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Category: Applied and Industrial Microbiology; Food Microbiology
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Food safety concerns have become a crucial public health issue. Perhaps most alarming of these is the questionable safety of many imported foods. As the market for food becomes increasingly global and our population clamors for more fresh produce and uncooked ready-to-eat foods, the microbiological risks of imported food have dramatically increased. Imported Foods: Microbiological Issues and Challenges brings together the most up-to-date and in-depth information on microbiological food safety. This volume not only describes the problems with imported foods but also suggests specific programs and steps to improve the monitoring and safety of imported foods.
Following the success of the five previous volumes on food safety, Imported Foods provides a thorough explanation of the challenges and solutions to this emerging crisis.
Authors explain the systematic risks inherent in food production in developing countries, the current U.S. food safety system, newly acquired food-borne pathogens, and recommendations for systematic changes to the monitoring of imported food. Throughout this volume, the authors emphasize proven concepts of microbial risk analysis and practical methods to address this growing public health concern.
Explaining the latest scientific information on imported food safety issues, this volume will be a valuable resource for food safety professionals who are at the leading edge of this growing problem in American public health.
Hardcover, 276 pages, illustrations, index.
This chapter describes changes in imports of selected food categories, changes in the imported volume of specific foods, and reasons for the imports of red meats, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and nuts to the United States and identifies differences and similarities among exporting countries with implications for the risk of potential microbiological contamination in the domestic food supply. The description distinguishes among food categories and countries of origin with regard to the growth of food product imports. A description of the general conditions of the economic and social development in exporting countries is included as an indication of risk associated with the introduction of food-borne pathogens into the food supply system. In fruit and vegetable production, especially for fresh consumption, labor costs during harvest represent a major expense to a grower. The chapter presents several general measures developed by international organizations to address selected aspects of economic and social development. The short-term projections regarding vegetable imports were quite accurate in the past, but fruit import predictions were less accurate, especially in the category of fresh and frozen fruit (USDA, 2007). The consumption of selected fresh and processed vegetables, fruits, nuts, and fish was affected by dissemination of research reports linking substances contained in these foods to confirmed or implied health benefits. The intended use of the different indexes in the chapter is to enable the process of designing and enforcing a system for detecting microbial contamination and, under the best-case scenario, preventing contaminated food from reaching the distribution system.
This chapter focuses on regulatory oversight of imported foods. Despite the long history, recent changes to bolster the authority of the agencies responsible for regulating imported food have been proposed. Hence, it is important to recognize that information presented in the chapter pertains to food safety regulations that were in effect as of October 2007. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) share primary responsibility for ensuring the safety of food imported into the United States. To gain an understanding of the food safety regulatory system for imported foods, first one must sort through the alphabet soup of agencies that enforce the regulations. Customs notifies FSIS and FDA of imported foods for the agencies’ review. The chapter describes the import process. Although FDA’s statutory authority is largely limited to inspections and tests of imported foods at the U.S. port of entry, with low-acid and acidified canned foods and infant formula, FDA may request that foreign exporting firms grant FDA inspectors access to their plants. The FDA must rely on inspections at the U.S. ports of entry to determine the safety of the imported foods. While the law requires that all imported foods meet the same food safety standards as foods produced in the United States do, recent events have raised questions about the adequacy of the regulation of imported foods.
Detecting and investigating the outbreaks of foodborne illness related to imported foods and correcting the problems that lead to their contamination are likely to benefit both importing and exporting countries and should be an integral part of global food safety. This chapter describes the recent experiences in three countries (the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia) with food-borne outbreaks traced to imported foods to highlight the challenges such investigations pose and the lessons they have to offer. With the collaboration of food safety authorities, a detailed public health investigation can reveal how contamination might have occurred, and how it might be prevented. The goals of such an investigation are, first, to understand and control the immediate hazard and, second, to reconstruct how the outbreak happened well enough to ensure that similar events can be prevented in the future. Many national public health authorities collect reports of investigated outbreaks of food-borne diseases from the local and regional health departments, and publish the results of this surveillance periodically. Collating summary reports of investigated outbreaks of food-borne disease is an important means of attributing illness to foods and developing sensible food policy. General strategies to improve the health of the workers and rural populations in developing countries and to increase the capacity of their public health and food safety systems are likely to have long-term benefits to the health in those countries, as well as to prevent infections in the countries to which they export.
This chapter focuses on animal and human wastes as potential sources of contamination of imported foods. The amount of animal and human feces generated on a worldwide basis is enormous. The use of human wastes or wastewater for produce production in developed countries is not allowed or is strictly regulated because of the potential for transmission of enteric pathogens. Although use of highly treated domestic wastewater for food crops to be eaten raw is allowed in some states in the United States, it is seldom practiced because of potential health hazards. Of the enteric bacteria, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 present the greatest problem because they infect a wide variety of animals besides humans. The occurrence of enteric pathogens in the environment is a reflection of the incidence of infection by the pathogen in a population. For example, various studies have indicated that E. coli O157:H7 is commonly present in animal and human wastewaters at levels of 10 to 100/100 ml of municipal sewage and 100 to 1,000/100 ml of animal wastewaters and wastewaters from slaughterhouses. The concentrations of pathogens detected in raw sewage are provided in the chapter. Animal wastes and effluents from farming operations, including manures and slurries, are frequently applied to increase the soil fertility of cropland. Multiple contamination sources and pathways pose risks to food safety, with solid and liquid waste handling and irrigation of produce and shellfish production representing major risk factors.
