled the scheme and others including members of the public to comment on their experiences and thoughts about Scores on the Doors to help develop a UK wide scheme.

United Kingdom - Working with food in the classroom
03 Jul 2008
Food Standards Agency [edited] [iFSN]
The Agency has published a statement on the handling, preparation and serving of food in school classrooms.

June

Ireland - FSAI honoured with international WHO food safety award
30 Jun 2008
Food Safety Authority of Ireland
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) was today presented with the prestigious WHO Food Safety Award from the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva in recognition of its international contribution in promoting food safety globally. This is only the second occasion that the WHO has presented this award to an organisation for efforts concerning food safety and for its involvement in world wide food safety issues. The WHO Food Safety Award recognises exceptional efforts in addressing food safety issues and outstanding contribution in the promotion of human health through food safety. The award specifically recognises the FSAI’s work in developing guidelines for health workers in the safe handling of powdered infant formula, in an effort to make the end product safe for infants to consume. The award also acknowledges the collaborative efforts made by the FSAI in drafting guidelines for best food hygiene management in small and medium enterprises. According to Dr Jorgen Schlundt, WHO Director for Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases, the FSAI has been previously cited as a model of best practice for food safety organisations in the world. The approach undertaken by the FSAI is consistent with the goals highlighted by the 2007 Beijing Declaration on Food Safety which reiterated the crucial need for an international approach to solving the world food safety problems. The FSAI has also participated in the Codex Alimentarius Commission and Ireland has provided support to promote the effective participation of developing countries in the work of the European Commission.

United Kingdom - FSA warns about food fraud activity
26 June 2008
Food Standards Agency [edited] [iFSN]
The Food Standards Agency and police are warning food companies to be on the alert to a fraud that may have affected a number of food businesses across the country. The fraud, which involves identity theft, could result in unsafe food being offered for sale. The fraudsters are alleged to have targeted small legitimate wholesale food businesses that supply meat, seafood and fruit and vegetables. The alleged offenders work by acquiring authentic letter heads of the legitimate company and changing the telephone, email and fax details. They then contact a genuine wholesaler/importer and place a food order with them. This business, after completing credit checks, agrees to supply the food; however, before the delivery is made, the driver is contacted and the location switched – usually to the roadside or a car park. The fraudsters then make off with the goods and attempt to sell them on elsewhere. West Yorkshire Police's Economic Crime Unit is leading the investigation into the fraud, which has affected a number of businesses in West Yorkshire as well as other firms across the country. Detective Sergeant Peter McBay, of West Yorkshire Police's Economic Crime Unit, said: ‘This fraudulent activity has cost a number of legitimate food companies many thousands of pounds and has also raised questions about the safety of the food that is stolen from the delivery vehicles. Some of the food has cropped up for sale in locations around the country but we do not know how it has been stored in the meantime. " Officers have arrested seven men, aged between 19 and 44, from Dewsbury, Bradford, Wakefield and Brighton, on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. They have all been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

United Kingdom - Food Law Code of Practice England
19 June 2008
Food Standards Agency [edited] [iFSN]
The Agency has today published a revised Food Law Code of Practice for England. The code provides instructions and criteria to which local authorities should have regard when carrying out their food law regulatory and enforcement duties. The main purpose of revising the code was to replace the inspection-focused approach to food law enforcement with a more flexible one enabling local authorities to use a wider range of interventions (activities deigned to monitor, support and increase business compliance with food law requirements). The aim is to ensure that local authority resources are directed at those food businesses that present the greatest risk to public health and consumer protection. The Agency is also publishing training material on the new approach. This formed the basis of the Agency-funded programme of courses delivered earlier this year by ABC Food Safety Ltd. The parallel Food Law Codes of Practice for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be published in due course.

United Kingdom - Westminster and Bristol are national 'Food Champions'
11 June 2008
Food Standards Agency [edited] [iFSN]
The two national winners of the first Food Champion Awards for local authorities are Westminster City Council, for its work with the Chinese business community, and Bristol City Council for its community diet and nutrition initiatives. The regional and local Food Champions winners were announced by the Agency in April. In October 2007, the Agency launched the Food Champion Awards to acknowledge the tremendous work being carried out by local authorities in improving consumer protection in relation to food.

United Kingdom - Thomas Cook admits liability over Dominican Republic illness outbreak
11 June 2008
Travel Weekly - Chloe Berman [edited] [iFSN]
According to this story, Thomas Cook has agreed to pay damages to more than 450 guests who became ill while staying at the Bahia Principe Hotel in the Dominican Republic last year. It is reported that the admission of liability from Thomas Cook is likely to result in millions of pounds being paid to the British holidaymakers who travelled to the hotel in August 2007. A total of 1,000 people who visited the Dominican Republic hotel are taking legal action against several tour operators. Many of guests contracted Salmonella and other illness such as Campylobacter , Shigella and Giardia . The local medical clinic was overwhelmed by the number of tourists seeking emergency treatment.


