Fw: [BITES-L] bites Dec. 6/10
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bites Dec. 6/10
US: For food-safety overhaul, lobbyists rushed to the table
PENNSYLVANIA: Food industry lends support to standard safety rules
IRELAND: Businesses closed over food safety
UK: Food poisoning: Hotels experience rise in food poisoning cases
HONG KONG: Two clusters of suspected food poisoning cases investigated
NIH-sponsored panel issues comprehensive US food allergy guidelines
CANADA: Pilot project applications ready to facilitate interprovincial trade
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US: For food-safety overhaul, lobbyists rushed to the table
06.dec.10
Washington Post
Amanda Becker
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/03/AR2010120306058.html
The overhaul of food safety laws recently passed by the Senate had the support of business interests, consumer groups and lawmakers from both parties, but the bipartisan legislation still generated plenty of work along the K Street corridor.
At least 221 organizations hired 77 lobbying shops to quibble over details in the Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act since it was introduced by sponsor Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) at the beginning of last year. At times, industry organizations and corporate heavyweights with a stake in the bill -- such as the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the National Restaurant Association, the Natural Products Association, Abbott Laboratories and Anheuser-Busch -- retained multiple District firms to represent their interests. Many also deployed their own government relations staff to the Hill, a Capital Business analysis of Senate lobbying records shows.
PENNSYLVANIA: Food industry lends support to standard safety rules
06.dec.10
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Timothy Puko
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_712403.html
Every time Big Burrito Restaurant Group opens a new restaurant outside Allegheny County, its managers and cooks have to learn their new locations' food safety rules. Regulations on everything from cooking temperatures to record-keeping can differ from place to place, said Bill Fuller, corporate chef for the nine-restaurant company.
"We're always surprised," he said.
Fuller is among many in the food industry lending broad support to a new law that aims to standardize food safety in Pennsylvania's restaurants when it takes effect next month. And just as Gov. Edward G. Rendell signed that law recently, federal lawmakers were working to overhaul food production regulations aimed at ending a string of nationwide health scares.
The state will collect restaurant inspection data monthly that will be publicly available at www.EatSafePA.com. Inspections statewide will all be conducted in accordance with the same minimum regulations. Local jurisdictions that have traditionally set regulations for most of Pennsylvania's 100,000 restaurants must at least follow the federal Food and Drug Administration's National Model Retail Food Code beginning Jan. 22.
"It'll be nice to see our neighbors on the same playing field. And as a citizen of the state, I like to know that when I buy food, someone's keeping an eye on it," Fuller said.
IRELAND: Businesses closed over food safety
06.dec.10
Irish Times
Elaine Edwards
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1206/breaking29.html
Three out of four restaurants closed for breaches of food safety last month were in Boyle, Co Roscommon.
It is the second month in a row that Roscommon was responsible for the majority of such closure orders.
These orders may be made where environmental health officers believe there is a grave and immediate danger to public health at the premises.
Closure orders were served in November on the Tai Chi Court restaurant, Bridge Street, Boyle; on the Royal Hotel (kitchen, cafe and external food stores), Boyle and on M&K Mireks Restaurant, The Crescent, Boyle.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland said a closure order was also served on 3 in 1 Charcoal Grill take-away, 20 Northgate Street, Athlone, Co Westmeath.
Environmental health officers served an improvement order on De Seeds Restaurant & Bar, 8B Bridge Street, Balbriggan, Co Dublin.
Five successful prosecutions were also carried out by health officers in November. The businesses prosecuted were:
• The Natural Foods Bakery, Pier Head, Blackrock, Co Cork
• Millers Pizza, 50 Upper Baggot Street, Dublin 4
• Marguerites Bakery, Sheehans Road, Newcastlewest, Limerick
• Cashel Kebabs, 28 Lower Gate Street, Cashel, Tipperary
• Superquinn, McKee Avenue, Finglas, Dublin 11.
All five prosecutions related to hygiene regulations.
FSAI chief executive Prof Alan Reilly said a "zero tolerance" policy would continue in relation to breaches of food safety legislation.
