Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Food Inspection”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Nonhemolytic strains of Listeria monocytogenes detected in milk products using VIDAS immunoassay kit.

In December 1995 detection of Listeria monocytogenes Sv 1/2a in milk products that were routinely sampled for investigation at the Austrian Federal Food Inspection Laboratory (Vienna) led the food manufacturer in question to withdraw his product from the market. While one of seven Listeria strains isolated from this food product using "VIDAS L. monocytogenes kit" was undoubtedly L. monocyotogenes, six strains were nonhemolytic. In classical bacteriology haemolysin is used as an important phenotypic property to differentiate L. monocytogenes from the apathogenic L. innocua species. Species identification by PCR and by Western blotting confirmed that all nonhemolytic strains were indeed L. monocytogenes. Our confirmation of nonhemolytic isolates as true L. monocytogenes strains underlines the considerable potential of the VIDAS system as a specific immunological easy-to-use and automated test kit for detection of L. monocytogenes in food products. Whether or not the presence of non-hemolytic Listeria monocytogenes in food products justifies legal actions should be addressed by the proper authorities.

Austria↗
PubMed2006

Contesting competence--change in the Danish food safety system.

This paper presents the rationalisation and centralisation in the last decade in the Danish food safety system and illustrates some of the frustration it raised among market actors. The article argues that, even if the reforms did not change formal division of responsibilities for securing food safety, the implementation of new principles in the food safety control procedure in the form of HACCP and the publication of results from public food inspection visits (The Danish Smiley System) have altered the roles and responsibilities of market actors and public actors at a practical level. In this way the reform raises new questions about the efficiency of the food safety control system.

Consumer Product Safety↗
PubMed1964

INCIDENCE OF SALMONELLAE IN DRESSED BROILER-FRYER CHICKENS.

Salmonellae were isolated from 72 of 264 broiler-fryer type chickens that had been purchased in retail stores in the Lafayette, Ind., area in 1963. Meat from the tail area and giblet portions were used in sampling. Equal numbers of dressed whole and cut-up birds were positive for salmonellae. Thirteen different serotypes were identified, the more common being Salmonella infantis, S. reading, and S. blockley. Incubation at 43 C of the blended sample in Selenite-F Enrichment broth containing cystine gave a larger number of recoveries than did incubation at 37 C. There was no significant difference between the means for the birds that yielded salmonellae and those that did not in the locally processed group, when compared for numbers of aerobic microorganisms at 37 C, coliforms, or most probable number of enterococci. In a comparison of poultry processed in-state by the five processors included in the study with that processed out-of-state, there was a general trend for a larger number of positive specimens in the locally produced group. The fall season was an exception.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Challenges to developing countries after joining WTO: risk assessment of chemicals in food.

FAO/WHO encourages member countries to develop national food control measures based on risk assessment in order to assure proper protection level to consumers and facilitate fair trade. This is particularly important for developing countries as WTO members because it is clearly stated in the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Agreement that: (a) SPS measures should be based on risk assessment techniques developed by relevant international organizations; and (b) Codex standards which is based on risk assessment are regarded as the international norm in trade dispute settlement. When conducting risk assessment on food chemicals (including additives and contaminants) in developing countries, in most cases it is not necessary to conduct their own hazard characterization because the ADIs or PTWIs of food chemicals developed by international expert groups (e.g. JECFA) are universally applicable and also developing countries do not have the resources to repeat those expensive toxicological studies. On the other hand, it is necessary to conduct exposure assessment in developing countries because exposure to food chemicals varies from country to country. This is not only crucial in setting national standards, but also very important for developing countries to participate in the process of developing Codex standards. In addition to food standard development, risk assessment is also useful in setting up priorities in imported food inspection and evaluating the success of various food safety control measures.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Regulatory and compliance activities to protect food-allergic consumers in Canada: research in support of standard setting and consumer protection.

