Fw: [BITES-L] bites Nov. 23/10

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Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:43:58 -0600

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bites Nov. 23/10

Mother of E. coli victim prepares for inquest in Wales

Rhetoric rules: food safety law battle accomplishes nothing

Former Health CANADA chief goes public after safely retiring

CANADA: The big challenge in making farmed shrimp safe to eat

The high environmental cost of global shrimp

AUSTRALIA: Star rating system for Brisbane restaurants launched to protect diners

One in 5 Brisbane food vendors fail; which ones

US: Lettuce recall costs wholesaler thousands

Detection of 5 CFU/g of E. coli O157:H7 on lettuce using activated charcoal and real-time PCR without enrichment

Egg production drops from Brachyspira

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Mother of E. coli victim prepares for inquest in Wales
23.nov.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/145236/10/11/23/mother-e-coli-victim-prepares-inquest-wales
Sharon Mills has waited over five years to tell a coroner how her 5-year-old son spent his final days dying from E. coli O157.
The long-awaited inquest into the death of E.coli victim Mason Jones is due to begin in front of Gwent coroner David Bowen, in Newport.
Wales Online reports Mason died on October 4, 2005, at Bristol Children's Hospital, around two weeks after contracting the food poisoning bug. He was one of 158 victims, most of them children, struck down by the O157 strain.
The start of the inquest has been delayed to allow the completion of the South Wales Police investigation into Mason's death, the prosecution of Bridgend butcher William Tudor under food hygiene laws and to allow E.coli expert Professor Hugh Pennington to conduct a public inquiry.
His report, which laid the blame for the outbreak firmly on the shoulders of Tudor but also identified serious failings in local authority inspection and procurement procedures, will form part of the evidence that Mr Bowen will consider before giving his verdict.
Ms. Mills, 36, from Deri, near Bargoed, said,
"This is what we have been waiting for for five years. I just hope that justice prevails. … The feeling that I need to get justice has taken over my life over the last five years and the end is near now and I am scared that we are not going to get the outcome that Mason deserves. I'm just hoping that I find the strength from somewhere to get through the next couple of days. I have experienced the worst thing I can ever experience, but having to deal with the inquest comes second. The hurt never goes away when you lose a child. You never get over it – you learn to live alongside it."
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/11/23/mother-of-e-coli-victim-prepares-for-inquest-91466-27695974/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11814600

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Rhetoric rules: food safety law battle accomplishes nothing
22.nov.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/145233/10/11/22/rhetoric-rules-food-safety-law-battle-accomplishes-nothing
Tomorrow's USA Today has competing food safety editorials and they both get it wrong.
The editorial board of USA Today says regulators lack enough authority to do what's needed to protect the public, and they need recall authority.
No, regulators have lots of authority and continually mess up.
Tom Coburn, a medical doctor and a Republican senator from Oklahoma, says in this political nosestretcher that "America has the safest food supply in the world, and it has never been safer" and that "the so-called FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, which the Senate will vote on after Thanksgiving, only expands a disjointed, duplicative and ineffective food safety bureaucracy. "
Coburn says that "for the past 100 years, the free market, not the government, has been the primary driver of innovation and improved safety. Consumer choice is a far more effective accountability mechanism than government bureaucracies."
Except consumers can't choose safer food because no one will promote such food at retail. Coburn is having some wet dreams about Reagan trickle-down economics.
Market food safety at retail and consumers could actually choose. Otherwise, it just tastes like urine, trickling down ...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2010-11-23-editorial23_ST_N.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2010-11-23-editorial23_ST1_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

