Report on a Total Diet Study carried out by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland in the period 2012 – 2014

As part of its statutory responsibility to ensure the safety of food consumed, distributed, produced and sold on the Irish market, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) periodically carries out Total Diet Studies (TDS) to measure the dietary exposure of the population to particular chemicals that may pose a risk to health if taken into the body in excessive amounts. In carrying out a TDS, the most commonly consumed foods in Ireland, based on food consumption data, are analysed for particular chemical contaminants, food additives and nutrients present in the food. Dietary exposure to each chemical is then estimated using the food consumption data and the level of the particular chemical present in each food. This report presents the findings of the most recent TDS carried out in Ireland

Investigation into Levels of dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls and brominated flame retardants in fishery produce in Ireland

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland would like to thank Brendan McHugh, Evin McGovern, Linda O’Hea, Brian Boyle and other staff of the Marine Institute, Rinville Oranmore, Co. Galway, for their work on and input into this project.The Food Safety Authority of Ireland in collaboration with the Marine Institute (MI) has carried out a further surveillance study of levels of dioxins (PCDDs), furans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish, in addition to those already carried out in 2001 and 2004. The study was carried out in a variety of wild and farmed finfish species and also prawns and cultivated mussels available on the Irish market. It was undertaken because of concern about the possible effects on human health of these biopersistent environmental contaminants, known to be present in a number of foodstuffs including, in particular, fish, meat, eggs and dairy products. Furthermore, the study also proactively monitored fish and other seafood for a number of emerging new contaminants, in order to contribute to the knowledge base on the occurrence of these contaminants in food and to aid national and international efforts in their management. These include the brominated flame retardants and related compounds, some of which are known to be persistent and hence, like PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs, are regarded as persistent organic pollutants (POPs).The Food Safety Authority of Ireland in collaboration with the Marine Institute (MI

An investigation of the most appropriate z-value to be used in calculating 'equivalent cooks' for beef burgers in food business establishments

The safety of beef burgers is dependent on sufficient cooking to ensure the destruction of pathogens such as Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157. It is recommended that beef burgers are cooked to a minimum core temperature of 70 °C for at least two minutes or to a core temperature of no less than 75 °C. However, in recent years, catering establishments have started offering beef burgers prepared at temperatures below a core temperature of 70 °C. It is possible to achieve an ‘equivalent cook’ (equivalent to 70 °C for two minutes) at lower temperatures if the heat is applied for longer times. However, calculating an ‘equivalent cook’ requires the use of a mathematical formula that uses the z-values of the target organism, which is usually Listeria monocytogenes, as it is one of the most thermal-resistant foodborne non-spore-forming bacterial pathogens. The z-value recommended for inactivation of L. monocytogenes is 7.5 °C. In 2007, the UK Advisory Committee on Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF) recommended using a z-value of 6.0 °C for calculating equivalent cooks when cooking burgers, based on heat inactivation data for STEC O157. These two z-values give different cooking time requirements at a given target temperature. Thus, the objective of this report was to determine which z-value was more appropriate (would offer the greatest food safety protection)

Proceedings of the Third Irish Marine Biotoxin Science Workshop

The workshop is part of the Marine Institute’s role as the National Reference Laboratory for Marine Biotoxins in Ireland. This initiative was started in 2000 and was modelled on the Marine Science Biotoxin workshops, which have taken place in New Zealand since 1994. This workshop is an annual event, where scientists, regulators and shellfish farmers meet to review developments in the monitoring and research of Biotoxins in Ireland and internationally. The Institute’s roles are to Monitor/Research/Advise/Communicate. These are inextricably linked. It is essential to carry out targeted research in order to answer the questions which are generated by the monitoring. Objectives of the 2002 workshop: 1. To review the Irish Biotoxin Monitoring programme in 2002; 2. To summarise current and proposed new Irish research in the areas of Biotoxins and Harmful Algal Events (HAE’s); 3. To provide an International view on Biotoxins issues, with invited speakers from France, Norway and the UK; 4. To provide a forum for debate and communications

An exploration of knowledge, attitudes and advice given by health professionals to parents in Ireland about the introduction of solid foods. A pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>For the purposes of this paper "weaning is defined as the introduction of the first solid foods to infants". Global recommendations by the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend that all infants be exclusively breast-fed for the first six months of life. No global recommendations have been made for formula fed infants. In Europe it is recommended that weaning foods should be introduced between 18 weeks and 26 weeks regardless of whether infants are breast or formula fed. In the United Kingdom it is recommended that solids be introduced at around six-months for both breast and formula fed infants. In Ireland official guidelines recommend that breast fed infants should be introduced solids at 6 months of age while for formula fed infants the recommendation is for 4 months. The disparity between these global, European, UK and local recommendations may be a source of confusion for parents and health care professional based in Ireland. Emerging evidence suggests that babies in Ireland are given solid foods before the recommended age but there has been little investigation of the weaning advice provided by health professionals. Since community health professionals have routine parent interactions in the pre-weaning and early-weaning period and hence are in a unique position to positively influence parental weaning decisions, this study aimed to explore their knowledge, attitudes and advice practices about weaning.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A mixed-methods approach was used for the research, commencing with a multi-disciplinary focus group to guide and develop a questionnaire. Questionnaires were then distributed in a postal survey to General Practitioners (GPs) (<it>n </it>179), Practice Nurses (PNs) (<it>n </it>121), Public Health Nurses (PHNs) (<it>n </it>107) and Community Dieticians (CDs) (<it>n </it>8).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results indicate varying levels of knowledge of official weaning recommendations and a variety of advice practices. CDs and PHNs acknowledged a clear role in providing weaning advice while demonstrating high confidence levels in providing this advice. However, 19% of PNs and 7% of GP respondents did not acknowledge that they have a role in providing weaning advice to parents; even though Health Service Executive (HSE) written literature given to parents states that they should seek information from PNs and GPs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Small pockets of misinformation about the introduction of solid foods persist amongst health professionals which may lead to inconsistent advice for parents. Further research is needed.</p

EFSA BIOHAZ Panel (EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards), 2013. Scientific Opinion on the public health hazards to be covered by inspection of meat (bovine animals).

A risk ranking process identified Salmonella spp. and pathogenic verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) as current high-priority biological hazards for meat inspection of bovine animals. As these hazards are not detected by traditional meat inspection, a meat safety assurance system for the farm-to-chilled carcass continuum using a risk-based approach was proposed. Key elements of the system are risk-categorisation of slaughter animals for high-priority biological hazards based on improved food chain information, as well as risk-categorisation of slaughterhouses according to their capability to control those hazards. Omission of palpation and incision during post-mortem inspection for animals subjected to routine slaughter may decrease spreading and cross-contamination with the high-priority biological hazards. For chemical hazards, dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls were ranked as being of high potential concern; all other substances were ranked as of medium or lower concern. Monitoring programmes for chemical hazards should be more flexible and based on the risk of occurrence, taking into account the completeness and quality of the food chain information supplied and the ranking of chemical substances, which should be regularly updated to include new hazards. Control programmes across the food chain, national residue control programmes, feed control and monitoring of environmental contaminants should be better integrated. Meat inspection is a valuable tool for surveillance and monitoring of animal health and welfare conditions. Omission of palpation and incision would reduce detection effectiveness for bovine tuberculosis and would have a negative impact on the overall surveillance system especially in officially tuberculosis free countries. The detection effectiveness for bovine cysticercosis, already low with the current meat inspection system, would result in a further decrease, if palpation and incision are removed. Extended use of food chain information could compensate for some, but not all, the information on animal health and welfare lost if only visual post-mortem inspection is applied

Product recall and traceability

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