NEWS PLUS | Issue 9

February 28, 2020

As leaders in food safety, we provide a weekly global update brought to you by our Food Plus+ team delivering an enhanced food safety & quality system to protect your brand..

1. Coronavirus in Europe sets the media alight this week

25.02.2020. Global. Coronavirus

While COVID-19 is not a foodborne issue, an outbreak in northern Italy has dominated the media, and is making all businesses consider the potential economic impact. The WHO publishes excellent daily updates (Situation Reports), and the UK Government has this week provided very practical advice for employers on managing risk for employees.

Source 1: WHO
Source 2: Government News Update

2. Pork production jumps, but 2020 prices projected higher; as progress is being made on ASF genome mapping

27.02.2020. Global. African Swine Fever

U.S. pork production is forecast to rise sharply in the first quarter, thanks to a higher-than-expected count of slaughter-ready market hogs brought to processing plants through the first week of February. This comes as the scientists have worked to map the expression of genes across the entire African Swine Fever (ASF) virus genome, which could provide vital information for those developing vaccines and antiviral drugs.

Source 1: Meating Place
Source 2: Global Meat News

3. HPAI continues to spread in Eastern Europe, Asia: OIE, as Vietnam culls 100,000 birds after avian flu spread

27.02.2020. Global. Avian Influenza

The latest reports from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) included updated outbreaks in Bulgaria and China, but no new outbreaks in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary or Romania. 

Source 1: Meating Place
Source 2: Meating Place

4. Global poultry traded affected by Coronavirus

26.02.2020. Global. Coronavirus

Analysts believe China’s supply of poultry and egg products are likely to be affected over the next 6 months due to the ongoing battle against Coronavirus.

Source: Poultry World

5. Brucella rise in Germany involves raw milk and foreign travel

26.02.2020. Germany. Brucella
 

Brucellosis has markedly increased in recent years in Germany, according to a study. 
 

Source: Food Safety News

6. French Salmonella outbreak linked to horse meat from Romania

22.02.2020. France. Salmonella

A Salmonella outbreak linked to horse meat from Romania sickened 25 people in France this past year, according to a new report.

Source: Food Safety News

7. Recall roundup: Sardines, chocolate and oysters

25.02.2020. Global. Recall

Food and beverage products are recalled due to reasons ranging from contamination to incorrect labelling, and here is New Food’s roundup of the most recent cases.

Source: New Food Magazine

8. FSA research suggests UK foodborne illnesses have doubled since 2009

25.02.2020. UK. Foodborne Illness

The increase is said not to represent a rise in the number of people getting ill, but instead in the number of cases that can be attributed to food.

Source 1: New Food Magazine

9. George Eustice refuses to guarantee ban on chlorinated chicken

23.02.2020. UK. Brexit

The environment secretary has refused to give a firm guarantee that the government will not allow chlorine-washed chicken to be imported into the UK as part of a trade deal with the US.

Source: The Guardian