Germany's emergency ban of chemical to save honeybees
9 Jun 2008
Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) [edited] [Promed]
The German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) suspended the registration of 8 neonicotinoid pesticide seed treatment products used in oilseed rape and sweetcorn. A few weeks after honeybee keepers in the southern state of Baden Wuerttemberg reported a wave of honeybee deaths linked to one of the pesticides, clothianidin.

European Union agency may tone down stance on cloned food
05 June 2008
The Guardian - Jeremy Smith [edited] [iFSN]
Europe's top food safety agency may tone down its view on whether meat and milk products from cloned animals are safe to eat, underlining uncertainties around the technology, its chief hinted on Thursday. The story says that the European Food Safety Authority now expected to give its final opinion on food from cloned animals in July, later than foreseen, due to the number of scientific views given by EU states and industry in a consultation.

France’s 'Camembert' war over
05 June 2008
France 24 - AFP [edited] [iFSN]
It is reported in this story that France's creamy raw milk Camembert cheese won a battle of exclusiveness Thursday after producers and a government body agreed on a revision of criteria for a coveted label after months of conflict. The story says that under new rules the iconic cheese must be made from raw milk from a region half the size of the previous area in Normandy. Major groups which together make more than 80 percent of Camembert with the Appelation d'Origine Controllee (AOC) label had contested the exclusive use of raw milk for health reasons. One in two cows providing the milk must also be of Normandy origin and they must graze on Normandy pastures for at least six months and be fed hay the rest of the time.

European Union - High food safety standards but flexibility for micro-enterprises
05 June 2008
Europaparlamentet [edited] [iFSN]
The European Parliament wants to guarantee the highest possible food hygiene safety while giving flexibility to exempt especially micro-enterprises from certain obligations under the food hygiene regulation concerning the HACCP - system (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point), a system to ensure and to control the EU food hygiene rules. The proposal is part of the better regulation strategy to reduce administrative burden (fast track procedure package). The proposal amends the Regulation on the hygiene of foodstuffs from 2004. The Commission proposes to exempt small food businesses from the requirement to putting in place, implementing and maintaining a permanent procedure or procedures based on the hazard analysis and critical control points ("HACCP") principles. This exemption should apply to micro-enterprises that are predominantly selling food directly to the final consumer. The European Parliament adopted 2 amendments, calling national authorities to allow for more flexibility in particular in relation to micro-enterprises. For the European Parliament it is important that the high European level of food safety will not be reduced by generally excluding all micro-enterprises from the food hygiene principles. MEPs adopted two amendments to introduce more flexibility while giving the national authorities more room to decide whether micro - or even medium sized companies should stick to the HACCP procedures or might be exempted. Their decision shall be taken on the basis of a regular hazard analysis and not only on the basis of the size of the company, as proposed by the Commission. According to the rapporteur Horst SCHNELLHARDT (EPP-ED, DE) the report makes a contribution to cutting red tape without lowering the very high EU hygiene standards. It needs to be made sure that the flexibility built in the regulation becomes a reality. He calls for an easing of the administrative burden for SMEs while making sure that the food hygiene is respected. According to him the Parliament must send the signal right now to clarify that it has the will to roll back bureaucracy and make life easier for SMEs in Europe, without diluting hygiene standards.

European Union - Experts call for increased efforts to tackle emerging zoonotic infections
03 June 2008
European Academies of Science Advisory Council - CORDIS [edited] [iFSN]
Zoonoses, diseases that are transmitted between vertebrate animals and humans, are on the rise, according to the latest report of the European Academies of Science Advisory Council (EASAC). To tackle the problem, the report calls for greater efforts to fill the gaps in research on these infections, as well as better surveillance mechanisms and increased international cooperation. A zoonotic agent may be a bacterium, virus, fungus, parasite, or other communicable agent. Many of these are food borne and carried by domestic livestock, such as Salmonella . More than 1,400 species of infectious agents are known to be pathogenic for humans, and approximately 60% of these are zoonotic. Most 'new' human pathogens reported in the past 25 years have zoonotic origins, and the risk of infection is predicted to continue to increase due to changes to the global climate and our environment, and increased migration and mobility. Valuable progress has already been made at European level in tackling emerging zoonoses, but there is considerable room for improvement, says the EASAC.

European Union - Cyprus needs tougher food safety protections
03 June 2008
Cyprus-Mail - Jacqueline Theodoulou [edited] [iFSN]
The EU Health Commissioner and the House Agriculture and Environment Committees were cited as concluding yesterday there are serious shortcomings in the state’s checking systems on products and foodstuffs imported from third countries. Regarding the contaminated milk issue, the Commissioner said investigations so far had shown that the dairy companies and Dairy Organisation had spotted and withdrawn the affected products. The European Commissioner also informed deputies that Greece and Cyprus had been the last EU member states to withdraw the sunflower oil that was recently found to contain dangerously high levels of mineral oils.

