Contamination of food, beverages, and water includes physical, chemical, and microbiological concerns, as well as allergens (the Big 9, formerly the Big 8).
Chemical contamination of food, beverages, and water include chemicals used in the growing or production of food, such as pesticides or veterinary drugs, as well as chemicals present in sanitizers, cleaning solutions, coatings, and packaging.
Physical contamination of food and beverages encompasses foreign material that makes its way into product at some point during growing, harvesting, storage, manufacturing, processing, or distribution.
Microbiological contamination of food encompasses bacterial pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli (E.coli), Salmonella, Cronobacter, and many other pathogens that can contaminate food at any point during the supply chain, causing foodborne illness. This category also includes foodborne parasites.
Allergens in food include the Big 9 (formerly the Big 8): milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat (gluten), soybeans, and sesame as of January 2023. Big 9 food allergens and residues in food are grounds for a Class 1 recall.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) is updating the methods it uses to analyze samples of FSIS-regulated products for certain chemical residues.
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) recently published limits for PFAS in animal feed that would prevent animal-derived foods from exceeding EU-regulated PFAS maximum levels.
Testing and sampling of raw dog and cat food sold at retail across the UK has shown a high prevalence of significant foodborne pathogens, putting pets and pet owners at varying risk of infection by different bacteria, according to the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA).
Researchers have developed a 3D-printed, microfluidic chip sensor that uses light to rapidly detect important foodborne pathogens at concentrations as low as 10 CFU/ml.
An innovative seal detection software has been developed by Ravenwood for its VXR® Vision Pack Inspection System—an end-of-line solution for analyzing contaminants and ensuring flawless linerless labels.
Consumer watchdog group Safe Food Advocacy Europe (SAFE) recently published a position paper calling upon the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to set legally binding limits for contaminant acrylamide in foods.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released new foodborne illness incidence data that show a lack of progress toward disease reduction goals—but that may be attributed to an increased use of culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs), which allows for the diagnosis of infections that previously would have gone undetected.
There's zero tolerance for birds inside your food processing plant. You want to humanely remove them and then utilize strategies to deter them from ever coming back. IFC can help.
Effective August 2, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revoked its authorization of the use of brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in food due to studies showing the potential for adverse health effects to humans.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has identified health risks of dietary exposure to dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), small organic arsenic species in food.
On Demand: From this webinar, attendees will learn how to implement a program to control allergens in food processing facilities and prevent allergen cross-contact.
On Demand: In this webinar, technical experts will explain what a system breach is, how to manage and reduce system breaches, and how to design breaches out of a system to help prevent pathogen contamination in dry and low-moisture environments.