Is our food safe? Who is really watching out for food safety?
Large companies routinely rely on private audits to prove that their food is safe even though private auditors are dangerously incompetent, according to a New York Times investigation. The private auditor who inspected the Peanut Corporation of America plant responsible for unleashing the massive salmonella contamination was trained to audit bakeries and repeatedly gave the plant a “SUPERIOR” rating, partly because he “never thought that [salmonella] would survive in the peanut butter type environment.”
Audits are not required by the government, but food companies are increasingly requiring suppliers to undergo them as a way to ensure safety and minimize liability. The rigor of audits varies widely and many companies choose the cheapest ones, which cost as little as $1,000, in contrast to the $8,000 the Food and Drug Administration spends to inspect a plant.
Typically, the private auditors inspect only manufacturing plants, not the suppliers that feed ingredients to those facilities. Nor do they commonly test the actual food products for pathogens, even though gleaming production lines can turn out poisoned fare.
As in the Georgia peanut case, auditors are also usually paid by the food plants they inspect, which some experts said could deter them from cracking down. Yet food companies often point to an auditor’s certificate as a seal of approval.
The baking institute, which is based in Manhattan, Kan., and is also known as AIB International, says it inspected more than 10,000 food production sites in 80 countries last year. James R. Munyon, its president and chief executive, said his group’s inspections were reliable and tough, no matter who pays for them, but he declined to elaborate on specific audits.
Even worse, employees with safety concerns are told to defer to the private audits.
Both the government and industry are aware of the problem. The government’s solution? “Expanding the role of private auditors to inspect the more than 200,000 foreign facilities that ship food to the United States.”
Robert A. LaBudde, a food safety expert who has consulted with food companies for 30 years, said, “The only thing that matters is productivity.” He added that “you only get in trouble if someone in the media traces it back to you, and that’s rare, like a meteor strike.”
Dr. LaBudde said a sausage plant hired him five years ago to determine the species of bacillus plaguing its meat. But the owner then refused to complete the testing. “I called them ‘anthrax sausages,’ and said they could be killing older people in the state, and still they wouldn’t do it,” he said, declining to name the company.
Food Safety Problems Slip Past Private Inspectors [The New York Times]
Pregnancy and Food Safety Tips
What you need to know:
Not all foods are safe for pregnant women. Some contain high levels of chemicals that can affect your baby’s development. Others put you at risk for getting an infection that can hurt your baby.
What you can do:
Use common sense when preparing and selecting foods. Avoid the following:
* Swordfish, shark, king mackerel and tile fish. These fish can contain potentially risky levels of mercury. Mercury can be transferred to the growing fetus and cause serious health problems. Also avoid game fish until you check its safety with your local health department. (A game fish is any fish caught for sport, such as trout, salmon or bass.)
* Raw fish, especially shellfish (oysters, clams)
* Undercooked meat, poultry and seafood. Cook all of them thoroughly to kill bacteria.
* Do not eat hot dogs or luncheon meats. Examples are deli meats such as ham, turkey, salami and bologna. If you do eat these foods, reheat them until steaming hot.
* Refrigerated pates or meat spreads. Canned versions are safe.
* Refrigerated smoked seafood unless it has been cooked (as in a casserole). Canned versions are safe.
* Soft-scrambled eggs and all foods made with raw or lightly cooked eggs
* Soft cheeses made with unpasteurized milk. Examples are Brie, feta, Camembert, Roquefort, blue-veined, queso blanco, queso fresco and Panela. Check the label to see what kind of milk was used to make the cheese.
* Unpasteurized milk and any foods made from it
* Unpasteurized juices
* Raw vegetable sprouts, including alfalfa, clover, radish and mung bean
* Herbal supplements and teas
Also do not eat too much liver. It contains high amounts of vitamin A, which can lead to birth defects.
Some studies indicate that your baby may be at increased risk of developing a food allergy in later life if you, your partner or a family member has a food allergy. You may wish to consult a food allergy specialist for help in planning your diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
How much melamine is safe? World Heath Org says traces seem safe
By FRANK JORDANS
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday that tiny traces of the chemical melamine are not harmful in most foods, but it joined the U.S. and EU in setting a strict limit that regulators should impose before pulling products off the shelf.
Melamine was recently found to have contaminated milk products around the world and has been implicated in the sickening of nearly 300,000 babies in China and killing at least six infants there.
A meeting of food safety experts held by WHO in Ottawa, Canada, decided on Friday that while there is no good reason to have any melamine in food products at all, a maximum of 0.2 milligrams of melamine per kilogram of body weight can be tolerated per day.
Jorgen Schlundt, WHO's director for food safety, said that threshold is lower than the European Union's limitation of 0.5 milligrams. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which originally set its limit at 0.63 milligrams, later reduced its tolerable daily intake to 0.063 milligrams.
WHO's guidance is used by governments to set their minimum food safety standards.
Melamine, a nitrogen-rich chemical used in the production of plastics, was first discovered to be a major problem when it appeared in Chinese infant formula in September. Since then traces have been found in milk products around the world.
Last month the FDA said tests found traces of melamine in the infant formula of one major U.S. manufacturer and cyanuric acid, a related chemical, in the formula of a second major maker.
Schlundt stressed that the threshold the WHO has set — which stipulates that a 50 kilogram (110-pound) person could tolerate 10 milligrams of melamine per day — is not a “safe” level for melamine, but merely the amount a human being can consume without higher health risk.
