Food Standards Australia New Zealand

Food Surveillance News  - Winter edition

Review of recent food survey reports conducted by ACT Health

Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service updates its border testing of imported seafood

Keeping an eye on food recalls

NZFSA Food Recall advertising survey

Implementation Sub Committee Coordinated Food Survey Planning Workshop in Brisbane

Snapshot survey on the microbiological quality of kebabs in New South Wales

New Zealand Food Safety Authority management of tutu toxin in honey

Research on Key Food Label Elements

 

Review of recent food survey reports conducted by ACT Health

An ACT Health Protection Service (HPS) review of five recent food survey reports shows food safety generally continues to improve.

The HPS has been conducting microbiological analysis of food and water samples for approximately 30 years as part of its annual food survey program.   HPS develops the program by considering proposals put forward by OzfoodNet and Communicable Disease Control and, where possible, by collaborating on surveys that are part of the ISC co-ordinated survey plan.

The HPS annual food program consists of a year round Ready to Eat (RTE) survey that is complemented by a number of short-term surveys.   The RTE survey has been running since 2000 and involves an analysis of RTE food samples collected from retail food establishments within the ACT.  

These samples are tested for compliance with the FSANZ Ready to Eat guidelines 2001.   The supplementary short-term food surveys operate to help the HPS maintain surveillance of the quality of food provided to the ACT community.

All the surveys target food services that may present a risk to the community so the HPS can develop corrective processes, if necessary, before food related risks develop. The surveys are an active food risk management activity and, where possible, are collaborative as part of the ISC co-ordinated survey plan, for which FSANZ is the sponsor.

The five surveys reviewed by the HPS are:

  • Microbiological Quality of Ready to Eat Foods (RTE) 2006 – 7 (including a comparison with previous four years)
  • Quality of Cooked Rice
  • Retail Packaged Salads
  • Incidence of Salmonella and Listeria Monocytogenes in Cooked Chicken
  • Microbiological Quality of Sushi (including comparison with previous survey)

The full details of all published surveys can be found on the ACT Health web site at: http://www.health.act.gov.au/c/health?a=da&did=10054021

Conclusions derived from these surveys

The RTE survey tests the compliance for Standard Plate Count (SPC),E. coli, Coagulase positive Staphylococci,Bacillus cereus, Salmonella sp.andListeria monocytogeneswith FSANZ guidelines for microbiological quality. The 2006-7 survey report indicates that 2006-7 was the best year to date, with all tests forBacillus cereus, Salmonella spandE. colibeing in the satisfactory category.   Since the inception of this survey, a comparison of the previous four years’ test results indicates a continuing improvement in microbiological quality of the RTE foods in the ACT. The comparative findings can be found on the ACT Health website.

The Quality of Cooked Rice survey also tested rice for compliance to SPC (level 1),E. coli, Coagulase positive Staphylococci,Salmonella sp., Bacillus cereus and Listeria monocytogenes with FSANZ guidelines for microbiological quality. The overall results were very good with no Salmonella sp., Bacillus cereus or Listeria monocytogenes detected in any of the samples. Two samples were marginal for Coagulase positive Staphylococci and three were marginal for E. coli. The satisfactory standard for SPC (level 1) was met nearly 93% of the time, with two marginal cases, and three unsatisfactory cases.

HPS conducted the Retail Packaged Salads survey following a sudden rise in the number of ACTSalmonella sp.cases in early 2006. Samples of pre-packaged salads were bought from retail outlets and divided into four sub-samples. No Salmonella sp.was detected in any of the sub samples. A quarter of the sub samples were tested forE. coliand all were negative.

The incidence of Salmonella sp.and Listeria monocytogenesin Cooked Chicken survey was prompted by a quantitative risk assessment article in the Journal of Food Microbiology. The article indicated the possibility of a ‘significant number’ of chicken pieces being contaminated, or cross-contaminated, with Salmonella sp. during handling. However,Salmonella sp. was not isolated from any of the chicken pieces. Soon after the survey started, HPS decided to add Listeria monocytogenesto the testing regime.  Subsequently,Listeria monocytogenes was isolated from two ‘hot’ samples and one cold shredded sample.

