Role of rodents in transmission of Salmonella and Campylobacter

Salmonella and Campylobacter are generally regarded as the most important food-borne pathogens in the world. Reduction or elimination of these pathogens in the first part of the food chain (on the farm) is important to prevent disease among consumers of animal products. In organic farming, elimination becomes more difficult, as food animals are allowed outdoors and have easy access to potential sources of hazardous pathogens. Whilst rodents are often associated by organic farmers with infrastructural damage and eating or spoiling of stored feed and products, their zoonotic risks are frequently underestimated. They can amplify the number of pathogens in the environment and transfer them to food animals. Thus organic farmers should be aware of the need for rodent control from a food safety perspective. Preferably, rodent control should form an integral part of a total package of hygiene measures to prevent transfer of food-borne pathogens. These should also include e.g. control of wild birds and flies and obligatory disinfection of boots/clothes and equipment for farm workers and visitors

Risks of new pests and diseases

Climate change will affect the social and environmental determinants of the health of human, animal and plant populations around the world. It will challenge the social and biological capacities of food systems to regulate the emergence of pests and pathogens. Especially in Low-Income (LI) and Lower Middle-Income (LMI) countries, food systems will be dealing with new pests, diseases and emerging pathogens (viruses, bacteria, mycoplasma and fungi) severely threatening the health of vulnerable people and potentially exacerbating social and economic inequalities

Antimicrobial antagonists against food pathogens; a bacteriocin perspective

peer-reviewedEfforts are continuing to find novel bacteriocins with enhanced specificity and potency. Traditional plating techniques are still being used for bacteriocin screening studies, however, the availability of ever more bacterial genome sequences and the use of in silico gene mining tools have revealed novel bacteriocin gene clusters that would otherwise have been overlooked. Furthermore, synthetic biology and bioengineering-based approaches are allowing scientists to harness existing and novel bacteriocin gene clusters through expression in different hosts and by enhancing functionalities. The same principles apply to bacteriocin producing probiotic cultures and their application to control pathogens in the gut. We can expect that the recent developments on bacteriocins from Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) described here will contribute greatly to increased commercialisation of bacteriocins in food systems.This work was funded by the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, a research centre funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), through the Irish Government’s National Development Plan. The authors and their work were supported by SFI (grant no. 12/RC/2273

Tracking Foodborne Pathogens from Farm to Table: Data Needs to Evaluate Control Options

Food safety policymakers and scientists came together at a conference in January 1995 to evaluate data available for analyzing control of foodborne microbial pathogens. This proceedings starts with data regarding human illnesses associated with foodborne pathogens and moves backwards in the food chain to examine pathogen data in the processing sector and at the farm level. Of special concern is the inability to link pathogen data throughout the food chain. Analytical tools to evaluate the impact of changing production and consumption practices on foodborne disease risks and their economic consequences are presented. The available data are examined to see how well they meet current analytical needs to support policy analysis. The policymaker roundtable highlights the tradeoffs involved in funding databases, the economic evaluation of USDA's Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) proposal and other food safety policy issues, and the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach toward improving food safety databases.food safety, cost benefit analysis, foodborne disease risk, foodborne pathogens, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), probabilistic scenario analysis, fault-tree analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

An Analysis of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Proposal to Allow Irradiation of Meat

Foodborne pathogens in the United States kill thousands and sicken millions each year, despite major efforts by federal agencies and industry to combat the problem. Food irradiation could safely prevent a substantial part of those deaths and illnesses and has been endorsed by all major public health organizations. Yet federal regulations prohibit the use of irradiation to kill pathogens on meat, eggs, and seafood and restrict its use on poultry, and so contribute to avoidable deaths and illnesses. The U.S. Department of Agriculture should expedite its rulemaking to allow irradiation of meat, and it should not require that food labels mention irradiation more prominently than they identify food additives. Most importantly, to boost food irradiation in the marketplace, the Food and Drug Administration should promptly determine that irradiation of any food, including precooked meats, eggs, and seafood, is generally recognized as safe.

