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Understanding Young Living: Can You Really Make Money With Young Living?
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Young Living is a Muli-Level Marketing company founded in 1993 offering essential oils and other related products. Additionally, they offer a business or income opportunity for those interested in marketing the company or their products to make an income stream. Something I think is neat is Young Living also has a non-profit organization that helps communities and families in impoverished areas in Ecuador, Croatia, and Uganda.

The Thing:

Young Living has a ton of products available based around essential oils. Some of the items they offer are Aroma Oils, Massage Oils, Diffusers, Oral Care Products, Healthy Cooking Oils, Animal Care Oils, Home Purification Oils, and of course accessories to carry your oils.
1. Idaho Blue Spruce – This oil is designed to relax both mind and body and sells Retail value for $37.83.
2. Animal Shampoo – No Kidding. This product contains several different oils including YLTG oil formulated by D. Gary Young and sells Retail Value for $20.72.
3. Thieves Fresh Essence Mouthwash – This mouthwash is designed to thoroughly clean your mouth and comes in Spearmint and Peppermint flavor, selling 8 oz Retail Value for $14.47.
It’s important to note, Young Living offers several different types of products! The categories of products and actual product in which I explained are far from all Young Living has to offer!

The Opportunity:

The question still remains; can you really make money with Young Living? In order to answer this question, we must look into their compensation plan!

There are 3 Main payouts for people affiliated with Young Living such as Fast Start Bonus, Start Living Bonus, and Retail Earnings.
1. Fast Start Bonus – You can earn 25% on your first-level personally enrolled distributors’ orders during the first three months of being a member. You can also earn an additional 10% on your second-level personally enrolled distributors’ orders.
2. Start Living Bonus – Each time you enroll a distributor with a Premium Starter Kit, you can earn a one-time $25 cash bonus.
3. Retail Earnings – With this payout you’ll be able to earn the 24% difference between the Retail and Wholesale price for the orders of your personally enrolled retail customers.
To Conclude, Yes, You Can Make Money With Young Living!

The Cost:

For some, this is the most important question that has to be answered before even considering joining this business! I would be more than happy to be the provider of that answer!

But first, understand that if you want to get involved with Young Living and begin making money, what you are doing is opening up your own business from home! All businesses require some type of start-up fee! However, in the world of Multi-Level Marketing, the price is generally much cheaper in comparison to a traditional type company. For example, in a traditional type business, such as Construction, you could spend around $5,000 to $10,000 just getting the thing started! In this industry, you likely will spend far less than that! Since we have been able to get that understood, let’s move on.

In order to become involved and get started with Young Living, you will need to purchase a Starter Kit! They have several starter kits available; I will give a brief explanation of three of them!
1. Basic Starter Kit – $45.00. This kit includes one 5ml Stress Away Oil, AromaGlide Roller Fitment, 10 Sample Packets, 10 Love It? Share It! Business Cards, 10 Love It? Share It! Sample Oil Bottles, 2 NingXia Red 2-oz. samples, Product Guide and Product Price List, Essential Oil Magazine, Essential Edge, and member resources.
2. Thieves Premium Kit – $160.00. This kit is a specialty premium starter kit and includes 15-ml Thieves Oil, Thieves AromaBright Toothpaste, Thieves Fresh Essence Plus Mouthwash, 2 Thieves Cleaner, 2 Thieves Foaming Hand Soap, 2 Thieves Spray, 2 Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier, and everything included in the Basic Starter Kit mentioned above.
3. NingXia Premium Kit – $170.00. This kit is also a specialty premium kit and includes NingXia Red 2-Pack, 30 NingXia Red Single Oils, NingXia Nitro, and everything includes in the Basic Started Kit above.
Final Thoughts:

The products offered by Young Living are interesting and definitely have some kind of originality to them. They also have a ton of products to choose from!

The business opportunity is something you can definitely make money from. However, in my opinion, I believe their compensation plan is kind of weak in a comparison level to other companies in which I have done reviews over. If you know exactly what you are doing and are a professional Network Marketer, you will do fine with this company and even prosper. However, if you are a total newbie and have no idea how to generate massive income from Network Marketing, you will have difficult times making money in this company.