European Union food chief - Lift BSE ban to cut grain prices
02 June 2008
Times Online [edited] [iFSN]
The chairman of the European Food Safety Authority, was cited as saying that the EU ban on the use of animal remains to feed pigs and chickens should be lifted so that grain can be diverted to millions of starving people, and questioned whether it was “morally or ethically correct” to feed grain to animals in the midst of a global food crisis and that there was no scientific reason to maintain the ban. It is reported that the European Commission is considering a plan to allow pigs to be fed poultry trimmings and chickens to be given pig meat to save farmers from buying expensive grain and that is why they have asked for advice.

United Kingdom - Agency encourages clearer food labeling
02 June 2008
Food Standards Agency [edited] [iFSN]
The Food Standards Agency has revised its guidance on clear labelling for food packaging.
The Agency consulted more than 1200 stakeholders' organisations about the labelling guidance it issued in 2002. The revised guidance reflects concerns that some of the existing labels containing information about food content are too small for many people – particularly those who are elderly or who have visual impairments. 'One of consumers' concerns about labelling is whether they can easily find the information they feel they need. The FSA's revised guidance encourages food manufacturers to provide information in a way that is clear and legible,’ said Stephen Pugh, head of the Food Labelling Branch at the Food Standards Agency. In the revised guidance, the Agency suggests using black type on a white background and retains the suggestion that manufacturers should use at least 8 point font size for essential information, especially when safety is concerned. The new guidance comes as the European Union is looking into ways of improving clarity throughout the EU, including addressing the issue of font size. The Agency has recently consulted on this proposal.


Expanding the focus of cost-benefit analysis for food safety: a multi-factorial risk prioritization approach
01 Jun 2008
Julie A. Caswell a
Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, Volume 21, Issue 2 June 2008, pages 165-169
A pressing need in the area of food safety is a tool for making overall, macro-judgments about which risks should be given priority for management. Governments often seek to base this prioritization on public health impacts only to find that other considerations also influence the prioritization process. A multi-factorial approach formally recognizes that public health, market-level impacts, consumer risk preferences and acceptance, and the social sensitivity of particular risks all play a role in prioritization. It also provides decision-makers with a variety of information outputs that allow risk prioritization to be considered along different dimensions. Macro-level prioritization of risks based on multiple factors is an important expanded use of cost-benefit analysis to manage risk.

The cost-benefit analysis of food safety policies: is it useful?
01 Jun 2008
Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, Volume 21, Issue 2 June 2008, pages 159-164
Xavier Irz a
a MTT Economic Research, Helsinki, Finland
This article investigates the usefulness of cost-benefit analysis for the assessment of food safety policies, drawing on the experience of professional economists at the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA). After reviewing the history of Impact Assessment at the FSA, the example of the review of the over-thirty-months (OTM) rule is used to illustrate the advantages of the approach. We also highlight issues of uncertainty and intangibility, which create particular difficulties in applying cost-benefit analysis in the area of food safety. The paper concludes, however, that given the limited number of practical alternatives, cost-benefit analysis currently represents the best available approach to the assessment of food safety policies.

Food safety regulation, economic impact assessment and quantitative methods
01 Jun 2008
Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, Volume 21, Issue 2 June 2008, pages 145-158
Maddalena Ragon; Mario Mazzocchi
Department of Statistics, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Together with a call for more efficient regulations in the EU, there is a growing demand for transparency in the evaluation techniques to assess and predict their effects. This article explores the potential impacts of food safety regulations and discusses the quantitative methods used in the policy evaluation literature. Along with the strengths and limitations of each method, this review highlights other transversal issues relevant to the assessment strategies. Among these are the imbalance between ex ante and ex post evaluation, the lack of adequate data, the difficulty of estimating the dynamic effects of regulations, and the possibility of endogenous relationships.

Regulating food safety: the power of alignment and drive towards convergence
01 Jun 2008
Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, Volume 21, Issue 2 June 2008, pages 133-143
Line Friis Lindner
Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences, Vienna, Austria Food safety is a complex policy domain: it involves a variety of stakeholders, touches upon a variety of issues and disciplines, and has an important international dimension. While countries are free to set their own standards, their policy autonomy in the process of regulating food safety is restricted by a number of factors. The EU and each member state are confronted with two aspects of compliance: the power of alignment with Codex standards, and the drive towards convergence with standards developed by trading partners.

A multi-level cost-benefit approach for regulatory decision support in food safety and quality assurance scenarios
01 Jun 2008
Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, Volume 21, Issue 2 June 2008, pages 177-182
Melanie Fritz a; Gerhard Schiefer
International Centre for Food Chain and Network Research, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
In complex policy decision situations where policy objectives cannot be reached alone through the aggregate actions of individual actors, the classical approaches for measuring the effects of regulatory initiatives such as cost-benefit analysis do not provide the information necessary for decision support. This paper discusses a framework for a multi-level analysis approach that could provide decision support in multi-level policy decision situations.

