FSNET FEBRUARY 18, 2002

No political interference in Brazilian beef ban
Smart labels
Restaurant worker tests positive for salmonella
Food hygiene inspections
Promising results with bio packaging material for foodstuffs
Officials admit lab did tests on water; lab was responsible for safety of
25,000 people
The COFFS program
Canadian food safety news


FSnet is produced by the Food Safety Network at the University of Guelph,
and is supported by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural
Affairs, AgCare, Health Canada, Ag-West Biotech, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Meat and
Livestock Australia, Nabisco, National Food Processors Association,
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ontario Cattlemen's Association,
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Institute, Syngenta Crop Protection Canada, Rutgers Food Risk Analysis
Initiative, FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, Business News Publishing
Co., American Air Liquide, Tyson, National Cattlemen¹s Beef Association,
JIFSAN, Pfizer, National Pork Board, Adculture Group Inc.,  Alberta Pork,
Ontario Food Protection Association, Danone Vitapole, Maple Leaf Poultry,
Caravelle, Parmalat Food, Chicken Farmers of Canada, Capital Health
Authority, Effem, National Turkey Federation, Nation Resources and
Environment Australia, Central Laboratories Friedrichsdorf  GmbH,
International Association for Food Protection, 3M, ABC Research, Burger
King, Ontario Egg Producers, Fort Worth Public Health Department,
Saskatchewan Nutraceutical Network, Canadian Food Information Council and
the Agricultural Adaptation Council (CanAdapt Program).

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NO POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN BRAZILIAN BEEF BAN
February 18, 2002
CP
OTTAWA -- A federal labour relations board appears, according to this story,
to vindicate Canada's decision to ban Brazilian beef imports one year ago.
The story says that the board's decision, released late last month, supports
the suspension of a Health Canada employee who publicly suggested that the
ban put in place by chief veterinarian Brian Evans was motivated by trade
politics rather than health and safety.
Margaret Haydon, a department scientist, was briefly suspended for her
comments, which appeared in the Toronto Globe and Mail.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency maintained the ban was necessary because
there were legitimate concerns that Brazilian cattle herds had been exposed
to mad cow disease.
Critics maintained the ban was motivated by the government's desire to
punish Brazil in an ongoing trade battle over aircraft manufacturing.
The Jan. 25 judgment from the Public Service Staff Relations Board was cited
as supporting Evan's decision to ban Brazilian beef products and upholds
Haydon's suspension, stating, "There was an act of culpable misconduct
committed by Dr. Haydon."



SMART LABELS
February 18, 2002
Associated Press
Mike Crissey
PITTSBURGH  -- The Gillette Co., Proctor & Gamble, Target and Wal-Mart, as
well as the U.S. federal government, have, according to this story, funded
smart label -- tiny computerized tags embedded in everyday items that could
tell consumers when eggs or milk have turned -- research at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology with grants of at least $300,000.
Manufacturers and distributors believe smart labels could reduce snags in
supply lines by tracking products as they make their way from plants to
people's pantries.
The story says that the technology being refined for smart labels was
developed during World War II as an outgrowth of radar. The Allies outfitted
aircraft with transponders which allowed radar technicians to determine
whether the planes were friendly or not. Later, fighter pilots and air
traffic controllers used it for the same purpose.
On the ground, smart labels got their start in the 1970s by keeping tabs on
cattle.




RESTAURANT WORKER TESTS POSITIVE FOR SALMONELLA
February 14, 2002
Post-Dispatch
William Lamb
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/C083F64880D2398586256
B6100149F2F?OpenDocument&Headline=Restaurant%20worker%20tests%20positive%20f
or%20salmonella
St. Clair County health officials were cited as saying that an employee at
the Laredo Mexican Restaurant in Fairview Heights tested positive for
salmonella poisoning Thursday, as the number of food poisoning cases linked
to the restaurant grew to 12.
The story says that results of tests to determine a direct link between the
restaurant, at 4632 North Illinois Street, and the salmonella outbreak were
still pending
Thursday.
Barb Hohlt, director of environmental programs for the St. Clair County
Health Department was cited as saying that of 17 people who reported
symptoms of salmonella poisoning to the department since Friday, 12 had
eaten at the Laredo. Another four were determined to have become ill after
eating at the Roberts All You Can Eat Steak Buffet in Ferguson, which has
been connected to at least 39 cases of salmonella poisoning since Feb. 1.