The cost is overall pretty inexpensive. Their Basic Starter Kit is only $45.00 and their most expensive kit is $260.00. That means, you can start a business and begin generating income all from home for a little under $300.00, which is awesome!

*Dustin Hale is NOT affiliated with Young Living or their business/income opportunity

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Source by Dustin Hale

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July 27, 2022
Why Customer Concentration Impacts a Business Sale Transaction
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Few owners recognize the major impact that customer concentration has on the sale of their business. Customer concentration represents a significant obstacle and will affect the salability, valuation, and deal structure of a business-for-sale transaction. Not only will it create problems in qualifying buyers but it will impact the ability for any prospective purchaser to obtain third party financing to complete the acquisition. Determining if customer concentration is present in an enterprise is a critical element of the succession planning process.

Customer concentration is a situation when one customer represents a significant portion of revenues or when the business has a very small customer base. Based upon the expert one consults, the exact percentage for a concentration to exist varies. In most cases it is recognized when one customer represents more than 10% of sales or when the top five customers comprise greater than 25% of a company’s revenue. In either situation, a huge risk is created from the lack of diversification and steps to mitigate it should be taken years in advance of a planned business exit.

When evaluating a business sale it is important for an owner to recognize that their client base has a significant impact on the enterprise value of the company. A broad and diverse base of customers where there are a large number of clients contributing to the business’ revenue will achieve a higher transaction value as it reduces the risk that a sizable decrease in earnings will occur if any one customer is lost or a particular industry segment that the business serves encounters economic distress.

In addition to a lower sales price, businesses with customer concentration issues are more difficult to market for sale. For main street business transactions (those with adjusted earnings of less than $2mm) third party financing is used in the majority of cases. Businesses with high levels of customer concentration are very difficult to get financed. Lenders may provide only partial financing, offer sub-optimal terms, or decline the loan altogether. In situations where third party financing is not available, the pool of available buyers is significantly restricted and the terms of a deal could be heavily weighted on a contingent earn-out based on retaining the revenues derived by the largest customers. “Typically we want no customer concentration over a 10% level when considering financing an acquisition. Higher levels are possible with much more explanation and supporting documentation but remain a major concern” states Steve Mariani, President of Diamond Financial Services.

Lastly, customer concentration will have a direct impact on the deal structure for the business sale transaction. Buyers will strive to bridge the customer concentration risk through a variety of delayed ‘performance based’ financing methods. For example: Assume both parties agree on a transaction price of $900,000 based upon $300,000 of adjusted earnings (a 3x multiple). If the key account in question represents $75,000 of the $300,000 this would represent $225,000 of the transaction price. A buyer will strive to isolate the $225,000 component to ensure that revenue is maintained post sale. After a period of 12 months, if the customer and income are still in place the seller would receive the funds. If the identified client and corresponding revenue was lost during this period, a pricing adjustment would be made.

In situations where the buyer is unable to obtain transaction financing due to customer concentration issues, the seller might have to accept a “contingent earn-out” for the revenues derived from the largest customers, or worse, they may also have to finance a major portion of the “non-contingent purchase price” negotiated with buyers.

Contingent payouts could be structured in a variety of methods:

Earn-Out:

Earmark part of the purchase price with payments made over a period of time contingent upon the retention of specific customers or achieving specific revenue targets.

Escrow:

A percentage of the acquisition price will be held in an escrow account for a specified time.

Seller-Financing:

The seller would be responsible for financing a major portion of the purchase price through a seller note. The seller note could be structured with contingencies for revenues derived from the largest customers.

With any of these deal structuring techniques, the seller cannot be expected to guarantee the revenue in perpetuity and if the transaction price is based upon retaining one or more key customers, the seller may require more active involvement in maintaining the client relationship during the term of the agreement. Obviously, this brings an additional complexity to the transaction.

