THIS SECTION IS FOR NEWS AND INTERESTING STORIES RELATED TO FOOD, NUTRITION AND FOOD PROCESSING. THEY ARE NOT NECESSARILY RELATED TO KOSHER BUT MAY BE OF INTEREST TO THE KOSHER CONSUMER, MANUFACTURER OR MASHGIACH.
November 7, 2017 from DansDeals
"Kosher meals, or KSML in airline speak, can be a hit or miss, " The article mentions from where and what airlines one can get a kosher meal. Kosher meals are available on overseas flights and on some long distance domestic flights with flighing in a premium class.
Ed. note: Availablity of meals can be spotty, so always pack your own food
November 22, 2017 from GlobalMeatNews
Poland's ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) has introduced a draft bill to ban non-stun slaughter. Meat industry associations are objecting since this will hurt Poland's meat exports to the Middle East. About 80% of Polish meat production is intended for foreign markets. About 30% of their production goes to halal and kosher meat. Poland's average beef consumption is only about 1.5kg per year.
November 20, 2017 from metro.co.uk
"MPs have voted to reject a bill that recognises that animals feel pain and emotion."
"Affecting the EU Withdrawal Bill, the clause would have enshrined into UK law the recognition that animals feel pain and emotion, an admission currently covered by EU law."
"Some 80 per cent of animal welfare legislation currently comes from the EU but after March 2019 European law will no longer apply in the UK."
"While most EU law relating to animals will be automatically brought over into UK law, this will not apply to the recognition of sentience."
"During a debate in parliament the Government said animal sentience is covered by the Animal Welfare Act 2006."
Animal activists are very unhappy with this action.
November 20, 2017 from FoodSafetyNews
"Proper handling and cooking can prevent foodborne illness from spoiling a table of food, family, friends, and fun. Tips and tricks for a successful turkey day aren’t just for the kitchen."
Traveling: "Do not drink water, coffee, tea or anything with ice on a plane. In an Environmental Protection Agency study, one in eight planes do not meet water safety standards." "Do not eat directly off the tray table." Tray tables house almost 10 times more bacteria than the flusher for the toilet."
"“Research shows that washing meat or poultry can splash bacteria around your kitchen by up to 3 feet, contaminating countertops, towels and other food.” The only way to eliminate bacteria is to cook your turkey to the correct internal temperature."
"The turkey’s temperature should be taken in three areas to make sure the entire bird is done: the thickest part of the breast, the innermost part of the wing and the innermost part of the thigh. All three of these locations must reach 165 degrees F."
"All perishable foods should be tossed after sitting out for longer than two hours at room temperature. After two hours, these foods reach the “Danger Zone” of temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees where bacteria multiplies the quickest."
November 6, 2017 from Biodiesel Magazine
Germany’s Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) has said that "for the first time, consumption of biodiesel from used cooking oil (UCO) in Germany exceeded that of rapeseed biodiesel (RME). The total consumption of waste oil biodiesel in 2016 was approximately 868,000 metric tons (more than 260 million gallons) while use of rapeseed biodiesel topped off at 860,000 tons."
Ed. note: Biodiesel is produced from waste cooking oils and is traife. A bi-product is glycerin which may end up being used in foods.
"Recalled FDA food units increased 19 percent to 106.6 million in the third quarter of 2017 — higher than 20 of the last 22 quarters — and public health risks rose sharply due to a spike in undeclared food allergens found in food products, according to the Q3 2017 Recall Index from Stericycle Expert Solutions."
"Of the FDA recalled food units in Q3, 95.6 percent were considered Class I threats – the most serious health-threatening classification. Nearly all (96.9 percent) of the recalled units were because of undeclared allergens, which have been a consistent cause of all food recalls (38.9 percent) for the last four quarters. The top allergens from Q3 2016 through Q3 2017 were milk, followed by nuts, soy, and wheat. The number of pounds of food recalled by the USDA dropped (by 27 percent) but allergens accounted for 62.5 percent of recalls."
November 9, 2017 from the JewishPress:
"The Committee on Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs on Tuesday heard complaints that kosher certifications of restaurants are being revoked because they employ new immigrants."
