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Tainted spinach sparks product=20 announcements

By Ahmed=20 ElAmin

Get the latest Market = Reports=20 on

spinach
FDA
vacteriophages

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Spinach=20 outbreak could lead to tougher food safety=20 laws
When=20 vegetables become victims
FDA=20 responds to E.coli spinach outbreak
Bitter=20 taste markers determine vegetable = intake

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10/3/2006 - In the wake of the e coli = outbreak due=20 to contaminated spinach, suppliers are rushing in to = provide=20 processors with the tools they might need to improve = the=20 safety of their packaged = products.

Prominent among the products = being=20 touted as the answer to the industry's problems are = those that=20 can clean produce safely, and those that provide = traceability.

Canada-based Biophage Pharma (BP) is one supplier = who=20 jumped at the chance to promote its cleaning products. = Soon=20 after the outbreak of disease linked to the bagged spinach,=20 the company announced that its biosensor and phage = products=20 could help processors reduce bacterial contamination = in food=20 produce.

Bacteriophages are viruses that target bacteria, = rather=20 than human, plant or animal cells. For every bacteria, = there=20 is a phage that likes to latch on to them, take over = their=20 life processes and multiply. The baby phages then = burst out to=20 attack other nearby targets, thus killing the host = cell. =20

In August the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) = granted=20 its first ever approval of a bacteriophage-based = product for=20 use in food. Baltimore-based Intralytix received = approval for=20 its LMP-102 bacteriophage as a meat additive. =

Biophage Pharma says it has built up an extensive = library=20 of phages that can be used against a large number of = bacterial=20 pathogens. The company developed its technology after = an E.=20 coli O157:H7 outbreak in Walkerton, Ontario led to the = death=20 of seven people.

Biophage says its library of phages could be=20 developed as a powerful treatment for the control of = E. coli=20 O157:H7 bacterial contamination in = food
produce.

The company also suggests that its existing = biosensor=20 technologies can be developed to detect and identify = live=20 bacteria in a produce sample.

ScoringAg is another company that sees opportunity = from the=20 breakdown in food safety that resulted in the tainted = spinach=20 entering the market. ScoringAg marketing a product = labeling=20 system that provides managers with access to complete = product=20 source and traceback records at the time of = purchase.

The company's traceback barcode label can provide a = means=20 of tracking a product through the supply chain. The = label can=20 be designed as an exclusive micro-brand. By scanning = the=20 barcode or searching the SSI-EID code, processors can = access=20 the origin and other pertinent public information=20 about
the product including certification = details and=20 images.

The traceback barcodes for product labels can be = used with=20 or without radio frequency identification chips to = allow the=20 buyer to access
specific certification = product=20 traceback records to regulators.

Information from the company's online = Point-to-Point=20 Traceback system can be displayed at any point during = food=20 production. The information in the barcode can be = accessed in=20 the field or at any site during the food handling = process,=20 ScoringAg claims.

"Traceback and source verification for every = handler in=20 the food chain, including testing and lab results = increases=20 the product's value and builds buyer confidence at all = sales=20 levels," the company stated.

In other related news Natural Selection Foods, the=20 California company fingered by the FDA=20 as the source of the E. coli outbreak, has offered to=20 compensate victims of the tainted spinach. Natural = Selection=20 packs spinach and other produce for a number of brand = names,=20 including Dole.

To date, 187 cases of illness due to E. coli = O157:H7=20 infection have been reported to the Centers for = Disease=20 Control and Prevention (CDC), including 29 cases of = kidney=20 failure, 97 hospitalizations and one death.

The company also announced that it has introduced = new=20 safety measures, including regular testing for E. coli = when=20 produce arrives at its plants.

Natural Selection's suppliers have also agreed to = implement=20 hygiene and food safety measures similar to those used = at=20 Natural Selection's packaging plants.

Meanwhile seven produce organizations worldwide = have banded=20 together to form a federation that will attempt to set = standards for the sector.

The International Federation for Produce Standards = (IFPS)=20 includes the Asociacion de Exportadores de Chile, the = Canadian=20 Produce Marketing Association, the UK's Fresh Produce=20 Consortium, Horticulture Australia, Norges Frukt-og=20 Gronnsaksgrossisters Forbund in Norway, United Fresh = in New=20 Zealand, and US-based Produce Marketing Association. =

The IFPS will provide an international forum to = address the=20 issues faced by the produce sector. Initially the IFPS = will=20 focus on four key issues. These are the formation of = standards=20 for emerging technologies, traceability, pesticides = and=20 recommendations on good agricultural practices.

=93All of us involved sincerely believe this = provides a=20 tremendous opportunity to eliminate previous = fragmentation in=20 efforts towards standards which affect our truly = global=20 industry,=94 the organisation stated in announcing = its=20 formation.

The move comes as the FDA called on producers of = spinach=20 and other leafy greens to develop a plan to minimize = the risk=20 of another outbreak.

"Implementation of these plans will be = voluntary, but=20 FDA and the State of California are not excluding the=20 possibility of regulatory requirements in the = future," the=20 regulator warned.

The FDA will be holding a public meeting to address = the=20 larger issue of food borne illness linked to leafy = greens=20 later in the year once it completes its investigation = of the=20 outbreak.

E. coli O157:H7 can cause abdominal pain, bloody = diarrhea,=20 and in some cases, including in this outbreak, = Hemolytic=20 Uremic Syndrome, which causes kidney failure and = death. By=20 issuing this alert to the public earlier than in past=20 outbreaks, the FDA has probably prevented even more = people=20 from getting sick or dying.

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