According to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), recent cases of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli) could possibly be linked to leafy green vegetables--specifically arugula, chard, kale, lettuce and spinach.
The 2012 Retail Meat Report and the 2013 Retail Meat Interim Report--both released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week--reveal that the presence of Salmonella resistance to antimicrobials in meat sold in U.S. grocery stores is decreasing following a peak in 2009.
Austin “Jack” DeCoster (pictured left), owner of the now defunct Iowa-based Quality Egg LLC, and his son Peter DeCoster (pictured right) were both sentenced yesterday to 3 months in prison and 1 year of supervised released after Both defendants pleaded guilty in 2014 to a misdemeanor count of selling contaminated food across state lines.
The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDBA) is offering $2,000 annual reimbursements to their retail members as part of the Food Safety Certification Reimbursement Program (FSCRP).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 582 million cases of intestinal infection and 351,000 deaths in 2010--the most recent data available--were caused by foodborne viruses and bacteria. To help combat such widespread outbreaks and loss of life, there is much work being done to develop vaccines that fight some of the most common foodborne microbes.
Later this month, thousands of food safety professionals are expected to convene in Baltimore, MD for the 17th Annual Food Safety Summit, taking place April 28-30 at the Baltimore Convention Center.
As we continue to recognize World Health Day’s focus on food safety, it cannot be expressed enough how global an issue this is. In the U.S. alone, much of our food supply is imported from other countries--specifically 20 percent of of vegetables, half of our fresh fruit and a whopping 80 percent of our seafood.
In 2010, it was determined by the Congressional Budget Office that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would require $580 million from 2011 to 2015 to execute the demands of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). To date, Congress has allocated less than half of that amount to the cause, according to the New York Times.
As World Health Day approaches next week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is reasserting its commitment to reduce food waste by launching FoodKeeper--a new food app developed by the agency’s Food Safety and Inspection Service along with Cornell University and the Food Marketing Institute.