In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we discuss the top food safety stories of 2024 and their implications, including high-profile foodborne illness outbreaks, the ongoing avian flu outbreak in poultry and dairy cattle, FDA’s Human Foods Program restructuring, rising concerns and evolving legislation around food additives and chemical contaminants, and other topics.
In this bonus episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to two MilliporeSigma food safety regulatory experts about the significance of Escherichia coli and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) to food safety, as well as the importance of testing and the advanced testing solutions available for E. coli/STEC.
FDA has declared the outbreak of Escherichia coli infections linked to Grimmway Farms carrots to be over. Although the outbreak strain of E. coli did not match the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli strain found in environmental samples, traceback evidence implicates the recalled carrots as the vehicle of illness.
Development of a new microbiological risk assessment model, led by researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, could help the produce industry determine the best risk management strategies for a diverse range of production scenarios.
Salmonella illnesses in the U.S. in 2022 were attributed to a wide variety of foods, while Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes infections were mostly linked to two or three food groups, according to the Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration’s (IFSAC’s) latest foodborne illness source attribution report.
The EU One Health Zoonoses Report for 2023 shows that foodborne illnesses are rising in the EU, with listeriosis cases reaching their highest levels since 2007. Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) caused the greatest number of illnesses in 2023.
Recently concluded research funded by the Center for Produce Safety provides practical, immediately actionable insights that industry can integrate into their operations, ranging from sanitation best practices, to Salmonella and E. coli mitigation, to wild bird management, and more.
CDC has announced that the Escherichia coli outbreak linked to yellow onions distributed by Taylor Farms and served at McDonald’s restaurants to be over, and FDA has closed its investigation. However, the outbreak strain was not confirmed in any product or environmental samples.
A multistate outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O121:H19 infections linked to organic carrots has sickened 39 people, resulting in 15 hospitalizations and one death.