FOOD HYGIENE INSPECTIONS
February 15, 2002
European Commission, Health and Consumer Protection
The complete document of the following can be downloaded from:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/inspections/fnaoi/reports/food_hygiene/lux
embourg/vi_rep_luxe_3394-2001_en.pdf
Final report of a mission carried out in Luxembourg from 16th to 19th
October 2001 in order to evaluate the official foodstuffs control system and
in particular the implementation of controls on food of non-animal origin in
the retail sector (3394/2001)



PROMISING RESULTS WITH BIO PACKAGING MATERIAL FOR FOODSTUFFS
February 14, 2002
Oresund Food Excellence
http://www.foodoresund.com/show.asp?id=113
Packaging material for foodstuffs can now be made by potato starch or whey.
These new packaging materials are now being tested at The Royal Veterinary
and Agricultural University in Copenhagen in the ?esund Region.
Researchers at the Department of Dairy and Food Science at The Royal
Veterinary and Agricultural University are working full hours to test the
new packaging materials, which are based solely on organic materials such as
e.g. potato starch or whey. These will have the ability to preserve taste,
texture and shelf-life of the foodstuffs, and will significantly minimize
the need for artificial preservatives in foodstuffs.
Vibeke Haugaard, a member of the group of researchers working on the
project, stated: 3In the future we will be able to use these packaging
materials based solely on organic materials for an array of foodstuffs,
including e.g. meat, dairy products and cheese?
Vibeke Haugaard further stated: 3For now, we are focusing on foodstuffs of a
shorter period of durability. We have done substantial research on packaging
materials for freshly squeezed orange juice and other fruits and vegetables.
It looks very promising?
One of the bio based organic products, which has proven particularly
promising is Polylaktat (PLA), and it is extracted from whey. The hopes for
Polylaktat are high amongst researchers, since it does not absorb water, and
therefore will be extremely suitable for foodstuffs containing large amounts
of water, and possibly also extremely suitable for fluids such as juice etc.
Minimizing the need for artificial preservatives in foodstuffs is a
significant and groundbreaking possibility of using organic biomaterial for
packaging foodstuffs. Vibeke Haugaard exemplified on this: 3Usually
artificial preservatives are added to the entire foodstuff, but it is
usually only needed on the surface of the foodstuff in order to keep it from
perishing. It is on the surface where you notice the presence of mould. The
clever part of this is that you will now be able to add the preservatives to
the packaging materials solely, from where it will slowly be transferred
from the packaging material to the surface of the foodstuff?
It is her clear and definite expectation that this sort of packaging
material will become the future within packaging material for foodstuff, but
she does not wish to guess by what year the new packaging material will have
a large foothold in the various supermarket chains.
For further information: Description of the research project -
www.mli.kvl.dk/projects/foodchem/proj00-3-01.htm The Royal Veterinary and
Agricultural University ?www.kvl.dk/english/index.htm



OFFICIALS ADMIT LAB DID TESTS ON WATER; LAB WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SAFETY OF
25,000 PEOPLE
February 18, 2002
The Spectator
A01
Paul Morse
The Hamilton lab at the heart of a probe into allegations of faked test
results was, according to this story, responsible for the safety of drinking
water for 25,000 people for five years.
Yesterday Ontario's environment ministry was cited as saying that Fine
Analysis Laboratories was responsible for water tests for four communities
just north of Toronto.
Just last week the ministry said the lab had not tested water for
contaminants such as E. coli which was responsible for the Walkerton tragedy
which killed seven people and sickened thousands.
George DeGroot, public works director for Alliston, Beeton, Tottenham and
Te-cumseth, which make up the town of New Tecumseth, said the lab did tests
from 1996 to 2001 when another laboratory won the contract.
Brian Blomme, environment ministry spokesman, was cited as confirming it was
aware New Tecumseth had used Fine.
The ministry had said its records showed only three municipalities, Parry
Sound, Nobel to the north of Parry Sound, and Cainsville in Brant County,
had used Fine for water testing.
None relied on Fine to test water for illness-causing bacteria such as E.
coli but used it for such things as pesticide tests.
News of Fine's contract with New Tecumseth comes six days after police and
technical experts raided Fine's east-Mountain facility on allegations it had
issued false Certificates of Analysis to clients.



