Emerging Issues in Food Safety

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Emerging Issues in Food Safety

• Dr Kalpagam Polasa, Ph. D.
• Scientist F HoD FDTRC
• and
• Dr. B. Sesikeran, MD, FAMS
• Director
• National Institute of Nutrition
• (Indian Council of Medical Research)
• Hyderabad 500 604
• Email sesikeran_at_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

4
New food borne pathogens

• Campylobacter jejuni-poultry meat and
  unpasteurised milk
• Listeria monocytogenes-milk, cheese, vegetables
  and meat products
• E.coli 0157H7-. 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
6 Purpose to indicate rationale behind the development of functional food
7 Instruction for storage and use including frequency, dose and duration in relation to dietary recommendations
8 Interactions 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
10 Implications for possible changes in gut microflora
11 History of safe use
12 Effect on metabolism and physiological functions in human
13 Potential effects on vulnerable groups like infants, elderly, etc.
14 Relation 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.
• 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 bakers 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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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 14
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