In most cases, buyers will look to discount the amount they are willing to pay for a business (with high customer concentration) unless they receive assurances that the risk is low. While the obvious strategy to reduce customer concentration risk is to diversify and increase the business customer base, there are a number of situations where customer concentration either does not pose a significant risk or could be mitigated.

Customer Contracts:

Having a contract in place will not eliminate all of the risk of losing a key customer, but it will provide the buyer with security that the revenue and profits will continue after a change in ownership takes place. When customer contracts are involved, the ability to assign or transfer will be important to understand. In many cases, a stock sale vs. asset sale is elected to preserve these contracts.

Barriers to Entry or Exit:

Businesses could have intellectual property, product expertise, or patents that create competitive advantages barring competition. Others are located in geographically remote areas where the supply benefits discourage customers from changing the relationship. Lastly, there could be significant capital requirements for manufacturing and tooling or agency approvals (pharmaceutical or government contracting industry) that creates a barrier to entry from potential competitors.

Providing a Variety of Products and/or Services:

Having a broad relationship with a key customer where the relationship is not based solely on one product, one location, and one individual decreases the risk that a singular change will fundamentally impact the future revenue stream and continuity of the account.

Economies of Scale or Synergies:

The acquisition may be pursued by a strategic buyer where they are bringing new products/services to the enterprise, a broader geographic distribution footprint, or economies of scale in production. Any of these elements would assist in reducing the concentration of revenue risk that an identified key client would represent to the future organization.

Summary

Businesses which have high levels of customer concentration are inherently risky and it is important for the owner to appreciate this concern from the perspective of a potential acquirer. Ultimately, the buyer seeks only to retain the customers which have contributed to the success of the business and are factored in the valuation and transaction price. From the position of a buyer a few logical questions and concerns would be:
1. How does the value of the company change if a customer representing 10% or more of revenue and/or profits is lost in the first year?
2. How easy would it be for the client representing the customer concentration concern to leave the business?
3. What unique situations exist within the business to preserve the customer relationship in the years ahead?
4. What are the logical steps and corresponding costs to mitigate the customer concentration risk?
5. How do I achieve a win-win transaction? Protecting me, the buyer, against the risk of a near term revenue loss while providing the seller with the proper remuneration for the fair market value of their business?
While the risk may not be able to be totally eliminated, there are a number of situations where customer concentration is more palatable and a proper explanation should be provided to the buyer at the earliest opportunity. Getting out in front of this potential challenge is critical to achieve a win-win deal. When good communication exists, and two fair and reasonable parties are at the table, there are a number of structuring options available, when necessary, to mitigate the risk and negotiate a fair and reasonable transaction price. Obviously, the best approach for a prospective business seller would be to develop and implement plans to reduce any customer concentration elements years in advance of a business exit. Eliminating this type of risk is just sound advice for any small business owner regardless of whether a sale is contemplated.

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Source by Michael Fekkes

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July 25, 2022
5 Ways How Outdoor Adventure Relates To Entrepreneurship

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When I first braved myself to embark on the entrepreneurship journey, I was soon facing a daunting question: Do I have the qualities to be an entrepreneur?

I am purely an outdoor educator. There were numerous instances when people told me that this passion of mine will not bring me far. But here I am, until today, staying stubborn passionate with this hobby of mine.

So I did take a step back to analyse if I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur. And I found 5 key qualities. Here they are:

1. Decision Making

Being in the outdoors requires me to make decisions. This is especially so when I have a group of participants. There are countless decisions to make before, during and after a programme.

For example, have I sorted out all the contingency plans? Have I brought sufficient food and equipment?

As an entrepreneur, I have to make countless decisions. No one is there to tell you what to do.

2. Risk Taking

I have to be used to take risks in the outdoors. If I do not risk falling, I will not know how high I can climb. If I do not risk making a wrong decision at a junction, I will not know if that is even the correct path to take.

I have started out a few businesses. Some worked while some failed. But still, I will not have known all these if I had not tried.

