Food Safety
AEI Calls for Single Food Safety Agency, Better Foodborne Illness Surveillance
The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, DC, released a working paper this month recommending a single food safety agency, better market incentives, and more foodborne illness data and surveillance.
In the paper, AEI scholar Sébastien Pouliot acknowledges the difficulty in making major changes to America’s food regulatory system, citing the long and tenuous debate over the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which was enacted early last year.
Pouliot, an economics professor at Iowa State University, notes that instead of recommending “more controversial and perhaps more cost effective” changes — including shifting away from government regulation, toward more market accountability — he specifically focuses on more attainable solutions like reallocating resources and making better use of technology.
House, Senate Continue to Disagree on FDA Appropriations
As the budget process in Washington rolls along, the House and Senate remain at odds over doling out resources that impact the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The House on Wednesday released the allocation for discretionary spending for FDA and agriculture programs for fiscal year 2013, which is $19.4 billion below the spending ceiling set by last summer’s Budget Control Act. In total, the House appropriations allocations are $1 trillion below the BCA limits. The Senate is currently considering an FDA appropriations bill that is expected to be at the limit.
According to Stephen Grossman, the executive director at the Alliance for a Stronger FDA, “there does not appear to be any coordination between the two bodies and there are fundamental disagreements on total spending.
Search Underway for Any More ‘Mad Cows’
California Cow with BSE (Mad Cow Disease) Does Not Pose a Threat to the Food Supply
Opinion
Wisconsin Finds Salmonella Outbreak Strain in Sushi Tuna
Another Type of Salmonella Found in Raw Scraped Tuna
Salmonella
Government officials have just announced that another strain of Salmonella bacteria has been found in the raw scraped tuna product imported by Moon Marine USA Corporation. The product was recalled on April 13, 2012.The serotype Salmonella Nchanga was found in one of the unopened samples of imported raw Nakaochi Scrape yellowfin tuna. A total of 10 people in 5 states have been infected with this outbreak strain. The bacteria found in the tuna had a PFGE pattern “indistinguishable from the cluster of Salmonella Nchanga infections.”
This bacteria is very rare in the United States. The illness onset dates for this outbreak ranged form February 19 to April 5, 2012. The ill persons are 17 to 86 years old; the median age is 33 years. Seventy-five percent of the patients are female. One person was hospitalized and no deaths have been reported.
Raw Milk Now The Focus Of Missouri E. coli Outbreak
Raw milk produced by Stroupe Farm in Howard County Missouri is now the focus on an investigation into an E.coli outbreak that has sickened 12 people, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Missouri health officials had previously reported that 15 people were part of the outbreak, but now believe that, based on lab results, geographic location and case histories, three of those individuals are not part of the same outbreak as the other 12.
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Recalls
Alfa Sprouts Inc. Recalls Alfalfa Sprouts for Possible Listeria
Alfa Sprouts Inc. (Springwater Sprouts) of Honeoye Falls, New York is recalling 100 pounds of alfalfa sprouts and clover sprouts because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. This bacteria can cause serious or life-threatening infections in high risk groups, and can cause stillbirth and miscarriages in pregnant women.
LA Star Seafood Recalling Dry and Smoked Vobla for Possible Botulism
LA Star Seafood, Inc. of Los Angeles, California is recalling Vobla Dry and Vobla Smoked because the fish may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. This bacteria can cause life-threatening illness and death, even in healthy people. The fish was not properly eviscerated.
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Allergen Alert
Krispak Recalling Hostess Candy Mix for Undeclared Allergens
Krispak, Inc. of Grand Rapids Michigan is recalling 16 cases of Hostess Candy Mix. The mix was mis-packed, or put into the wrong packages. Cases of GFS® Hostess Candy Mix, which contains wheat and milk and may contain egg, were put into GFS® Chocolate Sprinkles packages.
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