After being informed by its supplier Deutsch Kase Haus, LLC that its specialty Longhorn Colby cheese may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, Sargento Foods, Inc. recalled several retail cheese products. The recalled Colby and Pepper jack cheeses (available on the company’s website) were packaged at Sargento’s Plymouth, Wisconsin plant. The company also recalled several other cheeses that were packaged at the same time “out of an abundance of caution”.
The recall involving Deutsch Kase Haus is not limited to Sargento. Guggisberg Cheese, Inc., Meijer and Sara Lee have recalled their Colby and Pepper jack cheeses. According to a release by US Foods, the product recalls were initiated after a notification by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture that some products manufactured on November 3, 10 and 18 could be contaminated with Lm.
Taylor Farms also recalled products that contained the cheese products—the company’s Class I recall involved 6,630 pounds of chicken and pork salad products that were produced and packaged from February 6–9, 2017.
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Preventive Controls for Human Food rule is now final, and compliance dates for some businesses began in September 2016. Economically Motivated Adulteration (EMA) or food fraud is a component in the Preventive Controls Rule. As the global supply chain becomes more complex, preventing EMA and compliance to Preventive Controls for Human Food rule can be a challenging task.
A food company’s supply chain can be the weakest link in their food safety program. Learn strategies and how to mitigate risks at the Food Safety Supply Chain Conference | June 4–5, 2017 | Rockville, MD, LEARN MORELast year GMA and Battelle released EMAlert, a tool that enables quantitative evaluation of a company’s supply chain to economically motivated adulteration. USP also provides a platform to help companies with food fraud mitigation strategies. In a Q&A with Food Safety Tech, experts from the USP Food Program, Jeff Moore, Ph.D., science director and Karen Everstine, Ph.D., scientific liaison explain how the Food Fraud Database 2.0 works and how it can help companies with FSMA compliance.
Food Safety Tech: How does the Food Fraud Database 2.0 assist food companies in identifying hazards and vulnerabilities?
Jeff Moore, Ph.D.: We reengineered the database [previously Food Fraud Database 1.0] from the ground up, including the structure of the data. Users wanted not just a source of high quality data to inform of risks and vulnerabilities that were related to food fraud but also some ability to analyze the information and get alerts and real-time information to figure out what to do in real time.
Karen Everstine, Ph.D., USP Food Program
Karen Everstine, Ph.D.: Since it was reengineered, we’ve been able to include a lot of fields that allow food companies to tailor their results to information that is most applicable to them (i.e., geographic location). Automated analytics give a visual of what’s happening to see trends more quickly.
Moore: We have a team of dedicated analysts that are constantly scouting the public domain and looking for information globally to add to the database to make sure it’s the most comprehensive, up-to-date global database of food fraud information.
FST: What tools within FFD 2.0 can help companies with FSMA compliance?
Everstine: One of the things in the FSMA PC rule is the fact that food companies now have to identify potential hazards, whether they are intentional or unintentional, which includes food fraud-related hazards. One of the tools we built into the database is an EMA (Economically-Motivated Adulteration) hazard identification report. It allows users to input a list of their ingredients (those sourced and brought into the facility to create a finished food product), and then the report output identifies which ingredients are associated with potential hazards (i.e., adulterants that might pose a health threat to consumers). That’s the main tool we’ve built to target FSMA compliance.
Moore: One of the key parts of the PC rule as related to EMA is a question of whether the ingredient has a history of association with potentially hazardous adulterants. We put together an expert panel at USP and Karen [Everstine] was responsible for working with the panel to develop a classification system to identify adulterants that are potentially hazardous.
Building the right food safety culture around environmental monitoring requires a realistic approach to your processes. “Culture starts with understanding your process,” Zephyr Wilson, product manager at Roka Bioscience told Food Safety Tech at the 2016 Food Safety Consortium. “You need to ask questions—a lot of questions.”
In the following video, Wilson talks about food safety culture in the context of environmental monitoring and how companies should approach environmental monitoring. “Understand all of your processes,” she said. “Take an honest look at your metrics and make sure you’re encouraging your employees to find the Listeria.”
She also reviews the steps a company should take when undergoing self-auditing, and encourages companies to work under the direction of an attorney to ensure that all results are confidential.
“Drop the Mop! Take a Clean New Look at Condensation Control in Food Processing Facilities” is available on-demand Little beads of water on overhead surfaces can cause big problems. Remember the Listeria contamination that affected Blue Bell Creameries? FDA investigators spotted condensation dripping right into food and food contact surfaces. In a response to an FDA Form 483, Blue Bell wrote “As part of our internal review, we are extensively reconfiguring lines and equipment to eliminate the potential for condensation forming on pipes above processing equipment”.
Condensation can form on overhead surfaces during sanitation processes, which poses potentially serious issues. During an upcoming webinar, “Drop the Mop! Take a Clean New Look at Condensation Control in Food Processing Facilities”, experts from the University of Nebraska, Maple Leaf Foods, General Mills, Smithfield Foods, and 3M Corporate Research Materials Laboratory will discuss tips on how to manage condensation, along with the challenges associated with condensation.
Stored product insects (SPI) can cause a revenue loss of 1–9%, according to recent research by the Centre for Economic and Business Research. The following infographic outlines the impact SPIs can have, which are the world’s most expensive pests, according to Rentokil.
