Recent research suggests a concerning overall presence of toxic heavy metals cadmium and lead among dark chocolate bars.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently highlighted various fellowship projects across Europe, providing insight into the recent and ongoing work of EFSA in the realm of food safety risk assessment for various chemical and microbiological hazards. 

A recent review of available scientific literature outlined the food safety aspects of edible insects and suggests that, when cooked or processed in certain ways, edible insects can be a safe food product.

A recent study has found pervasive, low levels of lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and phthalates in U.S. cannabidiol products. The study also demonstrated substantial inaccuracies of product label claims for CBD potency.

The IFT FIRST event offered several key takeaways impacting food safety, from topics and issues surrounding supply chain disruption and innovation to data standards and contaminants.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we interview Conrad Choiniere, Ph.D., Director of the Office of Analytics and Outreach at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), about his work leading FDA's Toxic Elements Working Group, as well as the agency’s efforts and considerations related to the Closer to Zero initiative, which aims to reduce the health risks posed by toxic elements in the U.S. baby food supply. We also review the results of FDA's Total Diet Study (TDS) related to toxic elements in baby food samples. 

Additionally, we spoke to Kruti Ravaliya, M.S., Consumer Safety Officer in the Division of Produce Safety at FDA's CFSAN, about how FDA intends to implement Subpart E of the Produce Safety Rule—the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Proposed Rule on Agricultural Water—including the recently extended compliance dates for pre-harvest agricultural water requirements. Finally, Bob Ferguson, President of Strategic Consulting Inc., speaks about his latest Food Safety Insights column on the projects and priorities that food processors put on hold during the pandemic and are now revisiting.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released its Total Diet Study Report for Fiscal Years 2018–2020.

In a new update, the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee says that testing practices for toxic heavy metals in baby foods are flawed.

As Chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, Congressman Krishnamoorthi initiated an investigation into toxic metals in baby food to find alarming levels from a variety of companies. In response, the Congressman has introduced the Baby Food Safety Act. In addition, the FDA responded to the Oversight investigation by introducing their “Closer to Zero” campaign, but the campaign does not go far enough nor fast enough.