An overview is presented of the activities of Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in the area of food allergens. Since the 1990s, changes were made in the Food and Drug Regulations in order to better protect allergic consumers by imposing labeling requirements to clearly identify sources of priority food allergens in prepackaged foods. Policies of application as well as risk management strategies are discussed with some statistics on allergen-related food recalls in Canada for the years 1997--2001. Health Canada's allergen method development program is a pioneering research initiative that was developed in the early 1990s in support of the changing Canadian regulatory environment. The objectives and some of the accomplishments of this program are presented. The development of the Canadian Compendium of Allergen Methodologies under a Web-based application to compile data on evaluated allergen detection methods will provide further support to compliance activities nationally, as well as to the international analytical community in both government and the food industry. Some emerging techniques for the confirmation of results generated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays are also discussed.

Allergens↗
PubMed2005

A program to accredit laboratories for reliable testing of pork and horse meat for Trichinella.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has developed a program to accredit external laboratories to conduct Trichinella digestion assays for export purposes. Accredited laboratories are responsible for staffing, equipment and operating test facilities under the auspices and guidance of the CFIA. The CFIA's Centre for Animal Parasitology provides training, proficiency samples, audits and other support for the accreditation process. The program has also been adapted for use in laboratories conducting Trichinella digestion tests for surveillance and food safety purposes and provides a useful template for others wishing to develop similar systems.

Accreditation↗
PubMed1976

[An investigation into the presence of staphylococci in farm milk (author's transl)].

Two hundred bulk milk samples drawn from milk collected in cans, which came from cows at stable at 40 farms in the Food Inspection District Utrecht, were examined for Staphylococcus aureus, by means of Baird-Parker's medium. Cultures obtained were phage typed with international, bovine, and additional Dutch phage series. About 60% of the isolated strains were found to be of human origin and about 20% of bovine origin. Isolated strains appeared to be farm specific. Approximately 70% of the farms supplied bulk milk containing 0.08-1.3X10(4) coagulase and DNAse positive staphylococci/ml. The conclusion is inescapable that this type of bulk milk still represents a latent hazard for human health.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

[The current importance of veterinary public health: the SAPUVET project].

The authors propose reviewing the current needs for implementing veterinary public health programmes, from both the teaching and professional standpoints. This is warranted by the fact that veterinary public health has become extremely important in various fields of work, beyond conventional food inspection. The article discusses the public health role which veterinarians must play and the interactions between their activities and those of other groups such as doctors, epidemiologists, ecologists, chemists, or even sociologists and anthropologists. The authors also study and assess the basic working tool in veterinary public health--epidemiological surveillance--and how it operates on the basis of diagnosis and risk analysis. The second part of the article discusses the need to unify criteria for veterinary public health training and the role which the SAPUVET network is playing in doing so (SAPUVET is a European Union-supported project within the ALFA programme that is designed to establish links between Latin American and European veterinary faculties).

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effectiveness of public health interventions in food safety: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: To summarize evidence on the effectiveness of public health interventions regarding food safety at restaurants, institutions, homes and other community-based settings. METHOD: This systematic review of published and unpublished studies involved a comprehensive literature search, screening for relevance, quality assessment of relevant studies, data extraction and synthesis. RESULTS: The interventions identified in 15 studies included in this review were grouped into three categories: inspections, food handler training, and community-based education. The evidence suggests that: routine inspection (at least once per year) of food service premises is effective in reducing the risk of foodborne illness; food handler training can improve the knowledge and practices of food handlers; and selected community-based education programs can increase public knowledge of food safety. DISCUSSION: There is some evidence for the effectiveness of multiple public health interventions on food safety. Future research needs include evaluation of HACCP and community-based education programs.

Food Contamination↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Routine restaurant inspections and education of food handlers: recommendations based on critical appraisal of the literature and survey of Canadian jurisdictions on restaurant inspections and education of food handlers.

