Recall/Crisis Management

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Despite new regulations, food safety programs, and third-party audits, food recalls are expected to reach a five-year high. This article speculates about the reasons for this trend, and identifies a list of precursors that, if identified and addressed, could close critical gaps and help prevent recalls.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) recently published its Annual Report 2023–2024 outlining the agency’s food safety regulatory work throughout the past year, including the management of food safety incidents, standards development, surveillance, and other efforts. 

After a second Listeria monocytogenes strain related to clinical isolates was discovered through environmental and product testing, the patient count in the foodborne illness outbreak linked to Yu Shang ready-to-eat meat and poultry products has risen to 19, including an additional infant death.

CDC has announced that the Escherichia coli outbreak linked to yellow onions distributed by Taylor Farms and served at McDonald’s restaurants to be over, and FDA has closed its investigation. However, the outbreak strain was not confirmed in any product or environmental samples.

A Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak linked to Mexican-grown cucumbers has caused 68 illnesses and 18 hospitalizations in 19 states. A recall has been initiated by distributor SunFed Produce LLC.

Following a fatal Escherichia coli outbreak linked to organic carrots that has sickened people in multiple U.S. states, the Government of Canada is warning consumers not to eat recalled products distributed by California-based Grimmway Farms.

A multistate outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O121:H19 infections linked to organic carrots has sickened 39 people, resulting in 15 hospitalizations and one death.

The number of patients reported in the ongoing Escherichia coli outbreak linked to onions served at McDonald’s restaurants has grown to 104 people across 14 states. A patient has recently been reported in North Carolina.

Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was investigating a grower of interest in Washington state, the agency has been unable to definitively implicate a grower in the Escherichia coli outbreak linked to onions supplied by Taylor Farms and served at McDonald’s.

In the debut installment of the Food Safety Five Newsreel, we discuss an ongoing multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli infections linked to onions served at McDonald’s restaurants. The episode also takes a look at legislation passed in California that marks the country’s first mandatory food date labeling reforms.