Source: John Strak, MEATINGPLACE, 7/22/11

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has produced a review and recommendations on the incidence of food-borne viruses and their links with human health.

According to EFSA, food-borne viruses are the second-most important cause of food-borne outbreaks in the EU (behind salmonella). In 2009, they were responsible for nearly 1 in 5 of all outbreaks in the EU and were involved in more than 1,000 outbreaks — and the trend has been increasing since 2007.

EFSA’s review of the data provides advice on measures to control and prevent the spread of food-borne viruses in the EU, focusing on the prevention of contamination at production level rather than removing the virus from contaminated food.

EFSA looked at norovirus and hepatitis A viruses in fresh produce, ready-to-eat foods and bivalve molluscs such as oysters, mussels and scallops, which are ranked as priority hazards by the World Health Organisation. The hepatitis E virus was also assessed in the opinion as it is highly prevalent in pigs across Europe, and there is some evidence of transmission through food, although human clinical cases are rare in the EU.

According to EFSA’s Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards, effective measures to control the spread of these viruses should focus on preventing contamination at all levels of production rather than on trying to remove or inactivate these viruses from contaminated food. Thorough cooking is currently the only efficient measure to remove or inactivate norovirus or hepatitis A virus from contaminated bivalve molluscs or fresh produce. Meat or liver should also be completely cooked to ensure that possible hepatitis E infections are removed or inactivated.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.