In the news

In March 2017 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the multi-state outbreak of hepatitis A. Since then, at least 1,200 cases have been reported, and more than 40 people have died of hepatitis A, the highly contagious liver infection. The CDC is no longer posting information on a regular basis, instead of leaving outbreak updates to individual states. Few headlines include: “KY hepatitis A outbreak kills 3 people, hospitalizes hundreds” “20th death reported in San Diego’s hepatitis A outbreak” “Michigan posts 25th hepatitis A death.” On May 4, the Indiana State Department of Health posted an outbreak update reporting 91 confirmed cases, with a 48 percent hospitalization rate. Hepatitis A is most commonly spread when a person eats or drinks something contaminated with microscopic traces of fecal matter from an infected person. @ http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018/05/hepatitis-a-outbreak-definitely-involves-mainstream-population/#.WvC8QYgvyM8

Mindy Brashears a professor of food microbiology and food safety and the director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech University was selected by President Trump to be the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s undersecretary for Food Safety. “Food safety is at the core of USDA’s mission, because it directly affects the health and well-being of millions of Americans every day,” Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a statement. “President Trump has made an excellent choice in Dr. Mindy Brashears, and I am excited to have her join the team. “Dr. Brashears has spent decades finding ways to improve food safety standards through innovation, invention, and leadership on research missions across the globe,” he continued. “I look forward to her bringing that wealth of expertise and track record of results here to USDA. @ https://www.porkbusiness.com/article/mindy-brashears-nominated-lead-usda-food-safety

An interesting article in “Risk and Insurance” discussing how, improvements in sensor technology, robotics, and artificial intelligence can improve significantly food safety. Automation is coming to the chain of food production and distribution. Farmers are using drones and sensors to improve yields and food safety. Water, pesticides, and fertilizers are not applied uniformly across entire fields. Instead, are targeted to specific areas and use drones to deliver what is needed where. In food production robots powered by artificial intelligence and equipped with x-rays, lasers, and cameras can instantly “pick and place” items by color, shape, and size. Rather than manually record temperature readings on a clipboard, automated temperature readers can upload data to the cloud from any connected mobile device. Temperature and other data can be immediately shared with all partners in the supply chain. @ http://riskandinsurance.com/food-tech-using-ai-and-automation-to-improve-food-safety/

Tyson Foods invests in an Israeli startup (Future Meat Technologies (FMT)) that makes meat from cells. This technology allows the growth of animal meat tissue from a few cells of an animal rather than raising, slaughtering, and processing livestock. The technology reduces the environmental impact of animal agriculture. It also reduces the human health risks from exposure to growth hormones, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and other common risks factors. However, currently, cultured meat has a production price of about $10,000 per kilogram, Prof. Yaakov Nahmias, the Israeli founder and chief scientist of the startup said. “It is difficult to imagine cultured meat becoming a reality with a current production price,” he said in a statement. “We redesigned the manufacturing process until we brought it down to $800 per kilogram today, with a clear roadmap to $5-10 per kg by 2020.” “We believe that making a healthy, non-GMO (genetically modified) product that can meet this demand is an essential part of our mission,” said Rom Kshuk, CEO of Future Meat Technologies. @ https://www.timesofisrael.com/global-food-producer-invests-in-israeli-lab-meat-technology/