Transcript Emerging Issues in Food Safety

Emerging Issues in
Food Safety
Dr Kalpagam Polasa*, Ph. D.
Scientist ‘F’ & HoD FDTRC
and
Dr. B. Sesikeran*, MD, FAMS
Director
*National Institute of Nutrition
(Indian Council of Medical Research)
Hyderabad – 500 604
Email: [email protected]
1
Eating Food is a Risky
Process
Native Immunity and traditional
Culinary practices are major
protective factors
2
Climate change and Food safety

Eco system changes lead to more pests, less
predators,more vectors for microbes

Unseasonal rains – humidity and fungal growth

Flooding
–
water
contaminationcontamination- unsafe food

Higher Ocean temperatures- algal blooms- harbour
Vibrios in spore like forms- Novel strains' eg O139
Bengal

Changes in aquatic life and formation of marine
biotoxins in sea foods due to production of
phytotoxins by harmful algae
soil
3
New food borne pathogens

Campylobacter jejuni-poultry meat and
unpasteurised milk

Listeria monocytogenes-milk,
vegetables and meat products

E.coli 0157:H7-. Water and cooked maize,
meat products
cheese,
4
NANOTECHNOLOGY IN FOOD INDUSTRY
– SAFETY ISSUE

As of March 8, 2006, 212 products or product lines
were using nanotechnology of which 19 were food and
beverage products

Nano Sensors in Pathogen detection

Nano drops in oil – healthier oil

Silver nano and nano composites in packaging

“There is no hard evidence that nanomaterials in
products on the market will harm humans or the
environment, but there is enough evidence to say that
we need to reexamine.''
5
Functional Foods – Safety
Functional foods
 natural food,
 a food to which a component has been added,
 a food from which a component has been removed,
 a food where the nature of one or more components has
been modified,
 a food in which the bioavailability of one or more
components has been modified
 or any combination of these possibilities.
 Due to their diversity all functional foods require a case by
case evaluation for their safety.
 This process must include both nutritional and
toxicological evaluation.
6
Food Vs Drug

Food- Conventional

Foods for special dietary use eg convalescence,
pregnancy, lactation, underweight/ overweight,
hypoallergenic etc

Medical Foods- for distinctive disease conditions eg
DM, HTN,CRF etc

Dietary Supplements- vitamins, minerals, herbs,
amino acids, concentrates, extracts- not a meal or
part of a meal

If for prevention, mitigation, treatment or cure- Drug
7
Upper safe limit of Nutrients
 Fixing upper safety limit for intake of
essential nutrients and it should be
applied to functional foods and their
bioactive components.
 For eg. Increase in soy consumption can
reduce risk of heart disease but
exaggerated soy intake may increase risk
of
tumor
proliferation
in
some
individuals.
8
Nutrient Risk Assessment

Science based upper levels of intake

Helps policies for food standards
and fortification guidelines

Risk Assessment is required
9
Steps in Risk Assessment

Hazard Identification- scientific review

Specify Dose response- establish upper level

Intake /Exposure assessment

Risk characterization- public health impact

Too little nutrients and too much nutrients – both are
safety issues

Nutrient risk assessments have to be life stage
specific eg adolescents, lactating. Aging populations
etc
10
Biotechnology derived foods and
products

Approved vs unapproved

Detection methods and limits

Toxicity and Allergenicity data

Labelling requirement
11
Factors for Substantiation of
Nutritional Safety
Sl.
No
Factors
1
Source and origin of food
2
Nutrient composition
3
Presence of anti-nutritional factors
4
Methods of production and / or preparation
5
Technical specification including preparation
6
Purpose to indicate rationale behind the development
of functional food
7
Instruction for storage and use including frequency,
dose and duration in relation to dietary
recommendations
8
Interactions with other components of diet and
bioavailability
12
Factors for Substantiation of
Nutritional Safety (Contd..)
9
Overall toxicological assessment including
toxicokinetics, genotoxicity / intolerance
10
Implications
microflora
11
History of safe use
12
Effect on metabolism and physiological functions
in human
13
Potential effects on vulnerable groups like infants,
elderly, etc.
14
Relation to current dietary recommendations /
targets
for
possible
changes
in
gut
13
OUTBREAK HANDLING MECHANISMS, EARLY
DETECTION AND TRACEABILITY

Enhance surveillance and build an early warning system.

Equip Central and other state health departments with state of
the art technology – Rapidly Diagnose, Track, Communicate,
Control and Prevent

Create a national electronic network for rapid finger print
comparison.

Improve responses to food borne outbreaks -states and other
governmental bodies with expertise and resources should
share responsibility for outbreak response.

Establish inter-state governmental food
response coordinating group

Impose risk assessment and establish an interagency risk
assessment consortium.
borne
outbreak
14
OUTBREAK HANDLING MECHANISMS, EARLY
DETECTION AND TRACEABILITY

Develop new research methods that are rapid cost effective for
presence of food pathogens.

