Food Protection Trends - July 2011 - (Page 460)

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN FOOD SAFETY USDA Approves LISTEX™ as Processing Aid against Listeria he USDA has approved LISTEX™ as an antimicrobial processing aid to combat Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria is considered one of the most important food safety threats, due to its high mortality rate of over 20% and its risk to pregnant women. USDA’s decision will enable food processing companies to deliver safer clean-label products to the marketplace, without the need for reformulation or compromise on quality. The approval is in line with Health Canada’s decision last September to approve LISTEX™ as a processing aid. LISTEX™ eliminates Listeria, rather than merely inhibiting its outgrowth. As such it can be used as an Alternative-2 or as part of an Alternative-1 compliance under the USDA 2003 ﬁnal rule for post-lethality exposed RTE meat products. It is certiﬁed USDA organic and does not affect the taste, texture or other organoleptic properties of treated food products. It can therefore be used for natural as well as organic foods. LISTEX is highly consistent in eliminating Listeria and easy to apply by topical spraying. Micreos’ CEO Mark Offerhaus: “Consumers and food processors alike will beneﬁt from the USDA’s decision. Phages are abundant in our environment and foods, but thanks to today’s technology we can harness their power and help prevent unnecessary suffering, economic losses and environmental strain.” The threat from Listeria is real and not to be ignored, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and USDA emphasize. “About one of ﬁve patients with T listeriosis dies,” says Benjamin Silk, with CDC’s Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch. Listeriosis and cold cuts were ranked as the third worst combination of a food and a pathogen in terms of the burden they place on public health, costing $1.1 billion a year in medical costs and lost work days, according to a study published last April by the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogen Institute. Despite the increased legal and sanitary measures, the trend in listeriosis cases has not seen a downturn. In the United States, the CDC estimates that 2,500 people become seriously ill with listeriosis each year, with several hundred deaths each year. Latest information by the CDC reports an increase of 19%. This is consistent with the trend in the EU as reported by EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), conﬁrming Listeria as a major public health threat. Winners of the 3-A SSI Volunteer Service Awards for 2011 announced at the meeting included: • Robert Semerad (USDA retired) received the Leadership Service Award for outstanding service to 3-A SSI voluntary standards development and signiﬁcant contributions to the mission of 3-A SSI. • Lyle Clem (Electrol Specialties Corp.) received the Advancement Award for outstanding accomplishments on behalf of 3-A SSI. Highlights of 3-A SSI progress in the latest year are now available in the 2011 Annual Report, Moving Ahead in Our Mission. The complete report is available at the 3-A SSI Web site under News & Events at http://www.3-a. org/news/2011annualreport.pdf or upon request from 3-A SSI. 3-A SSI Announces 2011 Volunteer Awards and Progress Report -A Sanitary Standards, Inc. (3-A SSI) announced the recipients of its 2011 Volunteer Service Awards and the release of the latest annual progress report, Moving Ahead in Our Mission, at the 3-A SSI Annual Meeting in Milwaukee, WI. Introduced in 2008, the 3-A SSI Volunteer Service Awards recognize the extraordinary dedication and commitment of individuals who contribute to the development of voluntary standards and the mission of 3-A SSI. Nominations for the awards are made by fellow volunteers from the three stakeholder groups in 3-A SSI – regulatory sanitarians, fabricators, and processors – and others. 3 USDA Urged to Prohibit Antibiotic-resistant Salmonella in Ground Meat and Poultry round meat and poultry found to contain antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella should be recalled from the marketplace or withheld from commerce, according to a regulatory petition ﬁled by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The nonproﬁt food safety watchdog group wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare four such Salmonella strains as “adulterants” under federal law, making products that contain them illegal to sell. CSPI is also urging testing for antibiotic-resistant Salmonella in ground meat and poultry, citing a number of major outbreaks of foodborne illnesses linked to the four strains. Those illnesses are harder G 460 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | JULY 2011 http://www.3-a.org/news/2011annualreport.pdf http://www.3-a.org/news/2011annualreport.pdf

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - July 2011

Food Protection Trends - July 2011
Table of Contents
Sustaining Members
Reflections of Your President
Commentary from the Executive Director
Most Americans are Not Prepared to Ensure Food Safety during Power Outages and Other Emergencies
Understanding Food Safety Information Needs: Using a National Information Service as a Research Tool
Ten Reasons to Make It to Milwaukee!
New Members
What’s Happening in Food Safety
Industry Products
IAFP 2011
Award Winners
Committee Meetings
Ivan Parkin Lecture
John H. Silliker Lecture
Preliminary Program
Activities
General Information
Workshops
Registration Rates
Exhibitors
Special Contributors and Sponsors
Coming Events
Advertising Index
Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents
Membership Application
Celebrating 100 Years of IAFP: 1990s

Food Protection Trends - July 2011