Micro-simulation of households: a new tool to assess the impact on society of food safety policies
01 Jun 2008
Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, Volume 21, Issue 2 June 2008, pages 171-176
Gianluca Stefani
A Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
Public concerns about the risk from food hazards have spread in recent years, boosted by a number of well-publicized food scares. As a result, food safety issues are high on the policy agenda in Europe and elsewhere, and a range of policies have been developed to deal with them. The paper illustrates and makes a case for the use of micro-simulation models as support for better economic assessment of food policies. When households deal with food safety issues they can show heterogeneous behaviors, and micro-simulation can provide a useful tool to take into account this heterogeneity. After an illustration of the way economists evaluate food safety policies, micro-simulation methodologies are introduced, stressing their potentiality for the assessment of food safety policies.

May

United Kingdom - Incidents report published
30 May 2008
Food Standards Agency [edited] [iFSN]
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) today publishes its second Annual Report of Incidents. The new report shows how many food incidents the Agency handled in 2007 and what action was taken to protect consumers. New data in the report says that the Agency handled 1,312 investigations into food incidents in 2007, including the high profile bird flu outbreaks in East Anglia and the grounding of the MCS Napoli container ship off the south coast.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, e.g. fires, chemical/oil spills, radiation leaks, which may involve voluntary or statutory action (such as orders made under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985).

Spain sets new food safety laws
26 May 2008
Flex News - Reuters [edited] [iFSN]
According to this story, Spain on Friday passed new food safety laws including measures to make food manufacturers explain claims that a certain food can benefit people on diets, the Health Ministry said. The Ministry was quoted as saying in a statement, "The law states that products which claim to compliment low-calorie diets should say so on the label but only if companies can show sufficient scientific proof to justify the claim." It is also reported that the law says that any claim on labels must be understandable by the average consumer. The new legislation also includes measures to control the market in powdered baby milk and extensive controls on packaging quality.

United Kingdom - Restaurants and supermarkets to display their hygiene ratings
23 May 2008
The Guardian - James Meikle [edited] [iFSN]
It is reported that restaurants, cafes, supermarkets and other food outlets will be graded on their hygiene inspection results and expected to display them on their doors or windows under a scheme to be launched next year. According to this story, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has proposed a UK-wide system which would also allow consumers to check ratings on a website to try to improve standards and cut food poisoning. This story also states that the FSA yesterday launched a consultation on the best way of measuring compliance with EU hygiene rules, suggesting either a four-tiered system with premises getting a pass rating of up to three stars or failed, or "pass" or "improvement required" certificates being issued.

Greece - Head of food safety authority resigns over tainted sunflower oil imports
20 May 2008
International Herald Tribune - Associated Press [edited] [iFSN]
According to this story, the head of Greece's foods safety authority resigned on Tuesday following an outcry over tainted sunflower oil which was found to have been imported from Ukraine. Thousands of tons of refined and unrefined sunflower oil have been found to have been contaminated by mineral oil from two tainted shipments imported from Ukraine in March. It is reported in this story that authorities have ordered several brands of sunflower oil and one brand of mayonnaise to be recalled. But they have been criticized for not acting quickly enough and allowing hundreds of tons of the contaminated oil to reach consumers.
Related stories
20 May 2008 – Greece recalls imported sunflower oil in contamination scare
Agence France Presse [edited]
Greece on Tuesday said it was recalling all sunflower oil imported since January after a Ukrainian batch was found to be tainted with mineral oil, sparking a two-week food scare.
21 May 2008 - Ukraine faces EU sunflower oil ban
RIA Novosti [edited] [News source provided by iFSN]
The European Union is likely to impose a ban on imports of sunflower oil from Ukraine on Thursday, a source in the European Commission said.

Malta - Food safety week launched
16 May 2008
The Malta Independent [edited] [iFSN]
The Parliamentary secretary for Health yesterday launched the first Maltese Food Safety Week – an awareness campaign set up to counter the increasing number of cases of food poisoning at home. According to statistics issued by the Public Health Department, in 2007 there was an increase of 57 cases of food poisoning during 2006. The themes focus on the proper technique of hand-washing, the importance of food separation and the maintenance of adequate hygiene levels all throughout food preparation process in home kitchens. Furthermore, a new 28-page booklet will be published addressing various food hygiene and safety issues in the home and will be distributed to public. The booklet also provides contact details when dealing with cases of food poisonings, food safety complaints as well as in cases of infestation. Over the past months, in collaboration with the Department of Local Government, all local councils have been invited to inform the department of their participation so that a presentation on food safety issues is carried out within local council premises.

