Food safety incidents
During the third quarter of 2021, the INFOSAN Secretariat was involved in 65 food safety incidents involving 63 WHO Member States (MS) and territories. There were 46 incidents involving a biological hazard [Salmonella spp. (20), Listeria monocytogenes (11), Escherichia coli (4), Bacillus cereus (2), Hepatitis A (2), Norovirus (2), Vibrio parahaemolyticus (2), Clostridium botulinum (1), Staphylococcus aureus (1), and one incident with an unknown biological hazard]; nine involving a physical hazard [glass (4), plastic (2), can defect (1), foreign body (1), knife (1)]; seven involving an undeclared allergen/ingredient [milk (3), soy (2), sesame seeds (1), gluten (1)]; and three involving a chemical hazard [histamine (2), chlorpyrifos (1)].
The food categories most commonly involved in the 65 incidents during the third quarter of 2021 were fish and other seafood (13), followed by herbs spices and condiments (8), meat and meat products (8), vegetables and vegetable products (8), milk and dairy products (6), snacks, desserts, and other foods (5), fruit and fruit products (4), composite food (3), cereals and cereal based products (2), fruit and vegetable juices (1), legume and pulses (1), non-alcoholic beverages (1), nuts and oilseeds (1) products for special nutritional use (1), and three with an unknown source.
The INFOSAN Secretariat has registered a significant increase in the number of food safety incidents during the first two quarters of 2021. This trend continued in the third quarter, where the number of incidents during the quarter reached a record 65. Due to the active engagement of INFOSAN members and partners, 45% of those incidents were communicated to the Secretariat through the European Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), 40% by INFOSAN members (Emergency Contact Points and Focal Points), and 15% through various WHO channels.
The increased capacity at the INFOSAN Secretariat has enabled wider coverage and a more efficient response to food safety incidents, thereby allowing the Secretariat to better adapt to Member States’ requests and needs as they arise.
Geographic scope
These incidents involved 63 WHO Member States and territories. The affected Member States were distributed as follows: 20 out of 53 Member States from the European Region, 9 out of 27 in the Western Pacific, 9 out of 21 in the Eastern Mediterranean, 8 out of 47 in Africa, 6 out of 35 in the Americas, and finally 3 out of 11 in South-East Asia.
Closure and conclusions of the multi-country outbreak of Salmonella Braenderup potentially linked to the consumption of melons incident.
The multi-country outbreak of Salmonella Braenderup that affected 12 countries and recorded over 300 cases has been concluded. The source of the outbreak has been determined to most likely be Galia melons from Honduras. To conclude the investigations, the INFOSAN Emergency Contact Point in Honduras provided the INFOSAN Secretariat with a detailed report including a complete risk assessment of the possible hazard points identified at the implicated facility in Honduras, as well as a complete study on the corrective and prevention actions that were taken at the facility.
The report confirms that a positive sample of Salmonella Braenderup ST22 that matches the outbreak strain (confirmed through Whole Genome Sequencing), has been detected on the surface of the washing tank in one of the Honduran facilities where Galia melons are packed. The washing tank has been confirmed to be the source of the contamination. Corrective measures were taken on-site to prevent future contaminations.
According to the competent authority in Honduras, the cause of the outbreak cannot be confirmed to be Galia melons from Honduras, since a new case was reported in July 2021 in Denmark, and no Galia melons from Honduras were exported during that period.
A discussion thread on the INFOSAN Community Website was created to facilitate communication between Member States to share their investigations.
An international outbreak of such a foodborne disease underlines the importance of active participation in INFOSAN. Through strong international collaboration between the countries involved and early exchange of information (including WGS), it was possible to identify a potential source for this outbreak. During this outbreak, the INFOSAN Secretariat ensured that information on the different countries' investigations was rapidly shared through INFOSAN, which enabled the swift implementation of measures to mitigate the potential risk.
The INFOSAN Secretariat continues to encourage such international collaboration and expresses its sincere gratitude to the INFOSAN Emergency Contact Points in the concerned countries for their collaboration.
News & Activities
INFOSAN Capacity Building Activities
Virtual INFOSAN Workshop on Risk Communication during Food Safety Emergencies - 16, 17 September 2021
This virtual workshop was organized by the INFOSAN Secretariat, in collaboration with members in Cape Verde in Africa, with the goal to strengthen food safety risk communication, in particular during emergencies, including communications with international partners and INFOSAN. The workshop brought officials from each of the relevant national authorities involved in food safety risk communication in Cape Verde and Portuguese speaking INFOSAN members in the African Region. The workshop included a real-life example of mechanisms for risk communication at the national level with a comprehensive presentation by the ECP in Brazil explaining the communication risks through their national network. The outcome of the workshop was an improved communication mechanism through better national coordination across sectors in Cape Verde.
Codex Advocacy Workshop “Achieving leadership in the Codex Process” with Bhutan
An in-person Codex Advocacy Workshop took place on 20-22 September 2021 in Punakha, Bhutan. The workshop was organized under the Codex Trust Fund by Bhutanese authorities, the WHO South East Asia Region (SEARO) and the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP). The workshop counted on the participation of experts from WHO SEARO, FAO HQ and RAP, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the Bhutan Agriculture, the Food Regulatory Authority (Ministry of Agriculture and Forests) and the INFOSAN Secretariat. The INFOSAN Secretariat gave a presentation to raise awareness of the objectives of the Network and its activities during the management of international food safety emergencies, and those activities undertaken to strengthen countries' capacities to respond to such emergencies.