The Microbiological Quality of Sushi survey was conducted in conjunction with the ISC coordinated survey on Sushi, led by NSW, and allows comparisons with the previous ACT Sushi survey held in 2003.   HPS detected no potentially hazardous samples in the tests which found:

  • the number of unsatisfactory samples reduced by 66%
  • the number of marginal samples reduced by 20%
  • the percentage of satisfactory results for all tests was more than 90% and the majority of tests more than 95%.

The results of the survey indicate that the microbiological quality of sushi in the ACT is considerably better than it was four years ago.

Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service updates its border testing of imported seafood

Background

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) tests imported seafood for the presence of antimicrobial chemicals at the rate of 5% of consignments to monitor compliance with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code). This testing program is in addition to testing for food classified as “risk” by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). The rates of inspection of risk food and for compliance monitoring are prescribed by the Imported Food Control Act 1992.

AQIS has tested imported prawns for nitrofurans and chloramphenicol since 2003. In 2005, AQIS introduced testing for malachite green as part of the routine sampling of imported aquaculture fish. In the 2006 calendar year, imported seafood tested for these antimicrobial compounds showed above 95% compliance with the Code.

Testing imported seafood for the above chemicals was introduced following information from domestic findings, including a number of Australian surveys that detected antimicrobial chemicals, such as:                

  • A 2005 FSANZ-led national survey of chemical residues in aquaculture fish which tested for a range of veterinary residues such as nitrofurans, chloramphenicol, sulphonamides, tetracyclines, penicillins, macrolides, and quinolones, and also for polychlorinated biphenyls and a number of heavy metals. This survey found that residues of these veterinary chemicals in aquaculture fish were generally compliant with the Code except for residues of malachite green and/or its metabolite leuco-malachite green in some domestically produced finfish and imported seafood.
  • A 2005 survey in South Australia which detected low levels of chloramphenicol in some imported crab meat.

In 2006, there were concerns that other chemicals may be present in seafood, particularly in farmed seafood, and testing would need to be broadened to cover other chemicals. Of particular concern was the possible occurrence of veterinary compounds that are of critical importance in human medicine.

To investigate whether new chemicals needed to be added to the testing program, AQIS conducted a snapshot survey of antimicrobial and pesticide chemicals in imported seafood.

AQIS has reviewed its antimicrobial screen applied to imported seafood.

In September 2007, AQIS decided to add, for a trial period of six months, three additional antimicrobial chemicals (fluoroquinolones, quinolones and penicillin) to its existing screen for imported seafood, which tested for nitrofurans and malachite green. This testing occurs under the random surveillance program in which it randomly tests 5% of imported seafood.

AQIS introduced the extra three chemicals following its small survey of chemical residues in imported seafoods, which it carried out between 2006 and 2007 (see Food Surveillance News Spring 2007).

The purpose of the 2006/07 survey was to provide a snapshot of chemical residues in imported seafood to check if the testing program was up-to-date. It found one or more antimicrobial chemicals in some imported seafood, prompting AQIS to test for the additional antimicrobials over the next six months to gather more information.  

After the six months additional testing on imported seafoods, AQIS reviewed the test data. In those six months, AQIS has conducted 522 tests, with seven detections of an antimicrobial chemical (Table 1).

The seafood tested included fish (barramundi, basa, cod, eel, mackerel, marlin, red emperor, salmon, trout, tuna, whiting and other species), lobsters, crabs and prawns. These foods were sourced from Argentina, Chile, China, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niue, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United States and Vietnam.

