News Archive

  1. Photo by Steve Maugeri/Spectrum News on Third-Party Delivery

    Spectrum News 1 Ohio Interview: Third-Party Food Delivery Regulation

    Jul 18, 2022

    Interview from Spectrum News 1 Ohio w/Gina Nicholson Kramer:

    “If somebody tries to tamper with this, it’s going to rip. Once you open these, it’s hard to re-seal," Torres said as she showed how the containers work. 

    Torres said it’s necessary because there have been cases where a third-party delivery driver has tampered with, or even eaten some of the food.  

    Local health departments regulate food health and safety inside restaurants. For instance, kitchen staff learn how to handle food safely, how long it can be kept, and at what temperature.

  2. Stakeholder-Centered Risk Ranking Workshop Builds Consensus and Sets Priorities for Food Safety Research in Kenyan Poultry

    Jul 6, 2022

    By: Amanda Garris

    Poultry production systems worldwide are vulnerable to contamination with bacterial pathogens, such as non-typhoidal Salmonella, which is the leading cause of death from foodborne disease in Africa. Research grounded in locally led decision-making about priorities will be better positioned to generate sustainable, scalable food safety solutions. Leveraging this approach, a team of Kenya- and U.S.-based researchers held a risk ranking workshop in March, engaging female smallholder farmers in Kenya in prioritizing food safety interventions for rigorous evaluation.

    “People will always need poultry as a locally, readily available source of protein,” said Robert Onsare, senior research scientist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and co-principal investigator on the project, which is funded by the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Safety. “But because chicken is often produced and processed in informal settings which rarely include pathogen mitigation strategies, it can be a high-risk value chain.”

    Researchers with the Chakula Salama project, which means “safe food” in Swahili, are using the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Guide to Ranking Food Safety Risks at the National Level to set the course for their food safety research and outreach. The guide, released in 2020, was designed to help decision-makers rank the public health risk posed by foodborne hazards in their countries. This spring, the Chakula Salama team used the framework in a risk ranking workshop with stakeholders from Kiambu County, Kenya. 

    A values-driven process

    “A lot of food safety decisions are made in an ad hoc or reactive manner, so the main benefit of the risk ranking exercise is that it helps focus on the biggest priorities,” said Barbara Kowalcyk, the project’s principal investigator and associate professor of food science and technology at The Ohio State University. “We rank the risks based on public health impact but then prioritize those based on the stakeholder community input — you can think of it as using community values to decide where research should focus next.”

    The risk ranking workshop was held over three days at KEMRI in March 2022. During the workshop, project researchers introduced the concept and process of risk ranking and explained potential interventions to reduce the risk of foodborne disease. The farmers and local veterinary experts then gathered in breakout groups to discuss and rank risks — including those posed by contamination with Salmonella and Campylobacter bacteria — as well as potential food safety interventions. Groups undertook an iterative process of review, reconsideration and revision until day three, when a consensus about the highest food safety priorities emerged.

    “The facilitators were essential to draw out conversation and help people get comfortable in their group,” noted program manager Janet Buffer, who observed the session. “Although each day you could see progress was being made, it could feel very messy. It could feel very uncomfortable. And then boom, you've got a result.”

    Risk reduction, accessibility, acceptability and affordability

    The group identified changes in the handling of carcasses and training on food safety practices before and after slaughter as priorities for interventions. The decision was guided by the group’s assessment and ranking of their shared values.

    “The group reached consensus that reducing risks to human health was the most important value because it protects the consumer,” said Onsare. “Accessibility to the farmers and acceptability to the consumer were ranked as second important, and affordability was ranked third, because the intervention has to have some economic sense.”

    Workshop participant Sharon Wanjiru, who has been farming broiler birds with her mother for eight years, found the workshop and interactions to be an effective learning environment.

    “The workshop created room for interaction by our groupings to reach solutions with different people from different areas, hence new knowledge was gained on my side,” said Wanjiru, who is currently raising 4,000 boilers and 750 chickens for egg laying. “I also learned the importance of preslaughter and post-slaughter procedures on producing safe food for consumers.”

    Strengthening capacity and connections

    Students from KEMRI, the University of Nairobi and The Ohio State University were present to observe and support the workshop. For most, it was their first opportunity to see risk ranking in action, building knowledge and capacity for this approach in the next generation of food safety researchers.