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Former Health CANADA chief goes public after safely retiring
22.nov.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/145232/10/11/22/former-health-canada-chief-goes-public-after-safely-retiring
It's not food safety, but it's such an old and disappointing story that it's worth repeating.
Again.
This time it's the former head of Health Canada's nutritional sciences bureau blasting the federal department Monday for failing to explain why it is approving health claims submitted by the food industry.
PepsiCo Canada had announced Monday that Health Canada has approved a new disease-reduction health claim for products containing oats. This means the company's 11 Quaker oats products will soon carry labels on the front of their packaging trumpeting a relationship between oat fibres and reduced cholesterol.
Mary L'Abbe, the former director of Health Canada's nutritional sciences bureau responsible for the approval of health claims, said the department now has a transparency problem because it is not releasing the evidence to support such claims.
Health Canada remains mum on the oats decision and has yet to publish evidence to support the plant sterol claim.
"With regards to transparency, I am still disappointed that the plant sterol claim was approved last May, yet the evidence to support such a claim has still not been posted — only a summary document," said L'Abbe, who left Health Canada in 2007 after 31 years.
"Health Canada's lack of transparency in this matter is disappointing, and opposite that of the (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), which has published detailed scientific reviews of the evidence that was considered in approving or denying health claims in the U.S." L'Abbe said. "Hopefully they are planning to post the evidence that supports the oats claim."
Why didn't L'Abbe say anything about this when she was in government? I know there's the whole oath to the Queen thing required of Canadian bureacrats, but government is not some abstract entity, it's run by people who chose to make decisions.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/mobile/iphone/story.html?id=3868130

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CANADA: The big challenge in making farmed shrimp safe to eat
22.nov.10
The Globe and Mail
Jessica Leeder
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/global-food/the-big-challenge-in-making-farmed-shrimp-safe-to-eat/article1807786/
If you're on the hunt for a new diet trick to help you navigate the sea of holiday party menus on the horizon, you may want to consider cutting out shrimp.
Do it and you're likely to save more than just inches from your waistline: you'll know for certain that you're not slurping down a cocktail of harmful antibiotics and chemicals federal food inspectors have been finding in shrimp imported from south Asia.
Recent sample checks on Thai imports have uncovered residues of antibiotics deemed illegal for food production in Canada and the United States. They're also supposed to be illegal in Thailand, a global shrimp farming giant that pledged years ago to flush drugs out of its system, which yields 550,000 tons of shrimp per year.
Although the Canadian Food Inspection Agency only scans a fraction of incoming seafood – five per cent is the agency's target – inspectors are still finding tetracyclines (antibiotics commonly used to treat acne) nitrofurans (an antimicrobial drug and known carcinogen banned in Canada) and fluoroquinolones (broad-spectrum antibiotics used in human medicine) in the shipments they test. None should be consumed by humans.
But how often are we swallowing them unknowingly?
It's impossible to know for certain.
"We can't inspect one hundred per cent of every piece of fish that comes in the country, otherwise there won't be anything to eat," said Jeanelle Boudreau, a fish policy officer with the CFIA's fish and seafood network. The agency is constantly adjusting its inspections to focus on "areas where there might be more issues for non-compliance," she said.
Imported shrimp products have a long history of familiarity with that list.
Demand for cheap shrimp in the U.S. and Canada exploded over the course of the last decade with the advent of low-cost food retailers. As their saturation ballooned, so did the network of shrimp farms across China, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam that were scrambling to supply the fleshy delicacies – and riding the economic boom that resulted.
The lack of sustainability in the industry – and its antibiotic-heavy methods for combating disease in intensive operations – was for many years an afterthought.
But then the international outcry began. In response, the Thai government instituted a ban on antibiotic use and certain unsustainable farming practices (although there is skepticism over how strictly that ban is enforced).
Large shrimp distributors also climbed on board when Wal-Mart began throwing its considerable market weight around.
In 2006, the international chain announced it would only source shrimp from Thai farms that adhere to sustainability standards drafted by the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), a U.S.-based industry group that counts Red Lobster among its members.
"Wal-Mart is an absolute mammoth in terms of global seafood and fisheries purchasing. The mere fact that they committed to being green has had a huge domino effect on the market," said Corey Peet, an aquaculture consultant based in Thailand. He is currently coordinating the Shrimp Dialogues, a global, multi-stakeholder effort led by the World Wildlife Fund to devise more impartial certification standards for responsible shrimp farming.
Four years later, Wal-Mart's decision has had some positive impacts on the shrimp farming community, where a slow but steady shift to reform harmful practices is under way. But the change hasn't been revolutionary, said Mr. Peet.