Table 1: Summary of failed tests

No. tests failed

Seafood product

Country of origin

Antimicrobial

Levels detected µg/kg

3

Prawns

China

Nitrofurans

1.7-5.9

2

Fish

Vietnam

Fluoroquinolones - Enrofloxacin - Ciprofloxacin

8.5-35 2.0-33

1

Prawns

Thailand

Fluoroquinolones - Enrofloxacin

5.6

1

Barramundi

Taiwan

Malachite Green

6.7

 

 

 

The Result

After six months of testing under the broadened antimicrobial screen, there had been no detections for penicillin or quinolones. As a result, AQIS removed these chemicals from the antimicrobial screen. It will continue testing imported seafood products for fluoroquinolones, nitrofurans and malachite green.

Keeping an eye on food recalls

Government agencies in Australia and New Zealand constantly monitor the food supply to ensure that it is safe, and that foods comply with standards including for microbiological contaminants, pesticide and veterinary medicine residue limits and chemical contamination.

Food identified as a risk to public health and safety is recalled. FSANZ is the coordinating agency for all food recalls in Australia and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) is the responsible authority in New Zealand.

Over the 2008 autumn season the number of recalls in New Zealand has been less than average, while in Australia there have been more than usual.

Australian recalls over the months of April to June included:

  • Woolworths recalled all its lamb products sold in supermarkets, except in Queensland where the only products affected were: Lamb and Cheese Rissoles, Lamb Mini Roast and Economy Burgers. The company said the reason for its consumer level recall was as a precaution only and followed the detection of a strange odour coming from a number of lamb products processed by Gregory M (GM) Scott Pty Ltd in Cootamundra. Lamb products with a use by date between 31/05/08 to 23/06/08 and 07/06/08 to 14/06/08 for QLD only may have been exposed to these vapours. There were no reports of consumer illness or injury.
  • Unibic Australia Pty Ltd ordered a voluntary consumer level recall of its Unibic Anzac Biscuits – 375g Value packs due to the possibility the packs (with a best before date of 26/03/09) may have been contaminated with metal pieces which may pose a health risk if swallowed.
  • Australian International Foods Pty Ltd advised customers of a voluntary consumer level recall on a number of its foods because it feared they may have been contaminated with metal wire which may have posed a health risk if swallowed.  The products were:

    • Darshan   Savoury Beef Rolls, 300 gms
    • Darshan Savoury Chicken Rolls, 300 gms
    • Darshan Savoury Vegetable Rolls, 300 gms
    • Darshan Assorted Mini Rolls, 450 gms
    • Darshan Entertainment Pack, 400 gms

All these foods had best before dates of 11/02/09 to 14/04/09.

  • Nutricia Australia Pty Ltd voluntarily recalled 110g glass jars of baby food named Golden Circle Little Extras From 6+ months Orchard Fruit Gels as a precautionary health and safety measure, following a report of an unverified foreign object. The recall applied only to the product with the nominated size and best before dates 12/9/09 and 13/9/09 and bought from Woolworths or Safeway.

  • Patak’s Foods Ltd (UK) through its Australian distributor (General Mills Australia Pty Ltd) recalled all 540g jars of Rogan Josh Simmer Sauce with a Best Before date of 20/05/2009. The sauces potentially contained glass fragments.

  • Safcol Australia Pty Ltd voluntarily recalled its SAFCOL 95g Premium Selection Tuna Range with Gold Foil Top Packaging and SAFCOL 95g Sandwich Delite Tuna Range with Gold Foil Top Packaging. The company feared the foil lids might come loose causing the contents to spoil.   The recall applied to all products in the specified ranges except the Safcol Premium Selection Tuna Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which is sealed with a metal ring pull top.

