US/UK/Canada

Share

Pick a time period -
Tags ( Active)

Safe working methods needed to protect against Legionella

The Finnish Food Authority and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) found Legionella bacteria in a variety of growing media, compost and digestate samples. Illness caused by Legionella can be prevented by raising awareness of the Legionella risk and advising consumers and manufacturers on safe working methods.The Finnish Food Authority and THL investigated the prevalence of Legionella bacteria especially in fertilising products whose raw materials are subject to an increased Legionella risk due to their origin or treatment. Samples were taken, for example, from bagged potting

Risk of choking from jelly confectionery

According to information received by the Finnish Food Authority, jelly confectionery that might cause a risk of choking has been placed on the market in Finland. Under Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives, the substances E 400, E 401, E 402, E 403, E 404, E 406, E 407, E 407a, E 410, E 412, E 413, E 414, E 415, E 417, E 418, E 425 and E 440 may not be used in jelly mini-cups, defined as jelly confectionery of a firm consistence, contained in semi rigid mini-cups or mini-capsules, intended to be ingested in a single bite by exerting pressure on the mini-cups or mini-capsule to

Eating habits affect the intake of heavy metals

The national risk assessment by the Finnish Food Authority specifies the estimated amounts of exposure of consumers that were previously published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) at the EU level. Based on the results, a part of working-age Finnish adults are exposed to amounts of heavy metals in food that exceed the level of insignificant risk. The likelihood of organ damage is nevertheless low. In the risk assessment by the Finnish Food Authority, the exposure of Finns of 25 - 74 years of age to cadmium, lead, inorganic arsenic, different forms of mercury, nickel and aluminium

Research seminar, 17 March 2020: Zoonotic Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest threats to health. Over time, bacteria can develop an ability to resist medicinal substances such as antibiotics that are used in the treatment of infectious diseases. Fortunately, the situation is tolerable in Finland and other Nordic countries.The research seminar will be held in Lecture Hall C111 at Mustialankatu 3, Viikki, Helsinki,on Tuesday 17 September 2020 from 3 to 4 pm.The seminar is open to everyone, and no advance registration is required. The research seminar can be followed via Skype using the link 52289477@193.166.18.22.

Antibiotic resistance may be prevented by processing manure

Scientists believe that processing manure will also provide opportunities for preventing antibiotic resistance. This is evident from a joint project between the Finnish Food Authority, the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), and the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), which monitored the migration of antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant intestinal bacteria from antibiotic-treated dairy cows to cowsheds and manure storage and also to the biogas process.When an animal is treated, antibiotics are excreted in its faeces and urine, ending up in the manure storage and pasture.

Research seminar 10 December 2019: Human noroviruses: detection in food and new transmission routes

Maija Summa, Senior Researcher and Specialist in Veterinary Medicine, Environmental Health and Food Control, DVM, from Virology Research Unit at the Finnish Food Authority, discusses the results of her doctoral dissertation. The study compared different methods for isolating viruses and developed an easy and quick isolation method for detecting human noroviruses in food. In addition, the dissertation investigated whether human noroviruses could be transmitted by animals.The research seminar will be held in Mustialankatu 3 in Viikki, Helsinki on 10 December 2019 at 15.00-16.00.The seminar

The use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals is decreasing, but additional investments are needed in the control of antimicrobial resistance

The joint FINRES-Vet 2018 report published by the Finnish Food Authority, the Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea and the University of Helsinki shows that the sales of antimicrobials used in food-producing animals has reduced in Finland in recent years. The antimicrobial resistance situation among bacteria causing disease in animals only or causing disease in both animals and humans has remained relatively good. On the other hand, observations have also been made on increased resistance to antimicrobials.The sales of antimicrobials intended for food-producing animals decreased by 18 per cent

Research seminar 8.11.2019: Myco-DETECT project: Modified mycotoxins and relevance to food safety

