It’s Day 4 of the partial shutdown of the U.S. government, which resulted from Congress’ failure to enact the annual appropriations needed to keep the government in business. Food Safety Magazine spoke with Edgar Asebey-Birkholm, partner-in-charge of the FDA Practice Group at the law firm of Roetzel & Andress, to get a big-picture perspective on how the shutdown will likely affect food safety.
In an Oct. 2 blog post, LGMA CEO Scott Horsfall assured the public that "government food safety audits on leafy greens farms continue uninterrupted," noting that LGMA auditors are not direct employees of the federal government. While LGMA auditors are certified and licensed by the USDA, they are overseen by the California Department of Agriculture and the audit program is fully funded by the leafy greens community through mandatory government assessments.
2 Sisters Food Group, a UK poultry integrator, has been fined over £110,000 (U.S. $176,000) for putting overlong expiry dates on cooked chicken products at its site in Haughley Park, England.
Imagine H2O, a nonprofit organization that provides a path-to-market platform for early-stage water technology companies. announced Oct. 1 that it is accepting applications from water entrepreneurs worldwide for its 2013 Food & Agriculture Competition. The competition seeks to identify and support promising water innovations in the Food and Agriculture Sector.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and PathoGenetix have signed an agreement to evaluate the company’s Genome Sequence Scanning (GSS) technology for use in identifying strains of Shigatoxin-producing E. coli (STECs) and Salmonella enterica.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) promised to introduce new food safety standards and assess and address risks, as stated by CAC Chairman Sanjay Dave at its golden jubilee celebrations, which took place in Mumbai recently.
Speaking in front of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on behalf of Produce Marketing Association (PMA) members, Drs. Bob Whitaker and Jim Gorny commented on the accreditation of third-party auditors and foreign supplier verification programs proposed rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Today, the Food Marketing Institute and the United Fresh Produce Association announced a three-year agreement to co-locate the organizations’ respective trade shows: United Fresh 2014 and FMI Connect, the Global Food Retail Experience. Registration opens today for the June 10-13, 2014 events in Chicago.
The UK's Food Standards Agency on Sept. 27 reported that, along with Public Health England and local authorities, it is investigating an outbreak of Salmonella Gold-coast that is known to have caused 18 cases of illness.
DuPont Nutrition & Health today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety & Inspection Service has added to its Microbiology Laboratory Guidebook the DuPont BAX System molecular method for detecting E. coli O157:H7 and non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli in meat products, carcass and environmental sponges.
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