  • Alba Cheese Manufacturing Pty Ltd recalled its Alba Cheese Shredded Mozzarella, 3kg, 1kg and 500gm plastic bags with recall dates of 25/04/08 due to indications of Listeria monocytogenes contamination. No other Alba Cheese Manufacturing Pty Ltd foods were affected by this recall.
  • Coles supermarkets voluntarily recalled two flavoured lamb mini roast products sold in Coles, BI-LO and Pick ‘n Pay stores throughout Australia. The affected products were:You’ll Love Coles branded lamb mini roast with savoury mint flavouring with Best Before dates up to and including 11th April 2008, and You’ll Love Coles branded lamb mini roast with herb and mustard flavouring with Best Before dates up to and including 11th April 2008. No other flavoured lamb products were affected. Coles recalled the foods due to the non-labelling of an allergen (soy).
  • Ridders Fresh Smallgoods voluntarily recalled Farmwood Delicatessen Smoked Chicken Breast 500g sold through ALDI Stores in New South Wales, Victoria and Australian Capital Territory after tests revealed the possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes. The plastic wrapped chicken had a Use By date of 10/04/08.

  • P & M Quality Smallgoods Pty Ltd recalled Courtway Double Smoked Ham in 300g plastic containers with a laminate top sold through ALDI Stores in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT, due to indications of Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The containers had a Use By date of 04/04/08.

  • Gaybill’s Goat Dairy voluntarily recalled its Unpasteurised Frozen Goat Milk in 1 litre and 2 litres plastic bottles with a Use By date of 28/05/08. Gaybill’s recalled the milk in response to tests which indicated the presence of Salmonella Zanzibar. Symptoms of Salmonella poisoning are vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain which persists for more than 24 hours.
     
  • Goodman Fielder Limited voluntarily recalled its Praise Seafood Sauce in 370mL plastic squeezy bottles with a Best Before date of 15/11/08 because the bottles contained an amount of fish, malt and barley which was not clearly identified on some of their labels.

There were just five recalls in New Zealand over the same period:

  • Quality Supply Ltd recalled its Bacchus Energy Drink, regular and sugar free varieties in 250ml cans, because they lacked a mandatory advisory statement. The drinks contained a small amount of royal jelly which has been reported to cause severe allergic reactions and in rare cases fatalities, especially in asthma and allergy sufferers. The drinks have a Best Before date of 28/12/09.

  • The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) ordered a recall of Chinese herbal teas, warning people not to consume in any way seeds that may be found in such teas made from the plant Abrus Cantoniensis. The teas were sold in retail packs under various brand names such as Heng Ming through Asian supermarkets and also sold by Eastern medicine outlets. The teas may also be sold under the names Canton Love Pea or Herba Abri. NZFSA advised anyone with the product not to consume it and to return it to the place of purchase. This plant product is not permitted to be sold as a food or food ingredient under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. It is believed that the seeds and possibly the seed pods are toxic.

  • Comb honey contaminated with toxins from the native tutu plant. People who should be alerted to this recall are those that have purchased honey from the Coromandel Peninsula from early January 2008. Three outlets in Whangamata sold the honey: Quarry Orchard, Valley Orchards and Meat at the Beach. The number of suspected cases is now 22. The NZFSA is advising anyone buying honey to check with their supplier that the harvested comb honey meets all food safety requirements. The NZFSA is also advising people that if they feel they might have suffered an illness associated with honey, to contact the Waikato District Health Board’s helpline on 0800 276 216 for information and advice. The two brands of comb honey produced by Projen Apiaries are Wentworth Valley and Moana Point, as pictured below. There are a number of containers of this honey still unaccounted for and NZFSA is keen to locate them. The authority would like all consumers who may have already eaten these products or disposed of them to contact the 0800 helpline with details.

FSN_winter_08_moanaFSN_winter08_wentworth_honey

  • Heller Tasty Ltd is recalling its lamb and mint sausages after small pieces of soft blue plastic were found in them. There have been no reports of illness; however any person concerned about their health should seek medical advice. The affected sausages have been sold through New World, Pak ‘n’ Save and Fresh Choice supermarkets in the South Island between 26 February and 6 March 2008.

