Go beyond piping hot? new UK food poisoning figures published

New research published by the Food Standards Agency gives the most detailed picture yet of how many people suffer from food poisoning in the UK every year and how much food poisoning can be attributed to different foods.

Ministry-Silly-WalksThe findings are important as official data for food poisoning cases significantly under-estimates how big the problem is, as only the most serious cases get reported. Most people do not seek treatment from their GP, and not all GPs carry out tests for specific pathogens, so these unreported cases are not captured in routine surveillance data.

The data from this study, coupled with data from official statistics, refines our previous estimates of the real burden of foodborne disease and so will help focus efforts to reduce levels of food poisoning in the UK.

The study found that:

There are more than 500,000 cases of food poisoning a year from known pathogens. This figure would more than double if it included food poisoning cases from unknown pathogens.

Campylobacter was the most common foodborne pathogen, with about 280,000 cases every year.

The next most common pathogen was Clostridium perfringens with 80,000 cases, and norovirus was third with an estimated 74,000 cases.

Salmonella is the pathogen that causes the most hospital admissions – about 2,500 each year.

Poultry meat was the food linked to the most cases of food poisoning, with an estimated 244,000 cases every year.

After poultry, produce including vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, caused the second highest number of cases of illness (an estimated 48,000 cases), while beef and lamb were third (an estimated 43,000 cases).

The researchers were able to identify about half a million cases of food poisoning every year attributable to 13 specific pathogens. However, 10 million cases of infectious intestinal disease (IID) a year are not yet attributed to a specific pathogen. If these cases had similar rates attributable to food then this would bring the overall figure to in excess of a million cases a year.

Professor Sarah O’Brien, the study’s lead researcher from the University of Liverpool, said: ‘These findings will help the FSA to target its resources more effectively in tackling food poisoning. They confirm that the FSA is right to put campylobacter at the top of its priority list. It is the biggest food safety problem we have and more needs to be done to tackle it.’

Steve Wearne, Director of Policy at the FSA, said: ‘This study is a very important part of the research we fund to increase our knowledge of food safety and the risks that all of us are exposed to. Reduction of campylobacter is our top food safety priority, and that is borne out by this research. We recently revised our campylobacter strategy and we, in collaboration with industry, must now push on to find the solutions that will stop so many people getting ill.’

The research is an extension of the IID2 study, published in September 2011, which estimated the numbers of cases of IID in the UK. The IID2 extension was commissioned by the FSA to use the data generated from the IID2 study, and other sources, to estimate the burden of foodborne disease in the UK.

From the duh files: parents serve up their kids’ food hygiene habits

UK’s Food Standards Agency sure spends a lot of money on stuff the rest of us might go, duh?

roast.chicken.june.10Parents have a big influence on their children’s food hygiene habits, according to a survey by the Food Standards Agency. The results show a link between how people currently prepare their food and the behaviors they experienced when they were kids. More than two thirds of UK adults (70%) said their parents insisted on washing hands before meals, with 62% now doing the same themselves.

Just over half (53%) recalled their parents washing chopping boards in between preparing raw and cooked foods – a behaviour that two thirds (66%) had recently repeated.

However, the survey showed that parents don’t always know best when it comes to food safety. Almost half (47%) of adults saw their parents washing raw chicken before cooking it when they were kids, with 46% revealing that they have done the same in recent months. It is this bad food hygiene habit that is the subject of this year’s Food Safety Week, which focuses on the message ‘don’t wash raw chicken’. Washing raw chicken can lead to a potentially dangerous form of food poisoning and almost a third (32%) of people said the reason they wash raw chicken is that their parents or another relative did so when they were growing up.

Bob Martin, food safety expert at the FSA, said: ‘Our survey suggests that mum doesn’t always know best when it comes to food safety.”

Bob, mom always doesn’t do the cooking, but stick to your sexist, taxpayer-funded message if you like.

You may want to add the use of thermometers instead of piping hot, regardless of gender.

Rob Mancini: Norovirus, you don’t want it

Rob Mancini, a public health inspector for the Canadian province of Manitoba, writes:

Norovirus is the leading cause of domestically acquired foodborne illness. Noroviruses are highly transmissible and can spread via exposure to contaminated food or water sources, person-to-person contact, aerosolized vomitus particles, and fomites1. Their high infectivity, extreme stability, resistance to disinfectants, and ability to cause disease has categorized them into a Category B biodefense agent1.

norovirus-2They are nasty.

The incubation period typically ranges from 12-24 hours with predominant symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea, somewhat similar to vomitus scene from the acclaimed film The Exorcist. In an effort to part from the insidious sub-zero temperatures in Winnipeg (Canada), my wife and I recently took a trip to Mexico only to be taken down from norovirus. Never felt an episode of fooborne illness quite that bad and those who have had norovirus can relate.

