CMi

9/9/2010 -

Food Manufacturing E-bulletin - February 2010

Food Safety News

A spotlight on the hottest topics for the food manufacturing sector

February 2010

Government health warnings for alcohol not adopted by drinks firms
House of Lords Committee criticises food industry over nanotechnologies
EFSA completes first safety assessments of smoke flavourings
UK FSA publish research on 'country of origin' labelling
The Weights and Measures (Specified Quantities) (Unwrapped Bread and Intoxicating Liquor) Order 2010 – Business Guidance
UK consumers ready to consider 1% fat milk
Global sustainable packaging definitions and principles agreed
UK FSA publishes consumer views on front-of-pack nutrition labelling
EFSA confirms chicken meat as major source of human cases of campylobacteriosis
Latest EU Salmonella Report Good News for UK Eggs
UK FSA Food and Allergy Alerts (January ‘10)

1. UK Government health warnings for alcohol not adopted by drinks firms:
2 years ago the UK Department of Health launched a voluntary labelling scheme which recommended that drink firms put health warnings on their bottles. A report, leaked to the Daily Mail, has found that only one in ten bottles carry the health message. Drink firms were advised to use the wording 'Avoid alcohol if pregnant or trying to conceive' or a logo of a pregnant woman with a red line across it. The survey found that 93.5% of products do not comply with all the elements wanted by the Government, 85.7% do not have guidance on recommended daily limits, 61.8% do not have the required warning for pregnant women, while more than a third do not list the number of alcohol units per bottle or can. (see also item 7: Home Office consultation on responsible alcohol retailing code of practice.)

2. House of Lords Committee criticises food industry over nanotechnologies:
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has criticised the food industry for failing to be transparent about its research into the uses of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials.

The report, 'Nanotechnologies and Food', available at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldselect/ldsctech/22/2202.htm argues that the approach of food companies in not publishing or discussing details of its research in this area is unhelpful.

The report highlights that there are significant gaps in the understanding of how nanomaterials impact on the human body, and that it is not currently possible to predict what risks specific nanomaterials may present -the Committee urges the Government and Research Councils to adequately fund research into potential health and safety risks arising from the use of nanomaterials in the food sector.

The report argues that such research is needed for effective and reliable risk assessments which will be crucial in ensuring the public are confident about the safety of nanomaterials in food.

The report also recommends that the FSA should contribute to consumer confidence in the use of nanomaterials in food by maintaining a publicly available on-line register of food and food packaging containing nanomaterials, considering this a more appropriate mechanism than a requirement that all food products containing nanomaterials be labelled.

The Committee calls for nanomaterials to be defined clearly in food legislation to ensure that all uses of nanomaterials in food are subject to appropriate risk assessment procedures and that the Government needs to ensure that practical tests are developed for enforcement authorities to use on imported food.

3. EFSA completes first safety assessments of smoke flavourings:
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has completed the first ever review of the safety of 11 smoke flavourings used in the EU; the EC will now establish a list of smoke flavouring products authorised for use in foods.

Out of the 11 smoke flavourings evaluated by the Panel, experts found that the margins of safety for two of the products (Scansmoke SEF7525 and Smoke Concentrate 809045) were large enough not to give rise to safety concerns when considering the uses and use levels specified by the manufacturers. For eight others (TRADISMOKE A MAX, Scansmoke R909, Scansmoke PB 1110, SmokEz C-10, SmokEz Enviro 23, Unismoke, Zesti Smoke Code 10), the smaller margins of safety did give rise to safety concerns and for one of those smoke flavourings (AM 01) the Panel could not rule out concerns regarding possible genotoxicity (damage to the genetic material of cells) given the available data. The Panel could not assess the safety of one further smoke flavouring (Fumokomp) due to the lack of adequate data available.

EFSA have also issued a separate statement on how the margins of safety should be interpreted for these smoke flavouring products. It says that what constitutes an “acceptable” margin of safety varies in each case and depends on several factors including the chemical properties of the product in question and the toxicological data which are available.

