In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we are joined by Dr. Lise Korsten—a leading researcher in the areas of food safety, water quality, and post-harvest intervention strategies for produce—to discuss her work to prevent microbial contamination of crops in Africa, global regulatory trends and future challenges affecting the food system, and the potential of emerging technologies to ensure food safety and security in an ever-changing world.
After finding that more than a third of water courses in England and Wales contain medium- to high-risk levels of per- and polyflouralkyl substances (PFAS), the Royal Society of Chemistry is calling upon the UK Government to enact stricter drinking water standards for the “forever chemicals.”
A nationwide study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has revealed that nearly half of all U.S. drinking water is contaminated by per- and polyflouralkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals.” Dietary exposure to PFAS is an issue of increasing concern due to the growing body of evidence regarding the chemicals’ harm to human health.
Livsmedelsverket, the Swedish Food Agency, recently published a handbook to help the producers of drinking water develop a plan for ensuring the safety of their product during times of crisis and war.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) have published a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) report on the safety and quality of water used in the production and processing of fish and fishery products.
Two reports by the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) have advised the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) on microbial testing of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods and the safety of recycled water in food production, respectively.
A group of 116 scientists, who are experts on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have written a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) to express concerns about the draft “Background document for development of WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality” regarding Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA).
A panel of experts have advised against assuming that all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are equally toxic and potent, also providing other opinions on PFAS grouping and risk assessment.
The Caribbean Public Health Agency will conduct an assessment in participating Caribbean countries to assess the impacts of unsafe food in the region, as well as to understand the Caribbean’s capacity to respond to and develop climate change-resilient food safety plans.
Cyber is the backbone for food and agriculture defense. Adversaries have the means, opportunity, and motivation to break the cyber backbone at will. If or when adversaries carry out an attack of large magnitude, the result could be a massive compromise of food safety, food defenses, and food security. To avoid that dark scenario, agriculture and food companies must properly prepare for a different kind of assault. The place to start is with their own cyber defense systems.