European Union - US poultry ban to be lifted?
13 May 2008
Independent Online [edited]
European sources were cited as saying on Tuesday that Brussels will in May propose lifting an EU import ban on US poultry, adopted due to health fears over a chlorine washing process. It is reported that the European Commission initiative foresees several health conditions linked to the lifting of the ban, including a requirement for the US industry to rinse the meat in drinking water after it has been disinfected with chlorine or sodium solutions. The properly treated chickens will then be clearly marked to inform European consumers, according to the draft version of the plan, to be presented on May 28, the sources said. According to this story, the lifting on the ban was made possible after a European Food Safety Authority assessment last month. It is explained in this story that this assessment found that the four antimicrobial substances used for cleaning poultry carcasses - chlorine dioxide, acidified sodium chlorate, trisodium phosphate and peroxyacids - represented "no safety concern within the proposed conditions of use".
Related stories
29 May 2008 - Dirty US chicken washed with chlorine heading for British shops as E.C. seeks to improve relations with America
Evening Standard [edited] [iFSN]
According to this story, consumer groups have condemned plans to lift a ban on imports of 'dirty' U.S. poultry meat. The story says that American chicken producers routinely treat the carcasses of their birds with a chlorine wash in an effort to kill off food poisoning bugs such as Salmonella and Campylobacter . It is reported that consumer groups and MEPs are concerned that the process is not effective - yet encourage farmers to operate with low hygiene standards in the mistaken belief that the chlorine wash will protect consumers. Some critics are also worried about the health effects of consuming chlorine deposits left on the meat. But, as reported here, the European Commission has recommended moves to lift its 11-year- old ban in an effort to improve strained relations with the U.S. government

European Union asks Russia to lift "disproportionate" meat bans
08 May 2008
Reuters - Darren Ennis; Conor Sweeney [edited]
The European Union's executive arm was cited in this story as saying a ban by Russia on imported meat from large companies in seven EU countries was disproportionate and should be removed. According to this story, Russia has introduced a series of company-specific bans on pork, beef and poultry imports in the last few weeks after determining that antibiotic levels in meat shipments exceeded safe limits.

European Union food safety body takes new look at baby bottle chemical
06 May 2008
Agence France Presse [edited]
The EU food safety watchdog EFSA was cited as saying Tuesday it may review its clearance of bisphenol A for use in the manufacture of plastic baby bottles after Canada moved to ban the substance.

April

Azerbaijan – Considering drafting a Food Safety Strategy Programme
30 Apr 2008
ABC.az [edited]
The Azerbaijani government considers already insufficient availability of Food Safety Strategy in the country. At today’s session in Milli Majlis, the National Bank’s chairman of board, claimed the Azerbaijani leader is expected to issue a decree surrounding food safety issue.
Related stories
15 May 2008- Agriculture Ministry forecasts re-building of food safety support activity
Azerbaijan Business Center [edited] [iFSN]
It is reported in this story that the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan in collaboration with other governmental agencies has started making a new state food safety programme. The Agriculture minister said that certain work on the occasion is under way. “I consider that Food Safety Programme adopted in 2001 has been realizing successfully, but the President signed a fresh programme decree and the Cabinet Ministers was commissioned its drafting. After its implementation start, all the governmental members, other ministries, and executive power bodies will build activity within the programme jointly with our ministry and we should ensure food safety in the country,” the minister said. The presidential decree issued on May 1, 2008 gave three-month term to the Cabinet Ministers for drafting and presentation of the State Reliable Food Safety Programme. The drafting process is to involve executive power bodies and governmental agencies, public and non-governmental organizations, and independent experts.Basis for Programme drafting are the Food Safety Programme endorsed by presidential decree (issued March 2, 2001). It should cover the measures aimed at reducing risks for the domestic market, linked with large food deficit at the world market.

Russia suspends pork imports from four U.S. plants
30 Apr 2008
Meatingplace.com - Tom Johnston
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said Russia has banned imports of pork from four U.S. processing plants, claiming to have detected an antibiotic in the meat..

United-Kingdom - Proposal for a European regulation on novel foods
28 Apr 2008
Food Standards Agency [edited]
The proposed regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on novel foods is intended to replace and repeal the current Novel Food Regulation (EC) No 258/97.
Consultation details
The key proposals are to:
* centralize the authorization procedure for novel foods
* develop a simplified safety assessment system for traditional food from third (non-European Union) countries
* clarify the definition of novel food
* update the scope of the novel food regulation in relation to parallel legislation on specific categories of foods
* provide a degree of protection for innovative food
On 14 January the European Commission published a proposal to revise the Novel Foods Regulation with a view to simplifying the regulatory process therefore reducing the administrative burden and improving the competitiveness of the European food industry.

