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Year three, no. 8 -
August 2003
Introductory
Croatia is due to draw up as a UN member, a national Millenium Development Goals Report (MDGR) by the end of 2003.
At the 25th General Assembly of the United Nation on 6-8 August 2003 in New York MDGR was unanimously adopted as a UN policy document for the 21st century. It set the goals in individual areas of interest to all members, as well as for international community as a whole, also defining the activities that should contribute to its realisation.
Apart from achieving desirable goals, in Croatia this document has the purpose to link millenium goals and other national strategies and to provide incentives for permanent surveillance and reporting on development goals and indicators. In addition, it should help in the utilisation of millenium goals in comprehensive planning, establishment of priorities and encouragement of co-ordination between Croatian government, government bodies, scientific institutions and the civil society.
CNIPH’s representatives contribute scientifically and technically to the defining of Croatia’s goals (reducing infant mortality rate, improving maternal health, combatting AIDS and other infectious diseases, etc.)
EPIDEMIOLOGY SERVICE (Ministry
of Health Reference Centre for Epidemiology) Head, Pr Vlasta
Hrabak-Zerjavic, MD, MSc
· Chronic Mass Disease Epidemiology
Department
A Course on Automated Cancer Registration was given 7-11 July at the International Cancer Research Agency in Lyon, France. There were 23 attendees from 15 European cancer registries, including Croatian Cancer Case Registry. The debates revolved round a comparison between automated and traditional registration methodologies. It stressed the increasing accessibility of data sources in electronic form and the need to adapt because of the growing presence of health information system informatisation in Europe.
SOCIAL MEDICINE SERVICE
Head, Pr Marina Kuzman, MD,
MSc
The end of July was marked by seven health laws coming into force: Health Act, Medical Profession Act, Stomatology Act, Nursing Occupation Act,
Medical-biochemical Activity Act, Pharmaceutics Act, and Drug and Medical Product Act.
Health Act provides for four national health institutes. In addition to the present Croatian National Institute of Public Health, Croatian Institute for Transfusional Medicine, and Croatian Institute of Occupational Health there is to be formed Croatian Institute for Mental Health. Also envisaged is the founding of a Drug and Medical Product Agency. Besides taking over the activities of the Croatian Institute for Drug Control and of Croatian Institute for Immunological Preparation Control, they will ensure the regulation of medicines market in Croatia. Croatian National Institute of Public Health is to take over the activity of the Croatian Institute of Toxicology. Other novelties in the Act is the stipulation that medical services should be provided through a mixed system of public and private medical institutions, introduction of hospital categorisation and enabling the foundation of group private practices as a form of voluntary association for medical workers.
MICROBIOLOGY SERVICE
Head, Dr Vera Katalinic-Jankovic
Organised by Croatian Microbiological Society; Austrian Society for Hygiene; Microbiology and Preventive Medicine; Czechoslovak Microbiological Society; Hungarian Society for Microbiology, and Slovenian Microbiological Society, a gathering named “CESAR2003 – Central European Symposium on Antimicrobial Resistance” was held on the Brijuni islands 4-7 July 2003.
Verica Babic-Vazic, ScD and Emilija Mlinaric-Missoni MD presented the work “Resistance of Candida Albicans strains to 5-fluorocytosine”. Next, Dr Vera
Katalinic-Jankovic delivered an invited lecture on “Antitubercular Drug Resistance”. The symposium was run in six sections with the participation of multidisciplinary professionals from 21 countries.
HEALTH ECOLOGY SERVICE
Head, Krunoslav Capak, MD,
MSc
Under the sponsorship of the minister of health and organised by CNIPH and county institutes of public health, the Seventh ScientificTechnical Symposium on Water and Water Supply is to take place at the Istrian Spa 1-4 October 2003. “Croatia’s Fresh Waters”, the central topic of the Symposium, enables professionals with diverse backgrounds to present the recent knowledge on the status of our fresh waters, and indicate to us what the prognoses for fresh water preservation are. Notifications for the Symposium should be addressed to: Croatian National Institute of Public Health, c/o Edo Lovric, ChE, Rockefellerova 7, 1000 Zagreb, Croatia; or fax:01 46 83 009; or email: edo.lovric@hzjz.hr.
The EU Rapid Advice System for Food and Feed
Such method of providing advice about food and feeds (RASFF) is a tool whereby the systems of individual countries in charge of health safety monitoring, exchange their information and measures. Food Act and the establishment of a Food Agency will enable Croatia to set up a Rapid Advice System in Croatia. As noted by Marijan Katalenic, MSc, Head of Food Safety Department at CNIPH, the basic idea is to transmit the food and feed information published in the EU until the formation of our system. In this way, border and county sanitary and veterinarian inspectorates will notice more readily any food or feed needing analysis. As regards control laboratories, they will adopt analytical methods for parameters not presently analysed here. Of course, this will entail changes in the health safety regulation covering this area.
The table shown contains transferred notices (35th week) from the EU countries under the provisions of the EC Act 178/2002 and Procedures of the Food Agency with Unsafe Food (OJ No. L 31 1.2.2002).
