Today’s episode of the program ‘Mi manda Rai Tre’ offered the opportunity to recall how necessary it is to inform consumers about the risks associated with the consumption of certain foods as they are possible carriers of pathogenic bacteria.
Bacteria such as E. coli STEC variant, Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia, Salmonella in antibiotic-resistant strains, Norovirus can in fact cause serious damage to the health and even the death of the most vulnerable (children, the elderly, pregnant women, immunocompromised).
These public health risks must therefore be minimized with a simple reform that includes the obligation of a warning – on labels, menus and signs at points of sale – so that vulnerable people do not consume risky foods.
1) Pathogenic bacteria, diffusion and responsibility
E.coli in STEC variant, Listeria m., Yersinia, N and strains of Salmonella antibiotic-resistant are pathogenic bacteria capable of causing food poisoning with very serious consequences, particularly in YOPI population groups (Young, Old, Pregnant, Immunocompromised).
The spread of these pathogens in foods in the European Union is confirmed in the latest ‘European Union One Health 2022 Zoonoses Report’, published by EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and ECDC (European Center for Disease Control and Prevention) on 12 December 2023. (1)
The outbreaks of food poisoning more serious and widespread are due to serious deficiencies in prevention and control systems, in particular by large industrial groups. As has been seen unfortunately, in recent years, with the unpardonable cases of Lactalis and Ferrero (salmonella), Buitoni – Nestlé (E.coli), AIA – Veronesi (Listeria). (3,4,5,6,7)
2) Foods with intrinsic safety risks
Some foods – fresh and semi-mature cheeses made from raw milk, as well as meat and meat-based preparations, molluscs and products containing them, if not subjected to heat treatments capable of inhibiting pathogens (by cooking all their parts at 70°C, 80°C for two minutes in the case of seafood) – in any case present an intrinsic safety risk.
The risk of food poisoning – the complications of which can be very serious and lethal for newborns and children, the elderly and immunocompromised people (due to pathologies or pharmacological treatments, i.e. chemotherapy and/or cortisone) – must therefore be prevented by means of specific warnings addressed to them and their families. caregiver (see next paragraph 4).
3) Food safety and information
Food safety, pursuant to the General Food Law, must be guaranteed by analysis of:
– risk (of food poisoning and negative health effects, even in the medium and long term, in relation to the consumption of the food), taking into account the
‘(a) the normal conditions of use of the food by the consumer at each stage of production, processing and distribution;
(b) information made available to the consumer, including information on the label or other information generally accessible to the consumer on how to avoid specific adverse health effects caused by a food or category of foods’;
– danger (or potential damage) to health, taking into account among other things the
– ‘particular sensitivity, from the health point of view, of a specific category of consumers, in the case in which the food is intended for it’. (8)
4) Essential information
Prevention of the microbiological safety risks of intrinsically risky foods (see paragraph 3 above) therefore requires, depending on the case:
– a warning about the serious health risks associated with the consumption of raw milk, as well as fresh and aged cheeses made with raw milk, by children, the elderly, pregnant women and immunocompromised people
– an indication of the need to ensure that all meat is cooked in every part, at least 70°C and for the time necessary to inhibit pathogens before it is consumed by children, the elderly, pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals.
The obligation to provide such information must be defined at the European level, with specific clear and comprehensible wording, following the example of France which has already recommended it for fresh and semi-mature cheeses made from raw milk (9,10). And it must always be applied to:
– labels of pre-packaged and wrapped foods for direct sale (or pre-packaged)
– clearly visible sales signs, near the places where products sold loose are displayed
– menus and registers, including electronic ones, of each community (e.g. agritourism, trattorias, restaurants, take-away and food delivery, canteens, catering).
5) Restrictions on sale and supply
The sale and administration of raw milk and dairy products derived from it must also be banned in nursery and primary school canteens, as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities. (11)
Staff training of communities must finally be guaranteed and subjected to specific controls by the competent authorities, so that the adequate cooking of meat and shellfish fully integrates the ‘food safety culture’ already prescribed.
6) Enough! to the tragedies that can and must be avoided
The testimonials of the parents of victims of homicides that were not negligent but voluntary – since they were caused by the willful acceptance of the risk of food poisoning by industrial managers who failed to remedy serious hygiene deficiencies in production plants – serve to recall the responsibility of politics, public administration and the judiciary.
Rai Tre sends me, September 28, 2024
Special thanks goes to the host Federico Ruffo and the editors of ‘Mi manda Rai Tre’, Edoardo Gentile and Antonella Palmieri, to remind us all of the gravity of the events that have affected some children also in Italy and the responsibilities of each one of us so that they do not happen again. Forward with the reforms and Enough! to the tragedies that can and must be avoided at all costs.
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Marta Strinati, Dario Dongo. Trends in zoonoses in the EU, One Health 2022 report. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 22.12.23
(2) See paragraph B (Food safety culture) of the previous article by Dario Dongo. EU Reg. 2021/382. Allergen management, safety culture, food redistribution. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 9.3.21
(3) Dario Dongo. Lactalis, salmonella to newborns. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 16.1.18
(4) Marta Strinati. Food safety crisis, Foodwatch denounces Ferrero and Buitoni-Nestlé. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 23.5.22
(5) Marta Strinati. The Belgian Authority closes the Ferrero factory for suspected cases of salmonella linked to Kinder. 8.4.22
(6) Marta Strinati. Pizza Fraîch’Up, the Nestlé Buitoni factory was a time bomb. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 27.10.22
(7) Dario Dongo. Listeria in AIA frankfurters, false accusations against Asiago cheese. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 30.9.22
(8) General Food Law, Regulation (EC) No. 178/02, Article 14 (food safety requirements), paragraph 3,4
(9) Ministère de l’Agriculture, de la Souveraineté alimentaire et de la Forêt (France). Consumation of fromages based on the cru: please refer to the precautions to be taken. 9.7.20 https://tinyurl.com/mr2rv5hj
(10) The French dairy sector, in response to the above-mentioned government recommendation, recommended the use of a complementary wording completely devoid of essential information on the label. See Cniel. Integration of a complementary labelling of cru dairy products. 11.2.21 https://tinyurl.com/2v26pjnd
(11) Silvia Bonardi, Dario Dongo. Malga cheeses and fresh raw milk cheeses, the STEC danger. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 5.9.23
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
