Date: 11th March, 2010

Location: Chipping Campden, Gloucs., United Kingdom

Summary:
Food - Exhibition, Seminar

UK product recalls have included peanut butter snack bars, peppercorns, sesame seed paste, shelled nuts and seed mixes including sesame seeds, all for presence of Salmonella. In the USA in 2009 a large Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak was linked with peanut butter, and there followed a very large recall of both peanut butter and products made with it.

These incidents have generated considerable discussion within the sector regarding how best to manage these risks. There is now a range of commercially available systems for nut and seed decontamination, but little consensus on how to validate such systems, and limited knowledge regarding the response of food pathogens to heat inactivation when in a low water activity environment.

This seminar will:

• review the available knowledge regarding nut and seed microbiology, including available data on the heat resistance of pathogens in low water activity environments.
  


• explore previous outbreaks and recalls, and their root causes
  


• include presentations from major suppliers of decontamination equipment, including Napasol, Buhler, Safesteril and Revtech
  

It is aimed at nut and seed processors, retailers and manufacturers who use nuts and seeds as ingredients in their products, microbiologists, and those involved in decontamination activities.