BLACK PEPPER CONTAMINATION-THE "UGLY"CONSEQUENCES

The clamor for declaring the place of origin of foods in western markets got a fillip recently after many people in 44 states in the US got infected with the pathogen Salmonella after consuming Salami and other Italian sausages. The source of infection was traced to the black pepper used in their preparation, reported to have been imported into the country by the manufacturer of these products. This episode comes close on the heels of a similar infection episode involving consumption of black and white pepper ingredients by one of the processors in the country affecting several people.

The Department of Agriculture in the US (USDA) is supposed to regulate salami though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is vested with the responsibility of overseeing the use of black pepper and other food additives by the processing industry. To add to the misery of the consumer the FDA authorities were not able to throw any light as to the origin of the spice ingredients used in the salami products under cloud. How ever credit must go to these agencies for the alacrity with which they joined together to investigate the incidence. Also to be appreciated is the action taken by the industry in recalling more than 1.2 million pounds of these products from the market owning up responsibility for the episode. Threat from Salmonella is forcing many industries to insist on radiation sterilization of spices to ensure that they are free from pathogens before using as input material in processed foods.

It is well known that Salmonella pathogen can cause serious fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy people infected with Salmonella can have fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In some cases the infection can spread to the bloodstream and result in severe illnesses such as arterial infections and arthritis. Frequent reports of Salmonella contamination now a days in plant food materials are worrisome as such contamination was earlier confined to foods originating from animal sources. A plausible reason could be use of contaminated water during cultivation and washing after harvesting which can carry the dormant bacterial culture under dry conditions all the way to the ultimate user, be it the consumer or the processing industry.

India has a major stake in world spice trade, being the largest producer of several spices including black pepper. In nineteen eighties, many foreign buyers of black pepper were insisting on compulsory washing of black pepper before exporting to remove mold spores that form on the crevices on the surface of the pepper corn during drying but processors can still short circuit the washing step to save on power and water. The danger is all the more real considering that pepper is dried invariably under the Sun as mechanical drying is expensive and contamination can occur from the contact surface and the environment. Irradiation facilities are not wide spread for the small scale exporters to depend on though the Spices Board constantly strives to help them to maintain international quality standards with their modern analytical quality assessment facilities and experienced technical personnel. More vigilance is called for if India has to maintain its role as the leading exporter of spices in the world.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

PASTEURIZATION OF SOLID FOODS? EMERGING TREND

Ever since pasteurization came to be established as one of the most widely adopted processing operations known to man for ensuring safety of many liquid foods. It saved millions of lives from dreaded diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms of high virulence. Even to day billions of liters of fluid milk are being pasteurized for consumption all over the world. Many innovations have taken place to improve the efficiency of the process by cutting down the time and for increasing the shelf life as much as possible. Sterilization which is aimed at complete destruction of all microbes in a system is accomplished by increased exposure to higher temperature to get extended shelf life. Modern process technologies have emerged which can sterilize semisolid foods with assured safety, though canning technology was being used for some semi solid foods which could stand high temperatures. Retort Pouch Technology, so widely used to day for many traditional Indian foods with high viscosity characteristics, is distinguished by specialized equipment system that can ensure faster heat transfer more evenly to achieve commercial sterilization and products can claim shelf lives as much as 12-18 months.

Surgical instruments and medical devices are sterilized using irradiation but this technology is not yet readily accepted by the consumers in many countries. Gamma radiation is still widely used to get rid of pathogens like Salmonella, especially in marine products and meat foods which does not raise the product temperature to any significant extent. For a product like egg which is involved in many food borne illnesses of serious nature, its pasteurization is being insisted on by food safety authorities in many countries. In fact even touching raw eggs is frowned upon because of its potential to spread infection and pasteurized eggs are increasingly becoming standard format for marketing eggs. It is only towards later part of last century that such eggs started appearing in the market. Technologically what are the challenges inherent in pasteurizing a product like egg?

Egg has two distinct components, egg white and egg yolk, both with different physical characteristics and are well separated in distinct compartments in side the shell. Shell has its own physical properties and any system that is intended to impart heat to achieve pasteurization will have to take into consideration this aspect. Egg albumin which makes up the white portion is highly heat susceptible changing its properties due to protein denaturation when heated beyond a certain temperature. Egg melange is a liquid at normal temperature and therefore can be subjected to flash pasteurization under controlled temperature as is being done during spray drying to get egg powder but the dispersibility and foaming properties of egg powder are invariably affected. As for egg in the shell, most of the microorganisms are on the surface and by controlled application of heat most of them can be killed.

