Joe Whitworth

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Joe Whitworth is a food and beverage trade journalist. Prior to reporting for Food Safety News, he worked for William Reed Business Media since 2012 as Editor of Food Quality News before becoming food safety editor for Food Navigator. Whitworth has moderated sessions at Food Ingredients Europe in 2015 and The Ingredients Show in 2018. Before joining William Reed, he worked on newspapers run by Fairfax Media in Australia. Whitworth graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

Firm/Organization: Marler Clark LLP, PS
Blogs: Food Safety News

Latest Articles

Salmonella and Campylobacter infections were at a stable level during the past five years, but Listeria cases continue to rise in Europe, according to an annual report on trends and sources of zoonoses. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report is based on 2017 data from all 28 European Union member states and nine other European countries that reported on some zoonotic agents. Listeriosis caused a…
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have backed plans to ensure data used in decisions on food safety is made publicly available. The plenary vote on amendments to the General Food Law saw approval for a move to publish safety studies before a product is authorized to go to market. It was adopted by 427 votes in favor, 172 against and 67 abstentions. A majority of MEPs agreed the law should be revised so that…
Existing agencies in the United Kingdom are unprepared to handle pesticide issues after Brexit, according to the Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK). A briefing paper, written by Josie Cohen, Nick Mole and Keith Tyrell from the UK charity, said the way the UK chooses to govern pesticides after leaving the European Union next year will have implications for the health of UK citizens. It was published as part of the Food Research Collaboration’s Brexit…
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The percentage of fresh whole chickens produced in the United Kingdom positive for the highest level of Campylobacter contamination has declined compared to earlier this year. For the top nine retailers, 3.5 percent of chickens samples tested from July to September this year carried more than 1,000 colony forming units per gram (cfu/g) of Campylobacter. The figure for the previous results from April to June 2018 was 3.7 percent, while for July to September 2017,…
Officials in Denmark are investigating a Salmonella outbreak with 32 cases and 19 hospitalizations. Initial information points to fresh pork as the source. Infections with Salmonella monophasic Typhimurium have been reported to the Statens Serum Institut (SSI) since mid-October. Salmonella monophasic Typhimurium is often found in pigs. The outbreak was discovered on Nov. 16 and is being investigated by SSI, DTU Food Institute and Fødevarestyrelsen (Danish Veterinary and Food Administration). Fourteen women and 18 men aged zero…
Authorities in Sweden are investigating an increase in Campylobacter infections linked to fresh chicken. The number of domestic cases of Campylobacter infection was higher in November than expected for the season. This increase coincides with reports of an unusually high incidence of Campylobacter in chicken flocks and cases linked to working with chickens. Folkhälsomyndigheten (Public Health Agency of Sweden) officials said it is not yet known if there is a link between these different events. The news…
German authorities are investigating almost 60 cases of Listeria in the south and west of the country. The Robert Koch-Institut (RKI) said 57 isolates could be allocated to notified cases of listeriosis in Germany and it believes there is a probable epidemiological link between the infections. RKI and the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) have repeatedly identified Listeria monocytogenes strains of the molecular serogroup IVb from human infections with the same or…
Laboratory reports of pathogens including Campylobacter, Salmonella and Shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC) O157 have all increased compared to last year in England and Wales. Data is based on common gastrointestinal infections in England and Wales reported to Public Health England (PHE) until the end of October. Campylobacter spp. rose from 47,675 infections from January 2017 to the end of October 2017 to 51,497 in the same period this year. Salmonella spp. was up…
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Ham recalled by Imperial Meat Products
Authorities in Belgium have warned that certain meat products could be contaminated with Salmonella following processing of potentially contaminated raw materials from the Netherlands. The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) said an alert through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) shows fresh meat used as raw material that could be contaminated with Salmonella Goldcoast was delivered to Belgium from the Netherlands. This RASFF alert covers a suspected…
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The former owner of a fast food outlet in England linked to a Salmonella outbreak last year has received a suspended six month prison sentence. Eight people had acute food poisoning and one patient’s symptoms were so severe that he suffered renal failure, needed critical care, and spent two weeks in hospital. Muhammed Abdul Moueed Khan, the former owner of Peri Peri Chicken, One Call Blakenall in Walsall, was sentenced for serious food hygiene breaches.…