3. Safety Mindedness

However, people often misunderstand that being a risk taker means that we do not bother about safety. In the outdoors, the safety factor has actually been considered multiple times.

A climbing rope, for example, could withstand about 12 times more than an average climber’s weight. Safety procedures are everywhere. Where there is none, we are taught to make conservative judgement calls.

The very reason why I do not focus only on one single business is based on the wise saying: Do not place ALL your eggs in one basket. There has to be a safety net.

4. Perseverance

This is a classic nature of an outdoor adventurer. We are used to toughing it out. We know that words don’t count without actions. And the effort required is normally superhuman. We are trained to go the distance.

No one ever said being an entrepreneur is easy. It took me 6 months before I made my first dollar. Thankfully I have been trained to persevere.

5. Creativity

Facing problems is a staple diet of an outdoor adventurer. No one day or one activity is the same. Hence, we have to always think outside the box. Speak about being a maverick. I myself am amazed at what I or my participants do to solve problems.

I started out with minimal capital. Hence, I needed to be creative in planning my effort, energy and money. Be creative in using the many Softwares work for me instead of the other way round.

These 5 qualities inherent in an outdoor adventurer definitely fits the bill of being an entrepreneur. Well, if you lucky, you could turn the passion into your profession. If not, you sure would have picked up enough tools to run a business!

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Source by Ahmad Bahktiar Othman

Views: 0

July 25, 2022
What Is Affiliate Marketing In A Nutshell?

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Affiliate marketing in a nutshell is you promoting other people's products and services in exchange of a share of commissions.

It can be digital products such as e-learning programs – which comprised of e-books in PDF, video courses, software tools and website templates – and physical goods as in things that people like you and me buy everyday from shops for consumer and entertainment purposes.

To sign up as affiliate is very simple. Simply do a Google search for affiliate programs and you will find dozens in the result listings. But from my 10 years of internet marketing experience, Amazon, ClickBank, Market Health and JVZoo are by far the most popular. While Amazon deals with consumer products, ClickBank and JVZoo specialize in digital ones I just mentioned above. Market Health – as its name implies – mainly focuses on healthcare products. Besides these, you can also promote services as well like autoresponder, domains registration and web hosting that most marketers need as their online tools to start their own online businesses.

While those companies focuses on rewarding you with commissions for every sale you generated for them, there are others who paid you for every lead you get for them whether or not that prospect buys. This comes under the term of Cost Per Action or CPA marketing. Never Blue and Peerfly are 2 most popular networks that stand out while you can also scout for others via Offer Vault and O'Digger CPA search platforms.

Upon signing up, you will be given a choice of whether you want to receive your commissions via checks or direct bank deposit depending on where you live. For ClickBank, you need to generate at least 5 sales before being issued a check and option of whether you want to continue receiving checks or direct deposits. For Amazon, you need to generate at least $ 100 in commissions before receiving a check if you are living outside US or have those same 2 options if you are American.

Once you are approved, you can start promoting their products and services. Because most of my 10 years has been spent on promoting Amazon and ClickBank, I will touch upon them. Now as much as it is important to learn and earn, you need to focus on who your target prospects are and how you can help them with their needs and wants. For Amazon, the answers are very obvious. I normally look for the best sellers, hot releases and products with at least 4-5 star ratings. But for ClickBank, I will look for those who pay commissions of at least $ 30 and with high gravity as in most affiliates promoting before I considered whether I should do the same as well.

Upon deciding on what to promote, I simply placed ads first through classified websites like Adlandpro, Adpost, Backpage, Craigslist and Gumtree for quick cash for a start. Then I focused on creating content for long-term passive income such as writing articles, blogging, e-books, press releases and videos.

For information products, I normally link them to my squeeze page and over time once they become my subscribers, I followed up with them on not just email promotions but content and links to my blog posts.

For physical products, that will be my affiliate sites I am sending my visitors to. But I do my best not to make my site look like an affiliate site but a really professional-looking e-commerce site using WordPress, Ink Themes and WooCommerce. So far I have promoted air purifiers, digital cameras, guitars, kindles, robot toys and seasonal gifts like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Chinese New Year.

