The Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT’s) Science and Policy Initiatives team has revealed the top five food trends of 2026 that are predicted to impact the food and policy landscape related to innovation, safety, sustainability, and consumer trust.
A two-year study of Southeastern U.S. watersheds confirmed that surface water harbors complex, clinically relevant Salmonella populations that differ from food animal datasets—revealing critical gaps in understanding environmental Salmonella transmission and the need for robust One Health surveillance systems.
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, Chair of the HELP Committee, has written a letter to ByHeart Inc., the infant formula manufacturer linked to an ongoing botulism outbreak, demanding answers about the conditions that led to the sale of unsafe product.
Addressing the need for efficient, inexpensive, and sustainable PFAS defluorination techniques, researchers from Ritsumeikan University, Japan have demonstrated the promise of near-UV light plus ligand-capped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystals as a possible solution to PFAS recycling and remediation challenges.
FDA has published its annual Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program report for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY 2023), summarizing findings from FDA testing of human and animal foods for pesticides.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) convened itseighth annual Stakeholder Forum on November 24 in Brussels, Belgium, where more than 100 agri-food stakeholders and regulators explored how risk assessment can be accelerated without compromising food safety.
FDA shared results of sampling and testing for PFAS conducted under the Total Diet Study in 2024. “Forever chemicals” were detected in 39 of 542 samples, with the highest concentrations in samples of shrimp, clams, catfish, and tilapia.
Two research projects are investigating several novel techniques for detecting hepatitis A virus that eliminate false positives produced by inactivated, non-infectious RNA fragments—an issue that limits the usefulness of existing methods for indicating actual food safety risk.
On December 18, career food scientist and microbiologist Mindy Brashears, Ph.D. wasconfirmed by the Senate in a 53–42 vote for a second term as the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety, a role in which she will oversee USDA-FSIS.
German Federal researchers have developed a rapid, onsite detection system for PFAS in water samples. Its cost-effectiveness and ease-of-use make it a potentially scalable solution for authorities and industry to monitor and remediate “forever chemical” contamination.