The Evolution of Food Safety
Navigating the Crossroads Between Epidemiology and Biological Crop Protection
Copa Cogeca / IBMA workshop.28th March 2017, Brussels, BE.Rick Melnick, President, BioProtection Global
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
• What brings us here today?
• The early evolution of food safety and microbiology
• The early evolution of food safety and crop protection
• Brief history of Bt
• The Crossroads: Microbial Biocontrol Agents
Quick Agenda
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
BioProtection Global is a global association of biocontrol associations that includes IBMA(EU), BPIA (US), SABO (South Africa), ABC Bio (Brazil) and new members(in process) from Colombia, Japan, and India.
BPG strives to establish a global, united voice on issues germane to the science,understanding, and adoption of biocontrols.
About BioProtection Global
Why Are We Here?
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
We Share a Common Goal
We Take This Issue and Opportunity Very Seriously
We Support Our Regulators
Our Position Must Be a Science-Based Position
Why Are We Here?
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
Food safety is a highly complex and dynamic area that involves innumerable natural and man-made variables and systems.
Microbes and crop protection tools figure prominently in food safety.
Evolution of Food Safety and Microbiology
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
7000-1000BC
• 7000BC- Babylonians manufacture beer as a safer option than water to prevent cholera, dysentry and other diseases
• 6000BC- First apparent reference to food spoilage in history.
• 3500BC - Wine appears• 3000BC- Egyptians learn to make cheese and
butter as safer options to their raw counterparts.• 1000BC Snow and Salt food preservers of seafood
and meat.
The beginnings of our understanding about the relationship between food (& water) and microbiology dates back more than 9,000 years.
Evolution of Food Safety and Microbiology
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
7000-1000BC
1683 - Anton Van Leewenhoek (NE) Describes bacteria under the microscope for the first time.
1683 1750 1850
Evolution of Food Safety and Microbiology
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
7000-1000BC
1854 - Birth of epidemiology when John Snow traces Soho cholera outbreak to a water pump.1857- Luis Pasteur confirms that microbes are responsible for fermentation and putrefaction .Argues that microbes were also causative agents in disease. These arguments eventually reached an English surgeon named Joseph Lister who used them to develop the first aseptic surgical procedures.1857 -Theodor Escherich (GE) discovers E. coli1885 -Daniel Salmon (US) discovers Salmonella1897 -Van Ermengen discovers C. botulism
1683 1750 1850 1900
Evolution of Food Safety and Microbiology
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
7000-1000BC
1876 – Robert Koch introduces beef extract to improve bacterial growth1882 – Fannie Hesse discovers agar for solid media1884 – Fredrick Loeffler introduces peptone into the standard Koch media1887 – Julius R. Petri invents the Petri plate
1683 1750 1850 1900
Evolution of Food Safety and Microbiology
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
7000-1000BC
1880s – First food safety regulations begin to take shape in developed nations around the world.
1683 1750 1850 1900
Evolution of Food Safety and Crop Protection
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
OrganophosphatesParathionParathion-
methyl
DimethoateDichlorvosMalathionDiazinon
Omethoate
ChlorpyrifosQuinalphos
PhoximFenitrothion
Methidathion
AcephateProfenophosProfenophosTriazophos
Methamidophos
PyraclofosFosthiazate
ChlorethoxyfosImicyafos
Pyrethroids
DeltamethrinCypermethrin
PermethrinFenvalerate
Lambda-cyhalothrinBifenthrinCyfluthrin
EsfenvalerateTefluthrin
EtofenproxFenpropathri
n
Zeta-cypermethrin
Gamma-cyhalothrin
Momfluorothrin
AcaricidesPropargiteCyhexatin
Bromoproppylate
Fenbutatin oxide
AmitrazAzocyclotin
HexythiazoxClofentezine
DiafenthiuronBifenazatePyridabenEtoxazole
Fenpyroximate
SpirodiclofenSpiromesifenCyenopyrafenCyflumetofenDiflovidazin
Pyflubumide
Carbamates Carbaryl
MethomylCarbofuran
CartapAldicarb
MethiocarbPrimicarb
CarbosulfanThiodicarb
Oxamyl
BenfuracarbFenoxycarb
Alanycarb
Neonicotinoids
ThiamethoxamImidaclopridAcetamipridNitenpyram
ClothianidinThiaclopridDinotefuran
Organochlorines
DDTLindane
ToxapheneChlordane
EndosulfanDicofolEndrin
BiologicalsBacillus
thuringiensisThiocyclam
AbamectinBensultap
SpinosadEmamectin Benzoate
Milbemectin
Spinetoram
LepimectinBacillus firmus
Various Botanicals
Development of synthetic chemistry advanced rapidly during and after WWII, and the introduction of new actives continued at a brisk pace into the 1970s
Evolution of Food Safety and Crop Protection
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
1940s -Development of DDT(Regulated by the US Department of Agriculture). Successful uses in Public Health and agriculture1949 – First laws pertaining to toxicity of chemicals in food
1901-1911 1940 1960 1970 1980 1990 20001950
1958 – First list of GRAS food additives is published by the US FDA1962 - Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is published, exposing hazards of DDT
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
• Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) was discovered in 1901 by Ishiwata Shigetane and was then isolated in 1911 by Ernst Berliner in Germany as the cause of a disease in flour moth caterpillar.