Now with emergence of Facebook as an all-in-one social media and marketing platform, I now channeled my time and efforts towrds it. Such as fanpages, groups and ads which enable me to target my ideal prospects on based on their age, gender, interests and earning potential based on their occupations.

On the whole, affiliate marketing is like referral marketing but done mostly online and can still earn you a great long-term passive income if you know how and what to do correctly and regularly. It is not a get rich quick scheme but a plan that helps you to earn long-term passively.

Even without meeting and even talking to people as compared to traditional marketing like direct sales and telemarketing.

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Source by Amuro Wesley

Views: 0

July 23, 2022
Habits – The Big Secret to Marketing Success

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What do you think you need more than anything else to attract more of your ideal clients?

Many people will say, "better information to show me how to do what works."

Others will say, "more motivation and drive to implement what I already know."

Another common answer is , "more time to fit marketing activities into my schedule."

And lots of people will say, "I need better goals and more clarity about what I want to achieve."

In writing this ezine / blog for the past 20 years I've talked about the importance of all of those.

But I'm finally understanding a factor that is much more important: good habits.

Over the past year, I've been a big advocate of the writings of James Clear. He writes a blog about success and habits. And he just came out with his first book, Atomic Habits, which is fantastic.

Even though James isn't a marketing expert, I'm convinced he's right when he says that the ultimate determinant of success is building positive habits.

This idea is simple but true: Self-employed professionals who establish regular marketing habits have a much better chance of succeeding than those who don't.

And the crazy thing is that the four items – information, motivation, time, and goals – I mentioned above don't actually make a huge difference.

Information. These days, we have access to more information about marketing than ever before in history. And much of it is free and instantly available through a Google or YouTube search.

The problem is that most of us have not established a regular habit of studying what we need to know to become better marketers. The information is useless unless we become proficient at implementing it.

And even if we pay good money for courses and programs, much of it goes to waste. I just learned recently online that 97% of people who buy a course online never complete it.

Motivation. If we measured motivation by intention, we are all motivated. Don't we all want and need to grow our businesses? But we keep getting distracted and don't follow through on our intentions. Again, the issue is poor habits.

Time. If only we had more of it. But unsuccessful marketers have just as much of it as the most successful ones. The key is that they dedicate more time to implementing regular marketing habits.

Goals. Nothing wrong with goals except that they are only a starting point for success. And they can get us stuck in the future, instead of doing what needs to be done today – the routine marketing habits that we perform every day or week.

"A habit or system beats a goal every time." – James Clear

The research is in and the conclusion is clear.

Establishing positive and consistent marketing habits have a bigger impact on marketing success than anything else.

We may have great information, high motivation, lots of time, and clear goals, but unless marketing activities are performed regularly and habitually, the chances of success are slim to none.

The question you should be asking is, "How do I start establishing better marketing habits?"

James's Atomic Habits goes to great lengths to share a multitude of ways to become an expert habit practitioner. So I highly suggest you get his book. It could be the most valuable 'marketing' book you'll ever read.

But let me also give you my perspective on what it takes to establish new marketing habits.

The C – SPAT Model

This is a model I came up with for one of my marketing programs.

Coaching or Context. A coach declares the game, how it is played and how to win at it. And this creates the context in which you play the game. It helps if you have an outside source that can hold you accountable to play by the rules necessary to succeed.

This principle is why when you're working with a coach or in a program that you suddenly find it's easier to take action and form positive habits. The context of the game helps shape your behaviors.

Notice that all professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants go through rigorous training in the form of a professional school and internship. And in this context, professional habits and protocols are established.

As independent professionals, we'd all prefer to do things on our own, charting our own direction. That's nice, except that it doesn't always work very well, does it?

Study. A big part of the game is study and learning the body of knowledge necessary to perform effectively. Again, the information required to be an effective marketer is readily available, but you need some assistance in sorting the wheat from the chaff and studying what is most useful.

