Members of Congress have written a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) asking the agency to answer questions about its inspection actions leading up to the fatal Boar’s Head listeriosis outbreak, and about its authorities and processes for preventing such events.

In this bonus episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Dr. José Emilio Esteban and Sandra Eskin, USDA-FSIS’s Under Secretary for Food Safety and Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, respectively, about the agency’s proposed Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products.

In response to a FOIA petition submitted to USDA by the Associated Press, the agency chose to withhold the requested Boar’s Head inspection and enforcement reports on the grounds that they were being compiled for law enforcement purposes related to the recent listeriosis outbreak.

A recent study has demonstrated that current sampling and testing methods for Campylobacter may overlook epidemiologically-important strains. The researchers suggest using optimized culture methods and analyzing multiple isolates per sample.

In this bonus episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Scott Gustin, M.S., Technical Advisor for Elanco Animal Health, about the crucial role that farm biosecurity plays in ensuring food safety, best practices for farm personnel, and the future landscape of biosecurity.

According to recently released U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection reports, in the year leading up to the deadly Listeria monocytogenes outbreak caused by Boar’s Head deli meats, serious noncompliances with food safety regulations were observed regularly at the facility responsible.

A recent European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) project explored new methods to understand the immunotoxicity of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). At the same time, one Swiss canton has called on Parliament to develop a PFAS action plan after finding widespread contamination on farms, and has banned the sale of beef with high levels of the chemical.

USDA has released an updated guideline to strengthen animal-raising and environment-related label claims on meat and poultry products, such as “raised without antibiotics.” Due to specific concern over negative antibiotic claims, USDA may undertake future sampling and rulemaking to ensure label claims are truthful.

The world could be rendered defenseless against the next global pandemic if antimicrobial use in Southeast Asian animal agriculture is not curbed, researchers from RMIT University have warned.

Following a survey of 3.2 million pigs raised under the U.S. Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA+) program, USDA has announced a total absence of Trichinella infections in the national pork supply—a parasite that was once a major food safety risk, but is now controlled.