Contamination Control

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The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recently published a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbial Risk Assessment (JEMRA) report on commodity specific prevention and control measures for microbial hazards in fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Expanded Food Safety Investigation Act (EFSIA) was recently reintroduced to U.S. Congress. If passed, the bill would allow U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigators to enter concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and conduct microbial sampling to trace foodborne illness outbreaks.

California Assembly Bill 418, also called the California Food Safety Act, which aims to prohibit four food additives from being used or sold in the state due to associated health risks, recently passed the state Senate and is waiting to be signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.

To inform the European Commission’s decision on whether to establish maximum levels for mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) in certain foods, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently published an update of its risk assessment on dietary exposure to the chemicals.

A recent study aiming to investigate the usefulness of publicly available whole genome sequencing (WGS) data for Salmonella surveillance has provided an overview of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among different serovars and defined the most common antibiotic resistance genes.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we are joined by Darin Detwiler, LP.D., M.A.Ed., who is a food safety academic, advisor, advocate, and author with a 30-year history of working to control foodborne illness. Dr. Detwiler discusses the U.S. food safety system as portrayed in the 2023 Netflix documentary Poisoned, in which he is prominently featured. Additionally, Bob Ferguson discusses his latest Food Safety Insights column on food processors’ post-pandemic priorities and challenges.

A recent study carried out environmental monitoring programs (EMPs) for Listeria monocytogenes at three food production facilities in Japan with the aim of developing EMPs that are relevant to Japanese food businesses and to encourage more widespread adoption of EMPs.

Researchers from Kao Corporation have developed a long-lasting skin coating agent that kills pathogens on the hands, paving the way for new hand hygiene solutions that could potentially help food handlers prevent cross-contamination. 

Titanium dioxide has been removed from the list of chemicals that would be banned as food additives under California Assembly Bill 418, which was recently named the California Food Safety Act.

The Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) will hold a meeting on September 18–22, 2023 in Rome, Italy to discuss food attribution, analytical methods, and indicators of viruses in foods.