Sweden - Web-based questionnaires – a tool used in a Campylobacter outbreak investigation in Stockholm, October 2007
24 Apr 2008
Eurosurveillance -B de Jong, C Ancker [edited]
Campylobacteriosis is the most common reported bacterial gastrointestinal disease in Sweden. Food-borne outbreaks of campylobacteriosis in Sweden are rather rare except for, usually rather small, family outbreaks. Water-borne outbreaks of campylobacteriosis, however, have affected several thousand persons in the past .
In the beginning of November 2007, the regional routine surveillance of campylobacteriosis in Stockholm County detected two cases that were possibly connected with each other. When exploring this possibility, it was revealed the at least 10 people had suffered from diarrhoea after dining from a buffet served to celebrate the anniversary of an organisation. This buffet was served on 10 October 2007. The buffet was served to about 100 persons and had been delivered by a catering company in Stockholm. The name of the company was communicated to the Environment and Health Administration in Stockholm City, which carried out an inspection of the company’s kitchen and their routines. As the buffet was suspected as the source of the outbreak, an epidemiological investigation was launched. It was also decided for the first time in Stockholm County to use a web-based questionnaire.
Discussion
The cohort study revealed that the marinated chicken was the food item suspected to have harboured the campylobacter bacteria. Raw or under-done chicken is a well-known source of campylobacter infection. Of the 206 reported Swedish food-borne during 2005, nine outbreaks with a total of 38 affected persons were caused by campylobacter, and among the sources stated were chicken and chicken liver.

EU proposes further easing of mad cow restrictions on use of beef on the bone
22 Apr 2008
International Herald Tribune - Associated Press [edited]
According to this story, the European Commission has proposed a further easing of EU mad cow restrictions on the use of beef on the bone. If approved by EU governments, the changes would raise the age limit at which the spine must be removed from slaughtered cattle. The EU executive says, based on recent scientific research, it is now safe to increase the age from 24 to 30 months.

Ireland - Food businesses urged to beware of water danger
17 Apr 2008
The Kingdom - Mary Murphy [edited]
According to this story, hotels, restaurants and other establishments serving food and drink in Kerry have been urged to be very aware of the threat posed by the lethal Cryptosporidium parasite which devastated business in Galway last summer. This follows confirmation that over 75,000 residents in Kerry were in danger because of problems with the public water supplies in the county. A total of 22 Kerry water schemes were placed on a blacklist by the Environmental Protection Agency for their inadequate treatment for the parasite. The problems areas identified included one of the county’s biggest water supplies at Lough Guitane in Killarney which provides a water supply to a total of 55,848 people.

United Kingdom - Salmonella awards to be launched at pig fair, The first Platinum Pig Awards for pig units with low levels of Salmonella will be announced at British Pig and Poultry Fair
14 Apr 2008
The Pig Site [edited]
The new awards are designed to act as an incentive to all pig-keepers to cut Salmonella in the national herd to ten percent, or less, says the NPA. To win a platinum award a unit will have to be under ten percent for a year, as shown by positive and suspect reports from the new Zoonoses National Control Programme, which was introduced this month. Since the Zoonoses Action Plan (ZAP) started in 2002 the aim has been to reduce the risk to consumers from salmonella in pigmeat products. The target was to reduce the proportion of finisher pigs testing positive to the meat-juice salmonella test and thereby reduce the prevalence of salmonella in the national herd. But the scheme has failed. The level of meat-juice salmonella positive results has not fallen. So the Zoonoses National Control Programme has been introduced in its place.

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Work Plan 2008
01 Apr 2008
European Public Health Alliance
In the EFSA Work Plan 2008, the Agency underlined priorities such as:
- To streamline the EFSA procedures
- To adapt the EFSA working practices to meet the target outputs of scientific opinions and statements to the highest quality standards
- To increase its presence and visibility in the EU Member States and consolidate the network of national bodies.
New challenges for EFSA in 2008 will include:
- Nanoparticles in food
- Animal cloning
- Application of Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) in microbiological risk assessment.

March

WTO rejects EU beef hormone ban but also raps US, Canada
31 Mar 2008
EU Business
The World Trade Organization on Monday ruled that the European Union, United States and Canada all failed to respect global trade rules in a long-running row over beef treated with growth hormones.
The EU was at fault because its present justifications for an import ban -- which were revised after a previous WTO ruling -- were not backed up by scientific evidence, the WTO said. The US and Canada meanwhile did not follow WTO procedures strictly by maintaining retaliatory measures against Brussels, the global trade body found in a report.
The case goes back nearly 10 years to 1998 when the WTO ruled Washington and Ottawa could slap higher tariffs on a list of EU products after it condemned Brussels for banning beef producing with certain growth-promoting hormones -- used by the US and Canada -- without a scientific assessment of the risk. The EU had contested these sanctions, saying that they were no longer justified because it had found a new scientific basis for banning hormone-treated beef and had updated its law in 2003. Brussels then filed two fresh complaints against the United States and Canada for maintaining their retaliatory measures.
However, in its report on Monday, the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body said that "the scientific evidence evaluated did not support the conclusions in the EU risk assessment.”We conclude that it has not been established that the EU has removed the measure found to be consistent" in the initial ruling, the WTO panel said.
Related sources
31 Mar 2008 - Canada celebrates WTO beef growth hormone ruling - EU Business

