Subjects from recalls, food outbreaks, industry and regulatory news to research have been our must read this year.
Last month we had an outbreak of Salmonella linked to eggs and a report from EFSA and ECDC who were busy again in relation to an outbreak suspected to be from meat this month.
The top ten foodborne parasites were named by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in July – findings which will be discussed next month.
Pork DNA was said to have been found in halal chocolate in May, only for fresh tests to reveal that this was not case.
Nestlé told us about an incident in Greece in March involving a consumer complaint about a batch of cereal containing dead insects.
A study at the 247th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in March found honey could solve the problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.
In a separate study, which we wrote about in January researchers said Clostridium perfringens had been found to be a potential trigger for multiple sclerosis (MS).
Future developments
As for what will hit the deadlines in the future – who knows? We can predict the issue of food fraud, highlighted by the Elliott Review, will not go away anytime soon.
There will continue to be fallout from the Salmonella outbreaks in Europe and Listeria concerns in Denmark and Sweden.
Research will play a big role in shaping future direction in terms of technology and areas of focus.
And of course, company news such as mergers and acquisitions and product launches will help industry tackle old, current and developing issues as we strive for food safety and quality control.
- Join us for our free online discussion the Food Outbreak Forum on September 24. The program starts at 9:30am New York time, 3.30pm in Paris, and will answer the question: What’s the best way to minimize risk of exposure from foodborne illness outbreaks?
- This exclusive forum brings together speakers from the US Food and Drug Administration, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, SAFE Consortium and the European Food Safety Authority. Click here to register and find out more .