In the debut installment of the Food Safety Five Newsreel, we discuss an ongoing multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli infections linked to onions served at McDonald’s restaurants. The episode also takes a look at legislation passed in California that marks the country’s first mandatory food date labeling reforms.

XENON’s new stainless steel washdown lamp housing is powered by Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) -based PUREPULSE technology, providing an eco-friendly and effective sanitization solution for food packaging processes.

Per a new agreement, Plastipak will purchase Avantium’s plant-based, recyclable polyethylene furanoate (PEF) polymer to manufacture beverage and food packaging for distribution in the U.S.

This article focuses on one of the three branches within the newly created U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Human Foods Program—the Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements, and Innovation—and its potential impact on food packaging.

Recently signed into law, California Assembly Bill 660 standardizes the use of “Best if Used By” and “Use By” dates on food labels, and prohibits the use of “Sell By” and other, inconsistently used dates. 

U.S. Senators Edward Markey and Cory Booker recently wrote a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the agency to revoke its authorization for phthalates in food contact materials, arguing that the chemicals are proven to be toxic. 

To understand the full extent of human exposure to all food contact chemicals, the Food Packaging Forum has created the FCChumon Database, which documents for the first time hundreds of chemicals found in humans, and which of those are hazardous or have unknown toxicity.

A recent study explored how the use of uniform, threshold-based precautionary allergen labeling could increase food safety for allergic consumers, as well as enhance the number of foods available to them on the market. 

With relation to circular agri-food production models, a recent article authored by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) experts has explored the current and emerging risks, data gaps, and opportunities for food safety.

IFCO has launched a new innovation called Marina, a reusable fish crate that uses Bluetooth and QR codes to enable real-time data collection for cold chain management, and offering a sustainable alternative to single-use expanded polystyrene (EPS) boxes.