One hundred plus reports within a few hours is alarming! So the center begins to monitor Twitter for posts about food poisoning or E. coli, and observes a spike in the number of tweets about sickness after eating burgers, originating in the same three states. The next morning, the center uses the online diagnosis application to “push” a question to all recent users in the area asking them to report any illnesses that may relate to eating fast foods. The center quickly receives a high volume of responses about sickness after eating at the same chain. That afternoon, the center notifies the fast food chain and the FDA, and issues an alert to public health officials in all three states on Monday afternoon. The fast food chain initiates a voluntary recall, and public health officials issue a public warning. The outbreak is quickly controlled, and illnesses and deaths are minimized.

Although this is a fictitious scenario, it is entirely possible from a technological point of view. The question is, is such a system feasible from a practical point of view, and how much benefit could it provide?

Reality Check Compare this scenario to existing public health processes. How long would it take for the outbreak to be recognized and controlled? Several hours usually pass between the time when a person notices symptoms of illness and the time when the condition becomes serious enough to consult a health care professional. After the person sees a doctor, tests may be needed, and it may take 24 hours or more for the results to return. The tests may or may not indicate the cause of the illness. At this point, the patient’s symptoms may get worse while the doctor forms a diagnosis and attempts to stabilize the condition. If the cause is recognized as a disease for which there is a mandatory reporting protocol, the case will then be reported to public health authorities. Once public health officials receive notice of a possible foodborne disease, they begin by interviewing the patients and their families to find a common cause. If a source is pinpointed, the public health department visits the location or takes a sample of the food and runs tests to determine whether this is the probable cause of illness. If a specific food is confirmed as the source, a recall will be issued. A public statement will then be made to inform the public about the potential danger of the particular tainted food item. How long does this process take? Weeks or even months may pass before a recall actually happens, by which time many more people can contract the infection. The 2010 outbreak of Salmonella linked to eggs from Wright County Egg, which sickened almost 2,000 people provides a good example of this. The first report of illness was received in July, but the product recall did not happen until August 13, 2010. Another outbreak of Salmonella, associated with ground turkey produced by Cargill, affected 136 people in 34 states. The first illness was reported on February 27, but the product was not recalled until August 3 – just over five months later (Marler, 2012). By the time a recall takes place, a contaminated product has often been distributed, divided, repackaged and resold. Consequently, it is often necessary to recall a large quantity of food across a large geographical area, rather than withdrawing only the specific shipments or batches where the problem originated. This takes still more time to implement. Furthermore, it increases the cost to suppliers. In 2011, the Microbiological Data Program, a produce surveillance initiative housed in the USDA that was cancelled at the beginning of 2013 by budget cuts, identified cantaloupe in New York that were contaminated with Listeria. Unsanitary conditions were found at the supplier’s packing shed, and a recall was initiated on July 28 and expanded two days later. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned the public not to eat the recalled cantaloupe. Ultimately, the supplier recalled an entire growing season’s worth of cantaloupes and honeydew melons in 18 states. Nevertheless, 147 people were sickened by the contaminated cantaloupes and 33 died as a result of their infections. The total cost of the outbreak to the victims, the industry and government has been estimated at $100 million. A New Model: Consumer and Private Sector Participation Using Social Media This article began by describing a hypothetical scenario in which the government and industry cooperatively build a monitoring center, which uses social media to enable effective information exchange and cooperation among public authorities, consumers, and the private sector. As noted already, there are no overwhelming technological obstacles that would prevent the implementation of such a system. In some jurisdictions, parts of such a system already exist. The Hawai’i Department of Health, for example, has created a free iPhone app called “Foodborne Illness Reporter.” It enables iPhone users who suspect that they have contracted a foodborne illness to report the establishment (restaurant or food seller), the suspected cause, the people affected, and other information. Information submitted using the app is confidential, and is shared with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (see AppShopper, category “Medical”) A properly designed system that uses social media effectively would deliver significant benefits:

–       Drastically reduced response time: By recognizing unusual patterns in data that have been self-generated by consumers, the system can recognize possible food contamination outbreaks even before any of the patients or doctors have reason to suspect such an event. The above scenario used a self-diagnosis application as the data source, but many other possibilities exist. For example, Google is developing a capability called Google Insight, which can provide statistical analyses of searches for particular terms. At a conference which this author attended, the Chief Economist of Google showed a one-day lag between a peak in searches for ‘vodka’ and a peak in searches for ‘hangover’. Clearly, public health information could be obtained by looking for peaks in searches for terms related to illnesses.

