Category Archives: Food Standards Agency

FSA – Bag it Up – Food Safety

Posted on July 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSA

The Food Standards Agency in Wales is reminding consumers how they can protect their shopping when packing raw and ready-to-eat food products to reduce the risk of cross-contamination.

Information published today by the Welsh Government shows there has been a 96% reduction in the use of carrier bags in some retail sectors since charges for plastic bags were introduced in Wales in October 2011.

With more and more consumers reusing carrier bags, either for sustainability or as a result of charging, there are some important tips to help prevent bacteria spreading to ready-to-eat food.

  • Keep raw meat and fish separate from ready-to eat-foods, in separate bags.
  • If your bags are re-useable, keep one or two just for use with raw meat and fish. Don’t use them for ready-to-eat foods.
  • Re-useable bags (and single use carrier bags) should be disposed of if there’s been any spillage of raw meat juices.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, Research

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Food Standards Agency – New Q&A E.coli O157

Posted on July 3, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSA

The Food Standards Agency has today published the third edition of the Q&A on its guidance document E.coli O157: control of cross-contamination.

This new version of the Q&A addresses a number of issues that have arisen since the publication of the second edition in November 2011.

Among the issues addressed are:

  • an update on the extension of Remedial Action Notices as an enforcement power
  • advice on the use of the same food preparation sink for raw and ready-to-eat foods
  • clarification of when worktops are considered to be non-food contact surfaces
  • whether a change of use from raw to ready-to-eat foods is possible for ‘complex equipment’
  • advice on the cleaning of probes

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Hand Washing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

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FSA – Research Aflatoxins Brazil Nuts

Posted on July 2, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSA

The relationship between the level of aflatoxin contamination in Brazil nuts kernels in comparison to the level in the shell was investigated. A conversion factor was determined that could allow the estimation of the level of aflatoxins in the kernel when the concentration in the whole nut is measured (further work will be required to validate the conversion factor).

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Posted in Aflatoxin, Food Standards Agency, Microbiology, Research

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FSA – Research Financial Pressure- Increased Food Safety Risks

Posted on June 11, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSA

New research published today by the Food Standards Agency shows that some people are taking more risks with food safety as they try to save money and make their meals go further.

The research showed that most of those questioned (97%) believed the cost of their typical shopping basket has gone up significantly in the last three years, with half of these (47%) trying to make better use of leftover food. However, some people are ignoring ‘use by’ dates more than they used to, while others are keeping leftovers for longer than the recommended limit of two days in the fridge.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

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FSA – Cryptosporidium Cases

Posted on June 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSA  

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) can confirm it is investigating a recent increase in cases of the gastrointestinal infection, cryptosporidiosis, across four regions in England – the North East, Yorkshire, West Midlands and East Midlands.

To date, 267 cases of cryptosporidiosis have been confirmed in the affected areas since 11 May 2012, compared to 73 cases across the four regions for the whole of May 2011.

Dr Stephen Morton, who is leading the investigation for the HPA, said: “It is usual to see an increase in cryptosporidiosis cases in the early summer, but, the increase is higher than we might expect so we are working with NHS partners, local Environmental Health Officers the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Food Standards Agency to see if there is a common source of infection.

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Posted in Cryptosporidium, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Standards Agency, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Protozoan, Research

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FSA Report – Increased Food Incidents

Posted on May 29, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSA

The Food Standards Agency saw an increase in the number of food incidents it investigated last year. These included reports of contaminated or illegal food entering the food chain, with some potentially harmful to the public.

According to the Annual Report of Incidents 2011 published today, 1,714 food incidents were investigated by the FSA last year, compared to 1,505 in 2010. This is a further increase on the 1,208 incidents reported in 2009.

No single reason has been identified for the increasing number. The FSA believes a combination of factors is behind the rise, but the most likely is improved monitoring and reporting.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen

FSA – Food Safety Videos Link

Posted on May 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSA

The Food Standards Agency has published 10 short videos to help caterers produce food safely. Each video is about a minute long and covers specific food hygiene practices.

These training resources are designed to illustrate messages within the ‘Safer food, better business’ packs and they follow the same innovative and practical approach to food safety management as the packs.

The videos provide best practice guidance on a number of potential food safety issues, such as:

  • effective handwashing
  • chilling foods down as quickly as possible
  • checking that foods are cooked thoroughly
  • effective cleaning
  • what to do if a member of staff is ill at work
  • keeping pests out of your business, what to look for and the action to take

The films are being used as part of a training programme, funded by the Agency, to coach catering businesses in Olympic host boroughs in order to help raise standards and compliance levels.

The videos are available via the Agency’s YouTube channel.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Spoilage, Food Standards Agency, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Research

FSA – London 2012 Food Safety

Posted on May 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSA

The Food Standards Agency has published a toolkit and newsletter for stakeholders to support their participation in the Agency’s Play it Safe campaign. This campaign is helping to ensure that food bought, cooked and eaten during the 2012 Olympics is safe.

The toolkit provides suggestions on how stakeholders, such as food businesses, tourism groups and trade associations, can contribute to the campaign. These include posting details of the campaign on company websites and in newsletters, using social media and issuing press releases. The toolkit also answers frequently asked questions about the campaign and about food hygiene and safety.

The newsletter, the first in the campaign, explains the work being done to protect consumers during the Olympics. It also includes details on how to subscribe to future editions.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Research

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HPA – UK – Campylobacter Still Number 1 in 2011

Posted on May 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

HPA

Eighty three general outbreaks of foodborne infectious disease in England and Wales were reported in 2011 to the HPA’s electronic Foodborne and Non-foodborne Gastrointestinal Outbreak Surveillance System (eFOSS)[§]. In the previous year there were 63 outbreaks of foodborne diseases (figure 1).

The rise in the number of general outbreaks in 2011 could be due to the continued increase in outbreaks caused by Campylobacter spp (20/83 in 2011; 18/63 in 2010) and a rise in the outbreaks caused by Salmonella spp compared to the previous year (18 in 2011; 8 in 2010).

Outbreaks of campylobacter have increased since 2009 and concurrently campylobacter is now the most frequently implicated causative agent in reported outbreaks representing 24% of all outbreaks [1,2 ]. In 2011, as in preceding years, most campylobacter outbreaks were associated with consumption of undercooked poultry liver pâté or parfait f rom food service establishments [3,4]. Salmonella spp. accounted for 22% of the outbreaks, most of which were caused by an increase in S. Enteritidis non PT 4 (44%, 8/18) or S. Typhimurium (33%, 6/18). The next most frequently identified agents included: norovirus (10%, 8/83), VTEC O157 (10%, 8/83) and Clostridium perfringens (8%, 7/83)

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Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Foodborne Illness, HPA, Microbiology, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella

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FSA – Pepsico Recall Microbial Contamination

Posted on May 3, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSA

PepsiCo is recalling some of its Tropicana Kids Orange Juice Drink multi-packs because they contain only water rather than the orange juice blend. The water is affected by microbiological contamination. If you have bought the product, don’t drink it. The Agency has issued a Product Recall Information Notice.

The product being recalled is:

  • Tropicana Kids Orange Juice Drink, multipack 4 x 200ml
  • No batch or date codes, no branding

PepsiCo has recalled the affected product. Customer notices have been displayed in stores, explaining why the product has been recalled.

If you have bought the affected product, don’t drink it. You can return it for a full refund to Tropicana:
Tropicana Consumer Care
Freepost LE4 918
Leicester LE4 5ZY

No other PepsiCo products are known to be affected.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Standards Agency, Microbiology, Recall

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