Northern Ireland - Food safety is a right, not a privilege says watchdog
27 Mar 2008
Belfast Telegraph
People unhappy about food hygiene standards in public eateries have, according to this story, been urged to speak out if they are not satisfied. The second part of a public awareness campaign aimed at educating consumers about their rights with regard to food hygiene standards when eating outside the home has been launched by safefood which also called on consumers to speak out if they have any concerns about hygiene levels. Endorsed by both the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland and the National Consumer Agency, the Speak Out campaign aims to raise the overall standards of food hygiene in food outlets in Ireland.
Martin Higgins, chief executive from safe food, was quoted as saying, "Food safety is a right, not a privilege and consumers should not settle for anything other than the highest standards. Our campaign provides consumers with information on what to watch out for in relation to food safety."
The second phase of the Speak Out campaign focuses on delis and sandwich shops. Research conducted by safe food has revealed that one in three people in Ireland are concerned about hygiene in sandwich bars.
The cleanliness of food premises, the kitchen and the staff topped the list of hygiene aspects causing consumers concern. More and more food is now consumed outside the home, with delis making up a substantial part of the market.
Research has shown that 61% of people purchase lunch outside the home, with the majority of these (43%) stating they buy a sandwich. Mr Higgins was further quoted as saying, "We know from recent safefood research that over half of consumers on the island of Ireland were reluctant to speak out if they were unhappy with food hygiene standards. In the last six months, we have seen a positive shift in consumer's attitudes with more people feeling empowered to speak out if they are not happy. We would like to see this trend continue, as ultimately, consumer demand for proper hygiene standards will result in improvements."
A 2005 survey by the Food Standards Agency into standards of hygiene in UK food premises identified catering establishments as having the largest proportion of premises considered high risk to public health than other types of food premises.

United Kingdom - Welsh Salmonella programme
26 Mar 2008
Meatinfo.co.uk
A national programme to protect public health from Salmonella in laying flocks of domestic fowl will come into force in Wales this month. The programme, announced by Rural Affairs minister Elin Jones, will include updating and enhancing existing controls to reduce the number of cases in salmonella in poultry by 10% annually.
“The proposed regulations will provide a framework for the National Control Programme (NCP) that details the phases of production which sampling and testing for the salmonellas must cover,” said Jones. “The programme will set a target for an annual reduction of at least 10% in the number of positive adult laying flocks, compared with the previous year. The starting baseline in Wales and for the rest of the UK, will be 8% prevalence of Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella typhimurium serotypes.”
The results of a nationwide survey of commercial laying flocks carried out in 2004 –2005 showed that around 8% of layer flock holdings in the United Kingdom (UK) were infected with Salmonella enteritidis or Salmonella typhimurium . Although this demonstrates good progress of industry led initiatives to reduce salmonella prevalence in laying flocks, work needs to be done to reduce the level further and minimise the possible impact of the heat treatment requirement on producers.
“The NCP will enable the laying flocks sector to build on its success in the protection of human health and benefit from producers across the EU applying approaches that are consistent and comparable,” Jones added.

EU seeks answers on safety of Italian mozzarella
25 Mar 2008
Reuters - Darren Ennis
The European Commission has asked Italy for assurances the country's top mozzarella is safe to eat following reports some of the cheese was made with milk contaminated with the carcinogenic chemical compound dioxin. South Korea said it halted the entry of buffalo mozzarella at the weekend and will conduct its own tests to see if there is dioxin contamination. Italy's leading association of buffalo mozzarella producers said on Tuesday Japanese customs were also blocking imports. Police near Naples are investigating whether feed given to buffalo herds, which produce the best milk for mozzarella, was tainted, possibly by gangsters involved in illegal waste disposal.
On March 3, Italian food safety officials told EU veterinary experts the cheese was safe, the Commission official said.

United Kingdom - Abattoir inspectors took 'softly-softly' approach - Wales
18 Mar 2008
icWales/BBC [edited]
The E. coli public inquiry today, according to this story, heard that a series of meat inspectors took a "softly-softly" approach towards long-standing hygiene and structural problems at the abattoir which supplied E. coli butcher William Tudor. JE Tudor & Son was today described as one of the worst in Wales, but the inspectors said they did not want to alienate the owner by adopting a heavy-handed approach towards repeated breaches of the regulations. And one official veterinary surgeon (OV) who oversaw slaughtering at the Treorchy plant, said that he did not have enough time to compile regular hygiene reports, which would highlight the same issues every month.
Related sources
19 Mar 2008 BBC News - Sharon Durham