• It was first commercialized by Novo Nordisk in the early 1950s with the advent of industrial fermentation.
• The first commercial registration of Bt subsp. kurstaki (Thuricide) was granted in the US in 1961 and then in Europe in 1964.
A Brief History of Bt
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
The 1980s and 1990s marked a period of high activity in the biocontrols realm:
• A key focus in agronomic research
• A large amount of discovery but some lag in commercialization
• Challenges included efficacy, formulations, specificity
At the same time, regulatory pressure on the ag-chem industry began to mount
• FQPA
• REACH
The Crossroads: Microbial Biocontol Agents
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
The stage was set:
• Like other biocontrols, while Bt is not a chemical, it can often be lumped in with chemicals – particularly in the regulatory environment.
• In the 1980s, at the same time that scrutiny on agrochemicals began to rise dramatically and biocontrols began to gain momentum, B. cereusbecame known as a food pathogen for the first time.
• A challenge emerged, Bt was not easily distinguished from Bc using existing testing methods.
The Crossroads: Microbial Biocontol Agents
The Crossroads: Microbial Biocontrol Agents
Early 2000 2005 2010 2016
2002- Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 is published
laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the EFSA and laying down procedures in matters of food safety
- Article 14 states that food shall be deemed to be unsafe if it is considered to be injurious to health
2016 (June) – EFSA publishes the Risks for public health related to the presence of Bacillus cereus and other Bacillus spp. Including Bacillus thuringiensis in foodstuff. It recommends that the levels of B. cereus that can be considered as a risk for consumers are also valid for B. thuringiensis.
DGHM (Germany) Publishes the reference and warning values for microorganism in food. Values are recommendations and not legally binding.
In Nov 2016 it recommended the presumptive B. cereus reference and warning values of 5x102 - 103
CFU/g for mixed salad, packaged goods for delivery to the consumer.
2007 – EFSA publishes the Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) document.It indicates that “it is likely that B. thuringiensis has been the causative organism of some instances of food poisoning but identified as B. cereus because clinical investigations would have failed to recognize the distinguishing features characteristic of B. thuringiensis”.
2011 – Germany E. coli O104:H4 outbreak. In all, 3,950 people were affected and 53 died, 51 of whom were in Germany
2005 (Jan) – EFSA publishes the Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards on Bacillus cereus and other Bacillus spp in foodstuffs. It recommends that processors should ensure that numbers of B. cereus between 103 and 105 per g are not reached at the stage of consumption under anticipated conditions of storage and handling.
2007 (Dec) – Regulation (EC) No 1441/2007 amending Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs is published: Dried infant formulae and dried dietary foods for special medical purposes intended for infants below six months of age - Presumptive Bacillus cereus - 50 cfu/g to 500 cfu/g.
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
Thank you for your kind attention
Rick [email protected]
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
Trust the Science:
Bt provides a host of unique benefits to the food value chain:
• Highly efficacious against specific pests
• Safe for humans, bees, birds, fish, etc.
• Important resistance management tool
• Can be applied right up to harvest
The Crossroads: Microbial Biocontol Agents
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
Trust the Science:
The Empirical Data (50+ years of use) tells the story
If Bt were pathogenic to humans, the widespread and and longtime use of Bt would have provided us with undeniable evidence.
Instead, the widespread and longtime use of Bt has provided us with CLEAR evidence that supports its safety:
The Crossroads: Microbial Biocontol Agents
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
Trust the Science:
A recent statistical analysis on Bt use since 1993 estimates that
5,942,693,000,000 consumption events for produce treated with commercial Bt have occurred since 1993.
The Crossroads: Microbial Biocontol Agents
Copa Cogeca/IBMA workshop: Regulatory policy on Bacillus cereus and the risk of a future without microbial pesticides in Europe. 28th March 2017. Brussels, BE.
Trust the Science:
5,942,693,000,000 (5.94 x 1012) consumption events for produce treated with commercial Bt have occurred since 1993
The Crossroads: Microbial Biocontol Agents
Volume of One Green Pea:
1cm3Volume of One Pyramid at Giza:
2.58 x 1012cm3
Bt israelensis is approved by the WHO for application into drinking water!