Consumers had to be sure the food they were eating was safe, he said.
UK: Food poisoning: Hotels experience rise in food poisoning cases
06.dec.10
Hotel-Industry
http://www.hotel-industry.co.uk/2010/12/food-poisoning/
Chefs and consumers have been told to ensure trendy chicken liver dishes have been properly cooked following a worrying rise in food poisoning linked to hotel and restaurant meals.
People following magazine recipes for the Christmas season have also been warned by government agencies not to leave pink meat in livers or other offal when they prepare pâté or parfait dishes.
The Food Standards Agency(FSA)has had to repeat advice to caterers first issued in July because there has been no drop in outbreaks linked to the campylobacter bug, the commonest cause of intestinal disease.
Data from the Health Protection Agency(HPA) says 11 of 15 food poisoning outbreaks at hotels or restaurants in England and Wales so far this year have been associated with such poultry dishes.
This is well up on previous years. Food poisoning through campylobacter contamination generally has risen significantly in the last four years after reductions in the early part of the decade. There were 57,772 cases confirmed in 2009, and figures indicate that this may rise by about 10% this year. The FSA says an estimated two-thirds of shop-bought chicken is contaminated with the bug.
The food agency estimates there may be five times that number of unreported or unconfirmed cases, with an estimated 15,000 cases resulting in people needing hospital treatment. Symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach pains and cramps, fever, and generally feeling unwell. They can take up to 10 days to develop and be caused by poor hygiene as well as improperly cooked food.
Dilys Morgan, head of gastrointestinal, emerging and zoonotic infections at the HPA, said: "It has become apparent that chicken liver pâté and parfait is being served more frequently. The product is also being promoted in Christmas recipes published in magazines and the instructions do not always stress clearly enough how very important it is to ensure that livers are cooked sufficiently to kill the campylobacter. The public and the catering industry need to be aware that undercooking this product, allowing the centre to remain pink, can result in food poisoning."
HONG KONG: Two clusters of suspected food poisoning cases investigated
06.dec.10
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201012/06/P201012060256.htm
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is investigating two clusters of suspected food poisoning cases involving 10 people.
The first cluster involved five females aged from 26 to 28 who developed abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting and nausea about three to four hours after consuming food in a restaurant in Tung Chung on November 28. All of them sought medical treatment but did not require hospitalization. All the affected are currently in stable condition.
The second group involved two males and three females aged from one to 38. They developed similar symptoms about three to four hours after eating in the same restaurant on December 4. One of them sought medical treatment and no hospitalisation was required. All of them are in stable condition.
NIH-sponsored panel issues comprehensive US food allergy guidelines
06.dec.10
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
William Crews
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-12/nioa-npi120210.php
Guidelines recommend uniform standards in the diagnosis and management of food allergy
An expert panel sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has issued comprehensive U.S. guidelines to assist health care professionals in diagnosing food allergy and managing the care of people with the disease.
The Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy in the United States: Report of the NIAID-sponsored Expert Panel, developed over two years, are intended for use by both family practice physicians and medical specialists. Published online by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the guidelines and summary recommendations are freely accessible on the NIAID food allergy guidelines portal at http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/clinical/. NIAID expects to make a lay language synopsis of the guidelines available there in early 2011.
"Food allergy affects millions of Americans, and these individuals seek care from a wide variety of health care providers," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "Because these guidelines provide standardized, concise recommendations on how to diagnose and manage food allergy and treat acute food allergy reactions across specialties, we expect both clinicians and food allergy patients to greatly benefit from these clear state-of-the-science clinical standards."
The guidelines serve to establish consistency in terminology and definitions, diagnostic criteria and patient management practices. They are designed for both generalists and specialists in areas such as allergy, pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, dermatology, gastroenterology, emergency medicine, and pulmonary and critical care medicine.
A coordinating committee representing 34 professional organizations, advocacy groups and federal agencies oversaw the development of the guidelines. The coordinating committee selected a 25-member expert panel, chaired by Joshua Boyce, M.D., co-director of the Inflammation and Allergic Disease Research Section at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. The panel used an independent, systematic literature review of food allergy and their own expert clinical opinions to prepare draft guidelines. Public comments were invited and considered as well during the development of the guidelines.