  • Ceres Enterprises Ltd, Venerdi Ltd, Organic Bakeworks Ltd and Paraoa Bakehouse are recalling a number of foods which may contain broken glass particles. These foods are:

      • Ceres Organics - Organic Sunflower Seeds 300g Best Before 22/1/09 to 20/2/09.
      • Venerdi - Spelt Seven Seed Sourdough Best Before 23/2/08 to 26/2/08, Full Flavour Six Seed G/F Best before 10/2/08 to 26/2/08.
      • Organic Bakeworks - Liberte Sunflower & Linseed G/F Bread 540g Best Before 4/2/08 to 25/2/08, Liberte Sour Seed G/F Bread 560g Best Before 4/2/08 to 25/2/08, Organic Carrot Sultana Cookies Best Before 28/2/08 to 10/3/08, Organic Coconut Cookies Best Before 28/2/08 to 10/3/08 or Gluten Free Bread Crumbs 300g Best Before 1/11/08 to 25/11/08.
      • Purebread - Crunchy Granola 600g Best Before 25/7/08 to 20/8/08.

Also, anyone buying any item containing sunflower seeds from any of the health food stores listed within the past month should check with the store to ensure that the product bought is not affected.

NZFSA Food Recall advertising survey

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) commissioned a pilot survey to find out how efficient newspaper advertisements are in communicating information about food recalls to the public. The survey also explored other avenues that might be more efficient at reaching people.

Typically, food recalls are advertised in newspapers in a standard format. While the NZFSA could take other steps to inform the public (such as website notifications, email alerts and point of sale notices), it relies heavily on newspaper advertisements. However, newspaper advertising is expensive, one-off in nature, and may not deliver the confidence the authority seeks in managing the risk.

For the survey, the NZFSA contracted UMR Research Limited to phone 750 New Zealanders aged 18 years and over living in private households. UMR used a standard phone survey questionnaire. The survey was conducted in May 2007, 10 days after a national consumer level recall was made by a well-known brand of breakfast cereals.

The results of the survey indicated that:

  • The current communication strategy for notifying the public of food recalls results in, at best, a third of consumers becoming aware of food recalls.
  • Currently, newspaper advertisements by themselves appear effective in ensuring 20% of the population becomes aware of recalls.
  •  Television was seen by 74% of respondents as the most effective means of notifying recalls.  
  •  56% of respondents still believe that newspaper advertising is effective.
  • 61% of respondents see radio as an effective notification tool if the case is urgent.
  • Press releases do help to get the message across.
  • Notices in shops seemed to score relatively well even though they are not a current requirement in New Zealand, although one supermarket chain uses them as policy (scored effective 36%).

With this knowledge from the survey, the NZFSA proposes to:

  1. Continue with newspaper advertising as the minimum advertising media for food recalls.
  2. Undertake a cost benefit analysis for the different options for notifying the public , including consideration of the cost differences between the different forms of advertising and the timeframes to get advertising underway in the different media options. Such a cost benefit analysis may be useful for considering a requirement to use radio advertising in urgent situations, or where risk is severe. For example, such an analysis will investigate how practical the different media options will be, how quickly ‘advertising’ on radio can be set up compared with a press release, and will the cost be prohibitive to small/medium businesses?
  3. Investigate whether the food recall awareness of young, old, pregnant and immune compromised consumers matches those of the rest of the population.
  4. Investigate making a press release a requirement (that carries no extra cost to the company) as there appears to be a better coverage across consumers than newspaper advertising coverage alone.
  5. Promote use of shop or point of sale notices.
  6. Promote the email alert system in place for recalls from the NZFSA website to consumers (at that time there were 270 subscribers to recall alerts, 8% of total subscribers to our website).

The survey provides some good baseline information. If additional requirements are placed on recalls (e.g. press release and/or shop notices), the NZFSA may consider running a similar survey in the future to see if there is greater recall awareness indicating any such extra measures are effective.

Implementation Sub Committee Coordinated Food Survey Planning Workshop in Brisbane

The first biannual Implementation Sub Committee (ISC) Coordinated Food Survey Planning Workshop for 2008 was held on 3 April in Brisbane.  