Online forums and chat rooms can be another valuable source. For example, Mediator, a diabetes drug launched in France in 1976, was suspected of being unsafe. It was used “off label” for weight loss, and appeared to play a role in several deaths. By 2003, online forums were hosting hundreds of patient conversations about Mediator, but simple word scanning did not reveal any clear pattern. In 2006, however, the forums were analyzed using “argument mining.” This technique revealed a heavy focus on problems related to the drug. Mediator was finally withdrawn from the French market in 2009 (Buahin et al., 2012).

–       The cost of monitoring and reacting can be reduced: As already noted, the MDP program will not exist in 2013 due to budget cuts. Web applications such as self-diagnosis tools (e.g. yourdiagnosis.com) and search engines are self-funded: They make money for the companies that build them, either by generating advertising and “click through” revenues, or by making potential customers aware of services and products that the builder of the web site offers. By working with the builders of these web sites to give these applications the ability to recognize unusual patterns that may indicate health crises, public health authorities could create wide-ranging and effective monitoring programs at very little cost.

–       Industry cooperation can be increased: Using social media would give both public health experts and industry participants much more data about any event much more quickly. This would make it easier to recognize a problem while it is still small in scale, and to identify the correct scope of any recall more precisely. Thus, the cost to a supplier may be considerably reduced, because a smaller recall may be sufficient to prevent further spread of the pathogen.

Companies in the food processing and distribution industry can maximize the benefits they would receive from such a system in many ways. They can select employees who are skilled at collecting and integrating varying types of information in order to recognize outbreaks more quickly. A real-time, interactive social system can help to identify the most effective actions (e.g., monitoring, diagnosis, treatment, reporting, and/or product recall) that the company could take, thereby minimizing harm to customers and possible liability. (Buahin et al., 2012)

–       If a large outbreak occurs, consumers can participate actively in collecting information and responding to the crisis: An automated crisis mapping platform called Ushahidi (Swahili for “witness”) is already available for free, and could easily be adapted for public health use. This platform uses free “open source” software to issue alerts, receive voluntary reports from any users within a specific radius pertaining to those alerts, and then summarize and analyze those reports. The UN, World Bank and many NGOs have used Ushahidi to help address and track such emergencies as food and medicine shortages across Africa, violent incidents in Gaza, election-related problems in Mexico and India, the revolution in Syria, and swine flu.

As Tapscott (2012) suggests, it has become “increasingly clear that we can rethink and rebuild many industries and sectors of society on a profoundly new, open, networked model” (p. 8). The model described above applies this very general concept to a specific government activity: ensuring the safety of the food supply. Although Tapscott writes primarily in buzzwords, the practical concept behind those words is valid, and offers a significant opportunity. Social media offer a way of collecting large quantities of data items which mean very little individually, but which can reveal significant and actionable patterns when integrated and analyzed. This in turn enables consumers to make a valuable contribution without any need to be experts in food processing or medical diagnosis, and provides much better information to the public and private sectors alike. In effect, consumers, suppliers and regulators become partners that self-organize, contribute to the total sum of knowledge, share information, support each other and jointly manage health and safety. It is particularly significant to note that many elements of a food safety reporting system based on social media have already been created, or are likely to be created, without requiring any government funding or subsidization. This is strong evidence that providing such services as these may be cost-free after tax deductions are considered, or profitable enough that the private sector will take on a significant part of the work. Google clearly believes that Google Insight will earn its keep, and several surprisingly effective self-diagnosis tools (presumably supported by advertising) are already easily accessible. Another example arises from the upcoming shutdown of the Microbiological Data Program. Bill Marler, a leading American food safety lawyer, is considering funding a similar program of his own. Rather than depend on the government to collect data and initiate recalls, Marler plans to collect such information and make it publicly available to the government, consumers and producers. Social media offer a growing potential for structural change and greater efficiency in many sectors, and food safety is no exception. As government budgets continually decrease, and food safety agencies struggle to recognize and prevent food borne illnesses, social media technology can play a key role in improving the effectiveness and speed of response while minimizing costs.