Document emerging pathogen resistance and develop techniques
for prevention and control of pathogens.

Improve inspection, compliance

Strict implementation of HACCP wherever necessary (processed
foods, meat products). Preventive measures for fresh fruits,
juices, milk, milk products and other high risk commodities.

Identify preventive measures to address public health problems
associated with produce, eg. Staphycococcus, salmonella in khoa,
hepatitis A in frozen strawberries. These measures will be
identified by inspection, sampling and analytical methods.

Mandatory Food safety education and licensing of all stake
holders, starting from producers to consumers.
15
FOOD SAFETY AND BIOTERRORISM

The US FDA has listed the following pathogens or pathogen products
that could be used in biological warfare:
 Smallpox (variola)
 Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)
 Plague (yersinia pestis)
 Tularemia (Francisella tularensis)
 Brucellosis (Brucella abortus)
 Q fever (Coxiella burnellii)
 Botulism toxin (produced by clostridium botulinun)
 Staphylococcal enterotoxin B

New products to diagnose, counter and treat these public health
threats

Creation of civil emergency group to tackle emergencies.

Create awareness among food handlers and follow practices of basic
food safety handling
16
FOOD SAFETY AND
BIOTERRORISM

Enhance our ability to identify food
safety risks

Improve our inspections of domestic
and imported foods

Foreign food suppliers are required
to register
17
SAFETY CONCERNS FOLLOWING FOOD
PROCESSING
 Safety of bottled water
•
Water source
•
Piping treatment process and bottling equipment
•
GMP
•
Packaging
•
Quality control system
 Safety of soft drinks
•
Microbial contamination
•
Packaging material
•
Chemicals, additives
•
Equipment used in processing
•
Formation of mutagens / carcinogens like Nitrosamines in foods and
beverages
 Processed foods – Transfat
•
Intake of transfatty acids from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils have
deleterious effect on cardiovascular health.
•
TFA are more atherogenic and high intake can promote insulin
resistance.
•
Mandatory addition of the levels of TFA to nutrition labeling would enable
consumers to make healthier choice.
18
SAFETY OF BOTANICALS IN
TRADITIONAL FOODS
1.
Different types of products fall under the umbrella of
“natural products with health benefits”.
2.
Supplements or foods containing high levels of nutrients
or other compounds can have effects on presence of
other nutrients in adequate amounts. This can occur as
a result of

destruction of nutrients

reduction of availability of nutrients

inference with utilization of nutrients

decrease in food intake
19
SAFETY OF BOTANICALS IN
TRADITIONAL FOODS
3.
Traditional foods are considered safe as they have long
history of use. However, if they are modified by processing
or by any other method their substantial equivalence and
nutrient content analysis has to be done.
4.
For example, oats and psyllium have long history of safe
use and now are claimed to reduce risk of CHD. In animals
increased cell proliferation in GI tract, allergic reactions in
some people and gastrointestinal obstruction have been
reported when they were evaluated at the likely level of
consumption.
5.
Consumption of fenugreek at high levels can cause
crystaluria in some individuals.
The safety of traditionally consumed food components
should be in levels consumed in age old practice, but not in
high levels.
20
SAFETY OF BOTANICALS IN
TRADITIONAL FOODS
6.
Method for safe preparation of some plants such as
cassava are known in cultures that depend on it as a
staple but its introduction into a naïve market place
could cause cyanide poisoning.
7.
Another example, hypoglycin A in unripe ackee fruit
causes a devastating illness called Jamaican vomiting
sickness. Ripe, seedless pericarp of this plant is
desirable and safe and ackee is Jamaican National
Fruit.
8.
Canned ackee fruit is prohibited into US until a quality
assurance that toxic levels of hypoglycin is not
present in product is given.
21
FOOD CONTACT WITH
SUBSTANCES

Packaging innovation to ensure food safety as certain
components of packing like printing inks, labels,
colours, seals can affect food quality.

Innovative packaging like vaccum packaging, controlled
atmosphere or modified atmospheric packaging (CAP or
MAP). MAP involves sealing package under vaccum or
one time gas flushing and sealing. Three types of gases
may be used singly or in combination namely nitrogen,
carbondioxide and oxygen.

Active Packaging – includes additives capable of
scavenging or absorbing oxygen, CO2, ethylene,
moisture, odour and flavours. May have powder sachet
of iron and calcium hydroxide.
22
Intelligent Packaging
 Provides way to monitor and relay
information regarding the status of
contents and verifies information. Food
packaging manufacturers have developed
several innovative intelligent packages that
include time, temperature indicators,
antitheft and use RFID devices.
 Toxicity testing of food packaging materials
have to be done in animals as human data
are rarely available.
23
Materials other than plastic

Glass – has been used for many years, may result
in leaching of lead.

Ceramics – may result in leaching of heavy metals
particularly when in contact with acidic beverages
like fruit juices.

