The 54th session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) convened in Nairobi, Kenya on March 11–15, 2024 to discuss unresolved specifics of guidelines adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission during its 46th session in November 2023, as well as new work proposals.
The People’s Republic of China has released 47 new or updated standards in the Chinese National Food Safety Standards. USDA has provided an unofficial English translation of the announcement about the changes to the Standards.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has updated its guidance for calculating retained water in meat and poultry products. Establishments will have until September 30, 2024 to submit revised retained water protocols and until April 1, 2025, to make any necessary label changes.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its new Integrated Food Safety System Regulatory and Laboratory Training System (IFSS RLTS) Strategic Plan 2024–2028, and will hold a stakeholder call on April 2, 2024.
Designated by the European Commission, Denmark and Sweden have formed a public health consortium to jointly establish an EU reference laboratory or antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which will contribute to diagnostics and infection preparedness.
Addressing concerns around brominated flame retardants in the environment and food, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is updating its decade-old risk assessments on different families of the chemicals. EFSA has launched a public consultation regarding the draft scientific opinion on the update of the risk assessment of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and its derivatives in food.
Regulated food and feed products require authorization before they can be sold in the UK. The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has proposed reforms to its Regulated Products Service (RPS), for which the agency has launched a public consultation.
FDA has partnered with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to expand the focus of the Global Business Identifier (GBI) Test, which is examining how identifiers—unique numbers that capture information about legal business entities and their functions—can be leveraged to address a range of supply chain traceability needs.