    “The whole process was amazing, educational and interactive,” said Abdiaziz Bainah, a Ph.D. candidate in food safety and quality at the University of Nairobi with Dr. Catherine Kunyanga. “I learned a lot about risk ranking and prioritization, and it was fascinating to interact with the farmers, seeing their understanding of risk and insights into the likely challenges to addressing each identified risk.”

    Noel Kambi, who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in medical micro with Dr. Onsare at KEMRI, noted the interactions with stakeholders were invaluable to ensuring interventions were practical and, therefore, more sustainable.

    “Having worked with farmers for a long time, this was a good opportunity to learn more about them and their farming activities,” she said. “Involving farmers in the risk ranking process was critical, because it allowed them to express their thoughts on the ideas presented, including what is useful and what can be implemented.”

    “It was also a good learning opportunity for scientists, experts, stakeholders and farmers because they all exchanged knowledge and opinions based on their expertise,” Kambi added.

    Taking action

    With the risk ranking workshop complete, the researchers are now turning to filling some data gaps, including assessing levels of Salmonella and Campylobacter in the poultry value chain. In the coming year, the team will be evaluating the effectiveness of the stakeholder-selected intervention strategies, focusing on approaches that are culturally and gender appropriate, practical and scalable. Throughout, a priority for the researchers will be building on the partnership with stakeholders established in the workshop.

    “Across the board, the message coming through to us is that stakeholders are tired of being asked to participate in studies and then never getting any information back,” said Kowalcyk. “So, it’s important for us to develop ways to stay connected with all the stakeholders who helped us launch this work.”

    External Article Link: Chakula Salama and Risk Ranking in Kenya

  3. woman milking cow

    Exploring the relationship between gender and food safety risks in the dairy value chain in Ethiopia

    Aug 23, 2021

    Women play an important but often unrecognized role in the safe production of milk and milk products, particularly in Ethiopia. Dairy products can be contaminated with biological chemical, and physical hazards. This article reviews literature on the microbiological and/or gendered aspects of milk handling in Ethiopia. To reduce foodborne disease and improve overall family health, there is a need to combine food safety research with gender sensitive interventions in Ethiopia.

    Click here to read the article in the International Dairy Journal. 

  4. Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash.com

    CDC Publishes First Comprehensive Clinical Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Botulism

    May 27, 2021

    Summary from CDC email:

    "Botulism is serious illness caused by a toxin that attacks nerves and causes muscle paralysis, difficulty breathing, and even death. Foodborne botulism is one of the five main kinds of botulism. This month, CDC published the first comprehensive clinical care guidelines for botulism in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

    CDC developed the guidelines through a multiyear process involving extensive expert input and six systematic reviews of 100 years of scientific literature.

    The guidelines provide:

    Recommended best practices for diagnosing, treating, and monitoring people with botulism Special considerations for infants, children, and pregnant or breastfeeding patients Suggestions for supportive care, including psychosocial support for patients and family members

    The guidelines are intended for the treatment of one or many patients, and they would be especially useful during an outbreak in which resources, such as ventilators, medical staff, and antitoxin, might be in short supply."

  5. lettuce - photo by Lulucmy on Unsplash

    FDA Releases Investigation Report Following Fall 2020 Outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 Illnesses Linked to Leafy Greens

    Apr 15, 2021

    Summary from FDA website:

    "As part of our ongoing efforts to combat foodborne illness, today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published a report on the investigation into the Fall 2020 outbreak of Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STEC) O157:H7 illnesses linked to the consumption of leafy greens grown in the California Central Coast. The report describes findings from the investigation, as well as trends that are key to understanding leafy green outbreaks that are linked to the California Central Coast growing region, specifically encompassing the Salinas Valley and Santa Maria growing areas every fall since 2017."

    Click here to read the full article

  6. Baby eating - photo by hui sang on Unsplash

    FDA Releases Action Plan for Reducing Exposure to Toxic Elements from Foods for Babies, Young Children

    Apr 15, 2021

    Summary from FDA website: 

    "Protecting one of our most vulnerable populations, babies and young children, is among the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s highest priorities. Today, we’re announcing a new action plan, Closer to Zero, that sets forth our approach to reducing exposure to toxic elements in foods commonly eaten by babies and young children to the lowest possible levels. Although the FDA’s testing shows that children are not at an immediate health risk from exposure to toxic elements at the levels found in foods, we are starting the plan’s work immediately, with both short- and long-term goals for achieving continued improvements in reducing levels of toxic elements in these foods over time.

