Food Safety – A Mixture of Oddities:

Mercury in Fish

The Codex Alimentarius Commissions CCFAC and CCFFP suggested that Mercury in Fish is a concern, but that there is benefit to eating fish, even for children and pregnant women. These international bodies are at pains to point out the neurological damage that Mercury can cause in Children and Unborn Foetuses and are very strict in their advice to especially pregnant women. They advocate consumption in moderation and with the types of fish such as tuna, swordfish and shark being avoided. Catherine O’Neill, Associate Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law, as a guest blogger for Bill Marler, points out that according to the Washington Post, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking to rescind its warning that women and children should limit their intake of fish.

 The FDA is now suggesting that the benefits of consuming fish outweigh the risks of neurological damage caused by Mercury. 

Professor O’Neill rightly asks whether the FDA’s reversal is supported by the science. Scientists within other US governmental agencies have questioned the recommendation and have called it “scientifically flawed and inadequate”. According to Professor O’Neill “One does not have to be too much of a cynic to wonder whether the FDA’s change of course is of a piece with the numerous other instances in which the Bush Administration has reinterpreted science that calls for greater – not lesser – protection of human health and the environment.”

Furthermore, one wonders whether the argument of “balancing” the “risks” and “benefits” of fish consumption and Mercury, as presented by the fishing industry have not swayed this opinion?

 

Campylobacter – Getting infected in Switzerland and by Mountain Biking

According to the Swiss SonntagsZeitung as many as 90% of chickens in Switzerland are infected with Campylobacter, prompting the Swiss Federal Veterinary Office to call a crisis meeting of food safety experts and the poultry producers in December 2008. What is really scary is that according to the report , the Federal Veterinary Office was only expecting about 45% to be infected. 

On a different note, don’t go Mountain Biking in British Columbia (Canada) or Wales unless you're seriously into infection control measures. According to Doug Powell (of Barfblog fame) hundreds of mountain bikers competing in separate races in British Columbia and Wales in the past year were stricken by Campylobacter, apparently from contact with sheep faeces-laden mud. The source of the BC infection was not as well characterized.

The National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS) have published a report which recommends the following (as per Doug Powell):

·         Participants should avoid using soiled drink and food containers

·         Pre-packaged food should be eaten out of the wrapper

·         Where possible, hands and utensils should be washed before consuming food and drinks

·          No open food should be served at events.

·         Drinks produced in large volumes for consumption by participants should be dispensed using a method which does not require the repeated immersion of utensils.

·         Organisers should consider providing facilities to wash hands and water bottles with clean, running water

·         Wherever possible, courses should be re-routed to avoid areas which are heavily contaminated with animal faeces

·         Mountain bikers, particularly those who are vulnerable to infection, should be alerted to the potential risk of acquiring zoonotic illnesses from participation in events which cross land used by agricultural and other animals.