Contamination Control

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A bill has been reintroduced to U.S. Congress that would create an Office of Food Safety Reassessment within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regularly review the safety of chemicals used in food.

Food contaminated with polybrominated diphenyl ethers pose a health risk to all age groups, according to the draft conclusion of a recent scientific opinion by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). A public consultation on the opinion is available.

Wageningen University Food Safety Research recently launched a four-year project with the goal of developing an early warning system to detect the presence of mycotoxins in European cereal grains.

A recent study suggests that the safety assessment of pesticides in the EU has been undermined by the nondisclosure of certain toxicity data. 

A study led by North Carolina State University suggests that popular artificial sweetener sucralose may be genotoxic and cause adverse effects to the gut.

In this bonus episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with two poultry science experts about what industry can do to reduce the presence of Salmonella in poultry products in light of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) recently proposed requirements that would consider Salmonella an adulterant in poultry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA’s ARS) has launched the Salmonella Grand Challenge—a new, nationwide initiative that brings together a group of elite scientists from different specialties to fight salmonellosis. The scientists will integrate their research to learn more about Salmonella risks to meat and poultry products, which will then inform the development of monitoring tools for meat and poultry producers to prevent Salmonella contamination.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has released an updated Guideline for Controlling Salmonella in Swine Slaughter and Pork Processing Establishments.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a final guidance for industry, titled, Action Level for Inorganic Arsenic in Apple Juice, which identifies an action level of 10 parts per billion (ppb) for inorganic arsenic in apple juice. 

Salmonella infection is one of the most commonly reported causes of foodborne illness, resulting in over 80 million cases of foodborne salmonellosis each year globally.