Edible tomato-based, antimicrobial films could prevent bacterial contamination of food, while promoting health as a result of the nutritional and health benefits linked to the consumption of tomatoes, says US study.
Edible nano-sensors made from silk could alert consumers to potential contamination of food produce through a hologram-like indicator embedded in the pack, claim US researchers.
A US meatpacker has recalled about 188,000 pounds of ground beef
and other products because of E. coli bacteria concerns; and
higher-than-normal levels of naturally occuring cyanide were found
in a cassava cracker product in Australia.
Cargill was this week slapped with an E coli lawsuit related to
contaminated frozen ground beef products sold by the firm's Meat
Solutions Corporation.
Propolis, the waxy resin collected by honeybees and currently
marketed for its health benefits, could also find use as a
natural food preservative, suggests new research.
Increases in foodborne illnesses from salmonella and
escherichia coli during 2006 could be due to outbreaks in
previously unaffected food such as peanut butter and spinach,
according to the findings of a new report.
Using commercial household steam cleaning can provide smaller
processing plants with a low cost method of decontaminating beef
and hog carcasses, according to a recent study.
In the wake of the e coli outbreak due to contaminated spinach,
suppliers are rushing in toprovide processors with the tools they
might need to improve the safety of their packaged products.
Food safety experts are meeting in Dublin, Ireland this week to
discuss international standards they hope will cut back on the
rising number of infections caused by the deadly enterohaemorrhagic
Escherichia coli (EHEC) bacteria.
The presence of salmonella in samples of most raw meat and poultry
products tested by federal inspectors decreased slightly in the
first quarter of 2006.
A slaughterhouse partially owned by meat supplier Gilde was
contaminated with a virulent strain of the E. coli bacteria that
hospitalized about a dozen children and resulted in one death,
Norway's food safety authority said yesterday.
Incidents of many foodborne illness have declined since statistical
collection began in 1996, with rates for some of the most common
pathogens falling by up to 32 per cent.
The UK's FSA is holding a two-day review of its domestic sector
hygiene research programme as part of its wider evaluation of
microbiological safety research programmes.
Following the death of a young boy due to a suspected E. coli
outbreak in Norway, discounter Lidl has halted sales of ground beef
produced in the country.
The humble and much-maligned slug, a common garden pest and victim
of numerous salt attacks, could be a factor in the spread of E.
coli in salad vegetables.
A report into the mass outbreak of E. coli in Wales calls on the
UK's food regulator to look into whether there should be more
legislation and guidance on plant inspections.
A UK cooked meat processor is fighting in court to reopen after it
was closed down in the wake of an outbreak of E. coli 0157 that
resulted in the death of a five-year-old boy and caused sickness in
scores of schoolchildren.
The UK's Food Standards Agency has widened the investigation into
the outbreak of E. coli food poisoning illness in Wales as parents
start calling for a public inquiry.
The UK's health protection regulator has pointed the finger at
imported food as the potential source of a deadly E. coli superbug,
which has already killed 83 people in the country.
A new antimicrobial solution helps reduce Salmonella and other
bacteria in poultry during processing and also eliminates the need
for chlorine in the chilling tank, according to its manufacturer.
Improving the food industry's understanding of the potentially
deadly food pathogen E coli, scientists in the UK identify the key
event that originally transformed a harmless bacteria into a
transporter of foodborne infection.
New techniques to minimise the risk of the harmful food pathogen E.
coli in the food chain sees the launch of rapid detection system
that could speed up identification and reduce costs for the meat
industry.
Stopping the distribution of contaminated foods from the farm to
the fork is a ceaseless challenge for the food industry that relies
heavily on technology to identify any anomalies.
New techniques to minimise the risk of harmful food pathogen E.
coli in fermented dry sausages could be on the way as scientists
find acidic conditions encountered during the digestive process may
not be enough to inactivate some...
A better insight into how harmful food pathogens such as E.coli and
Salmonella survive on fresh fruits and vegetables is the key to
stemming the rising tide of human disease outbreaks linked to fresh
produce.
Vaccines to combat a number of foodborne pathogens such as Listeria
could be commercially available in the near future, a breakthrough
which would "greatly enhance human health and wellbeing
worldwide," according to US researchers.
Enterobacter sakazakii, a bacterium that can be dangerous to
premature babies and young infants, could be more widespread than
previously thought, according to recent research published in this
week's issue of The Lancet. In...
New tests that slice off the time taken to identify dangerous
strains of the harmful bacteria Escherichia coli are the
focus of new research from US government scientists.
Researchers working in Canada have discovered that an optimal UV
irradiation system can be developed for individual food products,
taking into account the UV transmittance of each product. These
findings, published in the Journal...
The global meat packaging industry is today governed by the
strictest of guidelines. Safety and hygiene issues have forced
themselves to the top of the agenda following a series of health
scares, and companies have had to fight hard...
In our first news of the day from the Society for General
Microbiology's meeting in the UK this week, scientists from the
Institute for Animal Health announced progress towards controlling
the deadly E. coli bacterium that causes...
Calcium could help the body fight E coli, the bacteria often
responsible for traveller's diarrhea, and a cause of illness in
children and the elderly in developing countries, suggests new
research from the Netherlands.
The Irish food safety agency has warned the food industry to be
vigilant and efficient or 'face the consequences' as investigations
continue into the biggest outbreak of E. coli O157 in
Ireland to date.
US firm Swift has implemented a new double pasteurisation system at
six of its American beef processing plants. The company believes
that this will significantly improve the group's food safety
protocols.
The US Food and Drug Administration has said that it is safe to
spray lactoferrin, a milk protein, on to beef carcasses to fight
disease-causing bacteria such as E. coli 0157:H7.
The US-based Agricultural Research Services has devised a method of
detecting fecal bacteria in fresh produce, which it claimed could
reduce the chances of contamination to zero.
The US Agriculture Department, now investigating the second-largest
meat recall in history, would gain authority to issue civil fines
against companies that make unsafe food, under a bill introduced on
Thursday by three Democrats.
Scientists are developing a hand-held sensor they say will help
save lives by quickly pinpointing the presence of a deadly E. coli
strain and other harmful germs in food and drinks, in some cases
within minutes.
Probiotics or 'friendly' bacteria given to babies during weaning
may help alleviate the symptoms of eczema, according to research
published in the British journal Gut.
US food safety technology company Neogen Corporation and DNA
technology company Hamilton Thorne Biosciences this week announced
an agreement to jointly develop 'the next generation' of rapid
bacterial food safety tests.