Development of plant epidemiological surveillance networks, data exchanges and joint response strategies in the Caribbean: the french experience

Plant pests and pathogens have the potential to emerge and spread rapidly, cause severe losses and threaten food security worldwide. Such a threat is increased by the rise of commercial exchanges of germplasm and fresh produce and by global warming. This threat is particularly high under island or archipelago habitat conditions. Hence the need to anticipate sanitary crises by developing appropriate surveillance and response systems for the control of pests and pathogens, especially those affecting crops important to food security and economical balance. Such systems are being developed in the Caribbean, in particular in the French West Indies through the PANDOeR project. An overview of this project is provided. Components of pests and pathogens control strategies, such as surveillance networks, data exchanges and joint response strategies, are discussed. (Résumé d'auteur

MEASURING CONSUMER BENEFITS OF FOOD SAFETY RISK REDUCTIONS

Microbial pathogens and pesticide residues in food pose a financial burden to society which can be reduced by incurring costs to reduce these food safety risks. We explore three valuation techniques that place a monetary value on food safety risk reductions, and we present a case study for each: a contingent valuation survey on pesticide residues, an experimental auction market for a chicken sandwich with reduced risk of Salmonella, and a cost-of-illness analysis for seven foodborne pathogens. Estimates from these techniques can be used in cost/benefit analyses for policies that reduce food safety risks.Contingent valuation, Cost of illness, Experimental auction market, Food safety, Risk reduction, Salmonella, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Bacterial Foodborne Disease: Medical Costs and Productivity Losses

Microbial pathogens in food cause an estimated 6.5-33 million cases of human illness and up to 9,000 deaths in the United States each year. Over 40 different foodborne microbial pathogens, including fungi, viruses, parasites, and bacteria, are believed to cause human illnesses. For six bacterial pathogens, the costs of human illness are estimated to be $9.3-$12.9 billion annually. Of these costs, $2.9-$6.7 billion are attributed to foodborne bacteria. These estimates were developed to provide analytical support for USDA's Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems rule for meat and poultry. (Note that the parasite Toxoplasma gondii is not included in this report.) To estimate medical costs and productivity losses, ERS uses four severity categories for acute illnesses: those who did not visit a physician, visited a physician, were hospitalized, or died prematurely. The lifetime consequences of chronic disease are included in the cost estimates for E. coli O157:H7 and fetal listeriosis.cost-of-illness, foodborne pathogens, lost productivity, medical costs, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy,

CONSUMER CLUSTERS AND FOOD SAFETY INFORMATION NEEDS

The work presented here was conducted as part of an EU-funded five year project investigating pathogens in the food chain, called "Control and prevention of emerging and future pathogens at cellular and molecular level throughout the food chain". Using a questionnaire, research was carried out with consumers in four countries to investigate food safety information needs and information source preferences. The work combined cluster analysis with a social marketing approach. Cluster analysis revealed that the majority of respondents can be allocated to one of eight clusters based on their information needs relating to food safety behaviour and pathogen knowledge. The respondents associated with each of the clusters can be described in terms of characteristics such as whether they have had any formal food safety education, the frequency with which they discuss food safety issues, their preferences for types of food safety messages, and a range of socio-demographic characteristics. The results provide potentially useful information for bodies designing food safety information dissemination strategies, and provide an approach for providing targeted dissemination programs that are directly connected to information needs.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Economic Assessment of Food Safety Regulations: The New Approach to Meat and Poultry Inspection

USDA is now requiring all Federally inspected meat and poultry processing and slaughter plants to implement a new system called Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) to reduce potentially harmful microbial pathogens in the food supply. This report finds that the benefits of the new regulations, which are the medical costs and productivity losses that are prevented when foodborne illnesses are averted, will likely exceed the costs, which include spending by firms on sanitation, temperature control, planning and training, and testing. Other, nonregulatory approaches can also improve food safety, such as providing market incentives for pathogen reduction, irradiation, and education and labeling to promote safe food handling and thorough cooking.food safety, foodborne illness, microbial pathogens, meat and poultry inspection, HACCP, cost of illness, consumer education, irradiation, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,