Thermo Scientific announced August 26 that its SureTect Listeria species Assay has received Performance Tested Methods status from the AOAC Research Institute. Food microbiology laboratories can now confidently test to a recognized standard for Listeria species.
The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) today announced that a Retail/Wholesale Technical Working Group has been formed to review the role of retailers and wholesalers in the food supply chain. The group will subsequently draft key requirements for inclusion in the GFSI Guidance Document, so that existing food safety management schemes that cover this scope can be benchmarked against them.
The American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) today announced that it has forged material deposit agreements with more than 30 leading public and private institutions to facilitate the creation of a new Biomaterial Contributor Network (BCN).
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced yesterday that an individual in Texas was found to be infected with the same strain of Listeria monocytogenes that has sickened five other people in the Midwest over the past few months. All six individuals reported being hospitalized; one of them died and another, who was pregnant, miscarried as a result of her illness.
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) will hold a series of webinars, set for Aug. 26, Sept. 3 and Sept. 9, to educate restaurateurs on how to accommodate diners with food allergies.
The Produce Marketing Association is offering new resources to help the global fresh produce industry understand the U.S. government's latest proposed rules to implement the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act. Resources include English and Spanish summaries of FDA’s proposed rule for Foreign Supplier Verification Programs and Accreditation of Third-Party Auditors, plus bilingual, produce-specific webinars explaining the proposed rule.
Britain's National Pig Association (NPA) has issued a statement saying that the group "is worried that the foundations for the next food scandal are already being laid by some retailers as they edge away from the shorter supply chains they promised following Horsegate." NPA has noted a number of pork, bacon and gammon lines being switched back to imported product, because it is marginally cheaper.
In the wake of a recent lawsuit against a Salinas Valley grower alleging responsibility for an E. coli-related death, and an ongoing outbreak of sickness caused by a parasite found in bagged salad from a facility operated by a Taylor Farms subsidiary in Mexico, growers are under increasing pressure to extend animal buffer zones around their crops. That, say wildlife advocates, is unnecessary and is harming the environment.
New Zealand must implement interim food-safety measures to guarantee its exports are safe and contamination free, the opposition demanded on August 21 after news of another incident involving Fonterra.
Food safety topped a recent list of public concerns in China, according to a report developed by the Public Opinion Research Laboratory of Jiao Tong University. The report showed that "illegal additives, poor hygiene, and unsafe materials in the manufacturing process [of food]," have caused more concern than anything else over the past year.
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