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GOURMET NEWS OCTOBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 1 0 Risk Assessment Continued from PAGE 1 in 105 million for raw milk cheese. The report assumes the definition of a "serv- ing" as an amount corresponding to how much a person might be likely to eat in a single day. That's a risk that's 157 times higher for a serving of a raw milk cheese over the risk of a pasteurized milk cheese in the U.S. and a 69 times higher risk in Canada. "The point was to ask the ques- tion about whether there's any differ- ence," says Dr. Catherine Donnelly, a scientist at the University of Vermont who's been studying Listeria monocyto- genes for the past 32 years. "The risk as- sessment concludes that yes, there is more of a risk." The difference in the risk according to whether you're eating cheese in the U.S. or in Canada may have a lot to do with the fact that the Canadian study looked at reported cases of listeriosis from 2004 through mid-2009, while the FDA looked at data from 1986 to 2008. In- cluding data from as far back as the 1980s could indicate a higher risk be- cause it includes people who got sick from cheese made under different condi- tions than are usual today, according to Donnelly. "This suggests an assumption that there have been no improvements in our ability to deal with Listeria since the 1980s," she said. "We've learned a lot about Listeria in the last 30 years." The risks of listeriosis from soft- ripened cheeses are much higher if you're pregnant, elderly or have a com- promised immune system. According to the FDA report, the risk of getting liste- riosis in the U.S. from a serving of brie made from pasteurized milk is one in 136 million for the elderly, one in 55 mil- lion for a pregnant woman and one in 193 million for someone with a compro- mised immune system. For a cheese made from raw milk, the risk is one in 1.2 million for the elderly, one in 570,000 for a pregnant woman and one in 1.2 million for someone with a com- promised immune system. "The big concern is invasive listeriosis. The report shows that, for communities at high risk, their risk if they eat raw milk cheese is much higher than if they were to eat pasteurized milk cheese," said Carlos Yescas, Program Director of the Oldways Cheese Coalition. According to the FDA study, an eld- erly person who eats a serving of raw milk cheese rather than a pasteurized milk cheese increases the risk of devel- oping invasive listeriosis by 112 times. The risk is 96 times higher for a preg- nant woman and 157 times higher for someone with a compromised immune system. "This doesn't tells us the absolute risk of pasteurized milk cheese," Yescas said. "That risk is not zero." Donnelly noted that the data from re- cent outbreaks of Listeria in the U.S. sug- gests that the elderly may be much more susceptible to listeriosis than had been previously thought. "That issue might need revisiting, as some of these latest outbreaks suggest that some of these eld- erly populations might be much more sensitive to lower doses of listeria," she said. "That remains in question." The report notes that in the U.S. from 1986 to 2008, there were a total of 137 recalls of various types of cheeses, of which 108 were related to Listeria. There were 15 cheese recalls in Canada from 2004 through mid-2009, of which 11 were related to Listeria. While the report notes that most cases of listeriosis occur as isolated instances, there have been 14 outbreaks of Listeria in the U.S. between 1985 and 2013. They resulted in a total of 270 illnesses and 66 deaths. Of those instances, 14 outbreaks, nine were caused by Mexican-style cheeses, includ- ing queso fresco, queso cotija and asadero; one was caused by a chive cheese, one by a blue-veined aged cheese, one by ricotta and one by a soft-ripened cheese. This risk assessment considers only the risks of brie and Camembert. Donnelly suggested that, in limiting its study to only brie and Camembert-type cheese consumption in the U.S. and Canada, the FDA may be ignoring valu- able information developed in other countries with similarly sophisticated food safety science around cheeses made in other styles. "The concern is, say, French Roquefort, raw milk cheese. Dif- ferent countries look at different cate- gories differently," she said. "Australia did a very lengthy risk assessment con- cluding that the level of risk for Roque- fort was similar to pasteurized milk, and so they allow its importation into Aus- tralia." Overall, the risk of developing listerio- sis from any kind of cheese is much less than the chance of contracting a food- borne illness from other foods, according to Donnelly. "Produce is the product sec- tor that's causing most of our foodborne illness outbreaks, which raises the ques- tion about, for our most susceptible pop- ulations, do we get rid of fresh produce? And does that spread to other popula- tions? Fresh fruits and vegetables are not sterile food products, so what do we do about that?" she asked. "If I were run- ning a nursing