Inspection of restaurants and education of food handlers are two methods used by regulatory agencies to ensure food served in restaurants is safe to eat. The variation which exists in the implementation of these programs suggests that the programs' effectiveness is lacking or is not clear. Recommendations based on the Community Health Practice Guideline methodology, the results of a critical review of the literature, the results of a survey of practices, and expert opinion were developed. The recommendations include: continuation of routine inspections at a frequency of one to two inspections per year per restaurant and the continuation of education programs. The evidence on which these recommendations are based is scant and more research is needed to ensure programs are needed, effective and efficient.

Canada↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Review--animal waste used as livestock feed: dangers to human health.

Foodborne illness remains a common and serious problem, despite efforts to improve slaughterhouse inspection and food preparation practices. A potential contributor to this problem that has heretofore escaped serious public health scrutiny is the feeding of animal excrement to livestock, a common practice in some parts of the United States. In 1994, 18% of poultry producers in Arkansas collectively fed more than 1,000 tons of poultry litter to cattle, and the procedure is also common in some other geographic areas as a means of eliminating a portion of the 1.6 million tons of livestock wastes produced in the United States annually. While heat processing reliably kills bacterial pathogens, its use is limited by expense and other factors. Deep-stacking and ensiling are commonly used by farmers to process animal wastes, but the maximal temperatures achieved in stacked poultry litter are typically in the range of 43 to 60 degrees C (110 to 140 degrees F), below the inactivation temperatures of pathogenic salmonella and Escherichia coli species, and far below the USDA's recommended cooking temperatures of 71 to 77 degrees C (160 to 170 degrees F) for potentially manure-tainted meat products. In addition to the spread of potential pathogens, using animal wastes as feed presents the possibility that antibiotic-resistant bacteria may spread from one animal to another and that antibiotics or other chemicals may be passed between animals. Few research reports have addressed the safety of this practice, and those studies that have been published have generally been in controlled and artificial environments, rather than in on-farm conditions. Further microbiological studies are recommended to assess the extent of risk.

Abattoirs↗
PubMed2003

An outbreak of food-borne illness due to methomyl contamination.

BACKGROUND: On December 26, 2002, 124 dinners took ill while eating lunch at a seafood restaurant in the town of Chiching in Kaohsiung municipality of Taiwan. Sixty-nine people were sent to the emergency departments of the Municipal Chiching Hospital and Yuan's General Hospital. METHODS: We analyzed the clinical symptoms, detailed food history, and ingested amount of each food from 59 hospitalized adult patients and identified the source of the outbreak. RESULTS: The median latency period from beginning eating to first symptoms was 5 min. Twenty-six symptoms and signs were recorded. The most commonly reported clinical effects were general weakness (84%), ataxia (82%), dizziness (82%), vomiting (80%), sweating (75%), floating sensation (71%), headache (69%), dyspnea (69%), and blurred vision (67%). Thirty-one patients had residual symptoms 7 days after ingestion. Of the six residual symptoms reported, the most frequent ones were dizziness (40%), poor appetite and dry mouth (11%), and gastrointestinal disturbance (11%). The presence of residual symptoms correlated with the severity of the initial complaints (p < 0.01). Almost all patients ate cooked rice (93%) and leaf vegetable stir-fried with crab claw (93%). The amount of each food eaten by the patients was not associated with the severity of symptoms (p > 0.05). High levels of methomyl in leaf vegetables of "leaf vegetables stir-fried with crab claws" (380 ppm) and fried mussels (1113 ppm) were found by the Food Inspection Center at the Department of Health. The food history and chemical analysis of the poison indicated methomyl was the cause of this outbreak. Twenty-four patients recovered completely within 7 days. CONCLUSION: Food-related methomyl intoxication produced a rapid onset of significant clinical toxicity in 124 individuals. Based on the analysis of 55 adult patients, the most common effects were gait ataxia, dizziness, generalized weakness, and vomiting.

Adult↗