References

Marler, B. (2012, July 22). Publishers platform: How can we stop outbreaks earlier. Food Safety News. Retrieved from: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/07/publishers-platform-how-can-we-stop-outbreaks-earlier Marler, B. (2012, Aug 12). Publisher’s platform: Ode to the microbiological data program. Food Safety News. Retrieved from: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/08/publishers-platform-ode-to-microbiological-data-program/ Tapscott, D. (2011) Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World. Toronto, ON: Portfolio Penguin Canada. Harrysson, M., Metayer, E., and Sarrazin, H., How ‘social intelligence’ can guide decisions. Mckinsey Quarterly. Retrieved from: https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Strategy/Strategic_Thinking/How_social_intelligence_can_guide_decisions_3031 Buahin, J., Chui, M., and Manyika, J. (2012, November) Capturing business value with social technologies. Mckinsey Quarterly. Retrievved from:   http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Capturing_business_value_with_social_technologies_3029 Acheson, D.W.K. (2012, July 12) Should the microbiological data program be saved? Maybe … maybe not… Food Safety News. Retrieved from: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/07/should-the-microbiological-data-program-be-saved-maybe-maybe-not/ “Illness Reporter” in AppShopper, category “Medical” <http://appshopper.com/medical/illness-reporter>

• Familiarize stakeholders with the concept of Healthy Food Markets and food safety standards, in order to foster authorities’ political commitment to supporting the initiative
• Establish committees with representation of all stakeholders to monitor and implement action plans, such as identification of the current bio-security levels of wet markets and assessments of their contribution to outbreaks
• Conduct cost-benefit analyses (i.e. infrastructure, surveillance, research, training, and revenue) of Healthy Food Markets to assess their viability for replication in different countries.
• Identify benefits of Healthy Food Markets – enhanced public health, avoided treatment and control expenditures, prevention of a pandemic, avoided economic losses, public empowerment, and lower GHG emission – to demonstrate the effectiveness of food safety (“Unprecedented widespread outbreaks,” 2005)

Minimizing the Spread of Foodborne Diseases The conference also recommended that improved hygiene and animal handling practices in wet markets will prevent the spread of AI viruses and other pathogens. The following are actions for wet market food safety:

• Add a bottom tray to animals’ cages to reduce faecal contamination of roads and surrounding areas when poultry are transported to and from the market
• Conduct ongoing surveillance and sampling of birds in wet markets to assess their health status
• Separate poultry-selling areas from other areas of the market to reduce contamination
• Implement regular disinfection and upgrade procedures of all wet market vendor spaces and equipment to prevent the buildup of pathogens and pests
• Establish in-market facilities for special disposal of faecal matter and for disinfecting transport cages before they are taken back to producers or farms
• Enforce legal limits on the amount of animals allowed in each cage to prevent overcrowding, which leads to poor animal health
• Increase the traceability of animals back the production and distribution chain to track infections
• Develop hygienic slaughtering and processing facilities and processes in wet markets (“Unprecedented widespread outbreaks,” 2005)