"It is illegal to discriminate against anyone in employment, school, wages, or kosher certification, regardless of whether the person is a new immigrant or a long-time resident of Israel"
"According to Amichai Kreiger, head of the Chief Rabbinate’s Kashrut Fraud Division, the Jewishness of an employee in the food industry affects the measure of kashrut at the place of business. There are many non-Jewish workers in the food industry, and those who do not prepare food need not be Jewish. These procedures are anchored in regulations that were approved by the Knesset in 1988 in the framework of the Law Against Kashrut Fraud, way before the immigration from the Commonwealth of Independent States."
"Jerusalem Religious Council Chairman Yehoshua Yishai said, “According to the Halacha, only the person who cooks the food must be Jewish; the other workers do not have to be Jewish. "
November 7, 2017: The FoodIngredientsFirst:
"New research reveals that frozen cod can be just as good as fresh, as long as it is handled properly. On average it takes three days for a fresh cod to reach most sales counters. And for both retailers and customers, a three-day-old fresh fish is stretching it a bit. However, if the fish is frozen on board the vessel and thawed properly before it reaches the sales counter, its quality can be just as good as if it had never seen the inside of a freezer. "
The following factors should be done for an optimal product:
November 3, 2017: The FoodQualitySafety:
"A new study by Clean Label Project, a national non-profit that analyzes consumer products for the purposes of public education, found that more than 25 percent of 500 infant formulas and baby foods it tested exceed state or federal safety guidelines. Lead, arsenic, mercury, bisphenol A (BPA), and acrylamide were among the contaminants."
"More than 35 percent of baby food products tested contained quantifiable levels of lead, a statistic more than 40 percent higher than the recent Environmental Defense Fund summary report of products published in June."
"One in 10 tested products contained acrylamide, a neurotoxin and carcinogen. And over half of the products contained some level of arsenic. As many as one-third of the more than 500 products tested exceeded at least one state or federal guidance level."
"While BPA was found in less than 5 percent of tested samples, the most interesting finding was that in 60 percent of BPA cases, the product in question made an on-pack claim of being BPA-free."
"To prevent future contamination, the onus is on brands to do their own proactive due diligence before sourcing ingredients."
November 7, 2017: The FoodSafetyNews:
"The annual analysis of pesticide residues in domestic and imported foods, with the results for fiscal year 2015 showing 98 percent of tested foods produced in the United States do not violate federal limits."
"Of the 835 domestic food samples tested from 39 states, almost half, 49.8 percent, were completely free of pesticides for the period from Oct. 1, 2014, through Sept. 30, 2015, according to the annual report released Monday by the Food and Drug Administration."
"Fifteen of the U.S. food samples had pesticide residues in excess of the legal limits, representing less than 2 percent of the domestic samples tested. The remainder of the samples of U.S. foods had residues within allowable levels. Fruits and vegetables accounted for 58.7 percent of domestic samples."
"The FDA analyzed 4,737 from 111 foreign countries during FY 2015. Of those samples, 444, or 9.3 percent, had pesticide residues in excess of allowable limits. Overall, 90 percent of the foreign foods tested were within allowable U.S. limits."
"However, the imported foods did better than U.S. foods tested in terms of being completely free of pesticide residues, with 56.8 percent of them in that category."
"'“Historically, the violation rate of import samples is 3 to 5 times higher than the rate for domestic samples. For example, from FY 2011 to 2014 the violation rate for domestic samples ranged from 1.4 percent to 2.8 percent, whereas the rate for import samples ranged from 7.1 percent to 12.6 percent.'”
November 3, 2017 - New Food Magazine:
"A report analysing 3,448 samples of British produce has found traces of pesticides on 48 per cent of them." Expert Committee on Pesticide Residues in Food (PRiF) "tested 3,450 samples of 41 different food types, finding residues in 47.86 per cent of them – with 3.22 per cent registering above the maximum recommended level (MRL)."
"Food from outside the UK proved to be more likely to contain traces of pesticides with 53.46 per cent of the 1,719 samples testing positive. Of the 1,729 food products from inside the UK, that figure stood at 42.26 per cent."
By percentage of products containing pesticides Bread, breakfast cereal and grapes were the worst offenders.
"By percentage of samples tested, cumin was the most likely to have a residue level above the MRL. Twelve of the 24 samples analysed showed signs of pesticide traces. Other notable products that frequently exceeded the MRL included: buffalo, ewe and goat cheese (11 per cent); rye four (21 per cent); beans with pods (24 per cent); and okra (26 per cent)."
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