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Features: Mutation That Increases Listeria Survival Identified
A single-point mutation newly identified in the genome of Listeria monocytogenes increases the pathogen’s ability to withstand temperature-related and osmotic stress, researchers in Ireland reported. The same group also described a previously unidentified twisting of L. monocytogenes cells into a corkscrew shape in response to increased stresses.
Features: Pest Threats: Keeping the Enemy Out
If facility managers are going to be successful in their battle against pests, not only do they need to be aware of proper prevention and detection techniques, but most importantly, they must know their enemy. Here are the most common pests found in and around food processing plants.
Features: FDA Releases Report on Traceability Pilots
On March 4, the FDA released its report on two product traceability pilot projects launched in 2011 as part of the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act. The two pilots, carried out by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), focused on foods recently linked to foodborne illness outbreaks—tomatoes in one pilot and chicken, peanuts, and spices in processed foods in the other. The goal: To identify potential methods of improving product tracing of foods in the supply chain and of...
Features: Markey Debuts Revised Seafood Fraud Bill
With studies showing that seafood is mislabeled as much as 33% of the time, Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) on March 6 introduced a new bipartisan version of his legislation to combat seafood fraud. The SAFE Seafood Act requires information collected by U.S. fishermen—such as species name, catch location, and harvest method—to “follow the fish,” and be made available to consumers. It also requires equivalent documentation from foreign fish producers, and expands the ability of...
Features: Packaging That Tests Food Freshness?
Scientists at Eindhoven University of Technology have developed what they say is the final piece in the puzzle of developing a smart sensor that could be integrated within food packaging to provide a readout of that food’s freshness: A plastic analog-to-digital converter. The invention was presented in late February at the ISSCC in San Francisco, an important conference on solid-state circuits.
Features: Beleaguered Eastern Cantaloupe Growers Form Association
After two seasons in a row of disease outbreaks associated with cantaloupe—the Jensen Farms (Colorado) listeria outbreak of 2011 and the Chamberlain Farms (Indiana) salmonella outbreak of 2012—growers on the East Coast of the U.S. have come together to form their own association aimed at improving food safety practices and restoring consumer confidence.
Features: Pressure Mounts to Label Genetically Modified Foods
Statewide efforts to pass laws requiring labeling of genetically modified foods have so far failed—California’s bill went down to defeat in November—but more states are trying. On Feb. 22, a coalition of consumer and environmental groups (and even one labor union) held a press conference urging New Jersey’s legislature to become the first in the nation to mandate such labeling.
Features: European Horse Meat Scandal: Could it Cross the Pond?
The European horse meat controversy got bigger on Feb., 27 as Swedish do-it-yourself furniture giant Ikea halted sales of its Kottbullar frozen meatballs in three more countries: Thailand, Hong Kong, and the Dominican Republic. At the same time, the company withdrew its Wiener sausages from stores in Ireland, the U.K., France, Portugal, and Spain; it wouldn’t say whether horse meat had been detected in these products too, and in a statement called the withdrawal an “extra-precautionary...
Features: A Look at the New Strain of Norovirus
A new strain of norovirus, known as “GII 4 Sydney” since it was first identified in Australia last year, has caused more than 140 outbreaks of stomach illness in the U.S. from the time when it first emerged here in September 2012. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, GII 4 Sydney is now responsible for at least 60% of the norovirus outbreaks in the U.S.
Features: U.K. Regulators, Food Industry Agree on Testing Program
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and representatives of the food industry in the United Kingdom agreed to conduct testing of meat products and publish the results “to provide a clearer picture of standards in the food chain,” the agency announced February 4. Some grocery chains have also announced their own new DNA testing regimens. The tests are being implemented in response to the identification of horse and pig DNA in beef products in the U.K. and Ireland.