THE COFFS PROGRAM
February 2002
On-Farm Food Safety Newsletter
http://www.cfa-fca.ca/english/programs_and_projects/coffsnews/feb02.htm
The Canadian On-Farm Food Safety (COFFS) Program is a producer-led,
industry/government partnership that provides national commodity groups with
the opportunity to develop the strategies and the necessary tools to educate
producers and to implement national on-farm food safety initiatives
consistent with the Codex Alimentarius' Hazard Analysis Critical Control
Point (HACCP)
definitions and principles and with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's
Food Safety Enhancement Program.
The COFFS Program was established in May 1997 is funded by a grant from
Agriculture and Agri-food Canada's Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development
Fund. Technical advice is provided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
and the program is administered by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
The pilot project for Canada's new on-farm food safety program recognition
process has begun with the consideration of Chicken Farmers of Canada's
Safe, Safer, Safest program. The Canadian approach to recognition is
designed to assess both the technical soundness of the commodity-specific
generic program and its administrative effectiveness. It was endorsed in
June 2001 by the federal and provincial ministers of agriculture at their
annual conference in Whitehorse and is led by the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency (CFIA) with participation by officials from provincial ministries.
Chicken Farmers of Canada, a participant in the Canadian On-Farm Food Safety
Program, submitted its application for a technical assessment - Part 1 of
the recognition process - in November. In early December, the review team
lead by Warren Smandych, CFIA's HACCP Co-ordinator in the Western Region,
held an orientation session to review the proposed assessment approach and
to hear the applicant's presentation. The assessment team, including a
second reviewer from CFIA and reviewers from New Brunswick, Prince Edward
Island, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British
Columbia then undertook
individual document reviews.
Over the week of January 14th to 18th, 2002, the team leader and four
members of the review team met in Ottawa to thoroughly assess the chicken
program's HACCP-based generic model and to determine whether or not it had
been effectively translated into the producer program (e.g. good production
practices, critical control points, record-keeping requirements, etc).
Several conference calls were held to engage all team participants and
ensure that identified issues were being fully dealt with. The applicant was
represented throughout the week. This resulted in a very positive and
dynamic process where adjustments could be
identified and, in many cases, made.
The process concluded with the review team making both adjustment need
requests and a set of other recommendations. CFC's Food Safety Committee
will review and respond to these prior to the team making its final
recommendations to CFIA concerning recognition of the technical soundness of
the program.
An evaluation team, representing CFIA and the Canadian On-Farm Food Safety
Working Group was also present for the orientation and the on-site review
and will be making its recommendations concerning the review process in
early February. This part of the Canadian recognition process should be
fully operational by April. With a significant number of national on-farm
food safety programs ready for review, it is expected that as many as four
review teams will be active in the spring of 2002 with more to follow.



CANADIAN FOOD SAFETY NEWS
February, 2002
On-Farm Food Safety Newsletter
http://www.cfa-fca.ca/english/programs_and_projects/coffsnews/feb02.htm
Canadian Supply Chain Food Safety Coalition Symposium
The Canadian Supply Chain Food Safety Coalition held its first annual
Symposium on November 22nd 2001. The Coalition was established earlier in
2001 "to facilitate, through dialogue within the food industry and with all
levels of government, the development and implementation of a national,
co-ordinated approach to food safety to ensure credibility in the domestic
and international marketplaces". Its members include national, provincial
and local associations representing all segments of the food chain from
input suppliers, through primary production, processing, manufacturing, food
service and retail. The Symposium heard reports about current activities and
future directions from the four federal/provincial committees active in food
safety: the Assistant Deputy Ministers Policy Committee, the Canadian Food
Inspection System Implementation Group, the Federal Provincial Territorial
Agri-food Inspection Committee and the Federal Provincial Territorial
Committee on Food Safety Policy. In addition, the results of its first
industry survey of food safety initiatives and expectations were reviewed.
The Symposium concluded with a session where industry participants refined
the Coalition's workplan and agenda for the coming year.
Post Whitehorse Food Safety Consultations
Government officials were also consulting on future directions in food
safety as they followed up on the ministerial decisions taken at Whitehorse
in June 2001. A series of workshops on quality, traceability and food safety
were held across the country in October followed by a summary session in
November. The messages were quite clear and surprisingly consistent from
government and industry participants. Much is already happening in all key
areas, such as the implementation of HACCP and HACCP-based programs by
industry, and a commitment exists to move ahead with food safety, quality,
and traceability
systems. There is place for non-regulatory mechanisms but these would not
eliminate the need for government standards being met. And, finally, there
is a very real need for governments to fully commit themselves to a
collaborative, transparent approach with industry in order to move forward.
These and the other recommendations were to go before Ministers early in
2002 with a second round of more detailed consultations expected to follow
shortly thereafter.

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