Opinions and statements available at: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/cef100108.htm

4. UK FSA publish research on 'country of origin' labelling:
The research was commissioned to find out more about how consumers understand and use food labels, including ‘country of origin’ labels and was designed to inform discussions about a proposed European Food Information Regulation. Under present rules, foods such as beef, and certain fruit and vegetables, must have labels saying what country they have come from. But most foods (including ham, pies, sausages and ready meals) only need to include this information if not giving it would be misleading.
Key findings reported include:

awareness of 'origin labelling', albeit not a main concern for consumers when shopping
meat and meat products identified as most popular foods for origin labelling
price and food safety information on labels considered more important than country of origin labelling
some consumers prepared to pay a small amount more if the origin of their food is important to them
consumers confused about whether ‘country of origin’ refers to where animals are born, raised or slaughtered or whether this refers to where a food product has been produced
78% of meat and meat products now carry a country of origin statement, compared with 69% in 2005 (44% of meat products now give the origin of meat ingredients – this has more than doubled since 2005 when only 19% of products gave this information

The research report can be found at: http://www.food.gov.uk/science/socsci/surveys/coolsynth

5. The Weights and Measures (Specified Quantities) (Unwrapped Bread and Intoxicating Liquor) Order 2010 – Business Guidance:
The above regulations become effective from 06 Apr 2010 amending and updating various schedules and aspects of existing Weights & Measures regulations. New business guidance has been issued by the National Measurement Office available at: http://www.nmo.bis.gov.uk/fileuploads/Legislation/Draft_non-pre-packed_SQ_guidance_-_13_January_2010.pdf

Although many specified quantities for pre-packed foods were removed last year, restrictions on non-pre-packaged foodstuffs (unwrapped bread and alcoholic drinks) have remained in place.

Responding to changing patterns of consumption and business needs for more flexibility, and following public consultation, the following amendments will come into effect (also takes into account proposed Home Office/Dept.of Health new mandatory code for alcohol retailers currently out for public consultation):

Specified quantities for unwrapped bread will be deregulated enabling loaves to be sold in any quantity, in addition to the traditional sizes (400 g or a multiple of 400 g) in which they are currently sold. Retailers will be required to clearly display the quantity in which ‘non-standard’ loaves are being offered for sale.
A new additional specified quantity of 2/3 pint for draught beer and cider sold on licensed premises will be introduced to give licensed premises a greater choice of sizes and to satisfy a demand for a quantity between ½ and 1 pint. (i.e. specified quantities will be 1/3, ½, 2/3 pint or multiples of ½ pint)
The existing specified quantities for fortified wines sold by the glass will be reduced to the smaller sizes of 50 ml and 70 ml to align the law with current trade practice. (currently 125 ml or 175 ml or a multiple of either);
Brandy will be required to be sold in specified quantities of 25 ml or 35 ml (or a multiple) which reflects existing trade practice and also brings the sale of brandy into line with the sale of other spirits (gin, rum, vodka and whisky)
Specified quantities will no longer apply to servings of wine below 75 ml. This will allow for innovation in the sale of small glasses of wine as samples or as part of a wine flight. There is no requirement to sell by quantity below 75 ml, but, should a seller choose to do so he should use one of the capacity measures set out in Part IV of Schedule 3 to the Weights and Measures Act 1985.

6. UK consumers ready to consider 1% fat milk:
People who regularly use semi-skimmed milk would be happy to switch to drinking 1% fat milk, according to research published by the FSA to coincide with the launch of the second phase of its saturated fat campaign. 1% fat milk, which is on sale in most supermarkets, contains about half the fat of semi-skimmed but still provides the important nutritional benefits of milk, including calcium, protein, minerals and vitamins.
The research can be found at:
http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/1percentfatmilk.pdf

7. Global sustainable packaging definitions and principles agreed:
The Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) Global Packaging Project (GPP) have announced agreement on a common set of measures and a common language with regard to environmental, economic and social impacts of packaging that will enable manufacturers and retailers to work more closely together.

The definitions and principles adopted by the GPP reflect the guidelines on packaging and sustainability produced by ECR Europe and Europen, the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment – which can be viewed at:

http://www.europen.be/index.php?action=onderdeel&onderdeel=37&titel=What+is+Sustainable+Packaging%3F

The metrics to be tested are adapted from those developed and recently released by the US Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) – and can be read at: http://www.sustainablepackaging.org/pdf/Sustainable%20Packaging%20Metrics%20and%20Indicators%20Framework.pdf

The next phase of the project will be to test and approve the agreed indicators and metrics in business situations over the next six months, with a final report scheduled to be delivered in November 2010.

