A recent report from the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) provides an assessment of the efficacy of different control strategies for non-typhoidal Salmonella in broilers and chicken meat at primary production, processing, and post-processing.  

Research commissioned by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has provided insight to ongoing staffing issues experienced by UK food control authorities, and how recruitment and retention can be improved. FSA aims to take action on these findings. 

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we review the top food safety stories of 2023 and their implications, covering regulatory changes in the U.S. and abroad; growing concerns about chemical additives and contaminants, allergens, traceability requirements, infant formula, and retail foodservice safety; and the Poisoned documentary that premiered on Netflix in summer 2023.

Chile has become the first country in Latin America to implement a food control system assessment facilitated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the goal of which is to improve strategic planning and strengthen governance around food safety.

After reassessing the food safety of the popular zero-calorie sweetener erythritol, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has lowered the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for the additive and reported that, for all groups the EU included in the assessment, acute and chronic exposure to erythritol is above the newly set ADI.

With regard to the recently recalled, lead-contaminated applesauce packages that have caused lead poisoning among dozens of children, Jim Jones, Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), recently shared that the agency’s leading theory is economically motivated adulteration of cinnamon used in the products.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries recently held a public hearing to discuss the issue of labeling plant-based imitation fishery products, with some stakeholders likening current labeling practices to food fraud, and others arguing that labeling plant-based foods with words that evoke animal products is helpful to consumers.

A European multi-country foodborne illness outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes, in which ready-to-eat (RTE) fish is the suspected cause, has resulted in two deaths.

Campylobacter and Salmonella infections reported in the EU in 2022 remained below pre-pandemic (2018–2019) levels, according to the latest EU One Health zoonoses report, but the number of reported foodborne illness outbreaks increased by 44 percent in comparison to 2021.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has announced a public consultation for an application to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to permit the use of cultured quail cells as a novel food.