Modified mycotoxins can be formed via metabolism of mycotoxins by plants, animals and microorganisms, as well as during food manufacturing processes. These compounds possess distinct chemical and toxicological properties from their precursors and can be present in various food- and feedstuffs at significant concentrations.The Myco-DETECT project aimed to study the formation and natural occurrence of several modified Fusarium mycotoxins in cereals, and their chemical fate in brewing fermentation. This seminar will provide an overview of the current knowledge of modified mycotoxins and

A warm refrigerator allows the listeria to grow

Listeriosis caused by the Listeria bacterium (Listeria monocytogenes) is more common in Finland than in the rest of the world. Overall, the incidences of listeriosis have been on the rise in Finland. The rise is suspected to be due, among other things, to the aging of the population, leading to a decline in resistance. Changing eating habits can also affect the incidence of diseases, including listeriosis.Listeriosis is a zoonotic disease, that is one that can be transmitted from animals to humans. People are most often infected with food, such as undercooked meat or fish, or poorly washed

Annual aerial spreading of rabies vaccine baits starting on south-eastern border

The Finnish Food Authority will begin aerial distribution of rabies bait vaccines along the south-eastern border on 13 September. These will continue for about one month. The goal of these air drops is to prevent rabies occurring in animals in the wild from spreading to Finland. Finland has been officially free of rabies since 1991.Rabies vaccine baits have been used successfully for decades around the world to fight against rabies in animals in the wild. Dropping vaccine baits in the wild has proved to be the only efficient way of eradicating rabies in large areas. The vaccines will be

Research seminar, 10 September 2019: The Finnish Food Authority’s studies on parasites

Research Professor Antti Oksanen, Division of Wild and Aquatic Pathology at the Finnish Food Authority, discusses his ongoing and past research projects.Research Professor Oksanen specialises in parasitic infestation and wildlife diseases. The research seminar will be held in Viikki, Helsinki, Mustialankatu 3. Auditorium C111,on Tuesday 10 September 2019 from 3 to 4 pm. The seminar is open to everyone, and no advance registration is required. Welcome! For more information, please contact:Research Professor Antti Oksanen, tel. +358 (0)44 561 6491

Defence of doctoral dissertation, 16 August 2019: Human noroviruses: detection in food and new transmission routes

The doctoral dissertation compared different virus extraction methods and developed an easy and rapid extraction method for detecting human noroviruses in food. In addition, the research investigated whether animals could transmit the human norovirus.Ms Maija Summa (LVM), Specialist in Veterinary Medicine, Environmental Health and Food Control, who is employed at the Virology Unit of the Finnish Food Authority, will defend her doctoral dissertation at the Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Helsinki. The

Reliable identification of crayfish plague is vital for Finland’s crayfish populations

The Finnish Food Authority has discovered a previously unknown species of water mould in noble crayfish in a small Finnish lake, similar to that which causes crayfish plague. This water mould resembles crayfish plague, an invasive species in Finland, so closely that it may compromise the reliability of crayfish plague studies. The discovery of this new species shows that disease identification methods must be continuously improved to guarantee their reliability.A Finnish species of water mould, Aphanomyces fennicus sp. nov., is so closely related in its genome to the water mould that causes

New method for inspecting the origins of strawberries

Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) and the Finnish Food Authority (formerly the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira) have developed an analytical method for ensuring that strawberries sold as Finnish actually originate in Finland. It has taken several years to build a database of Finnish strawberries. The database is now comprehensive enough to use for geographical tracing. Samples can already be compared against strawberries grown in Poland and Sweden, and Estonian berries will be added to the database later this year. The method has now also been made available to local authorities,

Dogs imported into Finland may bring along new contagious diseases

The number of dogs imported into Finland has increased in the recent years. The import of dogs from countries with a different disease situation than Finland can contribute to the spread of diseases also in Finland as well as their formation as a permanent problem. Some of the diseases can also be transmitted to humans with serious consequences, and this could entail great costs for society, for example, by cases of suspected diseases caused by illegal imports. The Finnish Food Authority’s Risk Assessment Unit has assessed whether the import of dogs into Finland poses a risk to humans or