Treating with hot water at 56C for 30 minutes followed by drying at controlled hot air can give a relatively safe product with practically no viable cells remaining on the product. How ever a sorting operation is a must to remove those eggs which develop cracks even at this low temperature exposure. Automated plants are now available that can handle as much as one million eggs a day and make them safer for the consumers. Use of Ozone, Hydrogen Peroxide and Microwave heat also are claimed to be effective in achieving pasteurization. While such eggs are accepted without reservation by the consumer for preparing many products at house hold level, processing industry feels that some of the physical properties of the egg are lost which can affect its quality as an ingredient in some formulated products. Almost 4 decades ago Indian food scientists had developed an egg washing powder and an egg coating oil formulation containing permitted bacteriostats and fungistats for sanitizing the egg and extending its shelf life to more than 6 months under low temperature conditions. Probably this development was much ahead of the time with no takers appreciating it. Time has come now to make it mandatory for poultry farms to process the raw eggs before releasing it to the market in the interests of the consumer.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

PUBLIC HEALTH, PRIVATE INSPECTORS AND FOOD SAFETY

Food safety issues are attracting world wide attention after the recent spate of serious food infections, even in products never thought to be vulnerable, experienced in western countries. Who could have considered a product like tomato or Jalapeno Pepper or Peanut Butter to be susceptible to Salmonella infection since these pathogens were reported only in fish and meat products earlier? What has gone wrong with the safety regime, touted as most advanced in the world, in the case of tainted peanut butter consignments manufactured by one of the largest processors in USA? Is there a lesson to be learned from these episodes or every thing is swept under the carpet till the next incidence occur. The new President of USA is reported to be planning a thorough overhaul of the present Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set up to infuse more confidence amongst the already scared consumers who had to endure a series of food contamination episodes recently with no clue regarding their origin or seriousness. Recalling a suspected product is fraught with economic and psychological implications which cannot be ignored easily.

As government inspectors get overburdened by the task of guarding food supply, it was found expedient to entrust the job to an array of private auditors under a policy of public-private partnership, placing high faith in the honesty and reliability of these private players. The Peanut Corporation of America plant at Atlanta where peanut products like chopped nuts, paste and butter were manufactured for use in reputed branded products like granola bar, ice cream etc was inspected by private inspectors in March 2008, before the contaminated shipments were dispatched and certified the food facilities of this company as "superior"!. Ironically the food inspectors, paid for by the company, were not even aware that peanut products could ever be affected by Salmonella infection. It was later found that the facilities were housed in dilapidated structures ravaged by Salmonella which cross infected the products made there. The company was shipping the products merrily for 9 months without the safety agencies becoming wiser about the danger posed by the consignments distributed which eventually resulted in 9 deaths and 22500 stricken by the infection. Even score of USDA Inspectors who visited these facilities routinely in connection with supply of peanut butter to the school lunch program being "monitored" by the agency, did not "see" any thing wrong there!

In 2007 a Californian company certified by private agencies as safe had to recall 193 million pounds of beef after an undercover video exposed the malpractices in the processing plant where workers used fork lifts to force sick cows into the slaughter house. The major reason for increased deployment of private inspectors is the cost of inspection to be incurred by the manufacturer. While an FDA inspector will cost $ 8000, same job is done by a private inspector for no more than $ 1000. There are more than 300 private companies employing thousands of personnel finding gainful business in the area of safety inspection of food processing plants in USA. Besides there are hundreds of individual consultants offering the same service. American institute of Baking (AIB International) based in Manhattan, Kansas is reported to have inspected more than 10000 food plants in 80 countries during the year 2008. What is intriguing is how an organization with specialization in baking can have the expertise to certify other plants making products which are not coming under the baking sector and according to some analysts, many plants certified by AIB had quality related problems later, affecting their credibility.

