Climate Change May Affect Food Poisoning Outbreaks
Source : http://foodpoisoningbulletin.com/2012/climate-change-may-affect-food-poisoning-outbreaks/
By Linda Larsen (Apr 04, 2012)
Scientists predict many consequences to climate change, such as changes in weather patterns and severity of storms. But a new report titled Assessing the Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Food and Waterborne Diseases in Europe ties climate change to increases in food poisoning outbreaks.
The report is an assessment of 741 peer-reviewed publications, reports, and scientific sources. From these, the researchers found 1653 “key facts” linking food and waterborne illness pathogens with climate variables.
Climate scientists say that global mean air temperatures are projected to increase by 1.1 to 6.4 degrees C (2 to 11.5 degrees F) this century. Public health is affected by these changes, such as deaths in heat waves, flooding, and increases in illnesses because of shifting distribution of communicable diseases.
Food and waterborne disease incidence is linked to precipitation levels and ambient temperature increases. Higher temperatures accelerate pathogen growth. Extreme rain events can increase the pathogen flow into the water supply. And extended warm weather seasons can compound food handling mistakes.
The identified climate variables included:
■Water temperature
■Seasonality
■Air temperature
■Heavy rainfall events
■Precipitation
■Temperature changes
Many food poisoning outbreaks are linked to improper food handling and storage. For instance, perishable food should not be held out of refrigeration longer than two hours. But that time is cut in half as the temperature increases. When the ambient air temperature is over 90 degrees F, perishable food can be out of refrigeration for only one hour.
These pathogens were linked to climate variables in the literature.
■Campylobacter is the source of the most prevalent food and waterborne disease in Europe. Most cases are caused by eating raw or undercooked poultry, unpasteurized milk, or contaminated water. The report found that Campylobacter outbreaks show strong seasonality. Outbreaks were cited with the highest frequency in association with air temperature, but the strength of association was not consistent. And Campylobacter outbreaks are often associated with weather events. The peaks of these outbreaks may change as a result of climate change.
■Salmonella infections are more common in summer than winter. The most common sources of this bacteria are from raw poultry, ground beef, eggs, and unpasteurized milk.
Salmonella was also cited with high frequency in associated with air temperature. Improper food storage and handling are common causes of salmonellosis. Some scientists think that one-third of salmonellosis cases are caused by increased air temperature. In fact, scientists have found that for every degree the air temperature rises above 43 degrees F, salmonellosis cases rise 12%. But the report found that salmonellosis incidence has decreased throughout Europe, most likely because of public health measures.
■Cryptosporidium is a parasite found in drinking and recreational water. Most people contract it by swallowing water contaminated with the parasite. Many studies have linked the transmission of Cryptospordium with heavy rainfall events, surface water, and tap water, so the researchers predict that unexpected precipitation events will increase cryptosporidiosis outbreaks. Since severe storms can overwhelm water treatment facilities, Cryptosporidium contaminations may increase.
■non-cholera Vibrio bacteria are in the same family as the bacteria that cause cholera. People who eat contaminated seafood or have an open wound that is exposed to seawater can contract the disease. Ulceration, skin breakdown, and, in rare cases, septicemia can occur when the bacteria enter open wounds. There is a strong association between rising water temperatures, higher air temperature during longer summer seasons, and non-cholera Vibrio infections. But the researchers found that because the incidence of this bacteria is low, an increase in diseases will be modest.
■Listeria is found in soil and water. Foods that have been contaminated with Listeria include produce, ready-to-eat foods, unpasteurized milk and cheeses, and uncooked meats. This bacteria as a source of infection wasn’t associated with any of the climatic extremes in any report. The report authors believe that climate change is not likely to influence listeriosis outbreaks, but indirect pathways could result in more cases.
■Norivirus causes many cases of gastroenteritis every year because it is very contagious. It is spread through person-to-person contact. One sick person preparing food for a group can infect many people. It is most common in the winter months when people are forced into close contact. But the report says that there is little published information about a connection between climate and Norovirus outbreaks.
The researchers mention that quantitative modeling studies should look at the strength of association between pathogens and climate variables. The frequency of association between climate variable and pathogens in the report is a “possible, albeit imperfect, proxy for strength of association.”
The report concludes that Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Cryptosporidium should be high priority for future studies and planning for climate changes. Outbreaks of illness caused by these pathogens have a strong public health impact and their incidence is strongly associated with climate change.
The report did acknowledge publication bias in the studies, since reports written in English and German were most often used. The authors also say that underreporting and lack of information on the connection between climate change and food and waterborne illness outbreaks could be a risk to public health. The authors hope that the decline in Salmonella infections because of public health efforts can be replicated with other pathogens, even if climate change causes incident increases

