To support Codex committee deliberations, an ad hoc joint FAO/WHO committee convened to recommend a gluten reference dose (RfD) in a risk-based precautionary allergen labeling (PAL) framework to ensure food safety for people with both celiac and immunoglobulin E (IgE) -mediated wheat allergies.
A European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) draft scientific opinion, which lowers the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), is available for public feedback. The new TWI is exceeded by Europeans in all age groups.
After withdrawing its previously proposed regulatory framework for Salmonella in raw poultry in April, USDA-FSIS is indefinitely delaying verification activities for Salmonella in not-ready-to-eat, breaded and stuffed chicken products, and is reconsidering its strategy to reduce Salmonella in poultry with an exploratory public meeting in January.
The global trend toward natural and functional foods has fueled the popularity of edible flowers. To investigate the associated food safety risks, researchers conducted a comprehensive literature review, and identified pyrrolizidine and tropane alkaloids as a significant concern.
An ongoing outbreak of foodborne enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O45:H2 infections is sweeping Germany. More than 400 confirmed and possible cases have been reported, with three associated deaths. The vehicle of illness is likely foodborne, but has not yet been identified.
ByHeart Inc. tested its products and found C. botulinum Type A in five of 36 samples across three lots. As of November 26, the outbreak includes 37 cases of infant botulism spanning 17 states. FDA has published inspection documents for ByHeart production facilities confirming a history of food safety issues.
A study spanning 15 countries in five continents has revealed that free-range chicken eggs collected near waste sites contain “alarming”levels of toxic flame retardant chemicals. The authors call for stronger national policies and international guidance to protect vulnerable communities.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recently published the results of three targeted sampling and testing assignments to determine the presence of Bisphenol A (BPA) and undeclared allergens in select foods at retail.
Although the official number of infant botulism cases included in the ByHeart infant formula outbreak remains at 31, the unusual spike in infant botulism treatments recorded by the California Department of Public Health has grown to more than 100, and several babies with exposure to ByHeart formula were treated for botulism as early as November 2024, months ahead of the spike in illnesses.
An EU court has ruled that the temporary extension of pesticide approvals may not be granted automatically or systematically due to delays in the safety reassessment process, and annulled the existing temporary approvals of boscalid, dimoxystrobin, and glyphosate.