Category Archives: Moulds

Hong Kong – Not to consume a kind of bottled fruit juice drink contaminated with patulin

Posted on April 21, 2020 by KSW | Leave a comment

Food Product	A sample of a bottled fruit juice drink imported from Australia
Product Name and Description	Product name: Organic Apple & Blackcurrant Juice Brand: Pure Tassie Country of origin: Australia Importer/Distributor: PARKnSHOP (HK) Limited Volume: 1.5 litre per bottle Best-before date: October 6, 2020
Reason For Issuing Alert	The test result showed that the sample contained patulin at a level of 260 parts per billion (ppb), exceeding the action level of 50 ppb adopted by the CFS. Patulin mostly occurs in rotten apple and its products. Animal studies showed that ingesting high doses of patulin can induce liver, spleen and kidney damage, as well as toxicity to the immune system. For humans, nausea, gastrointestinal disturbances and vomiting have been reported.
Action Taken by the Centre for Food Safety	The CFS has informed the importer/distributor concerned of the irregularity. The importer/distributor has stopped sale and removed from shelves all batches of the affected product and initiated a recall according to the CFS’ instructions. Prosecution will be instituted should there be sufficient evidence. The CFS will alert the trade, continue to follow up on the case and take appropriate action to safeguard food safety and public health.
Advice to the Trade	Stop using or selling the affected products immediately if they possess them.
Advice to Consumers	Not to consume the affected products.
Further Information	The CFS press release Members of the public may call the importer/distributor’s hotline at 2606 8658 for enquiries about the recall during office hours.

Centre for Food Safety

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, mold, Mould Toxin, Moulds, Mycotoxin, Patulin, Uncategorized

RASFF Alert – Mould – Cheese

Posted on April 11, 2020 by KSW | Leave a comment

RASFF – cheese from Sweden infested with moulds in Denmark

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Spoilage, Food Testing, mold, Moulds, RASFF, Uncategorized

Hong Kong – Food Alert Not to consume a batch of bottled fruit juice drink contaminated with patulin

Posted on April 9, 2020 by KSW | Leave a comment

CFS

Issue Date	8.4.2020
Source of Information	Routine Surveillance Programme
Food Product	A bottled fruit juice drink imported from New Zealand
Product Name and Description	Product name: 100% Raw Apple Juice with Manuka Honey, Lemon & Ginger Country of origin: New Zealand Manufacturer: The Homegrown Juice Company Importer: The Dairy Farm Company Limited Volume : 1 litre per bottle Best-before date: June 21, 2020
Reason For Issuing Alert	The test result showed that the sample contained patulin at a level of 150 parts per billion (ppb), exceeding the action level of 50ppb adopted by the CFS. Patulin mostly occurs in rotten apple and its products. Generally speaking, apple juice with a low level of patulin will not cause acute intoxification. However, studies have shown that gastrointestinal hyperaemia, distension, haemorrhage and ulceration could be resulted if animals are exposed to high levels of patulin over a short period of time.
Action Taken by the Centre for Food Safety	The CFS has informed the importer concerned of the irregularity, and the importer has stopped sale and removed from shelves the affected batch of the product and initiated a recall according to the CFS’ instructions. Prosecution will be instituted should there be sufficient evidence.
Advice to the Trade	Stop using or selling the affected products immediately if they possess them.
Advice to Consumers	Not to consume the affected products.
Further Information	The CFS press release Members of the public may call the company’s hotline at 2299 1133 for enquiries about the recall during office

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Posted in CFS, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, mold, Mould Toxin, Moulds, Mycotoxin, Patulin, Uncategorized

RASFF Alert – Moulds – Gluten Free Wraps

Posted on April 3, 2020 by KSW | Leave a comment

RASFF – gluten free wraps from Italy infested with moulds in the Netherlands

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RASFF Alert – Ochratoxin A- Sultanas

Posted on April 3, 2020 by KSW | Leave a comment

RASFF – ochratoxin A (16.7 µg/kg – ppb) in sultanas from Turkey in Germany

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Research – Scale‐up model of forced air‐integrated gaseous chlorine dioxide for the decontamination of lowbush blueberries