The “food (and feed) deleterious for human health” is the food present on the EU market with its unfitness for use being proved subsequently, and its unhealthiness, unlike the “for your knowledge” notices, which refer to foods that are absent from the market.
FOODS
AND FEEDS DELETERIOUS TO HUMAN HEALTH AND REQUIRING URGENT
WITHDRAWAL FROM THE MARKET
Week 35 (2003)
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Date
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County doing the analysis
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Product
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Cause of medical hazard
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Country of manufacture
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25/8/03
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Netherlands
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Cold-smoked frozen tuna
fillets
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Histamine
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Indonesia
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26/08/03
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Italy
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Norwegian smoked salmon
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Listeria monocytogenes
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Germany
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26/8/03
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Sweden
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Madras curry in nut
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Sudian I colour
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India
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26/8/03
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Sweden
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Chilli in nut
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Sudan I colour
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Great Britain
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27/08/03
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Great Britain
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Spices
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Sudan I colour
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Great Britain
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28/9/03
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Italy
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Mineral water
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Glass fragments
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Italy
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29/8/03
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Netherlands
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Enriched chicken food
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Hydrocyanic acid??
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Netherlands
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29/9/03
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Portugal
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Frozen mussels
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Mesophils
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Chili
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29/8/03
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Denmark
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Instant cake mix
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Salmonella infantis
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Denmark
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FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
risk was established but the product was not placed on
the market: food and feed returned from the EU border
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Date
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County doing the analysis
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Product
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Cause of medical unsafety
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Country of manufacture
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25/8/03
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Great Britain
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Frozen swordfish (Xiphius gladius)
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Cadmium
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Indonesia
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25/8/03
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Italy
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Potato powder
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Labelling
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Turkey
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25/8/03
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Germany
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Bad Heilbrunner anise and kymiss tea in bags
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Salmonella agona:
Salmonella bisperberg
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Germany
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25/8/03
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Luxembourg
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Pistaccio in shell
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Aflatoxins
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Iran
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26/8/03
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Great Britain
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Peanuts
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Aflatoxins
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China
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26/8/03
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Italy
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Pistaccio in shell
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Aflatoxins
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Iran
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26/8/03
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Italy
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Pieces of swordfish in sauce
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Mercury
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Equador
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26/8/03
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Italy
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Orange juice
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Benzoic acid E210
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Tunisia
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26/8/03
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Italy
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Frozen shrimps
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Vibrio parahaemoliticus
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Indonesia
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26/8/03
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Spain
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Frozen chicken
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Salmonella
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Brazil
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26/8/03
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Sweden
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Hot paprika powder
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Sudan red 1 colour
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Lebanon
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27/8/03
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Germany
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Mutton stomach meal
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Salmonella meleagridis,
Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella
telaviv
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Turkey
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27/8/03
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Great Britain
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Swordfish meal
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Mercury, cadmium
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Indonesia
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27/8/03
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Belgium
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Squid
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Cadmium
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India
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27/8/03
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Germany
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Pistaccio in shell
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Aflatoxins
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Iran*
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27/8/03
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Netherlands
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Peanuts
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Aflatoxins
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Nicaragua
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27/8/03
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Germany
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Whole chicken egg powder
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Nitrofuran (metabolite)
Furazolidone (AOZ)
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India
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27/8/03
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Austria
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Chicken eggs
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Difloaxin
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Germany
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27/8/03
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Germany
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Peaches
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Phosmet
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Spain
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28/8/03
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Sweden
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Complete food for egg laying hens
Feniks Skal & Aniagra 2
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Narasin
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Sweden
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29/8/03
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Germany
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Lptafarma fennel, anise and kumyss tea in bags
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Samonella agona
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Germany
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29/8/03
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Germany
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Shell-less hazelnuts
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Aflatoxins
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Turkey
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29/8/03
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Netherlands
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Shell-less peanut
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Aflatoxins
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USA
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29/8/03
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Belgium
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Hazelnut paste
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Alfatoxins
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Turkey
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29/8/03
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Germany
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Animal feed of sunflower oil
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Salmonella
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Austria
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a) Over the same period, eight additional warnings were received about
aflatoxin findings in
pistaccio from Iran.
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News (monthly) Croatian National
Institute of Public Health
ISSN 1333-0608
Editor-in-chief: Assist.Prof. Marija
Strnad, MD, MPH, PhD
Editor and co-ordinator: Mario Troselj, MD
Editorial Board: Bernard Kaic, MD; MSc Verica Kralj, MD; Jasminka
Tunukovic, MD; Andreja Barisin, MD
Translator: Vilim Crlenjak, BA
Graphic design: Mario Hemen, EE
Publisher: Croatian National Institute of Public Health
Rockefellerova 7, 10000 ZAGREB, CROATIA
Tel: 385 1 48 63 222
Fax: 385 1 46 83 002
www.hzjz.hr e-mail:
hzjz@hzjz.hr
More
information on:
webmaster@hzjz.hr
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