The aim of these workshops is to promote a consistent and coordinated approach to surveillance and monitoring activities across Australian jurisdictions and New Zealand.  

The main purpose of the Brisbane workshop was to complete the Coordinated Food Survey Plan (the Plan) for 2008-2011. The Plan is a three year forward plan for collaborative survey activities of national or bi-national significance. The workshop considered detailed proposals for new surveys to be included in the Plan for 2008-2011.

The workshop also discussed recent and emerging food related concerns in Australia and overseas. The issue of recycling of water by food businesses was flagged again for further consideration with a view to possible future survey work, as well as microbiological contamination of eggs and vitamin D levels in foods.

The workshop was co-chaired by Food Standards Australia New Zealand and the Queensland Department of Health and was well attended by representatives of food regulatory agencies in Australia and New Zealand.

Snapshot survey on the microbiological quality of kebabs in New South Wales

The NSW Food Authority (NSWFA) will continue to monitor kebabs for microbiological quality after a snapshot survey was conducted in early 2008.While no sample tested from the 25 stores contained potentially hazardous levels of bacteria and the majority of samples were within acceptable microbiological limits, the survey revealed a slight trend of more samples with borderline, though acceptable, results than in a previous survey.

In 2004, NSWFA did a survey of kebabs sold across New South Wales (Janssonet al., 2008). The survey methodology involved a combination of observations made during inspection and microbiological analyses. The results from the survey were assessed against guidelines developed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ, 2001) and less than 12% of samples were found to be unsatisfactory, with the majority failing due to slightly elevated levels of E. coli.  

The detection of E. coli in foods is not a direct indication that the food is unsafe but more an indication of potential problems involving the preparing and handling of foods. In all cases, follow-up work ensued to ensure any issues were rectified.

As a follow on from the 2004 survey, the recent 2008 survey investigated kebab businesses with the aim to provide a second snapshot on the microbiological quality of kebabs sold in NSW.  The survey showed a decrease in the level of unacceptable results compared with the results of the 2004 survey. Details on the survey methodology and results are as follows

Method and Material

20% of premises visited during the 2004 survey were revisited and kebabs purchased from each outlet. Where businesses had closed down since the 2004 survey, kebabs were purchased from another shop in the same area. Similarly, if the business had changed names, kebabs were purchased from the new business. In total, 48 kebabs from 25 premises across metropolitan Sydney where tested as part of the 2008 snapshot survey.

Samples were transported to the laboratory on ice and tested for:

  • E. coli using AS 1766.2.4
  • Coagulase positive staphylococci using AS 1766.2.4
  • Clostridium perfringens using AS 1766.2.8
  • Salmonella species using AS 1766.2.5.

Results and Discussion

Comparison of the microbiological results to the FSANZ microbiological guidelines revealed that 93.7% of samples were within acceptable microbiological limits (Table 1) categories. Where samples were considered microbiologically unacceptable (falling in the unsatisfactory category within the FSANZ guidelines), this was due to the levels ofE. coliexceeding 102 cfu per gram. No sample contained potentially hazardous levels of bacteria.

Table 1: Assessment of results using the FSANZ microbiological criteria for ready-to-eat foods (FSANZ, 2001).

 

Microbiologically acceptable

Microbiologically unacceptable

Potentially hazardous

Organism

Satisfactory

Marginal

Unsatisfactory

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

E. coli

29

60.4

16

33.3

3

6.2

0

0

Coagulase positive Staphylococci

47

97.4

1

2.1

0

0

0

0

C. perfringens

46

95.8

2

4.2

0

0

0

0

A summary of the results forE. coli, coagulase positive staphylococci andC. perfringensis presented in Table 2.Salmonella was not detected in any of the samples tested.

Table 2: Summary of microbiological results for whole doner kebabs

Test

Mean

Median

Minimum

Maximum

E. coli (log cfu/g)

0.99

0.48

0.48

5.0

Coagulase positive staphylococci (log cfu/g)

2

2

2

2.3

C.