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The West appears to exhibit heightened awareness about food safety, with many countries claiming that they maintain high standards during the production, distribution, storage, and sale of food, and that they have mandatory legal requirements to protect people. However, there is less understanding of what makes human diets sustainable in a way that ensures global food security and sustainability.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently highlighted various fellowship projects across Europe, providing insight into the recent and ongoing work of EFSA in the realm of food safety risk assessment for various chemical and microbiological hazards. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted an assignment to collect and test imported honey in 2021 and 2022 for economically motivated adulteration (also known as food fraud), finding 10 percent of samples to be adulterated.

As food safety professionals, we are faced with a compelling need to sell food safety to corporate leadership. Just being the company's food safety scientist is not enough, however. You must be a technical businessperson and use your scientific skill and training to enable the business to succeed, innovate, and grow.

As part of an effort to promote food safety culture under the New Era of Smarter Food Safety blueprint, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has commissioned a literature review to address overarching questions about the concept.

As our agri-food systems transform in response to the changing global context, food safety must keep pace to safeguard consumer health and ensure international trade. By providing avenues to explore how the future may unfold, foresight enables strategic preparedness in food safety to address vulnerabilities and ensure resilience.

Small food manufacturers have experienced significant challenges to operate and supply food during the COVID-19 pandemic. Free, onsite COVID-19 assessments conducted at seven seafood processing/distributing facilities through the first five months of 2021 revealed manufacturers' remarkable adaptability to protect workers and avoid closing, despite supply shortages and continually changing public health guidance.

Food safety guiding principles are the same for all companies, but how they are used is dependent not only on the uniqueness of the company but also upon the biases and culture inherent to the company. The latter are often underestimated in their importance and impact. To address these topics, Food Safety Magazine recently hosted a webinar that featured a group of experienced senior leaders and a food safety culture expert as the panelists and moderator, which this article summarizes.

Advances in information technology, rapid advances in diagnostic sensitivity, and shifting regulatory requirements are changing the nature of food safety, while macroeconomic trends like globalization, competitive consolidation, and maturation of the industry are altering the structure of the markets. These trends are colliding with shorter-term disruptions like the economic recovery from COVID-19, inflation, and the war in Ukraine, making the near-term future difficult to see.

Intertek Alchemy and Cultivate have developed a new online food safety culture training program for food industry leaders to build and maintain an informed culture coalition within their organizations.