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Emerging Issues in Food Safety

Dr Kalpagam Polasa*, Ph. D.

Scientist ‘F’ & HoD FDTRC and

Dr. B. Sesikeran*, MD, FAMSDirector

*National Institute of Nutrition(Indian Council of Medical Research)

Hyderabad – 500 604Email: sesikeran@gmail.com

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Eating Food is a Risky Process

Native Immunity and traditional Culinary practices are major

protective factors

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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 contamination- soil contamination- 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

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New food borne pathogens

Campylobacter jejuni-poultry meat and unpasteurised milk

Listeria monocytogenes-milk, cheese, vegetables and meat products

E.coli 0157:H7-. Water and cooked maize, meat products

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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.''

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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.

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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

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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.

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Nutrient Risk Assessment

Science based upper levels of intake

Helps policies for food standards

and fortification guidelines

Risk Assessment is required

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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

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Biotechnology derived foods and products

Approved vs unapproved

Detection methods and limits

Toxicity and Allergenicity data

Labelling requirement

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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

6Purpose to indicate rationale behind the development of functional food

7Instruction for storage and use including frequency, dose and duration in relation to dietary recommendations

8Interactions with other components of diet and bioavailability

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Factors for Substantiation of Nutritional Safety (Contd..)

9 Overall toxicological assessment including toxicokinetics, genotoxicity / intolerance

10Implications for possible changes in gut microflora

11 History of safe use

12Effect on metabolism and physiological functions in human

13Potential effects on vulnerable groups like infants, elderly, etc.

14Relation to current dietary recommendations / targets

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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 borne outbreak response coordinating group

Impose risk assessment and establish an interagency risk assessment consortium.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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 food to improper storage

(transportation)

Microbial contamination (unintended) (Vibrio

cholerae, salmonellosis Listeria monocytogenes).

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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.

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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 are also known to cause

allergenicity.

Herbicides and Fungicides modulate allergenicty of

apple

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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

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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.

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Food Intolerance :

Lactase Deficiency

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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

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SAFE FOOD FOR ALLShared responsibility

Government Consumer Industry/Trade

Information gathering andResearch

Community Participation

Trained managers andFood Handlers

Provision of HealthRelated services

Active consumerGroups

Information labelingand

Consumer Education

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SAFE FOOD FOR ALLShared responsibility

Government Consumer Industry/Trade

Food legislation and enforcement

Educated and knowledgeable public

Good practices by primary producers anddistributors

Advice for industry/ Trade

Consumer Education

Discriminative and Selective consumers

Quality assurance andcontrol of processedfoods

Safe food practice inthe Home

Appropriate process and Technology

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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

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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 Residue- Nitrofurazone

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Allergens- Sulfite, SO2 11

Pesticide- several 7

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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, Acting, Tracking Preventing - Safety Net

Data generation where there are knowledge gaps

Effective communication mechanisms

From reaction and response to anticipation and prevention

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Good Practices in Food Chain

Good Agricultural Practices- land use , pesticide use Good Catering Practices- ensure food served is safe

and wholesome Good Hygiene Practices- Good 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

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Thank You and

Safe Eating