Traceability investigations identified a common seed supplier, with implicated alfalfa seeds imported from India and distributed throughout Europe. Available evidence suggested the seeds were likely contaminated before entering the EU.
The new tools include a Documents API, a Record Attachments API, and Power BI Connector v3.1.0. The additions are intended to reduce manual data handling and improve information-sharing between SafetyChain and external platforms.
Only six deaths were reported in 2024. The majority (nine) of the 12 fatalities in 2025 were included in one E. coli outbreak linked to ground beef served at long-term care facilities nationwide.
When workforce capability receives limited attention, it raises broader questions about leadership commitment to protecting both employees and consumers. Building a strong food safety culture requires more than policies and audits; it requires sustained investment in the people responsible for providing safe food every day.
For a time, ByHeart Nutrition and Nara Organics both used Organic West milk dried by Dairy Farmers of America in their infant formula products (confirmed by Food Fix). Both brands have been implicated in botulism outbreaks that occurred within months of each other.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Fresca Foods’ Vice President of Operations, Miguel Ramirez, and former Fresca Foods FSQ Manager Madisen Hodgson, M.S. about cultivating a strong and effective food safety culture, including practical tips for measuring outcomes, driving continuous improvement, engaging frontline employees and leadership, and more.
Based on the findings, researchers recommended targeted food safety messaging for older adults that raises awareness of age-related susceptibility to foodborne illness and the potential severity of infection, and acknowledges the effects of health, financial, and environmental realities on food safety practices.
New ByHeart-commissioned research suggests that sulfite-reducing clostridia (SRC) enumeration, the “gold-standard” test for C. botulinum in powdered infant formula, which was used by Nara Organics prior to the ongoing outbreak, is insufficient. Experts who spoke to Food Safety Magazine agree C. botulinum should be considered as a foreseeable hazard requiring specific preventive controls.