FOOD PRESERVATION : HOW TO PREVENT POST HARVEST LOSSES AND ENSURE FOOD SECURITY AND SAFETY.

  Nigerian entrepreneur offers solution to post harvest losses. As a vegetable farmer himself, Ikegwuonu has first-hand experience of the huge post-harvest losses incurred because of a lack of cold storage.

In Nigeria, it is estimated about 60% of smallholder farmers’ fruits and vegetables spoil due to inadequate storage and agro-processing facilities. This idea can be extended by having a mobile cooling truck,from farm to markets.

The post harvest losses can be curbed by using solar dryers   a form of preservation and also extend shelf-life of produce.

 These cold hubs can also come in handy in the meat industry. Butchers that have left over beef  use cold rooms, but introducing a solar store  will save cost and ensure the cold chain is maintained.
 

Preservation and processing is a bullet proof method to curb waste and extend shelf-life of produce.

 Thinking of investing in the agricultural sector? then think along these lines, cold hub chains, cooling trucks, vans. The profitability will  increase if this venture is mobile, trucks collecting from designated points for onward delivery to the cold box or store.

Ikegwuonu is addressing this challenge with Cold Hubs – a solar-powered walk-in cold-room solution aimed at farmers, retailers, and wholesalers.

The cold rooms are installed at major food production and consumption centers, such as markets and farms.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) :Poultry and the superbug MRSA.

A study has shown that novel form of the dangerous superbug Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can spread to humans through consumption or handling of contaminated poultry.

 The research, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, shows that poultry may be a source of human exposure to MRSA, a superbug which can cause serious infections and even death. The study focuses on a special newly identified strain of MRSA associated with poultry.

 MRSA is often found in chickens, pigs and other food animals. Researchers know that farmers, farm workers, veterinarians and others working directly with livestock are at risk of MRSA infections, however the study shows that people with no exposure to livestock are becoming colonized and infected with this new strain of poultry-associated MRSA -- most likely by eating or handling contaminated poultry meat. 

 This poultry-associated MRSA may be more capable of transmitting from food to people and as MRSA continues to evolve, it may spread from animals to people in new ways. Early research suggests that modern farming practices, that involve giving food animals low doses of antibiotics to spur their growth and compensate for overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions led to the rising tide of superbugs, like the new strain of MRSA identified in this study. 

 The fact that food inspectors don't typically test poultry and other food products for MRSA contamination and instead are focused on Salmonella and other more typical food-borne pathogens may be the reason why the link has remained undetected until now. 

There is a need to expand the number of pathogens that are tested for in the food supply chain, and an urgent need for international bodies to enforce the ban on unnecessary use of antibiotics on industrial farms around the world. 

 The indiscriminate use of antibiotics in livestock must be abolished to prevent emergence of new, and more virulent strains of livestock-associated MRSA which will pose a much greater threat to human health.continue

Public and private sector must cooperate better on food safety

Public and private sector must cooperate better on food safety