Taking two steps forward in the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), on July 26 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released new proposed rules for verifying foreign suppliers and accrediting third-party auditors.
Rival companies dropped their competitive guard momentarily to discuss food safety and changes in wash systems as Earthbound Farm opened its doors to them. Representatives of SmartWash Solutions, Taylor Farms, Ready Pac Foods, Field Fresh Foods, Club Chef and Yum! Brands attended a plant tour and meeting July 25 at the San Juan Bautista, CA-based organic grower-shipper.
This news is no red herring — the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported on July 26 that Zip International Group LLC of Edison, NJ, is recalling 400-gram plastic packages of herring fillet in oil (marketed under the brand names Fosforel and Atlantika) due to Listeria contamination.
The European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) scientific experts have provisionally concluded that for all population groups, diet is the major source of exposure to bisphenol A (BPA). The agency added that consumers' exposure to BPA is lower than EFSA estimated previously.
As of July 22, 2013, CDC had been notified of more than 250 cases of Cyclospora infection in residents of multiple states, including Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Wisconsin, Georgia and Connecticut. Illinois and Kansas have also notified CDC of one case each that may have been acquired out of state but in the United States.
The 100K Genome Project, led by the University of California, Davis, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and Agilent Technologies, announced on July 22 that it has added 20 newly completed genome sequences of foodborne disease-causing microorganisms to its public database.
FSIS is making available a list of test kits that have been validated for detection of relevant foodborne pathogens (i.e. Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria spp. including L. monocytogenes, and non-O157 STECs). The list is informational, not an endorsement or approval of any particular method.
The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Board of Directors has approved the launch of a new food traceability center designed to protect and improve our global food supply. The Global Food Traceability Center will serve as an authoritative, scientific and unbiased source for food traceability.
RSS