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The high environmental cost of global shrimp
22.nov.10
The Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/global-food/the-high-environmental-cost-of-global-shrimp/article1806631/?view=picks
A student documentary from the UBC Graduate School of Journalism looks at the social and environmental impact of shrimp farming in Thailand and how it impacts North American consumers.

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AUSTRALIA: Star rating system for Brisbane restaurants launched to protect diners
23.nov.10
Courier Mail
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/145234/10/11/23/star-rating-system-brisbane-restaurants-launched-protect-diners
Brisbane goes it alone, as the Australian city launched a "score on the door" program – except that it's an electronic door that is only available on-line.
My 2-year-old knows how to navigate the iPod touch. I don't.
So for us old-timers, why not just actually post a score on the door, rather than expect us to hitch up the stagecoach and find the reading glasses.
Brisbane City Council announced its Eat safe program today, whereby businesses will be rated from two to five stars with those food businesses receiving a three and above encouraged to display their rating in their business's window.
Those restaurants that receive a two, a poor rating, will be given the chance to fix their problems and change their rating but businesses scoring less than two are likely to be shut down.
79 per cent of Brisbane's 5500 food businesses received the safe rating of three stars.
Less than half - 2182 businesses - have signed on to display the ratings, which is voluntary.
For more information about Eat Safe Brisbane, visit: www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/EatSafeBrisbane
http://www.couriermail.com.au/lifestyle/food-wine/star-rating-system-for-brisbane-restuarants-launched-to-keep-diners-safe/story-e6frer4x-1225959143788

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One in 5 Brisbane food vendors fail; which ones
23.nov.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/145235/10/11/23/one-5-brisbane-food-vendors-fail-which-ones
More clarification on Brisbane, Australia's 'score on the door' scheme.
The Brisbane Times reports that 5,500 food businesses were inspected by the Brisbane City Council this year as part of Eat Safe Brisbane, which rates all city food operators out of five for their compliance to food safety standards.
The businesses covered include restaurants, cafes, bakeries, hotels, prisons, child care centres and food manufacturers.
Businesses with ratings of three stars or more can elect to have their rating displayed at their premises or added to an online database.
However, those with two stars or less - which are required to make improvements to meet legislative requirements - will not be named online.
Sixteen per cent of eateries received a two-star rating, defined as having "a low level of compliance with the Food Act 2006 with more effort required to rectify issues".
Five per cent received a zero-star rating. There is no one-star rating.
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said those with poor ratings were protected from being named by privacy legislation.
However, he said the optional system whereby outlets who received three stars or more could display their credentials, would pressure businesses into lifting their game.
Only 56 per cent of the overall food businesses have their results published online. This is made up of the 21 per cent of businesses who received two stars or less, plus another 23 per cent who opted out of having their rating made public.
Just eight per cent of Brisbane licensed food businesses received a five-star rating, with 26 per cent receiving a four and 45 per cent receiving three.
Businesses who receive high ratings will receive lower annual fees and less frequent audits.
Queensland Hoteliers Association chief executive Justin O'Connor said the system would provide an incentive for businesses to do better in terms of food safety compliance.
Norman Hotel general manager Michael Fallon, whose business received a five-star rating, said he would be wary of eateries who had not made their rating public.
"To me, that tells me they've got something to hide," Mr Fallon said.
Baking Industry Association Queensland Paul McDonald said he had little sympathy for businesses who recorded a low rating.
"If you are not up to standard you shouldn't be open, I think you are endangering people's lives and that is a risk none of us want to take," he said.
Star ratings can be viewed online at www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/EatSafeBrisbane.
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/145234/10/11/23/star-rating-system-brisbane-restaurants-launched-protect-diners
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/one-in-5-food-vendors-fail-the-question-is-which-ones-20101123-184x1.html?from=brisbanetimes_sb

