Food Protection Trends - January/February 2014 - (Page 12)

relabeling to conceal the true country of origin, a process that has also been called "honey laundering." One large honey laundering scheme in the U.S. resulted in eleven individuals and six companies being indicted on U.S. federal charges alleging a global conspiracy to illegally import Chinese honey. A total of 606 shipments of Chinese-origin honey entered the United States between March 2002 and April 2008, though declarations incorrectly stated that the honey originated in Russia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand (34). The defendants allegedly conspired to illegally import more than $40 million worth of Chinese-origin honey to avoid antidumping duties totaling nearly $80 million. The indictment also alleged that honey continued to be sold to the U.S. despite the fact that it had tested positive for antibiotic residues. Some of the honey was rejected by one purchaser because of the presence of antibiotics and was subsequently resold despite the known contamination with antibiotics (3). In an attempt to avoid receiving transshipped Chinese honey from India, The E.U. banned honey imports from India in June of 2010 (23). This act was followed by a public outcry by producers and consumers asking for similar action to be taken in the U.S. (22). However, the U.S. ultimately did not ban any honey imports. Increased testing for antibiotic residues in Chinese honey The presence of antibiotic residues is regulated in all food products of animal origin. Antibiotics and other chemicals are used in the honey industry to ensure the health of bee colonies. In the U.S., very few antibiotics and other chemicals are approved for use in bee colonies, and they are approved for use only at specific doses, with a withdrawal period required to decrease the possibility of antibiotic residues entering the food supply (20). For example, the antibiotic oxytetracycline is approved for the prevention of European and American foulbrood (a bacterial disease that affects honey bee populations) at 200 mg per colony, three times, at 4-5 day intervals, with a 45-day withdrawal period. Honey produced during the withdrawal period cannot be collected and introduced into commerce for human consumption. Honey imported from China has tested positive for residues of antibiotics that are not approved for use in bee colonies in the U.S., such as chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin (26). Honey imported into the E.U. from several countries, including China, Turkey, Argentina, Czech Republic, Uruguay, and Mexico, has been shown to contain antibiotic residues, including chloramphenicol, metronidazole, nitrofuran, sulfathiazole, streptomycin, lincomycin, oxytetracycline, sulfadimidine, and tylosin (14). Chloramphenicol is an inexpensive, broad spectrum antibiotic that can cause a rare and irreversible condition in humans known as aplastic anemia, even at very low doses; therefore, it is not approved for use in any food producing animals in the U.S. (19). Chloramphenicol has been used on honey bee colonies in China since approximately 12 Food Protection Trends January/February 1997, when an outbreak of foulbrood threatened the beekeeping industry in China (11). Other antibiotics that have been identified in honey, such as enrofloxacin, are approved for use in some food producing animals but are not approved for use in honey bees in the U.S. (20). Enrofloxacin is in a class of antibiotics that is considered by FDA to be important to human health, and measures have been taken to reduce the use of such classes of drugs to mitigate the development of widespread resistance (37). Because of the history of antibiotic residues in Chinese honey, most notably residues of chloramphenicol, shipments of Chinese honey have been subject to additional testing by the FDA before entering U.S. commerce (41). The desire to avoid additional scrutiny provides additional incentive for companies to transship honey to mask the true country of origin. DISCUSSION he many factors already outlined have negatively affected quality control in the international honey market, allowing for the sale of honey that does not have a standard level of quality. A marked increase in imported honey has arguably led to less regulatory oversight of the honey consumed in the U.S. However, the largest impact on the international honey market has come from the shift in primary production sources and policies aimed at protecting U.S. honey producers from unfair trade and inferior honey. General food protection advancements in recent years will likely affect the honey industry. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law on January 4, 2011 (27), specifies that importers need to have a program in place to verify that the food products they import from foreign suppliers are not adulterated or misbranded (39). As identified in the FSMA Proposed Rule for Preventive Controls for Human Food, importers will need to verify that their suppliers are in compliance with reasonably appropriate risk-based preventive controls that provide the same level of public health protection as those required under FSMA (35, 38). One of the dangers of transshipped honey is that it can lead to importation of honey that has circumvented this portion of the U.S. food safety requirements, since the origin of the honey is falsely declared. In 2012, the total U.S. consumption of honey was 400 million pounds (32). The generally accepted serving size for honey is 21g, which means that approximately 8.6 billion servings of honey were consumed in the U.S. in 2012 (30). During the same time, almost 70% of the honey consumed in the U.S. was imported (31). These estimates, paired with what appears to be a pervasive problem of EMA of honey, are worrisome for public health. Serious human health concerns regarding the presence of chloramphenicol and other antibiotics that can lead to microbial resistance have been discussed previously. Although rare, there is documentation of allergic reaction to antibiotics in some individuals exposed to antibiotic residues in other types of food (10). Additionally, the widespread T

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - January/February 2014

Food Protection Trends - January/February 2014
Contents
Economically Motivated Adulteration of Honey: Quality Control Vulnerabilities in the International Honey Market
Efficacy of Quaternary Ammonium Compounds on Different Conveyor Chips Contaminated with Poultry Rinsate
What Implications Does a Baseline of Self-efficacy of Food Safety in Adolescent Populations Have for Future Food Safety Education Interventions?
Food Safety Risks in Restaurants and School Foodservice Establishments: Health Inspection Reports
INOFOOD 2013 Conference & Expo
The 3rd Asia Pacific International Conference on Food Safety
China International Food Safety & Quality Conference (CIFSQ) + Expo
Dubai International Food Safety Conference (DIFSC)
Beyond the Bio
FSMA: Article 7
PDG
Industry Products
Coming Events

Food Protection Trends - January/February 2014