The University of Vermont Extension’s Northeast Center to Advance food Safety (UVM’s NECAFS) has released a series of factsheets on produce safety in hydroponic and aquaponic operations for educators, regulators, and producers. The new factsheets guide readers through produce safety considerations specific to hydroponic and aquaponic operations.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has announced that it is accepting applications from eligible organizations seeking funding through the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops Program (TASC) for fiscal year 2024.

Eight global companies and organizations representing more than 15 percent of global broiler production have adopted the International Poultry Council (IPC)’s antimicrobial use stewardship principles.

A study conducted by Washington State University researchers found that high winds increased the prevalence of Campylobacter among outdoor chicken flocks.

To make educational materials more relevant to fruit and vegetable growers and packers, the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) and personnel from the Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety (NECAFS) at the University of Vermont would like to understand the costs of and the barriers to beginning or expanding food safety practices on farms and in packinghouses. The groups have developed a survey to collect food safety information from fruit and vegetable growers across the U.S.  

To help growers mitigate food safety risks posed by wild birds, an ongoing study funded by the Center for Produce Safety is examining the prevalence of different species in agriculture and whether they carry and transmit foodborne pathogens.

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service are using a bioplastic coating to naturally shield seeds from Aspergillus, a type of fungi that produces aflatoxin. Exposure to aflatoxins is a food safety issue due to the compound’s carcinogenic and other harmful effects.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture and its partners have developed an online, animated tool with learning modules to help growers comply with the sanitation requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule.

The Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (Arizona LGMA) Food Safety Committee has approved multiple changes to its food safety standards for the 2022–2023 growing season.

A study has demonstrated the economic impacts of foodborne illness outbreaks on supply chains by observing the damages caused by the 2018 Escherichia coli outbreak that was linked to romaine lettuce grown in California.