Consumer Reports (CR) recently tested canned tuna from popular brands, and observed varying levels of mercury, a toxic heavy metal found in foods, on a can-to-can basis.
In support of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) “Closer to Zero” Action Plan, the agency will be cohosting a two-day virtual workshop on research in risk communication, environmental contaminants in food, and the role of nutrition as they relate to child development. Also cohosting the event is the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
A recent workshop funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified several crucial working areas for mitigating the public’s exposure to toxic metals from the U.S. food supply, which is a pressing food safety issue. The workshop was conducted as part of the “Closer to Zero” initiative to address such exposure, in which USDA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other federal agencies are involved.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently highlighted various fellowship projects across Europe, providing insight into the recent and ongoing work of EFSA in the realm of food safety risk assessment for various chemical and microbiological hazards.
A recent review of available scientific literature outlined the food safety aspects of edible insects and suggests that, when cooked or processed in certain ways, edible insects can be a safe food product.
A recent study has found pervasive, low levels of lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and phthalates in U.S. cannabidiol products. The study also demonstrated substantial inaccuracies of product label claims for CBD potency.
The IFT FIRST event offered several key takeaways impacting food safety, from topics and issues surrounding supply chain disruption and innovation to data standards and contaminants.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we interview Conrad Choiniere, Ph.D., Director of the Office of Analytics and Outreach at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), about his work leading FDA's Toxic Elements Working Group, as well as the agency’s efforts and considerations related to the Closer to Zero initiative, which aims to reduce the health risks posed by toxic elements in the U.S. baby food supply. We also review the results of FDA's Total Diet Study (TDS) related to toxic elements in baby food samples.
Additionally, we spoke to Kruti Ravaliya, M.S., Consumer Safety Officer in the Division of Produce Safety at FDA's CFSAN, about how FDA intends to implement Subpart E of the Produce Safety Rule—the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Proposed Rule on Agricultural Water—including the recently extended compliance dates for pre-harvest agricultural water requirements. Finally, Bob Ferguson, President of Strategic Consulting Inc., speaks about his latest Food Safety Insights column on the projects and priorities that food processors put on hold during the pandemic and are now revisiting.
