A U.S. audit of Canada’s food safety system calls on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to strengthen oversight of sanitation and the humane handling of animals at meat slaughtering plants. The findings from the tour of seven food processing facilities, two laboratories and five CFIA offices in the fall of 2012 were kept confidential until recently.
Half of the organic fresh fruits and vegetables tested across Canada in the past two years contained pesticide residue, according to a report by CBC News Manitoba that cites data from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Foster Farms, whose raw chicken products were identified as the source of a multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg infections last fall, had to cease operations at its Livingston, CA poultry processing plant yesterday (Jan. 8) due to a cockroach infestation.
RadioAustralia reported today that more than 350 people across Japan have fallen ill after eating potentially pesticide-contaminated frozen food produced by a major Japanese frozen food company. A similar report from Bloomberg News put the number of those affected at 890, quoting Japan's public broadcasting outlet, NHK.
On Jan. 6, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) posted a guidance document, Compliance Guidelines for Controlling Salmonella in Market Hogs, for review, comment, and implementation by the industry. The guidance provides information on best practices that may be applied at a hog slaughter facility to prevent, eliminate, or reduce levels of Salmonella on hogs at all stages of slaughter and dressing.
The United Fresh Produce Association's Food Safety & Technology Council has developed a document, Guidance on Environmental Monitoring and Control of Listeria for the Fresh Produce Industry, that aims to guide the fresh produce industry in developing practical and scientifically sound “search and destroy” programs for Listeria.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced it is investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Stanley infections linked to raw cashew cheese produced by The Cultured Kitchen of West Sacramento, CA. To date, these infections have been reported in 14 people from three states; three of those people have been hospitalized.
Neogen Corporation, a Lansing, MI-based developer and marketer of products for food and animal safety, announced today that it has acquired the stock of Chem-Tech Ltd., a Des Moines, IA-based manufacturer of insecticides for the animal and food industries.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has recalled donkey meat sold at some outlets in China's eastern Shandong province after tests showed the product contained the DNA of other animals, the U.S. company said. The Shandong Food and Drug Administration explained that the donkey product contained fox meat.
As reported on Dec. 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is extending the comment period on its preliminary determination that partially hydrogenated oils, the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not “generally recognized as safe” for use in food. The agency announced today that the Federal Register notice extending the comment period is on display (see docket FDA-2013-N-1317) and will publish on Dec. 31.
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