France - Raw milk camembert poses safety concern says manufacturer
14 Mar 2008
Dairyreporter.com -Neil Merrett
Luc Morelon, a spokesperson for the France-based dairy processors Lactalis, was cited as claiming that authorities responsible for protecting traditional manufacturing techniques of camembert will eventually be forced to stop using raw milk in the product because of potential health concerns and that a recent vote permitting only the use of raw untreated milk for "true" camembert would some day have to be overturned by the French government.
The comments come after producers voted this month in favour of allowing only raw milk to be used in making the product as part of a revision of the production specifications for the Appellation Contrôlée (AOC) Camembert de Normandie.
Morelon says that under these specifications, Lactalis did not wish to claim the AOC for its own camembert products, as it refused to use raw milk in the cheese. He pointed to the occurrence of pathogenic micro organisms in the product that makes raw milk a potential danger. Morelon cited a case in 2005, where five children in France were hospitalised because of an alleged contamination of E coli O26 in some raw milk camembert.
He stated that while the risk may be weak, it exists nonetheless and could not be ignored by Lactalis, adding, "We have strong brands and well known products, with strong consumer confidence, and we cannot accept to take a risk on that issue. It is quite unacceptable." The story says that Lactalis itself says it uses thermised milk - a soft treatment for the product of no more than 60 degrees Celsius, in its camembert, which allows it to secure pathogens without changing the taste.
Thermised milk is not allowed in cheese permitted under the AOC, though Morelon claimed that the recent decision made on the designation was distorted in favour of raw milk manufacturers.

United Kingdom - Inquiry told of hospital failure in E. coli diagnosis
12 Mar 2008
South Wales Echo [edited]
According to this story, a young girl was sent home from a South Wales hospital at the start of the 2005 E. coli outbreak despite suffering from the potentially lethal infection. The girl, now 11, was eventually airlifted to a specialist children's hospital in England with acute kidney failure after eating E. coli -infected meat at school.

United Kingdom - E. coli inquiry: communication system 'shambolic'
05 Mar 2008
Media Wales [edited]
The public inquiry heard today that a shambolic communication system meant senior health officials could not be contacted when the E. coli outbreak began, and then confusion over who was responsible for sending out information to doctors surgeries meant there were delays in getting vital information to GPs. The inquiry heard today that on the weekend in September 2005 it became apparent there was an outbreak of E. coli O157 it was not considered a major incident. As a result, the only communication system for contacting Local Health Board (LHB) officers out of hours - via ambulance control - could not be used. Then, when the National Public Health Service tried to contact senior LHB officials via their home phone or mobile they found they were switched off or on answerphone. The senior counsel to the inquiry was quoted as saying the communication system was "a shambles".
Related stories
10 Mar 2008 - More could have been at risk' - E. coli inquiry
Media Wales - Madeleine Brindley

January

Commission proposal to overhaul EU food labelling rules
30 Jan 2008
Europa Press Release
The European Commission adopted today a proposal to make food labels clearer and more relevant to the needs of EU consumers. The aim of the draft Regulation is to modernise and improve EU food labelling rules, so that consumers have, in a legible and understandable manner, the essential information they need to make informed purchasing choices. Under today's proposal, pre-packaged food will have to display key nutritional information on the front of the package. General requirements on how nutrition information should be displayed on food labels are also set out, although there is room for Member States to promote additional national schemes provided they do not undermine the EU rules. For public health reasons, the draft Regulation extends the current requirements for allergen labelling to cover non pre-packed food, including food sold in restaurants and other catering establishments. Industry should also benefit from the proposed new rules, as they set up a clearer, more harmonised legislative framework for food labelling and create a level playing field for all operators. The draft Regulation was drawn up following extensive consultations with consumer organisations, industry and other stakeholders. Commissioner for Health, Markos Kyprianou, said: "Food labels can have a huge influence on consumers' purchasing decisions. Confusing, overloaded or misleading labels can be more of a hindrance than a help to the consumer. Today's proposal aims to ensure that food labels carry the essential information in a clear and legible way, so that EU citizens are empowered to make balanced dietary choices."
For more information please visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/foodlabelling/index_en.htm

United Kingdom - Food safety scheme for all languages
28 Jan 2008
Newsquest - Steve Sowden
Chinese restaurant and takeaway owners have, according to this story, learnt all about food safety management in their native language - thanks to South Somerset District Council when it held a Safer Food, Better Business' seminar with a Cantonese speaking trainer. The English courses last year were such a hit that more than 220 businesses came along and it was this success that prompted the Food Standards Agency to fund the council as the host for a special course run in Chinese. The council's principal environmental health officer, Stewart Brock, was quoted as saying, "The courses show people in the food industry how they can better their businesses by taking a look at how they handle food safety." Concentrating on the 4 C's of cooking - cleaning, cross-contamination and chilling - the seminar helps managers focus on the key issues in food safety using a management pack produced in both Chinese and English.

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