The UK Government has proposed rules that would prohibit the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under the age of 16, intended to “prevent obesity in up to 40,000 children and deliver health benefits worth tens of millions of pounds.”
Commissioned by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), a survey of prepacked salmon filets sold at supermarkets in the UK showed a low presence of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli, as well as low levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The new LOMA Online Training Academy provides UK businesses with a smart and sustainable way to train their teams. Operator, supervisor, and quality assurance courses are designed to help manufacturers meet stringent food safety standards and obtain certification required for audits.
First established in 2022 with the goal of making scientific advances to improve food safety, the Quadram Institute has received an award of £650,000 to continue the work of the Food Safety Research Network (FSRN) for a three-year second phase.
The UK Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit (FSA’s NFCU) have arrested four people involved in the distribution and sale of mixed rice in counterfeit “premium basmati” packaging.
England saw a 26 percent rise in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections from 2023 to 2024, and non-O157 STEC cases tripled since 2019. These trends may be driven by one foodborne illness outbreak involving contaminated salad leaves.
Beginning September 1, the “Failure to Prevent Food Fraud” corporate offence under the UK Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act will make it so that large businesses can be held criminally accountable for acts of food fraud committed by an individual within the organization.
In the third case involving the illegal sale of “smokie” meat in the UK within the last year alone, the UK Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit (FSA’s NFCU) has secured a confiscation order of more than £30,000 for the placing of unsafe food on the market.
The UK National Food Crime Unit’s (NFCU's) Control Strategy for 2025–2026 outlines the unit’s current food crime priorities, bringing focus to its efforts to “prevent food crime, deter and disrupt food criminals, and bring offenders to justice.”
Food safety experts say the ability to enter and search premises immediately following the arrest of food fraud suspects will make it much more difficult for criminals to dispose of incriminating evidence and cover their tracks.