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US: Lettuce recall costs wholesaler thousands
22.nov.10
Gazette
Lindsey Robbins
http://www.gazette.net/stories/11222010/businew182048_32557.php
Single tainted head spurs Landover company into action
A head of romaine lettuce discovered contaminated with salmonella in New York cost a Landover wholesaler thousands of dollars this month.
Keany Produce spent more than 100 hours after Nov. 4 — when the company learned of the recall — contacting restaurants, hotels, assisted living facilities and other customers that together had purchased from Keany more than 5,000 heads that came from the same supplier as the tainted head, River Ranch of Salinas, Calif.
The calls were to ensure Keany's clients were aware of potential problems and cost the company about $4,000 in labor, said Paul Pappas, COO of Keany.
The notification followed the voluntary recall request of River Ranch, which distributed the lettuce from Oct. 23 to Oct. 26. A routine U.S. Department of Agriculture test in New York found one of the heads tested positive for salmonella contamination.
No illnesses have been reported.
"We definitely don't enjoy doing [recalls] since you have to invest quite a bit of time into dealing with the situation," Pappas said. "But food safety is very important to us."

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Detection of 5 CFU/g of E. coli O157:H7 on lettuce using activated charcoal and real-time PCR without enrichment
22.nov.10
Food Microbiology
Jung-Lim Lee and Robert E. Levin
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WFP-51HT4CG-1&_user=10&_coverDate=11%2F22%2F2010&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=d8b30ee74bcbbbaa253637d89ecd8c09&searchtype=a
Abstract
A sample treatment method which separates Escherichia coli O157:H7 from lettuce and removes PCR inhibitors allowing 5 CFU/g of target cells to be detected using real-time PCR is described. Lettuce leaves inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 were rinsed with 0.025% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). In this study, there were two major factors that strongly affected the recovery of E. coli O157:H7 during sample preparation, the amount of bentonite coated activated charcoal used to remove PCR inhibitors and the agitated contact time of the samples with the coated charcoal. When 3.0 g of activated carbon coated with bentonite were mixed with target cell suspensions (30 ml) derived from 50 g of lettuce, a high recovery of E. coli O157:H7 (93%) was obtained. Sample agitation with bentonite coated activated charcoal for 15 min resulted in 95% recovery of E. coli O157:H7. When a commercial DNA purification resin was used for detection of E. coli O157:H7 without the use of the bentonite treated charcoal, the real-time PCR (Rti-PCR) failed to detect 1x102 CFU/g. In contrast, with the use of use of bentonite coated activated charcoal and a commercial DNA purifying resin together, Rti-PCR was able to detect 5 CFU of E. coli O157:H7/g of lettuce which was equivalent to 2.8 CFU/Rti-PCR. Such a successful detection level was the result of the bentonite coated activated charcoal's ability to absorb the PCR inhibitors released from seeded lettuce during detachment. A standard curve was generated by plotting the Ct values against the log of CFU of target bacterial cells. A linear range of DNA amplification was exhibited from 5.0 x100 to 1.0 x104 CFU/g by using Rti-PCR.

