Food Biosecurity

Food Biosecurity
Applied Food Safety Education
Lab Course III
July 6-8/2011
SDSU Extension
Health and Nutritional Sciences
1

Is There a Problem?
“For the life of me, I cannot understand why
the terrorists have not attacked our food
supply because it is so easy to do so”
Secretary Tommy Thompson-press conference
announcing his resignation, December 2004
www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/pdf/food-defense-training
2

What is Food Biosecurity?
The term “food biosecurity” relates to the
protection of food from bioterrorism.
Bioterrorism is the intentional use of biological
and chemical agents for the purpose of
causing harm. Some government agencies are
using the term “food security” instead of
“food biosecurity.”
www.cals.ncsu.edu/an_sci/extension/dairy/Earhardt%20talk
3

What is Food Biosecurity?
The protection from the deliberate
introduction of a dangerous substance into
food. It may be perpetrated at any level in
the food chain by an organized terrorist
group, a lone “copy cat” individual or the
result of criminal activity. Attacks are usually
focused on a food commodity, process,
company or business.
www.dpi.state.wi.us/fns/ppt/fd_​biosecurity
4

What Foods at Risk?
Infant formula
Baby food
Milk
Yogurt
Ice cream
Soft drinks
Water, bottled
produce
Canned food
Honey
Peanut butter
Seafood, cooked
Deli salad
Fruit juices
Flour
5

What Agents Might be Used?
Biological
Heat resistant bacteria (e.g., Bacillus anthrax)
Heat sensitive bacteria (e.g., Salmonella)
Heat resistant bacteria toxins (e.g.,
Staphylococcus aureus toxin)
Heat sensitive bacteria toxins (e.g.,
Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin)
6

What Agents Might be Used?
Chemical
Water soluble, heat resistant chemicals (e.g.,
cyanide)
Lipid soluble, heat resistant chemicals (e.g.,
dioxin)
Lipid soluble, heat sensitive chemicals (e.g.,
ricin)
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Terrorism
Bioterrorism
Biological agents
targeting humans,
animals, plants
‣ Bacteria
‣ Viruses
‣ Fungi
‣ Rickettsia
‣ Toxins
Agroterrorism
Biological, chemical, or
radiological agents,
targeting agriculture or
its components
‣ Livestock
‣ Food supply
‣ Crops
‣ Industry
‣ workers
Others
Conventional,
radiological,
nuclear,
chemical
www.wvdhsem.gov/SERC/Conference07/SERC_​07_ag%20...
8

Advantages of Biologics as
Weapons
Infectious via aerosol, GI
Inexpensive to produce
Organisms fairly stable in
environment
Potential global effect (more
and faster transportation)
High morbidity and mortality
Creates panic
Person-to-person transmission
(e.g., smallpox)
Can overwhelm medical
services
Difficult to diagnose and/or
treat
Variety of victims: man, animal,
crops
Attack and effect are not
simultaneous, perpetrators
escape easily
9

Biological Warfare in History
Hannibal used wine containers filled with
poisonous snakes against enemies
Tartars hurl plaque-ridden corpses over city
walls of Kaffa (what is now Ethiopia)
Use of ergot to poison wells in the 6 th century
BC
Athenians poisoning of Kirrha (590 BC)
10

Biological Warfare in History
1763: British troops infect native Americans
with smallpox-laden gifts
WW I German program; anthrax
WW II Japanese program; anthrax, plague,
cholera, shigella
11

History: Recent Examples
1969: Nixon ends BW program
1978: Ricin (castor bean) assassination in
London
On August 29, 1984, Indian religious
Rajneeshee cultists give water laced with
Salmonella to two county commissioners.
12

History: Recent Examples
In September, the Rajneeshee cult
contaminates salad bars of The Dalles, OR
and Wasco County, OR with Salmonella.
Over 750 are poisoned and 40 hospitalized.
The purpose is to influence the outcome of a local election.
It is only discovered a year later when members of the cult
turned informants.
13

