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Professor Mikael Skurnik from the University of Helsinki has studied bacteriophages, in cooperation with researchers at the Seoul National University in South Korea; they investigated the possibility of utilizing phages for the eradication of foodborne pathogens and preventing food poisoning. Their first focus was Yersinia enterocolitica. Contaminated foods were subject to phage treatment, after which the number of both bacteria and phages was monitored for three days. “Phage treatment was effective in inhibiting bacterial growth in food, while the number of phages in the food grew, indicating that phages infect bacteria and grow in them also when refrigerated,” says Skurnik.@ https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180220143437.htm?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202018-02-21%20Food%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:14137%5D&utm_term=Food%20Dive

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The FDA is advising consumers to avoid kratom and kratom-containing products. Kratom ( Mitragyna speciosa)is a nutraceutical product that grows naturally in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. The leaves of kratom have been used as an herbal drug. It is used in folk medicine as a stimulant (at low doses), sedative (at high doses), recreational drug, pain killer, medicine for diarrhea, and treatment for opiate addiction. These products have been linked to a multistate outbreak of Salmonellosis. The CDC reports that 28 people in 20 states states [AL(1), AZ (1), CA (3), CO (1), FL (1), KS (1), KY (1), LA (1), MA(1), MI (1), NC (2), ND(1), NY(1), OH (2), OK (2), OR (2), PA (2), SC(1), TN(1), UT (2)] are infected. Eleven people have been hospitalized. @ https://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Outbreaks/ucm597265.htm

Merieux NutriScience published an interesting report of the annual review of food recalls in the US, Canada, and Mexico. During the calendar year 2017, nearly 700 food recalls were classified with the FDA Enforcement Report. Undeclared allergens and microbial hazards accounted for 40% and 35%, respectively of all FDA food recalls. FSIS recall announcements show the majority of recalls in 2017 were attributed to undeclared allergens (41%), microbial hazards (19%) and foreign matter or physical hazards. In Canada this year microbial hazards surpassed allergens to become the dominant reason for recalls. @ https://img04.en25.com/Web/MerieuxNutrisciencesCorporation/%7Bd29a994a-420e-4356-9533-e6fcd4a18e19%7D_q4-regulatory-newsletter.pdf