北京市政府昨天与天津、河北、内蒙古、山东等8个省区市政府签署《食品安全联动协作机制备忘录》，将建立起食品安全重大案件及跨区域案件协作机制，互相协助查处食品安全领域重大突发事件和违法案件。郭金龙市长，吉林常务副巿长，副市长丁向阳、程红及相关省市主要领导出席活动！

陈竺：“民以食为天” 食品安全卫生部不卸责

香港《大公报》13日刊文说，“民以食为天”，食品安全是民众健康的基础，受到社会广泛关注。卫生部部 长陈竺12日接受该报专访时表示，卫生部没有因为职能变化，松懈在食品安全方面的工作，承担着食品安全标准体系的建立、风险评估和监测等工作。“可以说整 个食品安全的技术支撑还在卫生部”。
2010年国务院成立食品安全委员会，中共中央政治局常委、国务院副总理李克强亲自挂帅任主任，王岐山、回良玉两位副总理任副主任，并设立正部级食品安全办公室。卫生部原来法定的综合协调、重大事故查处、重大食品安全信息发布三项职能移交。
但卫生部没有因为职能变化，松懈在食品安全方面的工作。据陈竺介绍，卫生部仍然承担食品安全标准体系的建立、风险评估和监测等工作。食品安全是 对健康造成的风险，“一种食品添加剂到底对健康有没有危害，有多大的危害，都要通过风险评估，风险评估的结果也和安全标准的建立有着非常直接的关系。”
　　为食品安全提供技术支撑
此外，卫生部还担负食品安全检测检验机构的资质认定，食品药品监督管理局承担餐饮环节食品安全的监管任务，“可以说整个食品安全的技术支撑还在卫生部”。
陈竺表示，中国古话讲“民以食为天”，食品安全是健康的基础，就像饮用水的安全、环境的安全，是“大卫生”的一个基石，从某种意义上讲，安全的食品起到的作用比在治疗环节做的努力更重要。
　　食品安全问题多是政府主动查出
近几年从中央到地方各级政府高度重视食品安全问题，加大力度打击食品安全的违法犯罪行为。陈竺反问，“是不是现在中国的食品安全局势就是一塌糊 涂、糟糕的很？”在他看来并不如此。“实事求是地说，这几年媒体报道的一些事件很多都是政府主动查出来的，是加强食品安全监管以后发现的问题。”他强调现 在发现的问题基本上还都是个案，没有成为系统性风险。
与三鹿奶粉造成的大面积污染不同，“现在发现的基本都是点上的问题，很多都是在没有造成危害时就已经查处了。”陈竺表示，食源性疾病的发病率这 几年没有明显增加，实际上还在降低，食品中毒事件也控制在很低的水平。他指出，对于整个食品安全局势还应当客观看待。(贾磊)(编辑 喻孟)

useful Chinese Website as reference for our Database

1. www.ganchi.net;

fulfill the advertisement needs of the unknown dietitians in China by the point redemption scheme, make them work as the contributing writer and professional FAQ system. This website dedicates to be a Chinese food database with science popularization about nutrition value and food additives. 

2. http://anxinshipin.com/

seems to be a consumer organization website by providing verified food safety information, experts suggestion and surveillance report with the result from third-party testing lab. 

Both these are announced in 2011.

Anti-spam techniques--wiki

The techniques are used as reference to figure out the method for distinguishing the relevant and non relevant content. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-spam_techniques.

1.1 
Detecting spam based on the content of the e-mail, either by detecting keywords such as "viagra" or by statistical means (content or non-content based), is very popular. The content also doesn't determine whether the email was either unsolicited or bulk, the two key features of spam. Non-content base statistical means can help lower false positives because it looks at statistical means vs. blocking based on content/keywords.-----keyword detection and behavior patten analysis;
1.2. 
Many filtering systems take advantage of machine learning techniques, which improve their accuracy over manual methods;--- keyword detection by machine learning, the next stage objects;
1.3.
Other more advanced techniques analyze message patterns in real time to detect spam like behavior and then compares it to global databases of spam.Pattern detection, Pioneered by Commtouch,This method is more automated than most because the service provider maintains the comparative spam database instead of the system administrator.--- real-time analysis of behavior patten based on database, can be part of our new further research;
1.4.
Enforcing RFC standards & Checksum-based filtering --- the format and behavior differentiation;




2.1.
The most popular DNSBLs (DNS Blacklists) are lists of IP addresses of known spammers, known open relays, known proxy servers, compromised “zombie” spammers--- list of sites;
2.2.
list sites authorized to send email, and (sometimes) to determine the reputation of those sites.--- reputation of sites and views of articles for parameter weight in relevance ranking;


3.1

Some systems let individual users have some control over this balance by setting "spam score" limits, etc. the open source programs SpamAssassin and Policyd-weight uses some or all of the various tests for spam, and assigns a numerical score to each test. Each message is scanned for these patterns, and the applicable scores tallied up. If the total is above a fixed value, the message is rejected or flagged as spam. ---weighted scoring;