The University of Liverpool is to lead a £2 million Food Standards Agency (FSA) project to map the occurrence of norovirus in food premises and industry workers

The study is a collaboration between the University of Liverpool’s Institute for Infection and Global Health, Public Health England, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, the Food and Environment Research Agency, Leatherhead Food Research and the University of East Anglia.

This follows a recent draft report by the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food, which called for improved routine surveillance and investigation of foodborne viruses. At present it is not clear whether the majority of infections come from the food itself or from the people and environment involved in bringing it to the plate.

Researchers will produce data to assist the FSA in developing plans to reduce the infection by collecting swabs from work surfaces at more than 200 pubs, restaurants and hotels in the North West and South East of England. The team will also investigate occurrences of the virus in shops in three of the highest risk foodstuffs: oysters, salad and berries. The results will be combined with those from other research programmes to generate an assessment of the true impact of the virus on infection in the UK.

1. Karst SM (2010) Pathogenesis of noroviruses, emerging RNA viruses. Viruses 2: 748–781.

87 Greater Manchester restaurants scored ‘zero’ ratings for food hygiene

Almost 90 restaurants in Greater Manchester have a zero out of five rating from the Food Standards Agency including restaurants near Piccadilly and the Trafford Centre.

Both Swadesh, a swanky Indian restaurant on Portland Street, and Rice Flame and Grill in the Trafford Centre, were among the 87 businesses receiving the lowest possible score.

Bullet-With-Butterfly-Wings-smashing-pumpkins-4349111-990-756-640x488The Manchester Evening News reports the borough with the highest number of zero star restaurants was Bolton, with 26 establishments receiving the low food hygiene score, while Salford came second with 13 restaurants being given no stars for food hygeine.

MPs’ fury at fresh egg ban because they are ‘too dangerous’ to use in House of Commons’ kitchens

It’s dangerous politics to talk about eggs and risk in the UK.

In 1988, then junior UK health minister Edwina Currie warned the British public that most of the egg production in the UK was affected by Salmonella. Egg sales collapsed, Currie was scrambled-eggs-su-1017334-leventually turfed from cabinet and millions worth of compensation was paid to egg producers.

Yesterday, Members of Parliament scrambled to blast a ban on chefs using fresh eggs in the House of Commons’ kitchens.

Caterers have been told they are “too dangerous” and could be contaminated with salmonella.

Instead they must use liquid egg for dishes like omelette.

But Labour MP Thomas Docherty, vice chairman of the Commons Administration Committee, ordered an inquiry into the daft move.

He said: “I have asked managers to find out who took this ridiculous decision.”

Another shell-shocked MP warned: “If MPs cannot or will not eat scrambled eggs because they are a health risk, members of the public may say, ‘if it is too dangerous for MPs then it must be too dangerous for us’.”

A Commons spokeswoman insisted the ban was in line with Food Standards Agency advice.

She added: “Dishes such as scrambled eggs, mousses or omelettes which do not reach a core temperature of 75C are now made using pasteurised liquid egg rather than fresh eggs.”

But the Food Standards Agency said there was nothing to stop caterers cooking with fresh eggs.

A spokesman pointed out the ­guidance on using the liquid version was meant for vulnerable people like the elderly and ­seriously ill.

It also applied only if the dish was not to be fully cooked.

The spokesman added: “This is simply ­guidance and not a legal requirement.”

Guidance needs to be clear and food safety is never simple. Keep those eggs piping hot.

413 sick from Salmonella at UK street festival; FSA says wash curry leaves

With at least 413 people sick with Salmonella, apparently linked to uncooked curry leaves in a chutney served at the Street Spice festival in Newcastle in February and March, regulators decided July would be a good time to offer ridiculous advice and tell consumers to wash their curry leaves.

Even if cooked to piping or steaming hot – whatever useless adjective the Food Standards Agency and its crack staff and risk communication consultants are using this week – the advice imagesignores cross-contamination, fails to focus on a farm-to-fork food safety approach, and ignores that people tend not to wash their chutney when they buy it at a street festival.

I don’t like curry. I don’t like cooking with it, I have no idea what curry leaves are. But based on the herbs and produce I do know, washing is of little use – the contamination has to be prevented, beginning on the farm.

In reporting the outbreak, Public Health England tossed the ball over to FSA for advice because people – consumers, food service – really don’t understand the risk related to raw herbs and produce.

(Recite this with pinky pointed upwards).

“The Food Standards Agency is reminding those who eat or use fresh curry leaves in their dishes, to ensure that the leaves are washed thoroughly before use. “Cooking provides further assurance that these leaves are safe to eat.

“When using fresh curry leaves and other fresh herbs, it is important that they are sourced from a reputable supplier and are handled and stored correctly. If there are instructions for storage, preparation, handling and use on the label, these should be carefully followed.”

Who’s a reputable supplier?

Maybe one with a good food safety track record and sensible steps to reduce risk?

But how would consumers know if food safety isn’t marketed?

And if FSA is going to recommend washing, shouldn’t FSA provide some data to show this advice reduces risk?