History: Recent Examples
1995
Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese religious cult obsessed
with the apocalypse
Released deadly Sarin nerve gas into the Tokyo subway
system
Killing 12 people and sending more than 5,000 others to
hospitals.
Attack came at the peak of the Monday morning rush hour in
one of the busiest commuter systems in the world.
Witnesses said that subway entrances resembled battlefields as
injured commuters lay gasping on the ground with blood
gushing from their noses or mouths.
http://cfrterrorism.org/groups/aumshinrikyo.html

History: Recent Examples
2001
Anthrax-laced letters sent through the mail killing 5
people.
Seventeen others developed symptoms, but recovered.
Most of the cases are linked to mail passing through NJ, NY,
or Washington, D.C.
Estimated 10,000 people were placed on antibiotics.
Attorney General John Ashcroft released the text from the
anthrax letters sent to Daschle, Brokaw, and the NY Post.

For less than $5.00 in mailing costs
Our government was shut down
There were 11 cases of pulmonary anthrax with 5
deaths
There were 5 cases of cutaneous anthrax
Thousands of people received an unnecessary 60
days of prophylactic antibiotic treatment
Caused billions in response costs
Caused fear and panic among the general population

History: Recent Examples
September 19, 2003 – Associated Press
Grand Rapids Michigan
Former supermarket employee poisoned more than
100 people after mixing insecticide into 250 lbs. of
ground beef
Health official reported 111 sickened
Sentenced to 9 years in prison
www.dpi.state.wi.us/fns/ppt/fd_​biosecurity
17

History: Recent Examples
September 22, 2003 – Progressive Grocer
Port Angeles, Washington
Anonymous letter sent to Safeway store
threatening of tampered supermarket products
FBI called in to investigate
Letter submitted to state public health laboratory
for bacterial contaminant testing
FBI questioned store employees and beginning to
fingerprint them
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The Wisconsin Case
1996 an anonymous call about
contaminated fat product added to feed
Chlordane (pesticide) in rendered product
supplied to large feed manufacturer and
distributed to 4000 farms in four states
Milk and other products from these farms
were potentially contaminated
$4 million just to dispose of products
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Supply Chain

Why Pick Agriculture
as a Target?
Food and fiber accounts for ~16.4% of the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
24 million Americans are employed in some
aspect of agriculture
Heavily tied to other industries and sectors
(transportation, food retailors, tourism, etc…)
21

Why Pick Agriculture
as a Target?
Food sector a huge economic engine: $1.24
trillion/year
Food system complexity makes contamination a real
risk
2,128,000 farms
30,000 food manufacturing sites (94,000 foreign)
19,000 re-packers/packers (87,000 foreign)
224,000 retail food stores
565,000 food service outlets

Ten US Ag Export Categories-2009
Soybean
Meat and poultry 12.1
Corn 9.7
Other foods 8.1
Fruits and frozen juices 6.9
Animal feed 6.3
Wheat 5.5
Vegetables 4.9
Nuts 4.1
Rice 2.2
16.9 (all in billions)
2009 Ag exports were 98.6 billion dollars
In 2009, the U.S. agricultural surplus erased 13 percent of our petroleum deficit in trade.
The 2009 U.S. trade surplus in agricultural goods was equivalent to 7 percent of the year's total
trade deficit.
Agriculture represented 1.2% of U.S. 2009 nominal GDP and employed .7% of workers
(directly).
bigpictureagriculture.blogspot.com/2010/​10/us
23

Overview of Bioterrorism Agents
BioterrorismThreats:
Priority Biological
Agents
Bacterial
Anthrax
Plague
Tularemia
Brucellosis
Q fever
Other
food borne pathogens
waterborne pathogens
Viral
Smallpox
Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers
Viral Encephalitis
Toxins
Botulism
Staph Enterotoxin B
Ricin toxin
Tricothecene mycotoxins

Bioterrorism
These agents/diseases include:
Clostridium botulinum toxin (botulism)
Yersinia pestis (the plague)
Variola major (smallpox)
Tularemia (Francisella tularensis)
Hemorrhagic fever due to:
Bacillus anthracis (anthrax)
Ebola virus
Marburg virus
26