Continuous Improvements on Food Safety in China China has committed to the enforcement of stronger legislative and institutional regulations on public health and food safety governance. This commitment has helped tackle some of the problems and challenges in managing the infrastructure of wet markets selling locally produced foods. There is tremendous opportunity in preserving traditional Chinese practices of local food production and distribution in the face of rising global trade. Chinese wet markets have the potential to be brought up to par with international hygiene and food safety standards, while maintaining their support of locally produced food to enhance China’s food security. Rather than being replaced with supermarkets, wet markets can transform in order to be competitive. The unique shopping experience that wet markets offer in the can be offered in environments which provide high food safety standards. Indeed these standards are already being put into place. Recent outbreaks of foodborne diseases from street food vendors in China inspired the implementation of HACCP to help prevent the spread of food-related pathogens and diseases. Five HACCP groups were established to apply these standardized safety principles to five different types of street food, including high-risk foods items such as poultry and red meat. HACCP was successful in drastically improving hygiene and food safety standards of street food, which led to the hazard analysis program to act as a model example for fresh markets. HACCP is now helping to decrease health risks connected to the distribution of fresh food in wet markets across China. In Hong Kong, the city’s health department has organize training courses on food safety and hazards analysis (Poto, 2011). As a result of these measures, the level of hygiene and food safety control has been greatly improved throughout the food industry. Continuous assistance from international programs, combined with advanced measures of food safety control on Chinese traditional wet markets, will become progressively more effective in raising the hygienic status of local fresh food markets. Although China’s initiative is commendable, current efforts need to continue. While it would be unrealistic to believe that all wet markets are now safe, most are safer than before. Education is a major factor, and one that will help enhance food safety in Hong Kong and China. Lessons from the Application of HACCP The improvements that HACCP promoted in Hong Kong and China’s wet markets can be achieved in other countries where local markets are prominent. For instance, Egypt, Thailand, Spain and Korea all have numerous wet markets depended on by food producers as a main channel of distribution, and by consumers for access to fresh food. Continued efforts to enhance food safety and hygiene in wet markets across the globe will also strengthen food security by generating greater accessibility to local food. Initiatives to improve food safety in developing countries are especially important because they create opportunities for local food producers and consumers to conduct trade in a clean and safe environment. References – FAO/WHO. “The experience of improving the safety of street food via international technical assistance.” – FAO/WHO Global Forum of Food Safety Regulators. January 2002. Marrakech, Morocco. OIE/FAO/WHO. “Unprecedented widespread outbreaks of avian influenza.” Consultation on avian influenza and human health: risk reduction measures in producing, marketing and living with animals in Asia. July 2005. Malaysia. – Poto, Margherita. 2011. Food and nano-food within the Chinese regulatory system: No need to have overregulation. European Journal of Law and Technology, 2(3). – World Health Organization. (2004). Healthy marketplaces in the western pacific: Guiding future action. (pp. 1-37). Geneva, Switzerland: Retrieved from http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Publications_and_Documents_Healthy_Market_places_FINALversion.pdf

• The animal must be alive before slaughtering
• Halal animals must not be treated with hormones. Organic feeding practices are preferred.
• A practicing Muslim must perform the zabiha.
• “In the name of God, God is great” must be recited.
• Animals should not see the knife.
• All flowing blood must be drained from the carcass, as Muslims are forbidden to consume blood.
• Slaughtering must not be done in a location where swine are slaughtered.
• Birds of prey or carnivorous animals may not be used as sacrifices (6).