"These guidelines are an important starting point toward a goal of a more cogent, evidence-based approach to the diagnosis and management of food allergy," says Dr. Boyce. "We believe that they provide healthcare professionals with a clear-cut definition of what constitutes a food allergy and a logical framework for the appropriate use of diagnostic testing and accurate interpretation of the results."
Additional topics covered by the guidelines include the prevalence of food allergy, natural history of food allergy and closely associated diseases, and management of acute allergic reactions to food, including anaphylaxis, a severe whole-body reaction. They also identify gaps about what is known about food allergy.
"The food allergy guidelines provide a rigorous assessment of the state of the science, and clearly identify the areas where evidence is lacking and where research needs to be pursued," says Daniel Rotrosen, M.D., director of the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation at NIAID. "This information will help shape our research agenda for the near future."
Food allergy has become a serious health concern in the United States. Recent studies estimate that food allergy affects nearly 5 percent of children younger than 5 years old and 4 percent of teens and adults. Its prevalence appears to be on the rise. Not only can food allergy be associated with immediate and sometimes life-threatening consequences, it also can affect an individual's health, nutrition, development and quality of life. While several potential treatments appear promising, currently no treatments for food allergy exist and avoidance of the food is the only way to prevent complications of the disease.
More information on the guidelines may be found at the NIAID food allergy guidelines portal at http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/clinical. The available information includes a document titled Frequently Asked Questions about the guidelines at http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/clinical/Pages/guidelinefaq.
Information for patients and their families may be found on What's in It for Patients at http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/clinical/Pages/patients.
NIAID conducts and supports research—at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide—to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH)—The Nation's Medical Research Agency—includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
CANADA: Pilot project applications ready to facilitate interprovincial trade
06.dec.10
CFIA
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/newcom/2010/20101206e.shtml
OTTAWA -- Fulfilling a promise made at the Agriculture ministers' meeting in July, the Government of Canada will invest up to $3 million for a series of pilot projects that will investigate and help better position provincial meat processors to move their safe, high quality product across the country while keeping with Canada's high federal food safety standards.
"Producers and processors can be proud of their safe, high quality meat, but are often unable to sell to customers just kilometres away because of a provincial border," said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. "We are working with the provinces to inject some common sense into interprovincial trade so that producers and processors can share their world-class product with more Canadian consumers."
As part of the ongoing work by federal and provincial Ministers to create market opportunities for farmers and producers, these pilot projects are part of a roadmap that would expand interprovincial trade in meat. Officials will work with industry to validate new inspection procedures, collect samples and information, and determine what technical procedures could be adapted to better reflect the operating environments of meat processors of all sizes.
"Breaking down interprovincial trade barriers will benefit our producers, processors and packers, who will be able to expand their markets," said Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud, who was the co-chair of the Ministers' meetings this year. "Consumers in Saskatchewan and across Canada will benefit from a sound science-based approach to reducing red tape and interprovincial trade barriers."
Facilities interested in participating in the pilot project are invited to submit their application by January 7th to their respective province. Information about this project, including the list of participating provinces/territories, and how to apply, is available at the following website: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/meavia/interprov/interprove.shtml
"One of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association's principles is free and competitive trade, both internationally and interprovincially," said Canadian Cattlemen's Association President Travis Toews. "The domestic market is our biggest market; removing barriers to improve interprovincial trade is a worthy undertaking."
This federal investment is being delivered through the Agricultural Flexibility Fund. The Agricultural Flexibility Fund provides up to $500-million to implement new initiatives that will help the agriculture sector adapt to pressures and improve its competitiveness by funding projects that reduce production costs, improve environmental sustainability, promote innovation and respond to market challenges.
Provincial governments and industry will be invited to contribute to those selected pilot projects.
bites is produced by Dr. Douglas Powell and food safety friends at Kansas State University. For further information, please contact dpowell@ksu.edu or check out bites.ksu.edu.
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