Melamine is used in some food packaging and can rub off into packaged food products. It also is part of a cleaning solution used on some food processing equipment.
Melamine in White Rabbit Candy
Singapore finds melamine in White Rabbit candies; Chinese dairy products now banned across Asia and Africa
Melamine found in white rabbit candies
Looks like our earlier warning to not eat or drink anything with dairy content for the time being bears repeating. Singapore has now found traces of melamine in White Rabbit candies, wildly popular throughout Asia. The Straits Times reports:
Singapore’s Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said samples of White Rabbit-brand Creamy Candy imported from China were contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical that can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.
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Authorities on Friday suspended the sale and import of all Chinese milk and dairy products after finding melamine in samples of a Yili-brand yogurt bar and Dutch Lady-brand strawberry milk manufactured in China. The ban includes milk, ice cream, yogurt, chocolate, biscuits and candy, as well as any other products containing milk from China as an ingredient.
'Retailers and importers have been instructed to recall these products and withhold them from sale,' the AVA said in a statement.
'Consumers who have bought the affected products are advised not to consume them.'
This would be the second time in the short history of this blog that the quality of White Rabbit candies has been called into question. In July 2007, we reported that traces of the cancer-causing agent formaldehyde were found in the candies which are produced in Shanghai by the Guan Sheng Yuan Group.
Meanwhile, the melamine scandal continues to widen around the region:
* Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety has found traces of melamine in Nestle Dairy Farm Pure Milk. And in the first reported case outside of the mainland, a three-and-a-half-year-old Hong Kong toddler has been diagnosed with kidney stones after being fed with Yili milk daily for the past 15 months.
* Public health officials in Taiwan have announced their findings of melamine-tainted instant coffee, milk tea and chicken-and-corn soup. The import of all such products into Taiwan has been banned with immediate effect, including instant coffee made by the popular Taiwan brand Mr Brown in China.
* In Japan, Marudai Food Co. issued a voluntary recall of five China-made products, saying they may contain the toxin melamine
* China ally Myanmar has announced it would "seize and destroy imported Chinese baby formula to safeguard against poisoning by the toxic chemical melamine".
* Brunei has ordered a blanket ban on all China-made milk products and dairy items.
* Malaysia has imposed a "level six import ban" on all Chinese dairy products.
* Bangladesh has also started on a crackdown and ban on three brands of Chinese-made milk powder.
* In Africa, Tanzania and Gabon were the first to impose bans on Chinese dairy products and Burundi has just joined them in the ban.
By Kenneth Tan in News
Food Safety for the Holidays- Basic Food Safety 101
Food Prep Safety During the Holidays
Preventing foodborne illness is easy as…
1. Clean Wash hands and surfaces often.
2. Separate Don’t cross-contaminate.
3. Cook Cook to proper temperatures.
4. Chill Refrigerate promptly.
* No matter how tempting, don't taste raw cookie dough or cake batter if it contains raw eggs. Harmful bacteria can be lurking in the raw eggs... so wait until the goodies are cooked. The 2-Hour Rule Bring Out the Hibachi! * Grill hot dogs until they're steaming hot and hamburgers until they reach 160° F (71 ° C). Sassy Soups & Cider * Serve up hot soup, chili, or crab dip, but keep it all piping hot by placing these foods in insulated thermal containers. Keep the container closed until serving time. The Must-Chill Menu * If shrimp cocktail and cold dips are on the menu, serve them chilled on a bed of ice. The best thing about the holidays are the leftovers! * Reheat leftovers to 165° F (74° C). Use a food thermometer to check. Happy Thanksgiving! * Cook the turkey to 180° F (82° C). Insert the food thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh muscle without touching the bone to get an accurate reading.
* Before going "bobbing for apples," an all-time favorite Halloween game, reduce the number of bacteria that might be present on apples and other raw fruits and vegetables by thoroughly rinsing them under running water. As an added precaution, use a produce brush to remove surface dirt.
* "Scare" bacteria away by keeping all perishable foods chilled until serving time. These include: finger sandwiches, cheese platters, fruit or tossed salads, cold pasta dishes with meat, poultry, or seafood, and cream pies or cakes with whipped-cream and cream-cheese frostings. Cold temperatures keep most harmful bacteria from multiplying.
Remember the 2-Hour Rule: Discard any perishables (foods that can spoil or become contaminated by bacteria if unrefrigerated) left out at room temperature for longer than two hours. When temperatures are above 90° F (32° C), discard food after one hour.
Note: See the Food Tampering fact sheet for how to detect and report product tampering.
Time for Tailgating
Keep food safe at a tailgating party by keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Here's how...
* Use a food thermometer to check the temperature. Heating foods to the right temperature for the proper amount of time kills harmful bacteria.
* Toast your team's victory with hot apple cider, but make sure the cider is pasteurized or otherwise treated to kill harmful bacteria. Unpasteurized cider may contain harmful bacteria. Be sure to read the label!
* Pack perishables, like cold fried chicken, directly from the refrigerator into the cooler - and include a cold pack. Keep all perishables chilled until serving time.
Here's how to handle them safely...
* Bring leftover sauces, soups, and gravies to a boil before serving.
* Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within two hours of eating. Remember the 2-Hour Rule: Don't leave food out at room temperature for more than two hours. On a hot day (90° F or higher), reduce this time to one hour.
Here's how to make your holiday feast safe...
* For even heating, cook stuffing separately to 165° F (74° C). Use a food thermometer to check.
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