The National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) today announced that it will host a public meeting Jan. 7-8, 2014 to review and discuss safe handling instructions included on food labels. At that meeting, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will also seek feedback on its Establishment-Specific Data Release Strategic Plan.
In conjunction with its recently proposed rule, "Focused Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration," the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Dec. 24 released an updated version of the Food Defense Mitigation Strategies Database (MSD). The Database provides a range of preventive measures that food companies may choose to implement to better protect their facility, personnel, products, and operations from intentional contamination.
The Board of Directors of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) on Dec. 20 announced that the IFS PACsecure Standard Version 1 has been successfully benchmarked by GFSI and has achieved recognition against the GFSI Guidance Document Sixth Edition. The IFS PACsecure Standard has been recognized against the M Production of Food Packaging scope.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it will revise sweeping new food safety rules proposed earlier this year after farmers complained the rules could hurt business
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today proposed a rule that would require the largest food businesses in the U.S. and abroad to take steps to prevent facilities from being the target of intentional attempts to contaminate the food supply. The FDA will hold a public meeting on the proposed rule on Feb. 20, 2014, in College Park, MD.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today posted an Investigation Update on the multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg infections linked to Foster Farms brand chicken that was initially reported in early October. To date, 416 individuals have been affected, from 23 states and Puerto Rico.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today announced that new Directives are available on Verifying Compliance with Requirements for Written Recall Procedures; Ante-Mortem, Postmortem Inspection of Equines and Documentation of Inspection Tasks; and Safe and Suitable Ingredients Used In the Production of Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products.
The European Commission on Dec. 18 adopted three draft laws on animal cloning and on novel food "to provide legal certainty in this field." The proposals seek to prohibit the use of the cloning technique in the European Union (EU) for farm animals, importing of animal clones, and marketing of food from animal clones.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today announced that on Friday, Jan. 10, from 2 to 3 p.m. (EST), they will present a webinar on progress toward attributing foodborne illnesses to food sources. The webinar is open to the public at no charge.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) today published a scientific opinion paper, written by the agency's Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ), which reviews various molecular typing methods for the four major foodborne pathogens (Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Listeria and Campylobacter) and evaluates the effectiveness of those methods.