Food Safety Magazine, February/March 2013

MANAGEMENTcertain spices. As no acceptable level hadbeen determined, all products containingSudan Red at any level were recalled.This included products that could belinked, through traceability, to the issue,even if no Sudan Red could be detectedin them anymore. It is questionablewhether homeopathic dilutions of asuspected hazard continue to pose anactual risk, but the case was handled onan absolute zero-tolerance basis. For ourcurrent purposes, we will term this approach“hazard based.”Whereas the Sudan Red case had conventionaltoxicological considerations(based on very little available evidence,which was where most of the problemoriginated) as the main driver, a fewother cases seem to go well beyond that.Imports of American long-grain ricecame to a halt in 2006, when traces ofgenetically modified LL601 were detected.3 “The protein found in LLRice 601is approved for use in other products.It has been repeatedly and thoroughlyscientifically reviewed and used safely infood and feed, cultivation, import andbreeding in the U.S. as well as nearly adozen countries around the world,” arguedU.S. Secretary of Agriculture MikeJohanns, but Japan and the EuropeanUnion (EU) stopped import immediately.As ships with rice were still underwaywhen the issue became known, tests hadto be developed to analyze cargoes uponarrival. The proposed sampling and testingregime was significantly more likelyto pick up LL601 than a very sensitiveroutine Salmonella test in case of suspectedSalmonella contamination, althoughnobody would suggest that LL601 wasmore hazardous than Salmonella. Furthermore,EU Member States would notagree on point-of-entry acceptance testing,but continued to test once-clearedbatches when they arrived within theirborders. Adopting a hazard-based approachin the absence of an actual hazardis, in this case, explained by the EUpublic’s strong aversion to geneticallymodified organism (GMO) technology,which in turn guided authorities’ actions.The case of azo dyes in food—whichmust now be labeled by EU law so parentscan choose to avoid the product fortheir children—illustrates how public andpolitical perception may designate anadditive as a hazard in a case where theEuropean Food Safety Authority clearlywas very reluctant to go that far. Thelabeling obligation then effectively actsas a hazard-based preventive measure,and the hazard status of these additivesReduce cost and save time!LaMotte introduces a new breakthroughin microbiological testing. BioPaddlesare flexible dual-sided agar paddles eachcontaining microbe-specific mediaenclosed in a sterile vial. Identify andquantify microbes in air, water, soil or onany surface. BioPaddles don’t require anyother testing equipment—only a magnifierand warm place to incubate!• Free App! Helps identify colonies• Ready to use• Longer shelf-life thantraditional Petri dishes• No refrigeration needed• Simple incubation requirements• Unique design enhances colonymorphology characterizationFor more informationcheck out our website!See us at PittCon • Booth 1327PO Box 329 • Chestertown, MD 21620 • 800.344.3100www.lamotte.com/biopaddles.htmlhas become a self-fulfilling prophecy andis now a well-accepted “fact” in publicmedia. Much the same applies to the “Enumber”ingredients (chemicals permissibleas food additives in the EU). Thesystem was originally designed to assureconsumers about the safety of these ingredients,but public opinion has movedin the opposite direction and producersF e b r u a r y • M a r c h 2 0 1 3 29