Inspection

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Following the high-profile, fatal listeriosis outbreak linked to Boar’s Head ready-to-eat (RTE) deli meats that prompted an internal review of USDA-FSIS processes, the agency has announced several new steps to strengthen its oversight of RTE facilities, including expanded Listeria rule requirements and stricter state-federal cooperative inspection agreements.

The Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) is introducing a new, more systematic model for evaluating food control and follow-up activities, which is based on an index that weighs several indicator criteria.

A recent survey of Finnish municipal food inspectors has provided insight into the challenges inspectors face when trying to control food businesses that repeatedly violate food safety regulations, and suggested possible methods for motivating businesses to take corrective actions.

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.

Following the history of serious food safety noncompliances at Boar’s Head’s Jarratt, Virginia plant, which led to a fatal listeriosis outbreak, USDA’s Inspector General has launched an internal investigation into the agency’s handling of the repeated sanitary violations found at the facility.

The European Commission’s annual report on EU Member States’ official food safety controls in 2022 highlighted successes, areas for improvement, and challenges.

Members of Congress have written a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) asking the agency to answer questions about its inspection actions leading up to the fatal Boar’s Head listeriosis outbreak, and about its authorities and processes for preventing such events.

Following a proof-of-concept trial with five major grocery chains, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is entertaining the idea of a new approach to national food hygiene regulation for large supermarket retailers, which would favor audit data monitoring over in-person inspections.

According to recently released U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection reports, in the year leading up to the deadly Listeria monocytogenes outbreak caused by Boar’s Head deli meats, serious noncompliances with food safety regulations were observed regularly at the facility responsible.

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has endorsed the Chartered Trading Standards Institute’s (CTSI’s) Professional Competency in Feed qualification route.