home, I'd be buying pas- teurized eggs. If I were eating breakfast with my family, I'd be eating regular eggs." GN Raymond W. Kelly has been elected to the board of directors of the Hain Celes- tial Group, Inc. effective August 13, 2015. Kelly, who served as the Police Commissioner of the City of New York for 14 years, has been President of Risk Management Services for Cushman and Wakefield, Inc. since March, 2014, offer- ing clients tailored solutions to manage and mitigate risks around the world. In his role he focuses on helping clients identify potential vulnerabilities to pre- pare and manage risk across critical areas including physical and cyber security, crisis management, due diligence and site selection as well as emergency pre- paredness. "We are honored to have Ray join our board of directors," commented Irwin D. Simon, Founder, President, Chief Exec- utive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Hain Celestial. "Ray's worldwide range of experience and insight into critical is- sues facing companies today will make Ray a valuable addition to our board of directors." Prior to joining Cushman and Wake- field, Kelly had a 50-year tenure in pub- lic service, as one of the worlds' most well-known and highly esteemed leaders in law enforcement. In New York City, he established the first counterterrorism bu- reau of any municipal police department in the country as well as a global intelli- gence program and established a real- time crime center, a state of the art facility using data mining. He also served as Commissioner of the U.S. Customers Service and as Undersecretary for En- forcement at the U.S. Treasury Depart- ment, where he supervised the department's enforcement bureaus in- cluding the U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Bureau of Alco- hol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Fed- eral Law Enforcement Training Center. He holds a BBA from Manhattan College, a JD from St. John's University School of Law, an LLM from New York University Graduate School of Law and an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in addition to nu- merous honorary degrees. With the addition of Kelly to Hain Ce- lestial's Board of Directors there are now eight board members. GN Raymond W. Kelly Joins Hain Celestial Board of Directors For two decades, Publix Super Markets, Inc. has worked alongside the March of Dimes to give all babies a healthy start in life. This year, during their annual three week in-store March for Babies fundrais- ing campaign, Publix customers and as- sociates raised $6,050,470, an 18 percent increase from 2014, bringing their 20 year total to an impressive contribution of $57 million for stronger, healthier ba- bies. "We are thankful for the opportunity to partner with the March of Dimes, an organization whose mission is at the heart of every expectant parent, sibling, family member and friend," said Maria Brous, Publix Director of Media and Community Relations. "It is our largest- grossing customer-facing campaign, and associate involvement peaks every spring when our own lace up their sneakers and walk for someone they love. We raise awareness within the communities we serve through passionate associates en- gaging the hearts and minds of our cus- tomers." "We are grateful to Publix, their asso- ciates, and customers for supporting the March of Dimes for two decades so that we can give a fighting chance to every baby," said Julie Laird, March of Dimes East Region Vice President. "They are a national leader among our corporate teams, and with their support, Publix is helping the March of Dimes raise aware- ness of the urgent crisis of premature birth, which effects 1 in 10 babies in the United States." Since Publix joined the March of Dimes in 1995, there has been many great successes. In the 1990s, March of Dimes launched a National Folic Acid Campaign to prevent serious birth de- fects of the brain and spine known as neural tube defects. In 1998, the Food and Drug Administration mandated folic acid fortification of our nation's grain foods. Within a few short years, our country was able reduce the number of these birth defects by 20 to 30 per- cent. In 2003, after more than 30 years of increasing rates of premature birth in the United States, the March of Dimes launched its Prematurity Cam- paign to confront this alarming trend. After years of March of Dimes advocacy, by 2008, all states had begun to require screening of all newborns for 21 or more serious but treatable conditions immedi- ately after birth. In 2013, the U.S. prema- ture birth rate dropped to a 15-year low, saving thousands of babies from death or disability and billions in health care costs. And in 2015, March of Dimes opened its fifth Prema- turity Research Center in Chicago, part of a network of centers pioneering a team science approach that brings to- gether scientists from a wide array of fields to find the unknown causes of preterm birth. GN Publix Raises More Than $6 Million for March of Dimes

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