Contamination Control

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has highlighted several fellowship projects that will advance food safety and help to inform FSIS decision-making.

In an after-action review of a 2022 Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to ground beef, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) highlights the importance of improving outreach to food retail stores about best food safety practices for beef that will be ground.

Using whole genome sequencing (WGS), researchers from the University of Johannesburg have identified a trend of nonpathogenic Listeria strains developing concerning characteristics, such as virulence and stress resistance. Like the pathogenic L. monocytogenes, the “harmless” strains L. innocua and L. welshimeri are common to food processing facilities.

A joint Nordic project has just ended with a report that focuses on the chemical and microbiological hazards associated with seaweed as a food. The project aims to develop a common Nordic approach to seaweed food safety risk management.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced new recommended action levels for lead in certain processed baby foods. The proposed action levels supports the Closer to Zero initiative to continually reduce babies’ and young children’s exposure to toxic heavy metals from food.

The overuse of antibiotics in livestock raised for food can seriously affect human health and fuel antimicrobial resistance by decreasing the effectiveness of medications used for treating bacterial infections. Without effective antimicrobials, common infections will become life-threatening and certain treatments will not be possible.

A recent study has linked the consumption of nitrites and nitrates, found in food and water, to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. 

A recent study has raised alarm bells regarding the levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in U.S. freshwater fish, with findings suggesting that consuming a single serving of fish could have the same effect as drinking heavily PFAS-contaminated water for a month.

A new study has linked Salmonella exposure to a heightened risk of colon cancer, underlining the importance of preventing foodborne illness through good food safety practices.

Aged meat does not carry greater food safety risks than fresh meat when aging is done correctly, according to a new scientific opinion adopted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that focuses on the microbiological food safety risks of aged meat in comparison to fresh meat and provides recommendations for safe production.