Planning. All successful marketing needs a plan. The alternative is implementing random marketing activities with little structure and direction. So it's not how much you know, but how you put what you know into action.

Action. Success doesn't come from being busy or doing a lot of things, but in doing the right things at the right time. This is where establishing regular marketing habits comes in.

To some, it might be writing an article once or twice a week. For others, it may mean setting up more meetings with networking contacts. Or it could be booking regular speaking engagements.

The secret to making this work is to leverage the first three steps of the model – Coaching, Study, and Planning, into marketing Actions that you perform as consistently as possible.

Tracking. What gets measured gets done. And when we fail to measure, habits don't tend to stick. When we measure and track habits, the chances increase dramatically that they are performed consistently.

It can take some time to establish positive habits. You know that's happened when you don't even have to think about it anymore; you just sit down and write that article every Monday or make five calls to prospects every week.

And when you're in action like this, you create a feedback loop, learning what works the best and what doesn't. This enables you to fine-tune and adjust over time until your marketing habits become more established.

So, stop putting so much attention on searching for the "perfect" marketing strategy, getting motivated, finding more time, and setting goals.

Instead, use the C – SPAT approach to establishing positive marketing habits.

Cheers, Robert

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Source by Robert Middleton

Views: 0

July 23, 2022
How Listening Is Beneficial for MLM Businesses

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All MLM businesses can benefit from listening on social media. Good listening skills are hard to come by especially in business. Many people just want to spread their message as far as they can without taking time to listen. This is where you can gain an advantage. When you monitor your messages and respond. It shows your prospective leads that you are looking out for them.

Most times it will take active listening and reading skills to discover data for your business. Most MLM businesses are missing out on engaging with prospects because they don't or can't devote the time to follow any comments. Not all comments left on your content is acceptable. Sometimes it's spam and other times it's extremely off topic. Delete them and engage with the responses that you want too. Be personable and helpful if you can. Try to avoid being argumentative with any commentator. This will only hurt you. Let other people respond in the manner that makes you look good.

Make your business shine among the MLM businesses starlight.

Who doesn't want to shine and be successful? However, most MLM businesses are competing for the limelight. They don't realize they are hurting their bottom line. People will jump from one opportunity to another if it glows brightly enough. However, your end goal is to create and retain top talent. Your campaigns are asking for the best to join your team. If not, then you may want to change strategies. Prospects want tools and data to help them in life. They need to feel special, they want to feel safe and prosperous in a world that doesn't care.

Be careful as you generate content. Never leave a false promise in the material. You can glow among the MLM businesses as long as you listen, engage and respond to your prospective leads. As you respond you can other educational content or tools as you type out your reply. Be encouraging and honest but don't be a doormat either. Trolls will always be there and won't see the other side of the story. Don't be afraid to share content from your team as well. This can help open doors to newbies who are just starting out. Often times prospects will leave a little clue behind that you can write or create a video about. If in doubt, do a faq infographic that is fun and informative. This could break the ice for many people who are watching in the background.

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Source by David L. Feinstein

Views: 0

July 23, 2022
Amcham supports gov’t plan to enforce S17A of the MACC Act 2009

KUALA LUMPUR: The American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) supports the Malaysian Government plan to enforce S17A from June 2020 to bring the level of compliance by Malaysian companies on par with that of the United States and the rest of the developed world.

It said, the Malaysian Government introduced corporate liability for companies committing acts of bribery through Section 17A of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission Act 2009, which was in line with the requirements of Article 26 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

“As a reflection of Malaysia’s commitment to the UNCAC, Section 17A is to come into effect next month, given the concern about the seriousness of problems and threats posed by corruption to the stability and security of society, the undermining of institutions and values of democracy, and the jeopardizing of sustainable development of the economy.

“These prohibitions reflect the provisions of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 and are the terms on which all US companies conduct business,“ said Amcham in a statement.

