Food Safety supplement 2015

This Healthy Snacks supplement is sponsored by Primerdesign, Bio-Rad, Ceeram, Neogen, Lovibond, Biotecon Diagnostics and Revtech.

• Shedding new light on meat and fish adulteration
  Dr Monee Shamsher, David Smith, Prof Tony Hines & Dr Angus Knight Leatherhead Food Research
  Many UK consumers were shocked and outraged by the horsemeat scandal of 2013. The fact that horse is not a staple meat in the UK probably compounded the situation. Yet, there was also widespread surprise and concern that food could contain meat that isn’t declared on the label. However, food fraud is not new. Roman merchants’ routine adulteration of wine led to the introduction of laws to curb the practice, and the habitual use of food additives ranging from the unsavoury to the unsafe characterised the diet of Victorian England. In short, food adulteration has been a problem ever since food became a commodity…
• Virus transmission in fresh produce: Recent outbreaks and recommendations for monitoring and control
  Nigel Cook and Martin D’Agostino Fera Science Ltd, UK
  Franco Maria Ruggeri Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Italy
  The risk to health posed by foodborne virus contamination of fresh produce such as berry fruit and leafy green vegetables is gaining increased attention. Several types of pathogenic enteric viruses can cause foodborne disease, but the most significant types associated with outbreaks in which fresh produce has been implicated are norovirus and hepatitis A virus…
• Challenges in validation of processes for low water activity foods
  Izabela Palgan, Rob Limburn and Emma Maguire Campden BRI
  Silvia Keppler School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham
  Herbs, spices, nuts, seeds and other dry ingredients such as cereal or dried vegetables can contribute significantly to the nutritional quality of products. A variety of these ingredients have been increasing in popularity in recent years due to consumers’ palates becoming more sophisticated, interests in healthy alternative ingredients and international food recipes spreading globally. Many of these dry ingredients commonly contain a high natural microbiological load, including those microorganisms that cause food poisoning…