An infestation of stored product pests can also lead to foodborne illnesses. Infographic courtesy of Rentokil
Learn more about mitigate risks in the supply chain by attending the Food Safety Supply Chain Conference, June 5–6, 2017 in Rockville, MD | LEARN MOREEver heard of silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC)? The patented molecule is a new antimicrobial being used to kill potentially deadly pathogens in places from food processing facilities to restaurants. SDC is non-toxic and has an EPA toxicity rating of IV (the lowest category).
At the Food Safety Consortium last month, Hank Lambert, CEO of Pure Bioscience, talked about how the technology his company developed can help the food industry control pathogens (including Listeria mitigation), along with its differentiating characteristics versus other disinfectants. He also gave a preview of the applications in which the company will pursue FDA and USDA approval this year.
After only a few days in office, President Trump and his administration have placed a gag order on federal agencies, including the USDA and EPA. Workers are barred from communicating with the press, the public or members of Congress, according to several outlets. A memo was reportedly sent to the EPA, instructing the agency not to publish any press releases, social media posts or blogs until told otherwise.
The Washington Post reports that the chief of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Sharon Drumm sent an email to staff stating, “Starting immediately and until further notice, ARS will not release any public-facing documents. This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content.” However, another memo sent out today by USDA Acting Deputy Administrator Michael Young said that he did not review the ARS guidance and would not have sent out such a draft. According to the Post, “his guidance does not place a gag order on publication to scientific journals, does not place a blanket freeze on press releases, or prohibit food safety announcements.”
This morning President-elect Donald Trump named Sonny Perdue, former governor of Georgia, to lead the USDA. The new agriculture secretary grew up on a farm in Georgia, has a doctorate in veterinary medicine, and owns the firm Perdue Partners, LLC, a global trading firm specializing in exporting U.S. goods.
His farming experience will be seen as a plus by many folks in the agriculture industry. However, the selection of Perdue also means there will be no Latinos in Trump’s Cabinet (this hasn’t happened since the Reagan administration).
Key issues in the agriculture sector that Trump’s administration will need to address include the 2018 farm bill, immigrant labor, the decline of farm income, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Between 1996 and 2016, sprouts have been responsible to 46 outbreaks in the United States, which has led to nearly 2500 illnesses and three deaths, according to FDA. They have presented a consistent challenge to operators, because sprouts are most often produced in conditions that are ideal for bacteria growth.
Today FDA issued a draft guidance to assist sprout operators in complying with the FSMA Produce Rule, which requires “covered sprout operations take measures to prevent the introduction of dangerous microbes into seeds or beans used for sprouting, test spent sprout irrigation water (or, in some cases, in-process sprouts) for the presence of certain pathogens, test the growing, harvesting, packing and holding environment for the presence of the Listeria species or Listeria monocytogenes, and take corrective actions when needed.”
Large sprout operators must comply with the Produce Rule (applicable provisions) by January 26. Small business must comply by January 26, 2018 and very small businesses by January 28, 2019.
Known worldwide for its extensive technical program, the AOCS Annual Meeting features more than 650 oral and poster presentations within 12 interest areas. This year’s technical program includes 10 sessions specifically designed to address food safety:
Advances in Bioactive Fats
Advances in Minor Constituent Analysis in Specialty Oils
Advances in Sample Processing and Lipid Extraction Techniques
Environmental and Regulatory Issues
Impact of Oil Processing on Health Outcomes
Lipid Oxidation Evaluation by Sensory Methods
Marine and Krill Oil—Analytical Advances
Metabolic Products and Toxicity of Lipid Oxidation and Antioxidants in Foods and Biological Systems
Process Control Utilizing NIR and Similar On-line Analytical Tools
Three short courses offer a more hands-on approach to learning:
Fundamentals of Edible Oil Processing provides a comprehensive summary of oils and fats chemistry, processing steps, and product development to ensure product quality. Speakers from industry and academia will discuss unit operations, processing conditions and their effect on minor compounds, chemistry, texture, crystallization and nutritional quality.
New Techniques in Edible Oil Processing and Refinery Optimization offers the opportunity for participants with existing experience to meet experts in the field to discuss their current challenges and enhance their product innovation or plant operation. Program topics include: Energy savings and waste water reduction in oils and fats as well as learning to increase productivity as it relates to soybean, sunflower, corn, palm and other tropical oils. It is a practical course for marketing, technical and plant personnel.
Experimental Design and Analysis: Simple Tools to Maximize Product Performance will provide an introduction to the concept of Experimental Design as it applies to formulation and mixture design. Participants will learn how to define a design space that encompasses all variables of interest, maximize efficiency in choosing the needed experiments to populate the data set, and use statistical tools to validate experimental results and determine the suitability of the model for the application at hand.
In addition to the short courses and three days of technical sessions, the Annual Meeting includes Hot Topics Symposia, Industry Showcases and a variety of networking events. The Hot Topics Symposia addresses critical and emerging issues impacting the business of fats and oils and the future of those industries. The Industry Showcases exhibition will feature the latest analytical instrumentation, food ingredients, processing equipment, and other technologies related to oils and fats.
The Annual Meeting attracts 1,600 professionals from 45 countries, so join us and engage with the industry’s most prestigious corporate, government, and academic institutions.
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