It pointed out that there should not be any delay or suspension in the implementation of such key legislation, especially in these times of economic turmoil when businesses and consumers need certainty, especially to ensure that prices are not inflated due to corrupt acts or lax enforcement of the law. — Bernama

Read More
https://www.thesundaily.my/local/amcham-supports-gov-t-plan-to-enforce-s17a-of-the-macc-act-2009-FL2386430

Views: 0

May 9, 2020
INFOSAN Quarterly Summary, 2020 #1

Food safety incidents

During the first quarter of 2020, the INFOSAN Secretariat was involved in 38 food safety incidents involving 109 WHO Member States and 9 territories of WHO Member States. There were 25 incidents involving a biological hazard (Salmonella spp. [8], Listeria monocytogenes [5], Norovirus [3] Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli [2], Clostridium botulinum [2] Bacillus cereus [2], Cronobacter spp. [1], Shigella sonnei [1], unspecified biological hazard [1]), 6 involving an undeclared allergen (milk [3], peanut (1), egg [1], gluten [1]), 5 involving a physical hazard (undetermined foreign matter [2], glass [1], metal [1], plastic [1]), one involving a chemical/toxin hazard (histamine), and one linked to an unspecified hazard.

The food categories that were most commonly involved in the 38 incidents during the first quarter of 2020 involved fish and other seafood (8), herbs and spices (4), legumes and pulses (4), milk and dairy products (3), nuts and oilseeds (3), snacks, desserts and other foods (3), cereals and cereal-based products (2), composite food (2), fruit and fruit products (2), meat and meat products (2), vegetables and vegetable products (2), products of special nutritional use (1), and food for infants and small children (1). One incident involved an unknown food source.

During such international food safety incidents, the INFOSAN Secretariat relies on the swift action of national INFOSAN Emergency Contact Points to respond to requests for information. Rapid sharing of information through INFOSAN enables members to implement appropriate risk management measures to prevent illness in their respective countries.

Geographic scope

The outlined incidents involved Member States from all WHO regions: Europe (39), followed by the Americas (24), Africa (24), the Western Pacific (18), the Eastern Mediterranean (8) and South-East Asia (6).

Recall in several countries of frozen spring roll sheets from Singapore due to the presence of an undeclared allergen

In February 2020, the INFOSAN Secretariat was notified by the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and INFOSAN colleagues in Australia of a recall in Australia and several European countries of frozen spring roll sheets due to the detection of an undeclared allergen (milk), imported from Singapore. In collaboration with RASFF, the INFOSAN Secretariat was informed that the implicated frozen spring roll sheets were distributed internationally to 46 Member States from four WHO regions and 4 territories in Europe and the Western Pacific. Moreover, through engagement with the INFOSAN Emergency Contact Point (ECP) in Singapore, the INFOSAN Secretariat also received details of further distribution of implicated products to additional WHO Member States from all WHO regions, taking the total number of Member States involved to 65. It was also reported that the products involved had been redistributed by some countries to Europe, the Americas and Africa. Consequently, several countries recalled the implicated products to relabel them and investigated the issue to identify illnesses related to the consumption of the implicated frozen spring roll sheets. No illnesses were reported to the INFOSAN Secretariat.

This incident has highlighted undeclared allergens as an important category of hazards that can result in a largescale international response to implement risk management measures and prevent illness. In addition, it exemplified efficient communication among INFOSAN members and the Secretariat.

Outbreak of Listeriosis in the United States of America linked to enoki mushrooms imported from the Republic of Korea

In March 2020, the INFOSAN Secretariat was made aware by the United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of an outbreak of Listeriosis in the US linked to the consumption of enoki mushrooms, imported from the Republic of Korea. In total, 36 cases including 4 deaths have been reported in the US. Following investigations in Canada, carried out in collaboration with the US, the INFOSAN Secretariat was informed of 6 cases of Listeriosis between 2017 and 2019 in Canada potentially related by whole genome sequencing (WGS) to the ongoing outbreak in the USA. In addition, food isolates (from enoki mushrooms from the Republic of Korea) genetically associated with the cluster of cases have been collected in 2019 by authorities in Canada. The WGS information pertaining to the cases and food isolates were shared on the INFOSAN Community Website to assist the identification of cases in other countries.