Bioterrorism
Category B Biological Disease: --
Second highest priority agent include
those that
are moderately easy to disseminate;
cause moderate morbidity and low mortality;
require specific enhancements of CDC's
diagnostic capacity and enhanced disease
surveillance.
27

Bioterrorism
These agents/diseases include:
Q fever (Coxiella burnetii)
Brucellosis (undulant fever)
Glanders (Burkholderia mallei)
Ricin toxin (from the castor bean Ricinus communis)
Epsilon toxin of Clostridium perfringens (the gas
gangrene bacillus)
Staphylococcus enterotoxin B (staph toxin)
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Bioterrorism
Category C Biological Disease: -- Third
highest priority agents include emerging
pathogens that could be engineered for
mass dissemination in the future because
of
availability
ease of production and dissemination; and
potential for high morbidity and mortality and
major health impact.
29

Food Security
Food Safety vs. Food Security
The terms “food safety” and “food
security” do not mean the same thing.
Food security deals with deliberate
contamination of food with the intent of
causing harm or disruption.
30

Food Biosecurity/Safety
Food SAFETY
Unintentional
contamination of food
Mild to serious illness, or
even death
Negative business and
financial impact
Biological, chemical, or
physical agents
Address through training
Food BIOSECURITY
Intentional
contamination of food
Mild to serious illness, or
even death
Negative business and
financial impact
Biological, chemical,
physical, nuclear, or
radioactive agents
Address through
prevention
31

Food Security
Food Safety = Quality Control
An example of unintentional contamination
was the 1994 contamination of pasteurized
liquid ice cream mix with Salmonella
enterides. The contamination occurred in a
tanker truck that transported unfrozen ice
cream mix.
32

Food Security
The truck had been contaminated when
carrying raw egg mix on backhaul trips. The
accidental contamination caused the illness of
224,000 people in 41 states and was traced to
Schwan's ice cream, a nationally distributed
product.
33

Biosecurity Management
The series of management steps taken to
prevent the introduction of infectious agents
into a herd or flock, water or food supply.
Routine Practices Involve:
Screening
Testing
Quarantine or isolation of newly purchased or
returning animals
Monitoring or evaluation system
34

A Biosecurity Checklist for School
Foodservice Programs
Keeping our Nation’s food supply safe from
terrorism requires a total team effort, with
participation from Federal, State, and local
governments working with our country’s food
and agriculture sectors.
35

A Biosecurity Checklist for School
Foodservice Programs
At the Federal level, FNS will work with the
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS),
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and
other agencies to establish guidance for
bolstering the biosecurity of food throughout
its journey from farm to table-through
transportation, storage, preparation, and
service.
36

A Biosecurity Checklist for School
Foodservice Programs
1. Establish a school food-service biosecurity
management team
2. Establish a checklist with the "prioritized
levels" of measurements needed
3. Add the security measures unique to each
school
4. Determine which security measures will be
part of the plan
healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/hsmrs/biosecurity
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A Biosecurity Checklist for School
Foodservice Programs
5. Assign tasks and develop a schedule of
target dates for each task
6. Track the progress made; and
7. Continue to maintain and update the
biosecurity plan.
39

National School Lunch Program
(NSLP)
NSLP serves 30 million lunches and nearly 9
million breakfasts per day
Over 100,000 schools and
Over 20,000 school districts participate
Safety record of NSLP is very, very good, but
problems do occur
Protections afforded by AMS “aggregate
measure of support” only go so far
www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/pdf/food-defense-training
40

Assemble a Team
Everyone Has a Role in the Safety of
Food
www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/pdf/food-defense-training.pdf
41

Food Security
Six agencies in the federal government
have primary responsibility for food
safety: two agencies under the
Department of Health and Human Services
(DHHS)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC)
42

Food Security
Three agencies under the Department of
Agriculture (USDA)
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
Cooperative State Research, Education, and
Extension Service (CSREES)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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