February 2006

27/02/2006- The public’s understanding of food risk issues is skewed towards under estimating the danger from common pathogen contamination, according to a research survey.
The survey results could help companies and experts develop communication strategies aimed at ensuring the public understands the various risks posed by food borne diseases and hazards.
The survey researchers concluded that food safety experts have a key role in communicating food risk and thus their perceptions will influence how food risk issues are communicated to the public.Continue Reading Public underestimates risks posed by common pathogens

Sometimes a solution to a problem can be both easy and difficult, particularly when dealing with foodborne disease. When food is properly cooked and handled, bacterial contamination is not usually an issue. But mistakes can be made, and contaminated foods may accidentally be consumed.
One foodborne pathogen of particular interest is Campylobacter, which may cause mild to severe diarrhea and fever in humans and possibly result in a secondary, neurological condition known as Guillain-BarrÈ Syndrome. Campylobacter is commonly found in the intestinal tracts of swine, cattle, and poultry. It may be deposited onto trucks, trailers, and coops when the animals are transported to processing plants.
“For poultry, washing transport cages with water and disinfectant can certainly reduce the level of Campylobacter, but it isn’t very reliable and doesn’t completely eliminate the microbe,” says microbiologist Mark Berrang, who is in the Bacterial Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Resistance Research Unit in Athens, Georgia. He and food technologist Julie Northcutt, of the Poultry Processing Research Unit, evaluated the role of transport coops and carcass defeathering as critical points in Campylobacter contamination of broilers and broiler carcasses.Continue Reading Finding Solutions to Campylobacter in Poultry Production

February 11, 2006
The Clarion-Ledger
Jack Sunn
Q: Jack, I’ve been trying to find someone in the metro area who sells milk directly from a cow; for example, a local dairy farm that will sell directly to the consumer or someone who raises cows. Can you help me? – Lactose Free
A: The Mississippi Department of Health doesn’t allow the sale of raw milk in this state. “It’s against the law,” said Bill Herndon, an agricultural extension service economist at Mississippi State University. “People who like to drink raw milk think that pasteurization makes the milk bad or lowers the quality. All that does is kill the bugs.”Continue Reading Raw milk sales against the law in Miss.

February 2, 2006
safefood Press Release
www.safefoodonline.com
Recent research, funded by safefood, has indicated a high occurrence of the food poisoning bacterium, Campylobacter in raw poultry, particularly chicken, with 49.9% of retail samples of raw chicken testing positive for the bacterium.
Speaking about the project, Dr Paul Whyte from UCD, lead Researcher, said ‘The study was carried out to provide all island public health data on Campylobacter. Our research showed that a high proportion of human Campylobacter cases are linked with the handling and consumption of contaminated foodstuffs of animal origin, particularly poultry.
Campylobacter is a common cause of bacterial foodborne infection in many countries including the island of Ireland. Scientists have detected the pathogen in raw poultry produced worldwide’.Continue Reading Study identifies campylobacter in poultry as risk factor for gastroenteritis in humans