Microbiological Control

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has released a notice informing agency inspection program personnel about the continuation of and changes to the Raw Pork Products Sampling Program.

Hygiena’s Innovate RapiScreen Dairy and Beverage Kits are the first methods to be awarded the AOAC RI Performance-Tested MethodsSM (PTM) Certification for the entire product testing workflow.

The International Dairy Federation (IDF) recently published a new document to help the dairy industry conduct in-process product sampling that produces accurate and actionable microbiological data. 

A recent systematic review has raised concerns with the presence of unregulated harmful mycotoxins in foods, finding a total of 15 unregulated mycotoxins in 38 different combinations across 19 food categories worldwide.

A recent study has provided an overview of the levels and types of microbial contaminants present in 88 different plant-based ingredients used to make dairy alternatives, finding the microbial loads in different ingredients to be highly variable depending on difficult-to-control factors, as well as a high proportion of spore-forming microbes among the total microbial counts in many samples.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated its infant formula compliance program, which outlines the agency’s approach to inspections, sample collection, sample analysis, and compliance activities for FDA personnel, with a focus on Cronobacter and Salmonella contamination.

Data have allowed the pork industry to understand risk points in slaughter and processing, as well as the highest-risk products and how Salmonella changes throughout the process. The collective goal is to promote universal food safety knowledge, improve human health, and, thus, contribute to USDA's ambitious target of achieving a 25 percent reduction in salmonellosis cases by 2030.

Non-cultivable foodborne pathogens, such as enteric viruses and protozoan parasites like Cyclospora, present unique challenges in our food system due to significant limitations in sampling and detection. This article covers the methodological drawbacks of current methods related to interpretation of results and public health risk, while offering alternative food safety management principles to address the prevalence of these pathogens in food.

The number of cases has returned to pre-pandemic levels, reports Livsmedelsverket (known as the Swedish Food Agency in English). Vegetables and buffet food are the most common causes of food poisoning.

Scientists from Wageningen University and Research have created a model that considers multiple criteria to help industry reverse-engineer foods that are palatable, nutritious, sustainable, safe, and economically viable.