GPP members include Tetra Pak, Crown Europe, O-I and Sealed Air from the packaging sector, as well as Wal-Mart, Nestle, Coca-Cola, and Unilever.

8. UK FSA publishes consumer views on front-of-pack nutrition labelling:
A series of FSA commissioned consumer focus groups has found that awareness of front-of-pack labelling was high and was viewed to be important, in particular as a way to save time and make informed healthy choices.

It was felt that a single approach to front-of-pack nutrition labelling would be more user friendly as consumers found the co-existence of different schemes made comparisons between retailers and brands more difficult and caused some confusion about the trustworthiness of the information provided on front-of-pack labels.

The key elements people thought were important to include in a front-of-pack label were nutrient amounts in grams, as well as percentage of the Guideline Daily Amount (GDA), standardised portion sizes and the use of traffic light colours, alongside the words high, medium and low in order to help shoppers interpret the information and make decisions at a glance.
The findings are due to be discussed by the FSA Board in March 2010.
Report findings at: http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/citforumfop.pdf

9. EFSA confirms chicken meat as major source of human cases of campylobacteriosis:
EFSA’s Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) Panel has adopted an opinion on the extent to which broiler (chicken) meat contributes to human cases of campylobacteriosis. Experts concluded that the handling, preparation and consumption of broiler meat may directly account for 20 to 30% of human cases of campylobacteriosis in the European Union

In Europe, it is the most common infectious disease transmissible from animals to humans through food and the opinion confirms previous findings that poultry meat appears to be a major, if not the largest, source of human infection. The BIOHAZ Panel estimates that the number of actual cases of human campylobacteriosis is likely to be much higher than officially reported.

EFSA’s review of the different sources of human Campylobacter infections represents the first step in broader work in this area that is expected to be completed in 2010. At the request of the Commission, the BIOHAZ Panel will identify and rank the possible control options and propose specific targets to reduce Campylobacter occurrence at the different stages of the broiler meat chain.

The paper: “Scientific Opinion on Quantification of the risk posed by broiler meat to human campylobacteriosis in the EU” is available at http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/biohaz100128.htm

10. Latest EU Salmonella Report Good News for UK Eggs:
The latest published EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Annual Report on Zoonoses and Food-borne outbreaks for 2008 shows that 99% of UK egg-laying flocks were clear of salmonella in tests conducted during 2008 – the best results among the EU’s major egg-producing countries.

More than 85% of UK eggs are produced under the British Lion Quality scheme, introduced in 1998. UK egg producers have invested significantly in the scheme, which stipulates vaccination of hens against salmonella in addition to a range of other food safety measures.

Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovenia failed to meet their reduction targets, which are based on the prevalence reported in a baseline survey carried out back in 2004-05.

However, when looking at overall prevalence figures, Spain came out worst with 15.6% of samples testing positive for S enteritidis and/or typhimurium. Greece came second highest at 14.3%, followed by Luxembourg at 14.2%, then Latvia at 14.5% while Poland had 10.6%.

11. UK FSA Food and Allergy Alerts (January ‘10):

Food Alerts:
25/01: Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc recalls three date codes of its own-brand Value Seedless Raisins 500g due to the tential presence of small pieces of green plastic

Allergy Alerts:
25/01: Divine Chocolate Ltd withdraws two batch codes of Divine Dark Chocolate due to cross-contamination with milk. Allergens: Milk

If you have any queries or comments about these articles please contact Jon Adams – Business Development Manager - Manufacturing on 07801 039 026, email Johnathan.Adams@nsf-cmi.com

NSF-CMi is the leading independent environmental health, food assurance and supply chain technical services provider working throughout the catering, foodservice and hospitality & leisure sectors. It is the UK market leader for bespoke, food safety, health & safety compliance support and provides a full range of technical services for the retail, catering and leisure sectors.

NSF-CMi works extensively with governments, UK and international executive agencies and industry bodies to develop solutions which balance the interests of all stakeholders in the quest to improve the quality of consumer safety, provide client protection and enhance brand equity.

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