In a letter addressed to key U.S. congressional leaders, the Safe Food Coalition (SFC) expressed its opposition to the DIRECT Act, the PRIME Act, and the New Markets Act, which would lift prohibitions on the interstate sale of meat and poultry from state inspected facilities and allow commercial sales from uninspected “custom” slaughter facilities.

An Auburn University researcher has been awarded a patent for a color-changing sticker that goes on packaging and indicates when a meat product has spoiled.

Reliable test results for fresh poultry are a prerequisite for targeting interventions and improving processes. This article discusses the ongoing needs of the poultry industry regarding testing, methods, serotyping, and other concerns, including changes to the regulatory landscape.
 

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.

Hygiena’s Bax System PCR assay for Escherichia coli O157:H7/NM in raw meat products has been approved by Health Canada.

The FAO/WHO Joint Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) convened to review the most recent scientific literature regarding the control of Campylobacter on chicken meat. The experts emphasized the importance of a multi-hurdle approach in production and processing.

To encourage the use of Salmonella vaccines for poultry flocks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) intends to exclude current commercial vaccine subtypes of Salmonella confirmed in FSIS raw poultry samples from the calculation used to categorize establishments under the raw poultry Salmonella performance standards.

Following a series of court judgements on the legal definition of “mechanically separated meat” (MSM), the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published a guidance to provide clarity on MSM, and opened a public consultation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has published data on recalls and public health advisories issued in the case of a food safety incident in 2023.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) recently published a summary of the six foodborne illness outbreak investigations involving FSIS-regulated products that took place during Fiscal Year (FY) 2023.