In the news

In the UK, the FSA issues Product Withdrawal Information Notices and Product Recall Information Notices that Happy Hounds Wales Ltd is taking the precautionary step of recalling several raw dog food products because they may contain salmonella. The products include frozen beef kidney, frozen whole hearts, frozen chicken and beef sleeve, frozen lamb and beef sleeve, and frozen diced hearts. The products listed above may contain salmonella. Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause illness in humans and animals. Therefore, the product could carry a potential risk because of salmonella’s presence, either through direct handling of the pet food or indirectly. @ https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-57-2020

A new report from Allied Market Research (“Food Safety Testing Market by Contaminant (Pathogen, Genetically Modified Organism (GMO), Chemical & Toxin, and Others), Food Tested (Meat & Meat Product, Dairy & Dairy Product, Cereal, Grain, & Pulse, Processed Food, and Others), and Technology (Agar Culturing, PCR-based Assay, Immunoassay-based, and Others) – Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018­–2025.”) shows that the global food safety testing industry generated $13.14 billion in 2017 and is projected to reach $23.20 billion by 2025. The pathogens segment accounted for the highest market share in 2018, with more than 40% of the global food safety testing market and maintaining its dominant share during the forecast period.  The chemicals & toxins segment is projected to have the largest increase (CAGR of 8.1% from 2018 to 2025) due to an increase in monitoring of contamination levels, enactment of control measures including remediation, and consideration of sociopolitical implications to provide safe food. The capability to offer faster and more accurate results than traditional microbiological culture methods is why PCR-based assay has the largest market share, contributing to nearly half of the global food safety testing market in 2018. It is expected to continue its lead position by 2025, with the highest CAGR of 7.7% from 2018 to 2025. North America accounted for 40% of the global food safety testing market’s revenue in 2018 and is projected to maintain its leadership status by 2025. Asia-Pacific is projected to have the highest CAGR of 9.1% during the period. @ https://www.qualityassurancemag.com/article/food-safety-testing-market-market-report/

The FDA announced on its website that Vegpro International ( Sherrington, Quebec, Canada) recalled Fresh Attitude baby spinach (5oz and 11oz) with Best before dates of Dec 4th (for 11oz) and Dec 4th & 5th (for the 5oz), because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. These products were produced in Vegpro’s Eastern Canadian plant and distributed in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States (NY, NJ, DE, CT, MD & PA ). The product was possibly contaminated with Salmonella; the problem may have been caused by contamination of a part of a lot of Baby Spinach. No illnesses have been reported. @ https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/vegpro-international-issues-recall-fresh-attitude-baby-spinach-because-potential-salmonella-health?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

An article in Advance Materials (Vol 32, Issue 45, Nov 2020) reported developing an electronic nose (e-nose) that employs a colored barcode that reacts with gasses produced by decaying meat. The system also includes a cross-reactive colorimetric barcode reader, reactive to gasses produced by decaying meat that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to interpret the combination of colors on the barcode. A smart-phone application was integrated into the system yielding in 30 seconds. A fully supervised convolutional neural network (DCNNs) trained using 3475 labeled barcode images predicts meat freshness with an overall accuracy of 98.5%. The system is fast, accurate, and non‐destructive, enabling consumers and all stakeholders in the food supply chain to monitor food freshness. @ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202004805