With the participation of German research institutions and authorities, a workshop to improve human and animal health protection is taking place in Kenya from 27 Feb to 1 Mar 2018. The workshop is organized by ILRI, in Nairobi. Ten scientists from the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Freie Universität (FU) Berlin and Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI) are participating on behalf of Germany. Continue reading
Category Archives: Food Safety
Under SPS and markets, we work on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues, growing market requirements for food safety and quality that constrain market access by smallholders (including appropriate development of smallholder dairy markets).
While some animal-transmitted diseases of the poor are declining, other, mostly foodborne, diseases are on the rise
A new category of infectious diseases is thriving. Amid mostly stabilizing population growth, declining poverty, rising urbanization and emerging economic wealth, other zoonotic, largely foodborne diseases are emerging more quickly, keeping pace with human progress. . . . “While we’re getting rid of conditions that bring about some diseases, we’re also creating the conditions to give rise to new diseases or make other diseases worse,” [ILRI’s Delia Grace] said. Continue reading
Bacteria pose bigger risk than chemical contamination of Vietnamese pork—New research
‘Forty eight out of 108 (44 per cent) cut pork meat samples collected at wet markets in Hưng Yên Province were found to contain the disease-causing bacteria Salmonella. . . .
‘The researchers determined that the probability of pork eaters in northern Hưng Yên Province becoming ill with salmonellosis from consuming infected pork in a given year is 18 per cent. . . .. However, this risk can be avoided,” Nguyễn Việt Hùng, representative for East and Southeast Asia and a senior scientist in eco-health and food safety at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) told Việt Nam News. Continue reading
Contamination problems in Nairobi’s food supply chains
ILRI aflatoxin infographic, Nov 2013. ‘The rise of local agricultural industries (agro-industrialisation) has had both positive and negative effects on the economy. . . . ‘Prior to 2005, most studies were conducted after serious outbreaks of aflatoxin poisoning where several people died, especially in 2004. . . . ‘A 2006 study titled ‘‘Aflatoxin B1 and … Continue reading
Brussels roundtable this week on mitigating aflatoxin contamination of food and feed in Africa
PAEPARD [the Platform for Africa-European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development] is organising with the Directorate General Sante of the European Commission and the East African Farmer Federation (EAFF), and in collaboration with the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) and the African Society of Mycotoxicology (ASM), a roundtable meeting of key aflatoxin experts (not only research experts) on the mitigation of aflatoxin in food and feed in Africa on Monday 25th January 2015 in Brussels (by invitation only). Continue reading
Slum farming and superbugs—An ‘Urban Zoo’ science project tracks bacterial routes in complex environments
The Urban Zoo project is visiting 99 households across Nairobi, rich and poor, with livestock and without. They’re taking samples from people, their animals, and whatever wildlife they can find nearby (and catch): storks, mice, bats, et cetera. They’re sampling the ground around homes, yards and livestock pens with white paper booties. ‘The aim, says University of Liverpool veterinarian Judy Bettridge, is “to try and understand on a small scale how those bacteria are shared” among each household’s people, livestock and environment. “And then when we scale it up, are the bacteria here being shared with the household that’s 50 meters over there? Or 100 meters over there? So, how far can they actually spread?” . . . Continue reading
First global assessment of food-borne diseases is published by the World Health Organisation
After nine years, the Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has produced the first global assessment of food-borne disease. Continue reading