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Egg production drops from Brachyspira
23.nov.10
Octagon Services
David Burch
http://www.octagon-services.co.uk/articles/poultry/spirochaetosis2.pdf
Over the past 20 years we have identified varying levels of diarrhoea or caecal droppings in laying hens, especially in free-range birds, and thought that it was due to worms or other parasites such as coccidia, or bacterial infections such as clostridia. It is only in the past decade that we have been able to grow and identify different Brachyspira bacteria, which cause Avian Intestinal Spirocha- etosis (AIS), and it is only recently that we are determining their effects on egg production, bird health and mortality. Some Brachyspira seem more significant than others and are associated with more disease; however, recent work is showing that in the right conditions (right for the bacteria) they can all have a potentially pathogenic or disease-causing effect.
Worldwide incidence
Recently there have been several reports of the prevalence of Brachyspira infections in various parts of the world (Table 1) and now it has spread worldwide. The major recognised pathogenic Brachyspira are B. intermedia, B. pilosicoli and
B. alvinipulli in caged systems. However, B. murdochii and B. innocens, although considered non-pathogenic in caged birds, have been associated with depressed egg production particularly in free-range systems. Brachyspira hyodysenteriae, the main pig Brachyspira, has also been isolated in hens, closely associated with pig farms. In a survey in the UK of 222 commercial layer, pullet and breeder farms 74% of the flocks were positive and 25% were associated with the pathogenic strains. When this was broken down by type of farm a different picture arose (Figure 1). Breeder layer flocks could be infected, but it was not found in in-rear pullet flocks up to 15 weeks of age. The organism is spread by the faecal-oral route and there is a natural break as it dies out on the egg surface during hatching. Free-range and free-range organic flocks were heavily infected (approx. 90%) and less so in caged flocks (76%). Barn flocks were all infected, although there were relatively few flocks tested.
Caged flocks took longer
Brachyspira infection began at a much earlier stage in free-range flocks, by 22 weeks of age, soon after the birds were allowed to go outside (Figure 2). By com- parison, caged flocks took longer for the infection to spread, but the majority of flocks were positive by 36 weeks of age. This explains the high level of infection in the US survey by Myers and others in 2009 with 86% of flocks infected as they were over 40 weeks of age. There were not many barn flocks tested, but the younger ones of 31-34 weeks of age were all positive.
Interestingly, there did not appear to be any difference in age of infection between caged flocks using deep pits for waste disposal or belt cleaning. This was considered surprising as the number of flies in deep-pit systems is usually much higher. It is also thought that flies are important, mechanical carriers of Brachyspira from faeces to feed and thereby complete the infection cycle.
Rodents and wild birds
Another potential carrier of concern in housed systems is rodents. A survey in Sweden identified rodents, particularly rats, as major carriers of Brachyspira on poultry farms (Table 2). Wild birds are also potential carriers of Brachyspira, therefore bird proofing of houses is important. This is impossible in free- range systems, and full biosecurity is a weakness of the system. Multi-age sites and multi-type systems can also be contributing factors for the continuous circulation and spread of infection. During the UK survey, the impact of different Brachyspira infections on production were noted. Caged flocks were graded on target with 315 eggs/hen housed (HH), below target <310 and above target >320. Similarly, free-range flocks were gauged 285 eggs/HH as
on target, below target <280 and above target >290 (Table 3). Brachyspira intermedia was expected to cause drops in egg production, and it did significantly in caged flocks, whereas B. pilosicoli appeared to have very little effect. Medication of the flocks, usually with tiamulin (Denagard - Novartis AH) may have influenced some of the flocks' egg production results, as the pathogenic Brachyspira are now being recognised as significant causes of production losses. Surprisingly, B. innocens infection (con-
sidered non-pathogenic previously) in free-range flocks was associated with sig- nificant drops in egg production (Figure 3).
More problems expected
With the dramatic changes that are going to occur regarding layer produc- tion over the next couple of years, with the phasing out of cages, productivity is going to be a key issue. Cages have generally separated hens from their faecal waste and as a result have a significantly better performance than free-range hens. Barns are somewhere in between. Enriched colony cages will still be able to maintain this separation, however, there is already a major move to barns in some countries and certainly towards free-range flocks in the UK, and therefore likely that we will be facing more concerns regarding Brachyspira infections in commercial laying flocks.

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