A recent workshop funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified several crucial working areas for mitigating the public’s exposure to toxic metals from the U.S. food supply, which is a pressing food safety issue. The workshop was conducted as part of the “Closer to Zero” initiative to address such exposure, in which USDA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other federal agencies are involved.
U.S. President Joe Biden recently signed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which allocates $25.480 billion in total base discretionary funding for U.S. agencies that are responsible for agriculture and food safety, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) has released 2021 epidemiological reports for common foodborne illnesses listeriosis, campylobacterosis, hepatitis A infection, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infection, salmonellosis, and yersinosis.
A recent China–Australia collaborative review examined similarities and differences in the food safety risk assessment systems of China, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, and the U.S., with the aim of identifying areas that could support improvements to the Chinese system.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has determined the food safety of plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) when produced by a recycling process called Poly Recycling for use in food contact materials.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA’s AMS) has found the majority of fruits and vegetables in the U.S. to contain pesticide residues below the tolerances established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the agency’s Pesticide Data Program (PDP) summary for 2021.
On December 23, 2022, the Senate voted to confirm Dr. Jose Emilio Esteban as the USDA's Under Secretary for Food Safety. The action came on the last day before the 177th Congress expired.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has announced that January 1, 2026 will be the uniform compliance date for new meat and poultry product labeling regulations published January 1, 2023–December 31, 2024.