LOCAL
Minnesota Food Code revised
Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture have compiled a 258-page document proposing changes to the Minnesota Food Code for the first time since 1999. If passed, the changes would come to effect on January 2019.
Reasons for the revision are numerous. The food industry has undergone massive changes since last the last large amendments to the code where made some 20 years ago. Food trucks, pop-up restaurants and increased consumer concern should all be taken into account in the regulation. The aim is also to move more towards prevention of food borne diseases and improved employee habits around health and hygiene. The revision would affect both restaurants and customers.
On the restaurant side, many of the changes will make operator jobs easier as they would loosen restrictions, for example by removing date-marking requirements from some foods and lowering the hot holding temperature - changes based on robust scientific knowledge gathered in the last 20 years. A new three-tiered system is also proposed for violations of the food code, to help operators better understand the severity of these offences.
On the customer side, the rule aims to make restaurant food safer for everyone. Food trucks for example, might in the future need to have a full time food protection manager. This person would be responsible to ensure that the hot dogs, burgers and tacos don’t get cross-contaminated, undercooked or spoiled.
Minnesota Department of Health
Saint Cloud Times
NATIONAL
Vector borne diseases more than tripled in US
Vector borne diseases are a growing public health problem in the United States, and with the summer around the corner a very timely one too. CDC reports that vector-borne diseases have more than tripled nationwide, growing from 27,388 cases reported in 2004 to a whopping 96,075 cases reported in 2016.
Tick borne diseases have seen a steady rise and spread, whereas the occurrence of mosquito-borne diseases was dispersed and more punctuated by epidemics. Tick borne diseases account for more than 75 % of all vector borne diseases, with Lyme disease being the most common one. Mosquito borne diseases saw a big jump in cases in 2016 due to Zika virus infections and in 2012 due to the West Nile outbreak. The report also mentions that since 2004, nine new disease have emerged in US, including such nasty new viruses as heartland and Bourbon.
Reducing this upward trend will be a large and complex challenge. Many of these diseases don’t yet have effective treatment methods or vaccinations, making laborious vector control the only control measure available. CDC has directed the battle to two fronts: advancing innovation and discovery and rebuilding comprehensive vector control programs that have eroded over time.
Effective reduction in transmission and outbreaks response will require major national improvement of surveillance, diagnostics, reporting, and vector control, as well as new tools, including vaccines.
CDC
CNN
GLOBAL
New European Food Consumption Database
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a new release of its Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database which is much more comprehensive and easier to compare due to the new Union Menu project. The updated database consists of the most recent data collected in Member States covering more population groups and new food categories, such as energy drinks.
United States has a similar system running under the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, called the Food Consumption and Nutrient Intakes.
FAO is also working on a pilot Global Individual Food consumption data Tool and the world bank hosts a Global Consumption Database stated to be the one-stop source of data on household consumption patterns in developing countries.
Food consumption databases play a key role in the evaluation of the risks related to possible hazards in food and allow estimates of consumers’ exposure to such hazards. This is a fundamental step in assessing population level risk. Summary statistics from such data makes it possible to do quick screening for chronic and acute exposure to substances and organisms that may be found in the food chain.
EFSA
USDA ERS
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