Toward a Scalable and Sustainable Intervention for Complementary Food Safety

Food safety is imperative, especially for infants and young children because of their underdeveloped immune systems. This requires adequate nutritious food with appropriate amounts of macro- and micronutrients. Currently, a well-established system for infant food is enforced by the regulatory bodies, but no clear system exists for complementary food, which is consumed by children from the age of 6 month to 24 months. As the child grows beyond 6 months, the need for nutrients increases, and if the nutritional needs are not fulfilled, it can lead to health problems, such as stunted growth, weak immune system, and cardiovascular diseases. Hence, it is important to have regulatory bodies monitoring complementary food in a similar capacity as is required for infant formula. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the existing regulatory bodies, such as the Codex Alimentarius, International Standard Organization (ISO), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), etc., and their regulations specifically for infant formula that can be adopted for complementary foods. This study focuses on the development of a hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls (HARPC)-based food safety plan to ensure safe food processing and prevent any possible outbreaks.

Download Full-text

Protocol for a cluster randomised trial to evaluate a community level complementary food safety and hygiene and nutrition intervention in Mali: The MaaCiwara study

10.1101/2021.12.15.21267512 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Samuel I Watson ◽

Evans A Asamane ◽

Richard J Lilford ◽

Karla Hemming ◽

Cheick Sidibe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Diarrheal Disease ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Randomised Trial ◽

Complementary Food ◽

Cluster Randomised Trial ◽

Enteric Infection ◽

Community Based ◽

Cluster Randomised

Background Diarrheal disease remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among the under-fives in many low- and middle-income countries. Changes to food safety practices and feeding methods around the weaning period, alongside improved nutrition, may significantly reduce the risk of disease and improve development for infants. This article describes a protocol for a cluster randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-faceted community-based educational intervention that aims to improve food safety and hygiene behaviours and enhance child nutrition. Methods We will conduct a mixed-methods, parallel cluster randomised controlled trial with baseline measures. 120 clusters comprising small urban and rural communities will be recruited in equal numbers and randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to either treatment or control arms. Participants will be mother-child dyads (27 per cluster period) with children aged 6 to 24 months. Data collection will comprise a day of observation and interviews with each participating mother-child pair and will take place at baseline and four and 15 months post-intervention. The primary analysis will estimate the effectiveness of the intervention on changes to complementary food safety and preparation behaviours, food and water contamination, and diarrhoea. Secondary outcomes include maternal autonomy, enteric infection, nutritional content of meals, and child anthropometry. A secondary structural equation analysis will be conducted to examine the causal relationships between the different outcomes. Conclusions The trial will provide evidence on the effectiveness of community-based behavioural change and educational interventions designed to reduce the burden of diarrhoeal disease in the under fives, and how effectiveness varies across different contexts.

Download Full-text

The Food Safety Hazard Guidebook

10.1039/9781849734813 ◽

2012 ◽

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Safety Hazard

Download Full-text

Listeria, Listeriosis and Food Safety, 2nd edition

International Journal of Food Science & Technology ◽

10.1046/j.1365-2621.2001.00451.x ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 114-115

Author(s):

W. F. Harrigan

Keyword(s):

Food Safety

Download Full-text

Extension responses to food safety concerns for the food industry and consumers related to the COVID-19 pandemic

10.1021/scimeetings.0c07163 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Erin DiCaprio

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Food Industry ◽

Safety Concerns

Download Full-text

Food Safety Security: A new Concept for Enhancing Food Safety Measures

International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research ◽

10.1024/0300-9831/a000114 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 82 (3) ◽

pp. 216-222 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Venkatesh Iyengar ◽

Ibrahim Elmadfa

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Hazard Analysis ◽

Warning System ◽

Shared Responsibility ◽

Fine Tuning ◽

Strategic Action ◽

Surveillance Network ◽

Measurement Systems ◽

Critical Control Points ◽

The Impact

The food safety security (FSS) concept is perceived as an early warning system for minimizing food safety (FS) breaches, and it functions in conjunction with existing FS measures. Essentially, the function of FS and FSS measures can be visualized in two parts: (i) the FS preventive measures as actions taken at the stem level, and (ii) the FSS interventions as actions taken at the root level, to enhance the impact of the implemented safety steps. In practice, along with FS, FSS also draws its support from (i) legislative directives and regulatory measures for enforcing verifiable, timely, and effective compliance; (ii) measurement systems in place for sustained quality assurance; and (iii) shared responsibility to ensure cohesion among all the stakeholders namely, policy makers, regulators, food producers, processors and distributors, and consumers. However, the functional framework of FSS differs from that of FS by way of: (i) retooling the vulnerable segments of the preventive features of existing FS measures; (ii) fine-tuning response systems to efficiently preempt the FS breaches; (iii) building a long-term nutrient and toxicant surveillance network based on validated measurement systems functioning in real time; (iv) focusing on crisp, clear, and correct communication that resonates among all the stakeholders; and (v) developing inter-disciplinary human resources to meet ever-increasing FS challenges. Important determinants of FSS include: (i) strengthening international dialogue for refining regulatory reforms and addressing emerging risks; (ii) developing innovative and strategic action points for intervention {in addition to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) procedures]; and (iii) introducing additional science-based tools such as metrology-based measurement systems.

Download Full-text