Posted on March 27, 2020 by KSW | Leave a comment

Wiley Online

Gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) is a promising sanitizer for frozen products because of its efficacy under nonthermal and waterless conditions. A major knowledge gap exists between laboratory trials and effectiveness at the industrial scale. To address this, a pilot study implementing a pallet‐sized fumigation container (60 harvest totes) was designed for gaseous ClO₂. Fifty kilograms of blueberries were exposed to initial dose of 57.46 mg/L, representing a treatment of 2.35 mg/g of blueberries. Blueberries remained enclosed for 10 hr. Reduction of all viable cells, coliforms, yeasts, and molds were measured by plating treated samples on Tryptic Soy Agar, Violet Red Bile Agar, and Dichloran Rose Bengal Chloramphenicol Agar and compared to untreated controls. The results demonstrate that a significant reduction of 1.5 log CFU/g can be achieved against coliforms after ClO₂ exposure. Our findings demonstrate a cost‐effective procedure that could be adapted to commercial processing.

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Posted in Coliforms, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Technology, microbial contamination, Microbiology, mold, Moulds, Research, Technology, Uncategorized, Yeasts

RASFF Alert – Moulds – Olives

Posted on March 20, 2020 by KSW | Leave a comment

RASFF – olives from Turkey unfit for human consumption and infested with moulds in Denmark

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Spoilage, Food Testing, Food Toxin, mold, Mould Toxin, Moulds, RASFF, Uncategorized

Research – Exposure Assessment of Multi-Mycotoxins in Black and White Sesame Seed Consumed in Thailand

Posted on March 13, 2020 by KSW | Leave a comment

JFP

This study was conducted to determine the occurrence of 16 well recognized and emerging mycotoxins in black and white sesame seed samples being commercialized in Thailand, and to evaluate health risk assessment in consumers. Samples were extracted and cleaned up by a modified QuEChERS based procedure. Multi-mycotoxins in sesame seed samples were analyzed using a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. Additionally, the risk of mycotoxin exposure via dietary intake of sesame was evaluated using hazard quotient, margin of exposure (MOE) and quantitative liver cancer risk approaches established by EFSA and FAO/WHO, respectively. The results show that 21.5 % of total samples (n = 200) were contaminated with mycotoxins. 19.5 % of total samples (n = 200) were contaminated with a single mycotoxin and 2 % of total samples were contaminated with multiple mycotoxins. 9 % of total samples were contaminated with aflatoxins (AFs), however only one black and one white sesame seed sample was above the regulatory limits of the European Union (2 µg / kg). The MOE values derived from consumption of black and white sesame were generally below 10,000 especially in the heavily consuming group. The number of liver cancer cases over a life time associated with AFB 1 exposure based on upper bound values at high level of black and white sesame consumption (97.5th percentile) is estimated to be more than 1 liver cancer case per million persons. Therefore, a potential risk to consumer health exists through the dietary consumption of black and white sesame and subsequent exposure to AFB 1 . However, further evaluation using larger sample sizes is necessary for more accurate calculation. In addition, continuous monitoring of mycotoxin contamination of sesame with risk assessment is recommended.

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Posted in food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Safety, Food Toxin, mold, Mould Toxin, Moulds, Mycotoxin, Toxin, Uncategorized

Finland – Food recalls in Finland up for fourth consecutive year

Posted on March 11, 2020 by KSW | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Food recalls increased almost 20 percent in Finland this past year, according to data compiled by the Finnish Food Authority (Ruokavirasto).

The most common reason for the 200 withdrawals in 2019 was related to allergens. Allergen errors accounted for the largest proportion of recalls for the second year running, at 27 percent.

Microbiological issues such as Salmonella, Listeria, and molds caused the second most recalls with 20 percent of incidents.

Just under half of the recalled food and food contact materials came from another EU country. Finnish products accounted for about 28 percent, as did items from non-EU countries.

Recall rise does not mean more products unsafe
Recalls went up by 32 this past year compared to 2018. It is the fourth year in a row that alerts in the country have increased. There were 111 recalls in 2015, 131 in 2016, 158 in 2017, 168 in 2018 and 200 in 2019.