The Indian situation is some what different as there is no worth while inspection system in place under the regulatory regime run by different ministries at Delhi. In some areas like fruit and vegetable processing and meat and fish processing the licensing authorities do have the responsibility to check the plants but in practice such inspection is more conspicuous by its irregular nature. Unfortunately the country is relying more on product analysis mode to book those who make products not meeting with the standards while ignoring the manufacturing environment from where the products emanate. To add to the worry is the perfunctory nature of analysis which does not bring out many safety deficiencies in the products, especially in the microbiological, nutritional and toxicity areas as most of the public health labs have neither the qualified chemists nor the sophisticated instrumentation facilities to make any in-depth analysis of majority of products in the market. There are private agencies offering certification under ISO, HACCP and other quality related systems but their credibility is at a low level because of the ease with which such certification can be obtained in India.

Food Standards and Safety Authority (FSSA), the predominantly bureaucratic organization at Delhi, vested with the "authority" to protect country's food supply, unfortunately has no clue regarding the dimension of the safety problems faced by the Indian consumer who depends more on God to save him rather than the FSSA and its collaborators at the state level. Remarkable immunity of the Indian consumer, absence of product liability system that would have put some fear into the minds of the perpetrators of food adulteration, low value attached to human lives in general and chaotic and unreliable data management system help the government to claim that the country is 'free' from epidemics like Salmonella or Norovirus infections which are being increasingly reported from many developed countries.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

BUYER IS SUPREME: THE SELLER HAS NO CHOICE!

Food industry in India has achieved significant strides during the last 2 decades and food exports are increasing with more and more access to new markets, earning valuable foreign exchange. Quality and safety problems pose serious threats to smooth exports and frequent rejections of Indian foods in foreign ports are routine. Advent of protocols under ISO, HACCP, SAP etc was expected to help instill confidence amongst the buyers regarding the quality of food manufactured by the licensed production units. But this has not worked the way it was expected to do if we go by the records of the industry so far. The Salmonella scare of 2008 affecting tomatoes and jalapeno pepper, the latest involving peanut butter in USA and melamine tainted milk powder in China conclusively prove that there is no substitute to honest and conscientious efforts by the industry to discipline itself by eternal vigilance and uncompromising approach vis-a-vis safety and quality.

On an earlier occasion this blog had commented on the steps taken by FDA of USA to open offices in some parts of China, obvious intention being to pre-empt safety related problems affecting imports into USA. This action is on the premise that active involvement of the importer in the operations of the manufacturer would some how ensure strict compliance. Same approach was evident when FDA announced setting up of two offices in Delhi and Mumbai under the impression that every thing will be alright now on wards. But if the past records are any indication, it is doubtful if such intrusive steps can deliver the expected results.

FDA, which is under fire in its own country for its failure to protect the consumers due to the inefficient surveillance system in place, is burdened with both drug and food portfolios and it is not able to do justice to either of them. The open letter addressed by 100 scientists to the new President highlighting the corruption in FDA is still fresh in our memory. There is clamor for splitting FDA into two separate bodies, each devoting to drugs and foods exclusively. Added to this is the split responsibilities for food safety between USDA and FDA, former looking after meat and poultry regulation, rest being under FDA.

The current controversy on peanut contamination with Salmonella, originating in a plant in Georgia, was glaring at the regulators since 2001 but still no concrete action was taken to bring them to books. Interestingly this particular plant was regularly inspected by USDA personnel since the peanut butter supplied by this firm is distributed to school children under the national feeding program and still the culprit was not hauled up for violation of good manufacturing practices! This has caused recall of 1550 products in 45 states in the US because of the 575 illnesses reported due to peanut consumption. More scandalous is the fact that the peanut butter consignment rejected by the Canadian food authorities reentered USA through a border bridge between New York State and Canada though it was found to contain "filthy, putrid or decomposed substances unfit for food". The plant that manufactured the peanut butter under cloud in Atlanta, GA, was inspected by FDA authorities in 2001 and indicted for presence of cockroaches, molds, leaking roof and other sanitation problems but no follow up action was taken. USDA inspectors visited this plant routinely there after since peanut butter from this plant is regularly supplied for the school feeding programs across the country. A typical example of right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing!

If this is the efficiency of their surveillance program within USA, what a few officers, operating from the embassy in Delhi and consular office from Mumbai can achieve is a matter of conjecture. Probably the intrusive action may only delay shipments creating further problems to the Indian industry. It may justifiable for our industry to demand that once FDA clears their shipments in India there should not be any further time consuming procedural delays at the importing points. If this happens, some of the uncertainties associated with food exports to USA can be avoided. Since consumer is the king the seller may not have such a leverage with buyers under to day's economic scenario. At least Indian food industry can try striking a deal mutually acceptable to both the parties.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/