Understanding the inadequacy and problems of sanitation and hygiene deficiencies and their contribution to food contamination in exporting countries can lead to opportunities to reduce contamination in imported foods and to support efforts to reduce food safety problems in export partners. This chapter focuses on the sanitation and hygiene deficiencies in imported food. In general, those problems are more prominent in developing countries where food quality control is poorer than in industrialized countries. Sections in the chapter include presentation of evidence on food safety problems from imports, some cases related to hygiene and sanitation issues in exporting countries, and discussion of food safety activities in food production, especially in developing countries. Discussion about the challenges and progress suggest opportunities for developing safe food supply chains. The quality and safety of imported foods are at risk because of the food safety practices of the exporting countries and the likelihood that sanitation and hygiene deficiencies would be imported along with the food items. Food-borne pathogens can be transmitted from human excreta though improper sanitation, water sources, insects, and soil. The chapter primarily focuses on human sources and exposures. Main issues in developing countries regarding food safety controls are inadequate technology, equipment, and other infrastructure for testing product quality. A two-tiered system may be best for developing countries because improvement of an entire country’s sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) situations may take time.
As background to the relevance of antimicrobial-resistant food-borne pathogens in imported food, this chapter first provides a brief explanation of the mechanisms by which antimicrobial resistance develops in microorganisms. The chapter then focuses on the prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens both in infections in humans and in food items, followed by a discussion on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) surveillance of imported foods for this group of pathogens. The magnitude of the public health burden due to infections caused by antimicrobial-resistant food-borne pathogens differs by region and country. Foreign travel and the consumption of imported foods contaminated with drug-resistant strains were suggested as causative factors in the increased incidence of antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis between 2000 and 2004, with resistance to nalidixic acid coupled with decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin associated with infections in England and Wales. The chapter focuses on antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella isolated from FDA-regulated imported products, in particular, seafood and fresh produce. Imported foods, especially aquatic food products, can be contaminated with antimicrobial-resistant food-borne pathogens. Global trade of foods is expected to increase in dramatic proportion in the future; hence, efforts to provide greater public health protection to foods should address antimicrobial-resistant food-borne pathogens in imported food products. Global surveillance of food-borne pathogens and sharing of antimicrobial susceptibility data among developed and developing countries are also needed to monitor trends and emerging resistance phenotypes.
This chapter focuses on the occurrence of the five mycotoxins in foods imported into the United States during the years 2000 to 2006: aflatoxins, patulin, deoxynivalenol, fumonisins, and ochratoxin A. All of these mycotoxins have been found worldwide in foods and are of regulatory concern to the FDA. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified the naturally occurring aflatoxins as being carcinogenic to humans, group 1A; aflatoxin M1was classified as 2B, indicating limited evidence for carcinogenicity to humans. Patulin is a toxic metabolite produced by fungi of several genera, including Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Byssochylamys. These fungi can grow on a variety of foods, including fruits. Deoxynivalenol (DON), commonly known as vomitoxin, belongs to a class of sesquiterpenoid mycotoxins that are referred to as trichothecenes. Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a naturally occurring toxic fungal metabolite produced by certain species of the genera Aspergillus and Penicillium. Data on OTA levels in imported foods from 2000 to 2006 are shown in this chapter. The FDA organized and cosponsored the International Workshop on Mycotoxins at College Park, Maryland, 22 to 26 July 2002. This workshop was an international outreach effort by the FDA to assist economically challenged nations worldwide in minimizing the problem of mycotoxin contamination of foodstuffs in their respective countries. The extent of mycotoxin contamination of foods is greatly influenced, in part, by uncontrollable environmental conditions that prevail during the growth, harvesting, and processing of crops that are used for the preparation of human food.
Conflicting issues often emerge and must be resolved in order to implement an effective strategy to improve the microbiological safety of imported food, as illustrated in the two boxed examples that follow: (i) BSE and the risk of variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (vCJD) from eating beef, and (ii) Salmonella in eggs and broilers. This chapter describes the range of tools adopted to improve the microbiological safety of imported food. The proliferation of private standards and related certification raises important questions regarding their roles in ensuring the microbiological safety of imported food. International organizations play important leadership roles in efforts to improve the microbiological safety of foods. Among these organizations, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) is particularly important. The Codex standard-setting process and the standards themselves play an influential role in microbiological food safety for imported foods on several levels. In assessing the potential value of risk-based programs to improving the microbiological safety of imported foods, it is also necessary to consider how economics may challenge their value. Risk management is the identification and selection of appropriate food safety controls based on risk assessment and other factors that may be important to the risk management decision. The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) approach is a prime example of the application of risk management principles in a systematic manner. Government is responsible for introducing or strengthening existing emergency response systems to respond to food bioterrorism by identifying necessary components of an emergency response program.
Demand-side drivers are critical factors influencing the increased demand for imported food. Support for the effectiveness of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) programs for monitoring the safety of imported foods is suggested from the relatively low number of reported outbreaks/illnesses attributed to this segment of foods. Several studies have been conducted to identify the microbiological safety of foods in developing countries by assaying different food products for harmful microorganisms and their toxins. Food groups that had the greatest number of microbiologically associated refusals at the U.S. border in 2007 are listed in this chapter. The spectrum where the least amount of control over safety of imported foods occurs, the private enterprise selects their supplier but must monitor the safety of the incoming ingredients or product on a routine basis. Food imported into the United States is increasing at an unprecedented rate, especially for horticultural products. The current emphasis on conversion of corn and other crops into ethanol for use as biofuels is likely to stimulate greater importation of foods. Many imported foods are produced in developing countries under conditions that can result in contamination by microbial pathogens. The government’s role in ensuring the safety of imported foods is to verify the food industry is producing safe foods.
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