 

Piping hot becomes steaming hot; are you ready to cook safely? FSA thinks you’re dumb, fails to apply science to messages

Sometimes, it’s best to remain baffled.

Who can explain some things? Like why the UK Food Standards Agency insists it’s a science-based organization but publishes advice that panders.

In their annual food safety week blitz, FSA focuses on home cooks – industry likes it that way – without actually showing people cooking at home (like me
sorenne.pizza.dough.cook.13
and Sorenne and a friend of hers, making pizza dough yesterday; Michael Pollan did not invent home cooking).

“Most people don’t believe the food they cook at home can make them ill, but the meals prepared at home can be a source of food poisoning. In a recent survey, we found that 80% of those questioned carry out one or more behaviors that put them at risk of food poisoning.

“We’ve created the Kitchen Check, a simple tool that helps you find out how safe your kitchen habits are and if they are putting you, or your family and friends, at risk of food poisoning. We have also created a fun young people’s activity pack so children can get involved too.”

Food safety is not simple; kids are smarter than bureaucrats reaching out to kids; and there was no evaluation of whether these messages work.

Not quite scientific.

And then there’s the kitchen check, a fun-filled survey, that only bureaucrats
dick.van.dyke.poppinscould actually believe is fun.

I make sure my food is properly cooked by:

“Following the cooking instructions on the label and making sure that the food is steaming hot all the way through

“Checking it with a temperature probe

“When cooking poultry I cut into the thickest part of the meat and check that it is steaming hot with no pink meat and the juices run clear

“When cooking burgers I cut into the middle and check that they are steaming hot and cooked all the way through, with no pink meat or blood

“Checking that pork is steaming hot and cooked all the way through with no pink meat.”

Yet in a separate section on cooking hamburgers, thermometers aren’t mentioned.

Color is a lousy indicator.

And no comment on why or how contaminated food is showing up in the kitchen.

Are chia (pet) seeds safe?

When I think chia seeds, I think chia pet head with hairstyles by Lyle Lovett or the dude from Eraserhead.

But when a microbiologist and cook marries a French professor, anything is eraserheadpossible.

I prefer fun with fermentations, but Amy’s trying this largely lactose and gluten reduced diet because of diagnosed intolerances. I’m old but can try some new things.

A couple of French professors from Wales who were in New York for years and now Adelaide came to visit for the weekend to take in the British Lions versus the Queensland Reds rugby match Saturday night.

We entertained them at the ocean (low tide) and I woke up early and tried lyle.lovett.hairsome new approaches to baking for breakfast.

The muffins on the right are primarily buckwheat flour, with some quinoa and coconut flour, a bunch of fruit, and stuff.

The things on the left are polenta rolls, with some quinoa, garlic, rosemary, and, chia seeds.

Both made with soy milk and lime.

And now that chia seeds are widely available and favored by hispsters, it’s a good idea the UK Food Standards Agency is going to evaluate their safety.

Infoods Ltd (based in the UK). It is requesting an opinion from the Agency on the ‘equivalence’ of their chia seeds, which are grown in particular regions of South America, with the chia seeds grown in Australia and marketed by The Chia Company.

The European Novel Foods Regulation includes a simplified approval procedure for when a company believes its novel food is substantially IMG_0419
equivalent to a food that is already on the market. In such a situation, the applicant can submit a notification to the European Commission after obtaining an opinion on equivalence from an EU Member State – in this case the UK.

Chia is a summer annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Labiatae family. The plant grows from a seedling to develop lush green foliage before it produces long flowers that are either purple or, less commonly, white. These flowers develop into seed pods to produce chia seeds. Although chia is grown commercially in several Latin American countries and Australia, the seeds have not been consumed to a significant degree in Europe.

The applicants’ chia seeds will be used in the same products as those for which approval was granted earlier this year for The Chia Company’s seeds (bread products, breakfast cereal, fruit, nut and seed mixes and bread and 100% packaged chia seeds).

dp.beach.jun.13

Surveys still suck: UK attitudes to slaughterhouse treatments

The piping hot risk communicators at the UK Food Standards Agency have found that rapid chilling of meat and the application of hot water or steam emerged as the two slaughterhouse treatments consumers would find most acceptable.

Treatments using lactic acid and ozone were initially considered less acceptable, however, when consumers were given extra information communicationon lactic acid, its acceptability increased significantly.

The survey was carried out as part of the Agency’s work to reduce the levels of campylobacter on raw poultry.

FSA Head Of Foodborne Diseases Strategy, Bob Martin said, ‘The findings suggest that providing clear information about the treatments, such as what they are and how they work, would have a positive impact on the public’s acceptability of new treatments such as these.’

FSA chief scientist Andrew Wadge also weighed in, writing the results suggest that “public resistance to innovative ideas may be partly due to an unfamiliarity with particular processes.

“It seems then, that the language we use and the type of information we provide on innovative processes is important to public acceptance of science.”

Uh-huh.