Text Box: Welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter BioTalk for the food industry. This newsletter is produced up to four times a year with special editions for topical or current issues. There are regular items and general information on microbiological issues. Your feedback and suggestions are most welcome. Copies of this newsletter and previous issues are available from our web site. BioTalkBiotech LaboratoriesNEWSLETTERFood IndustryText Box:  Biological Testing  Reg No. 2787

Text Box: Cert No. 7176 – 10

Text Box: Editor: Glen Pinna

Text Box: Total Number of Salmonella Notifications. 1st and 2nd Quarter 2005. Text Box: 28

Text Box: August 2005   Issue No.

Text Box: National Enteric Pathogens Surveillance Scheme The following data is reproduced from the National Enteric Pathogen Surveillance Scheme (NEPSS), Microbiological Diagnostic Unit, Public Health Laboratory, The University of Melbourne, Victoria. Text Box: Foods Standards Australia New Zealand - Media Release Text Box: Foods Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) publicised the following on their website at http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/.   Primary Production and Processing (PPP) Standard for Seafood: The seafood PPP standard is the first of a number of standards to be developed for the primary sector, including standards for poultry meat and dairy. Seafood was selected as the first PPP standard because no national regulatory standard existed and the peak seafood industry body was in the advanced stages of developing its own industry-preferred voluntary standard for the hygienic production of seafood. The majority of seafood businesses already meet the basic food safety provisions that are being introduced across the entire seafood sector. These new requirements aim to ensure a level playing field for businesses to meet basic food safety requirements consistently across the country. The seafood PPP standard firstly sets out the basic food safety requirements for the hygienic primary production and processing of all seafood. Secondly, it includes specific provisions for oysters and other bivalve molluscs. The basic provisions are designed to minimise food safety hazards, and cover seafood primary production and processing activities that are not already currently regulated under the Food Standards Code. All imports of seafood will have to comply with the new standard. Details of how to obtain this guide are available from FSANZ (website: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/ ). Text Box: Food Poisoning Outbreaks—Qld 2nd Quarter 2005 Source: Queensland Health Dept.

Text Box: Foodborne disease is defined as any illness of an infectious or toxic nature caused by the consumption of food or water.  A foodborne illness outbreak is defined as the occurrence of two or more associated cases of foodborne illness.

Text Box: Food Spoilage Microorganisms — Part 8 Text Box: Food is considered spoiled when an undesirable change in the colour, flavour, odour or texture has occurred. Foreign substances in food products make foods undesirable. It is a gradual process and is a natural phenomenon. It occurs at varying rates depending on the storage temperature, kind of food involved, kind of microorganisms present, packaging materials used, food additives used and method of preservation. This discussion started in Biotalk 21 April 2003.   Dried Foods continued   The most common fungi found on peanuts Aspergillus niger and A. flavus. Penicillium funiculosum, Penicillium purpurogenum and Fusarium solani may also be commonly isolated. In the tropics other Aspergillus species and Eurotium species are important  in fungal spoilage of peanuts. Most of the fungi present in peanuts are not capable of causing spoilage due to visible growth, but may cause discolouration, which from both the processor’s and consumers’ points of view is a form of spoilage.   European hazelnuts commonly have Rhizopus stolonifer and Penicillium aurantiogriseum detected. In Egyptian hazelnuts and walnuts, the most commonly occurring fungi are Eurotium species, Aspergillus species, Cladosporium species, Penicillium species and Fusarium species. In Turkish hazelnuts, Penicillium and Aspergillus are the dominant mycoflora.   In pecan Eurotium, Penicillium and Aspergillus are the dominant fungi. In weevil damaged pecans, Alternaria and Epicoccum species are often found.   In a survey of US almonds during harvest and storage Aspergillus niger and Penicillium glabrum were the most prevalent fungi identified.   The fungi most prevalent on storage pistachios from Iran, California and Turkey are Aspergillus species, Neosartorya fisheri var. spinosa and Emericella nidulans.   Storage fungi isolated in cashews from Thailand included Aspergillus species, Eurotium species and Penicillium species.   Dessicated coconut, produced from copra, is also subject to fungal spoilage. As with other products with a high oil content, the mycoflora of coconut comprises a wide range of fungi, including Aspergillus flavus and niger, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Penicillium species, Alternaria alternata and Eurotium chevalieri. Two distinct types of spoilage in coconut due to the action of xenophilic fungi have been reported. Ketonic rancidity due to the production of aliphatic ketones and secondary alcohols by Eurotium species, and cheesy butyric spoilage brought about by the growth and metabolism of Cladosporium xerophilium.   Because of the tropical origin and production methods, spices are frequently heavily contaminated with xerophilic fungi. Aspergillus species, Eurotium species and Penicillium species are the common dominant flora of dried, ground or whole spices. Pepper is often sited as a source of fungal contamination of foods and can have fungal loads up to 105 to 107 CFU/gram. Spices may contaminate other foods in the manufacturing process. Where a heat process is not used, such as in processed meat manufacture, the spices themselves should be sterilised before use, either by fumigation or when permitted, gamma radiation.   The discussion will continue in the next BioTalk Food Newsletter. Sources: Spoilage of Processed Foods: Causes and Diagnosis. AIFST. NSW Branch, Food Microbiology Group. Food

 

ACT

NSW

VIC

QLD

SA

WA

TAS

NT

TOTAL

1st Q

11

215

345

288

48

66

16

43

1,032

2nd Q

13

220

83

294

35

60

13

38

756
 

Etiology

Month

No.

Affected

No.

Hospitalised

Food

vehicle

Setting

Staphylococcus aureus

Apr

2

Unknown

Custard Filled Dumplings

Private residence

Suspected Norovirus

Apr

11

0

Unknown

Take-away store

Ciguatoxin

Apr

17

2

Spanish Mackerel

Private residence

Campylobacter jejuni

May

5

0

Unknown

Private residence

Salmonella Typhimurium PT170

May

2

1

Chicken Meat

Take-away store

Salmonella Typhimurium PT197

May

13

7

Egg Based Bakery Products

Bakery
Text Box: Biotech Laboratories Pty Ltd Lobby Level, Administration Building, Greenslopes Private Hospital, Newdegate Street, Greenslopes Qld  4120 PO  Box 505  Indooroopilly  Qld  4068    Ph: (07) 3847 9488     Facsimile: (07) 3847 9890 E-mail:  manager@biotechlab.com.au     Web site: http://www.biotechlab.com.au/