In addition to requiring humane slaughtering practices that conform to religious law, halal regulations also ensure that the product is healthy, wholesome, nutritious and good quality. Halal meat should be antibiotic and hormone free, and the practice of draining the animal’s blood may reduce the amount of toxins in the meat. Internationally, halal manufacturing and processing facilities are committed to maintaining good hygiene and are expected to conform to applicable food safety standards (7). Because Muslims generally seek to obey God’s order to be kind to all living things, treating animals humanely is a highly important aspect of halal. This was powerfully demonstrated by the recent controversy surrounding pre-stunning: the practice of rendering an animal unconscious before the actual slaughter. Traditionally, pre-stunning of the animal before zabiha was not allowed. But to accommodate the high volume of animals that must be slaughtered according to zabiha when halal meat is produced by a food processing plant, processors have generally been permitted to immobilise birds through gas asphyxiation or an electric water bath. Immobilisation reduces the risk of harming the birds before slaughter. This practice generated disagreement erupted as to whether pre-stunning was a proper Islam practice, and whether religious slaughtering was humane. Some scholars objected to pre-stunning on the grounds that some animals died as a result of pre-stunning rather than by slaughtering, which is haram–forbidden by God. Others objected to pre-stunning because research suggested that pre-stunning was painful – hence inhumane and therefore not halal. The argument became intense enough that one halal food authority did not certify any companies that used stunned animals (8). The difference of opinion was eventually resolved by the Muslim World League and the University of Cairo Committee, which concluded that pre-stunning is halal if it does not kill the animal, but rather shocks it unconscious so that the slaughtering will be less painful. As a result, pre-stunning become a mandatory requirement. The debate may not be entirely over, as some scholars suggest that pre-stunning should be preferred but not a mandatory requirement. The Economic Impact of Halal Each year, over 100 million animals are sacrificed for Eid Al Adha. That amounts to $3 billion worth of livestock being slaughtered in one day, making this the most active day of the year in livestock trade. Although the halal market is often perceived as a niche market, its market volume and economic impact certainly indicate that it is not a small one. The halal meat market does not exist only on Feast of the Sacrifice; over 1.5 billion Muslim around the world eat Halal daily. This market is lucrative year-round. The halal market is more strongly established in the Middle East and Asia than in North America. Therefore, farmers and ranchers in North America may have an opportunity to establish a meat market that specifically caters to Islamic communities, many of which are growing and increasing their demand for certified halal and organic food products. New Zealand’s predominantly free-range meat industry has already acted to take advantage of the opportunity. Many New Zealand slaughter houses changed their procedures to meet halal certification standards; now New Zealand is the largest halal sheep exporter in the world, and also exports a significant amount of halal beef. The export revenue from sheep alone by year end June 2011 was NZ$ 2.9 billion (9). Livestock producers in North America could market halal meat in two different ways. First, farmers could produce good quality meat locally for the growing market (both halal and non-religious) that is concerned with ecology, health and sustainability. Secondly, organic, free range and halal products could be sold to high end markets in the Gulf or Saudi Arabia: countries which require, and generally can afford, premium quality food. Other opportunities arise because many foreign countries are interested in becoming self-sufficient in food production. This creates business opportunities based on know-how in animal husbandry and technology transfer. Russia, for instance, is currently one of the world’s largest food importers. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is attempting to change Russia from one of the world’s largest food importers to a country that will be self-sufficient in agriculture. He plans to cut his country’s $3 billion annual import bill for beef by heavily subsidizing livestock farms. American agriculturists such as Anthony Stidham, a third-generation rancher from Oklahoma, have been hired to teach Russian farmers how to rear livestock safely and efficiently (10). Conclusion Eid Al Adha in particular, and halal in general, contribute significantly to the world’s livestock trade. It is likely that this niche market will continue to grow because halal products have a reputation for being healthy, hygienic, humane and of good quality. Moreover, the redistributive aspect of Eid Al Adha can stimulate rural economies. Finally, increasing demand for halal products creates opportunities for North American farmers to venture into this profitable market. — (1) “Halal / Haram / Zabiha.” http://www.isnahalal.ca/info.html (last accessed 20 Oct. 2012). (2) “Brief Guidance for Halal Meat& Poultry Slaughter,” Halal Food Authority. (3) Mariam M. Al Serkal, “Municipality Opens Special Barns Ahead of Eid Al Adha” 17 Oct. 2012, Gulfnews.com<http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/health/municipality-opens-special-barns-ahead-of-eid-al-adha-1.1090713> (last accessed 23 Oct. 2012). (4) Syed Waqar Hussain and Muhammad Mohsin Khan. “Poverty Alleviation: The Redistribution Impact of Eid-ul- Azha Animals’ Sacrifice on Rural Economy” Journal of Managerial Sciences, vol.3, 2. (5) “ISNA®’s Role in Certification.” http://www.isnahalal.ca/info.html (last accessed 20 Oct. 2012). (6) ibid (7) Zurina Shafii and 2W.M.N. Wan Siti Khadijah. “Halal Traceability Framework for Halal Food Production,” World Applied Sciences Journal no.17 (2012). (8) “The Opinions of the Ulema on the Permissibility of Stunning Animals,” Abraham Natural Produce http://www.organic-halal-meat.com/article/fatwa-stunning.php (last accessed cot 21, 2012) (9) “New Zealand Meat Industry.” http://business.newzealand.com/vBFwRkA/media/957498/meat_industry_factsheet_2012.pdf (last accessed 23 Oct. 2012). (10) “Russia Investing Heavily in Becoming Self Sufficient in Beef Production,” Merco Press. South Atlantic News Agency, (28 July 2012) http://en.mercopress.com/2012/07/28/russia-investing-heavily-in-becoming-self-sufficient-in-beef-production ( last accessed 22 Oct. 2012).