The SQF Institute (SQFI) intends to gather industry input at the upcoming SQF Unites conference to inform the creation of a new SQF edition, and has shared its process and proposed timeline for developing SQF Edition 10.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has filed two petitions by the Environmental Defense Fund, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, the Center for Environmental Health, and Environmental Working Group (EWG) to rescind its approvals for four carcinogenic chemicals used as food additives and color additives—benzene, trichloroethylene (TCE), methylene chloride, and ethylene dichloride.

Based on a recent risk assessment conducted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), European consumers’ dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic is a health concern, with associated effects including different types of cancer, birth issues, and other issues.

GlobalG.A.P. is undergoing the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) Benchmarking Process for two of its certification programs for produce and agriculture and has entered the stakeholder consultation phase, which is open until February 6, 2024.

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is inviting food businesses that are interested in applying for cell-based product authorization to complete a survey that will help the agency fine-tune its regulatory process and better understand the different cell-culture technologies in use by industry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has revised its instructions to inspection program personnel (IPP) for performing allergen formulation verification.

In Arizona, one recently introduced bill (House Bill 2244) aims to ban lab grown meat, and another (House Bill 2121) would prohibit labeling of meat alternatives and cell-based meat as “meat.”

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) issued 92 enforcement orders to businesses for breaches of food safety legislation in 2023, an increase of 19 percent from the 77 enforcement orders served in 2022.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently published a guidance for animal feed business operators on the information required when submitting a request for approval of a feed detoxification process, which can be used to reduce undesirable substances in a feed product to comply regulations and allow it to be placed on the market.

A fully automated assay to detect Cyclospora cayetanensis, developed under a Research Collaboration Agreement between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Rheonix, is now available to food and environmental testing laboratories, and has been proven to achieve consistent detection rates in samples of high-risk fresh produce with low levels of oocysts.