The UK Government is proposing the addition of several foodborne and waterborne viruses, bacteria, and parasites to the list of notifiable causative agents under the Health Protection Notification Regulations, for which laboratories testing human samples are required to report positive test results.
Weather conditions associated with climate change are exacerbating the spread of Salmonella and Campylobacter, suggest researchers at the University of Surrey’s School of Veterinary Medicine.
In Canada, the presence of Salmonella in raw, frozen and breaded chicken products, as well as human salmonellosis cases, decreased significantly after a specific requirement for these products was implemented in 2019, according to a recent study.
A house cat in Oregon has died from eating raw cat food contaminated with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 (HPAI H5N1), and a product recall was initiated. Additionally, cats in California contracted HPAI H5N1 from different raw pet food.
A recent study estimated the economic impact of foodborne campylobacterosis contracted from chicken consumption in Australia to be more than $110 million USD annually, with chicken consumption linked to 30 percent of all Campylobacter infections recorded in the country.
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.
Boar’s Head has responded to a letter from 22 members of Congress probing the company about the recent, fatal listeriosis outbreak linked to its products. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), who signed the letter, called Boar’s Head’s response “not credible” and “a classic corporate dodge.”
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.
Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have discovered the ability of an amino acid to inhibit Clostridium perfringens spore formation in the human gut, a process that causes foodborne illness.
The latest UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) has been published by the UK Government. A trend noted in the report is that, despite Campylobacter causing the most foodborne illnesses, outbreak detection is hindered by the lack of a required national typing scheme.
