The Baby Food Protection Act aims to set enforceable limits for total arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury, as well as a state testing program and labeling requirements for manufacturers.
Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), a chlorine-based chemical used to bleach tree nut shells for aesthetic purposes, can react with fatty acids in the edible kernels to form potentially harmful fatty acid chlorohydrins. Researchers called for further toxicological evaluation of these process contaminants.
The policy statement comes as raw milk consumption rises in popularity due to high-profile individuals and influencers touting its purported health benefits, and in the wake of a highly publicized case of a California toddler who fell severely ill after being infected with E. coli from raw goat’s milk.
The researchers concluded that no single alternative currently fulfills all of the antimicrobial and technological functions provided by conventional nitrites and nitrates. Instead, they identified hurdle technology as the most promising approach.
Taylor Farms outlined actions it is taking to enhance food safety following the historic cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to its lettuce. The same day, Consumer Reports sent a letter to FDA requesting answers about why its outbreak response was “hindered by notable delays and a lack of transparency.”
Following the historically large cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to lettuce that swept the U.S. this summer, FAO highlighted the importance of pre-harvest water safety, sanitation, and hygiene to prevent microbial contamination of food in a new fact sheet resource.
Contamination varied by pathogen, host species, and production conditions. The findings suggested that environmental and management conditions, rather than whether wildlife is farmed or wild-caught alone, likely influence zoonotic hazards.
An analysis of multinational WGS surveillance data suggests that a multidrug-resistant lineage of Campylobacter coli has circulated across human, animal, food, and environmental sources in Europe for years, highlighting the need for coordinated One Health genomic surveillance.
At the highest tested dose, every isolate, even those exhibiting antimicrobial resistance (AMR), underwent at least a 2-log reduction in viable cells. Modeling suggested that such a reduction could decrease public health risk of infection by up to 90 percent.
FDA found Indonesia’s Cs-137 import certification program for shrimp and spices, launched because cesium-contaminated shipments of shrimp and spices were detected in the U.S., “substantially meets requirements” after the certifying entities corrected deficiencies identified through an in-country assessment.