The INFOSAN Secretariat engaged the INFOSAN Emergency Contact Point (ECP) in the Republic of Korea to seek details on any further international distribution of the implicated enoki mushrooms. Investigations are ongoing.

News & activities

Food Sector and the COVID-19 outbreak

On 31 December 2019, WHO was alerted to several cases of pneumonia of unknown origin in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The virus, a previously unknown coronavirus has been named SARS-CoV-2 and is the cause of the COVID-19 disease.

The WHO Epidemic Information Network (EPI-WIN) aims to share information tailored to specific sectors, including food and agriculture. The INFOSAN Secretariat has recently developed a guidance document for food businesses with regards to COVID-19 and food safety which is now available online. The guidance has also been disseminated through EPI-WIN and presented during two webinars.

Call for applicants: INFOSAN Train-the-Trainer Workshop

In February, the INFOSAN Secretariat issued a call for applications for the INFOSAN Train-the-Trainer workshop. With the constant growth of the network, and the increased need for training that this entails, the INFOSAN Secretariat, in collaboration with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), has announced this workshop which aims to increase the human resources available to train INFOSAN members on a range of INFOSAN-related topics, online or in-person. As a result, it is expected that the understanding of the roles and responsibilities of INFOSAN members will be improved, resulting in greater participation that will enhance speed and efficiency during the response to food safety emergencies at the global level. The INFOSAN Secretariat, together with CFIA, look forward to hosting this important workshop later this year.

Developing the new INFOSAN Community Website

The INFOSAN Community Website (ICW) continues to be an effective tool for the network to disseminate information during food safety emergencies. Over the past year, through the INFOSAN member survey, the Secretariat has gained a better understanding of how members use the ICW and how it can be improved to enhance information sharing. The information collected, together with the experience of members of the Secretariat, has provided numerous innovative ideas to guide the development of the new ICW. The Secretariat is pleased to announce that the competitive process to select the vendor that will develop the new INFOSAN Community Website has concluded and the work on the creation of the new ICW has begun.

Voice of an active network member

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https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/23-04-2020-infosan-quarterly-summary-2020-1

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May 9, 2020
Places around England compete to host underground nuclear waste dump

Businesses, individuals with land, and local governments are competing to host an underground nuclear waste facility in the UK, and receive a yearly £2.5 million incentive

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https://www.newscientist.com/article/2239623-places-around-england-compete-to-host-underground-nuclear-waste-dump/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home

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April 11, 2020
Lifting restrictions ‘too quickly’ could lead to deadly resurgence of Covid-19: WHO

GENEVA: World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned here on Friday that lifting restrictions “too quickly” could lead to a deadly resurgence of Covid-19, Xinhua news agency reported.

Noting at a regular press briefing that “some countries are already planning the transition out of stay-at-home restrictions,“ the WHO chief warned that lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence.

“The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly,“ he said, underlining that the WHO is working with affected countries on strategies for gradually and safely easing restrictions.

Some European countries are already considering relaxing their restriction measures as they see a slowing trend in the number of Covid-19 infections.

Austria, for instance, aims to gradually ease the exit restrictions and reopen shops and businesses from mid-April. Switzerland also suggested “the first relaxations” by the end of April.

The WHO chief stressed that decision of lifting restrictions should be made on the condition that transmission is controlled; that sufficient public health and medical services are available; that outbreak risks in special settings like long-term care facilities are minimised; that preventive measures are in place in workplaces, schools and other places where it’s essential for people to go; that importation risks can be managed; and that communities are fully aware and engaged in the transition.

Globally, nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 have now been reported to the WHO, as well as more than 92,000 deaths. — Bernama

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https://www.thesundaily.my/world/lifting-restrictions-too-quickly-could-lead-to-deadly-resurgence-of-covid-19-who-IB2245956

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April 11, 2020