Cans – food packed in tin cans with lead soldered
seams are a source of a number
of
metals,
including lead, chromium, tin and cadmium.

Safety assessment of food packaging material
requires knowledge of chemical toxicity, migration
and technological developments.

Human exposure data can be collected wherever
possible
24
FRAUD RELATED ISSUES – (MISLEADING TO
POISONING)

Adulteration eg. Melamine

International contamination of food / feed may occur due to

Adulteration with other ingredients, ignoring hazards
due to thoughtlessness or lack of knowledge.

Withholding information necessary for preventive or
curative measures and irresponsible information policy,
incomplete information or mislabeling.

Using techniques or processes known to be highly risky
or totally out of date.

Using unclean or inappropriate (illegal) containers or
means of transportation for food / feed.

Irresponsible handling of contaminated solid or liquid
waters

Neglecting basic rules of (food) hygiene or disease
control.
25
Chemical Contamination

Severe accidents related to heavy metals (lead,
methyl mercury, copper) are known

Toxic oil syndrome – intended adulteration of
edible oils(argemone oil)

Mycotoxin contamination

Deterioration of
(transportation)

Microbial contamination (unintended) (Vibrio
cholerae, salmonellosis Listeria monocytogenes).
food
to
improper
storage
26
GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC DIFFERENCES IN POPULATIN
AND DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSES TO FOOD AND FOOD
INGREDIENTS

Genetic predisposition is important determinant in
sensitization of food / components.

In food allergic individuals IgE is produced against
naturally occurring food components primarily
glycoproteins that retain their allergenicity even
after

heating.
Common allergens: cow milk, goat milk, egg, fish,
shelfish, meat, pollen,
chocolates, some nuts,
recombinant products.
27
Clinical intolerance

Freeze dried egg may be more allergic than heated
egg. Ovomucoid is the major allergenic protein in
egg white.

Allergic reaction to kiwi fruit is known in adults /
children. The allergen is 30 kDa cysteine protease

Apple, banana
allergenicity.

Herbicides and Fungicides modulate allergenicty of
apple
are
also
known
to
cause
28

Allergies to carrot and garden herbs are linked to
celery allergy.

Other vegetables are lettuce, zucchini, tomatoes,
potatoes. Cooked form can be eaten by allergic
patients without untoward effects
29
Cereals and baked products:

Inhalent respiratory reactions to wheat described
as baker’s asthma.

The water soluble wheat proteins and insoluble
gliadins have been implicated in IgE mediated
allergy.

These are thermostable and even long time baking
under high temperature does not reduce their
allergenicity.

Infact baking may increase the resistance of
potential allergen in wheat flour by proteolytic
digestion and allow them to reach GI tract intact.
30
Food Intolerance :
Lactase Deficiency
31
Nutrient drug interaction :
 Grape fruit juices and other juices may alter drug
metabolism.
 Foods and herbs that contain pharmacologically active
compounds can inhibit cytochrome P450 system.
 Dietary flavanoids can inhibit activities of several DMEs.
 Foods that affect intestinal or hepatic metabolism of drugs
can cause treatment failure or drug induced toxicity.
 Other botanicals like Guargum used as Stabilizer,
thickening agent in cheese, salads dressings, ice cream
and soups can prolong gastric retention and reported to
slow absorption of digoxin, paracetamol bumetanide and
decrease absorption of metformin, phenoxymethyl
pencillin and glibenclamide
32
33
34
Rapid alert System for Food and feed- July
2003-07
Category
%
Alerts
29
Information
71
Product Category
%
Nuts
25
Seafood
19
Spice and condiments
10
Hazard Category
%
Chemical
44
Mycotoxin- Aflatoxin
29
Microbiological-salmonella
17
Kleter et al ;FCT, 47(2009) 932-950
35
Rapid Alert System for Food and feed- July
2003-07- Chemical hazards
Category
%
Alerts
37
Information
63
Product Category
%
Seafood
30
Spice and condiments
15
Substance Category
%
Dyes- Sudan I, IV
21
Heavy Metals- Cd, Hg
16
Drug ResidueNitrofurazone
14
Allergens- Sulfite, SO2
11
Pesticide- several
7
36
Future Requirements

Establishing Good Practices in Food Chain

Risk Assessment and Management shall be a part
of all regulatory approvals

Monitoring,Sampling,Identifying,

Documenting,
Alerting,
Preventing - Safety Net

Data generation where there are knowledge gaps

Effective communication mechanisms

From reaction and response to anticipation and
prevention
Acting,
Tracking
37
Good Practices in Food Chain









Good Agricultural Practices- land use , pesticide use
Good Catering Practices- ensure food served is safe
and wholesome
Good Hygiene PracticesGood Laboratory Practices- Quality control and
analytical labs
Good Manufacturing Practices
Good Retail Practices- tracing system to track faulty
product- use RFID and GPS
Good Storage Practices
Good Transport Practices
Good Nutrition and House keeping Practices
38
Thank You
and
Safe Eating
39