INFOSAN Train-the-trainer Workshop
With each passing year, the number of registered INFOSAN members has been steadily increasing over the year, with a six-fold growth since 2004 to the current number of more than 700 members around the world. Such growth is indicative of the increasing countries awareness and interest and the importance of the Network. This highlights the need for additional resources to ensure that members are supported and understand their roles and responsibilities. As the Network expands its membership, the need for training also increases. To meet this need, the INFOSAN Secretariat, with support from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has designed and organized an INFOSAN train-the-trainer program. The aim of the program is to increase the human resources available to train INFOSAN members, online and in-person.
The train-the-trainer model has evolved from concepts of adult learning theory and diffusion of innovation. It reflects the idea that people who train others recall most of what they teach, and that people learn new information through trusted networks. This model will create a roster of INFOSAN member trainers from within the community of practice who can deliver INFOSAN training programs to other members around the globe.
The aim is to train several INFOSAN members who will be placed on a roster and deployed in future online or in-person targeted trainings of other INFOSAN members, 12 INFOSAN members from 12 different countries were selected. The selection criteria were the following:
- designated INFOSAN member (Emergency Contact Points and Focal Points);
- demonstrated interest in and experience with INFOSAN;
- willingness to support future INFOSAN training activities (online and in-person);
- demonstrated proficiency in using computer software like MS PowerPoint, WebEx, the INFOSAN Community Website, etc.;
- strong communication/presentation/facilitation skills;
- English language proficiency and proficiency in a second language strongly desired (e.g. Arabic, Russian, French, Portuguese, Spanish); and
- commitment to delivering future training workshops or webinars together with the support of INFOSAN Secretariat staff.
In September 2021, the INFOSAN Secretariat, in collaboration with the CFIA, began the development of the workshop which will take place over four days on 12, 20 and 27 October and 3 November 2021. Trainees will engage in discussion on all the operational and strategic aspects pertaining to the history, roles, responsibilities, processes and procedures of INFOSAN, along with the recently launched INFOSAN Community Website (ICW).
Global Food Safety Incidents and Emergency Response Conference – 13, 14 and 15 October
From 13 - 15 October 2021, members of the INFOSAN Secretariat attended the Global Food Safety Incidents and Emergency Response Conference, organized and hosted by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) of the United Kingdom.
The conference provided an opportunity for a network of international regulators, food safety scientists, food laboratory experts and technical experts from across the world to review food safety incidents and crises, better understand how to respond to challenges affecting global food safety and food supply and explore the role of food systems.
Dr Francesco Branca, Head of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO delivered the keynote speech where he detailed the role of INFOSAN in food safety incidents and in broader food systems. In his presentation, Dr Branca illustrated this through the case study from 2017/2018 of outbreak of listeriosis in South Africa linked to internationally distributed ready-to-eat meat. He also outlined some key figures around food safety incidents reported by INFOSAN in 2021 to demonstrate the rising importance of the INFOSAN and its members.
On day two of the conference, Dr Ceyhun Güngӧr of the INFOSAN Secretariat presented on INFOSAN and its potential for improving risk communication between countries. He described a case study of an outbreak of
E. coli O104:H4 infections in Germany and France in 2011 and outlined some key lessons learned in the area of risk communication during food safety incidents.
Among the over 300 attendees, several INFOSAN members were invited to share their expertise and their countries’ perspectives in numerous areas of food safety.
Conference attendees explored the role of the food industry in incident resolution and product recalls, as well as best practice in food crime, food defence and food authenticity, and how best to communicate food risks. Within this context, the agenda also covered a range of issues including how to achieve harmonisation and the use of best practice across differing international regulatory systems, as well as future challenges for industry and regulators.
The INFOSAN Secretariat would like to extend its congratulations to the FSA and FSS for the successful hosting of this important conference that brought together experts, regulators, members of civil and international society, and the private sector together to share their experiences.
Coming events
Regional virtual meetings: Enhancing INFOSAN in the WHO Regions of Africa, the Americas and in Asia
The INFOSAN Secretariat, in collaboration with the WHO and FAO regional offices, are jointly organizing online regional meetings of INFOSAN members in Africa, America and Asia. The objectives of the meetings will be to identify and agree on practical actions to enhance INFOSAN in the regions; to provide INFOSAN members with a platform to share their feedback with the INFOSAN Secretariat on the activities undertaken by the Network; to facilitate sharing of experiences with other regions on enhancing participation in the INFOSAN; revise progress related to INFOSAN regional strategies (if applicable to the region); and to orient participants with the new INFOSAN Community Website.
The regional meetings are expected to take place on the following dates:
- Africa Regional Meeting: 10, 11 November 2021
- Asia Regional Meeting: 7, 8 December 2021
- Americas Regional Meeting: 15, 16 December 2021
Sub-regional training on the use of risk analysis in the response to food safety emergencies in the Western Balkans – 25, 26 November 2021
The overall purpose of the training is to support countries in the Western Balkans to strengthen their core capacities for food safety as defined under the IHR (2005) by operationally applying the risk analysis principles and procedures in the response to food safety emergencies using a One Health approach. Specifically, the objectives of the training are (1) to take stock of current procedures and practices for food safety emergency response in Western Balkan countries, (2) to outline best practices for applying the risk analysis principles during food safety emergencies and demonstrating practical ways of incorporating the risk analysis principles into existing emergency response procedures and practices in the target countries; and (3) to provide recommendations for strengthening food safety emergency response systems in Western Balkan countries using risk analysis and the One Health approach.
The training will be conducted as a two-day face-to-face event in Albania on 25-26 November 2021. Representatives from the INFOSAN Secretariat will participate in the meeting.