Particles

08/01/2001

U.N. calls for worldwide food safety rules
The head of the U.N. health agency says the world needs new food safety rules because increased global food trade means health problems can spread rapidly from country to country.

"The globalization of the world's food supply means the globalization of public health concerns," Gro Harlem Brundtland, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO; Geneva), told an international food standards commission.

The commission, which is made up of 165 nations and meets every two years, is considering guidelines on bacteria control, pesticide levels in food and biotech safety.

Consumer food safety fears, particularly in Europe, have been intensified by a series of crises over the past decade, namely foot-and-mouth and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. The disease, forms of which have been in the United States, is believed to stem from animal feed made from animal carcasses. The human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, has claimed victims in Britain and other European countries.

"It is more and more difficult to solve food safety problems in one country without international collaboration," Brundtland told the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint body of WHO and the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization.

But Brundtland says high-profile outbreaks were only part of the problem. About one-third of the population in industrialized countries suffers from a food-borne disease every year, she says.

Few developing countries have food safety systems, Brundtland says, but more of them were trading with industrialized nations, so it is in their interest to adopt safety measures to protect their own population and the populations of their trading partners.—MAD

USDA nails Big Apple meatpackers
A weeklong investigation into 44 small meatpacking plants here uncovered gross violations, ranging from rodent infestation to ignoring federal food safety regulations, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

USDA meat inspectors launched an investigation last March after complaints that conditions in the Big Apple's meatpacking plants posed "immediate public health risks."

Officials say 13 plants had so grossly violated government regulations that follow-up investigations were necessary. Four plants, Park Avenue Meats, Real Kosher Sausage Co., Chia Hsiung Corp. and J. Durando and Sons Inc., were temporarily suspended for rodent infestation and food contamination.

USDA meat inspectors conducted more than 200 reviews at local retail stores, restaurants and other food businesses where the four suspended plants sent their products. About 74 pounds of contaminated products were voluntarily destroyed.

Karen Henderson, assistant deputy administrator for the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection service says three of the four plants have resumed operations.

Most of the noncompliance problems reported in the investigation fell under the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system (HACCP), which verifies that plants use certain precautions in food production to ensure safety.—MAD

SureBeam granted 10th patent
The SureBeam Corp. (San Diego) has been awarded a U.S. patent for novel system enhancements that improve equipment life cycles, reduce construction costs and increase productivity. The SureBeam electronic pasteurization system uses ordinary electricity as its energy source to pasteurize food after it has been processed and packaged. The system instantly eliminates the threat of harmful food-borne bacteria such as E. coli 0157:H7, Listeria, campylobacter and salmonella without compromising quality. Currently, the FDA and USDA have approved the technology for use on all raw meats, fruits and vegetables.—LJB

Beef processor cautions consumers
Huisken Meats (Sauk Rapids, MN) is cautioning Minnesotans that small groups of people, pretending to have expertise in food safety and food irradiation, are dispersing information that is highly distorted, misleading or untruthful. The company asks consumers and members of the media to contact Minnesota's Department of Health (651-215-1306) or other legitimate professionals in the fields of public health, medicine or nutrition to receive accurate information on food-borne diseases, how they are transmitted and the safety and wholesomeness of food irradiation as a means to help eliminate deadly bacteria, such as E. coli in hamburger.—LJB

FlexICs fab opens
FlexICs Inc. (Milpitas, CA) has opened its pilot fabrication plant for producing semiconductors on plastic. The 18,000-square-foot facility features an ISO Class 5 (Class 100) cleanroom.

The company specializes in ultra low temperature semiconductor processing on plastic, a technology that officials say will facilitate next-generation PDAs, cell phones and notebook PCs. Specifically, the technology will be used for shatterproof, lightweight, thin and flexible displays.—JVP

Carrington establishes R&D unit
Carrington Laboratories (Irving, TX) has established a new development unit that will focus on high-end products from medical devices to nutraceuticals. The team will act either independently or as an extension of client's research and development teams.

"Through our vertical integration of research, raw materials, formulations, manufacturing and packaging, we can develop a line of products from concept through delivery to customers that will meet or exceed all regional, national or international standards," a company spokesperson said.

The company is currently upgrading its equipment and adding specialized labeling and language capabilities. All of the products will be developed in Carrington's facilities in Texas and Costa Rica.—JVP

Medi-Hut Co. expansion on track
Medi-Hut Co. (Lakewood, NJ) is moving its Korean production of its 1cc Elite Safety Syringe from its U.S. plant to Korea while the company revamps its cleanroom and Good Manufacturing Practices in New Jersey.

The company is currently in the middle of an expansion of its 70,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.

Equipment for the manufacture of 3cc and 5cc safety syringes is expected to be in place by September, and officials say they will initially be able to produce 7 million pieces of syringes per shift per month. Plans to double that number will be implemented shortly thereafter.—JVP

Working together
Infineon Technologies AG (Munich) and Canon Inc. (Tokyo), plan to work together on a joint research project for the development of photolithography systems that utilize 157nm technology. By joining forces, the companies are hoping to speed up the development process. Canon's first system is slated for completion in the first half of 2003, with delivery scheduled for the same time. Infineon is taking the first system is plans to manufacture memory and logic devices at its advanced production sites.—MV

Partners
To date, more than 10 Japanese semiconductor firms have decided to team-up and develop a stepper that uses low-priced electronic beams as a light source, according to the Agence France Presse. The firms, including Sony, NEC and Dai Nippon Printing Co., will split the estimated 20-billion-yen development costs and expect to have systems ready for production by 2003.—MV

Sparks renovates Web site
Sparks Technology Inc.'s (Batavia, IL) new Web site was designed with the novice in mind. Professionals needing advice on filtration methods and products can log onto www.sparkstech.com and view information on emissions control, process environments and indoor air quality issues. Visitors can chat live with one of the company's filtration specialists about a molecular filtration product or for filtration advice.—LJB

Joint effort
Axcelis Technologies Inc. (Beverly, MA) and the SEZ Group (Villach, Austria) are working together to develop a combined wet/dry cleaning process geared toward the removal of resist strip and other residues. Axcelis and SEZ say the goal is to create a cost-effective cleaning process for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. "The industry is rapidly adopting copper, low-k dielectrics and other complex new materials as we move toward future device generations. This presents tremendous cleaning challenges that we think will be best tackled by optimizing dry and wet processes together," notes Michael West, VP of strategic business development for SEZ.—MV

International licensing agreement reached
Cleanroom Systems (Syracuse, NY) and Weiss Klimattechnik GbmH (Reiskirchen, Germany) have signed a formal licensing agreement. Cleanroom Systems will become the exclusive North American licensee for the manufacture of the Weiss UltraClean, MediClean and DataClima air conditioning units. Additionally, Cleanroom Systems will distribute the UltraClean and DataClima units under its own HEPAir trade name to the cleanroom and life sciences industries. Weiss, through its U.S.-based subsidiary, Weiss Environmental Technology Inc. (Tampa, FL), will distribute its full product line to North and Latin American customers.—LJB