In an October 31 webinar, Jim Jones, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, provided insight into the work of the Human Foods Program and how budgetary constraints are affecting its work.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has officially named Taylor Farms onions served at McDonald’s as the source of the recent Escherichia coli outbreak, and has reported 90 illnesses, 27 hospitalizations, two cases of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, and one fatality.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Human Foods Program has published a list of priority work it intends to deliver upon in Fiscal Year 2025, spanning microbiological food safety, food chemical safety, and nutrition.
Testing has shown no sign of Escherichia coli contamination in McDonald’s Quarter Pounder beef patties, and traceback and epidemiological data have ruled out beef as the cause of the ongoing E. coli outbreak. Quarter Pounders have returned to the menu at affected McDonald’s locations—without slivered onions.
Amid the ongoing E. coli outbreak, Taylor Farms has been confirmed as the onion supplier to the affected McDonald’s locations. As a result, national restaurant chains are proactively pulling onions from their menus. FDA is still investigating whether onions are the vehicle of illness.
A foodborne illness outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders contaminated with Escherichia coli has caused 49 illnesses, ten hospitalizations, and one death in ten states. Slivered onions used on the sandwiches are the probable vehicle of illness.
As a result of Operation OPSON 2024—an EU-wide coordinated effort targeting fraudulent and counterfeit foods—22,000 tons of food and 850,000 liters of beverages, totaling €91 million, were removed from the market.
A recent study of genomic data for Campylobacter from 2009–2019 found a steep increase in human infections attributable to poultry, as well as a concerning rise in the proportion of multidrug-resistant isolates. Campylobacter isolates associated with poultry were found to harbor the most antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
A recent study analyzed U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food product recall data from 2002–2023, drawing conclusions from more than 35,000 product recalls.
Domestic sales of medically important antibiotics for use in food-producing chicken, turkey, cattle, and swine fell by 2 percent in 2023, according to the latest report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