Salmonella occurring at low levels in the Finnish food chain

Finnish poultry causes only a very small percentage of all salmonella infections in Finland whereas Finnish beef may cause the highest percentage of salmonella infections. Imported meat, on the other hand, might cause even slightly more salmonella infections than meat produced in Finland in total, even though the consumption of imported meat covers only a small percentage of the consumption of Finnish meat in Finland. This and other things were discovered by using the statistical model developed in the Risk Assessment Unit of the Finnish Food Authority. The model can be used to evaluate the

Salmonella occurring at low levels in the Finnish food chain

Finnish poultry causes only a very small percentage of all salmonella infections in Finland whereas Finnish beef may cause the highest percentage of salmonella infections. Imported meat, on the other hand, might cause even slightly more salmonella infections than meat produced in Finland in total, even though the consumption of imported meat covers only a small percentage of the consumption of Finnish meat in Finland. This and other things were discovered by using the statistical model developed in the Risk Assessment Unit of the Finnish Food Authority. The model can be used to evaluate the

Legionella bacteria infecting people also commonly found in organic soil improvement agents and growing media

The Finnish Food Authority and the National Institute for Health and Welfare have been studying the occurrence of Legionella bacteria in organic soil improvers and growing media. More than 90 per cent of the samples studied contained Legionella, some of them in great numbers. The results of the study support the view that Legionella bacteria are commonly found in soil and in different organic fertilizer products. The research project has already examined the impact of different manufacturing processes on the occurrence of Legionella bacteria. In 2019, the focus of research will be on how

Research seminar, 9 April 2019: Research, epidemiology and prevention methods of the salmon parasite Gyrodactylus salaris

Research Professor, Senior Researcher Perttu Koski from the Finnish Food Authority’s Oulu laboratory talks about the research concerning the salmon parasite Gyrodactylus salaris. This research has been used as the basis for the prevention of the parasite in Finland. The research has been conducted in collaboration with Natural Resources Institute Finland and the University of Oulu.The presentation describes the research focusing on the epidemiology and prevention of the parasite, which has been conducted in connection with regulatory supervision – often enabled by external funding. The

Pig farms’ own practices affect the resistance to antibiotics in the pork production chain

Pig farms’ own treatment practices and protective measures against pathogens play a key role in combating antimicrobial resistance in the pork production chain. This is shown by the joint study by the Finnish Food Authority and the University of Helsinki, which monitored the antibiotic resistance of the E. coli bacteria that are a part of the normal intestinal bacterial flora of animals during the different stages of the pig production chain. The results of the study can be used in instructions targeted at the producers and in the planning of antibiotic resistance risk management measures.

Research seminar 19 March 2019: Prevalence of thermotolerant campylobacter in agricultural pests

Researcher Jouni Tikkanen from the Microbiology Unit, Division of Food and Feed Microbiology at the Finnish Food Authority discusses his Master’s thesis research on thermotolerant campylobacter.The seminar presents the results of the joint project on pests by the Finnish Food Authority (formerly Evira) and Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). The thesis studied thermotolerant campylobacter found in rodents and shrews encountered in the vicinity of pig and cattle farms. The research seminar will be held at Lecture hall C111 in Mustialankatu 3, Viikki, Helsinkion Tuesday 19 March

Plant food supplements are mostly safe

Most plant food supplements are safe. Problems can be caused when plant food supplements are used simultaneously with medication, especially when using several plant food supplements or medicines. According to the new risk profile by the Finnish Food Authority’s Risk Assessment Research Unit, there are many uncertainties and a lack of information related to the safety of plant food supplements. The study did not examine the benefits of plant food supplements. The Finnish Food Authority does not recommend the use of plant food supplements by children or pregnant women.The risk profile did

The performance of the core methods in food microbiology validated

The core methods of food microbiology have been standardised for years, and financially significant decisions on the safety and marketability of products are made on the basis of studies conducted according to these standards. Legislation, such as the Microbiological Criteria Regulation, requires the use of certain standard procedures in, for example, Salmonella, Listeria and Campylobacter analyses. The Finnish Food Authority’s microbiology unit has played an important role in the development of standards for the procedures, including participation in the international validation studies for

There are no items matching the current filter
There are no more items matching the current filter
Back to top