    We recognize that Americans want zero toxic elements in the foods eaten by their babies and young children. In reality, because these elements occur in our air, water and soil, there are limits to how low these levels can be. The FDA’s goal, therefore, is to reduce the levels of arseniclead, cadmium and mercury in these foods to the greatest extent possible. We are also sensitive to the fact that requiring levels that are not currently feasible could result in significant reductions in the availability of nutritious, affordable foods that many families rely on for their children. Our plan, therefore, outlines a multi-phase, science-based, iterative approach to achieving our goal of getting levels of toxic elements in foods closer to zero over time."  

    Click here to read the full article

  7. Woman with spray bottle - Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

    6 Things You Can Clean With Vinegar, and 3 You Shouldn't

    Mar 19, 2021

    One of the members of our CFI Steering Committee, Dr. Sanja Ilic, was recently interviewed for an article on LiveStrong.com that addressed how to clean with vinegar.

    Click here to read the article.

  8. stethoscope, photo by pavel-danilyuk-6753425 on pexels

    COVID-19 Measures Accompany Decline of Foodborne Infections

    Feb 16, 2021

    by: Joe Whitworth, Food Safety News

    Summary below is from Food Safety News:

    "There has been a drastic decrease in reported diseases including foodborne infections in Germany during the Coronavirus outbreak, according to an analysis.

    Robert Koch Institute (RKI) experts found the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures are impacting the occurrence and recording of other reportable infectious diseases.

    Experts analyzed the effects of the pandemic and health actions on notifiable diseases in Germany. Those younger than 14 years of age and above 80 were particularly affected.

    They looked at cases of notifiable infectious diseases that were submitted to the Robert Koch Institute between January 2016 and August 2020.

    The change in the number of cases from the start of March 2020 to early August 2020, classed as the COVID-19 pandemic for purposes of the study, were compared to data from January 2016 through the end of February 2020, which was before the outbreak.

    Conclusions back-up results from an analysis in Australia that found diseases, including foodborne infections, declined after public health measures were introduced because of the pandemic."

    Click here to read the Food Safety News article.

  9. Computer research Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash

    Researchers Use iwaspoisoned.com and Amazon Reviews to Improve Food Safety

    Feb 16, 2021

    Summary below is from Food Safety News:

    "Researchers are using text mining technology to analyze comments and reviews to improve the traceability of and communication about risky food products.

    In a new study published by the journal “Risk Analysis”  the research team proposes a new Food Safety Monitoring System (FSMS) that uses consumer comments posted on certain websites to identify products associated with food-related illnesses.

    The database consisted of 11,190 randomly selected Amazon reviews of “grocery and canned food” items purchased between 2000 and 2018, along with 8,596 reviews of food products posted on iwaspoisoned.com. These two datasets allowed the researchers to test the text mining tools before analyzing 4.4 million more Amazon reviews.

    The computers were programmed to recognize words associated with foodborne illness such as “sick,” “vomiting,” “diarrhea,” “fever” and “nausea.” This resulted in a list of flagged products that included specific brands of protein bars, herbal teas, and protein powder. 

    Two of the products flagged by the computers had already been recalled."

    Click here to read the Food Safety News article.

  10. Gambia location, photo from freeworldmaps.net

    Study Finds Stories and Songs Can Boost Food Safety and Hygiene

    Feb 4, 2021

    Summary below is from Food Safety News:

    "Traditional performing arts could be used in some countries to improve food safety and hygiene, according to a recently published study.

    Researchers in The Gambia discovered that mothers’ food safety and hygiene behaviors were improved by a low-cost behavior change community program trialed in rural villages.

    After six months, researchers observed that hospital admissions had reduced by 60 percent for diarrhea. After 32 months, the mothers continued improved food safety and hygiene practices, informing and encouraging new mothers to do the same."

    Click here to read the Food Safety News article.

    Click here to read the study.

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