Chemical Testing & Analysis

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has developed an innovative method for beef muscle samples that uses modern chemistry instrumentation for quantifying chemical residues.

This article discusses the consumer and regulatory drivers of the current focus on heavy metals in foods for babies and young children, and also explores the congressional investigation and FDA's subsequent Closer to Zero effort. It also discusses the latest developments and what moves can be expected next from FDA. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided and update on the agency’s activities to better understand per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the food supply, including recent testing results, progress on seafood-related work, and advances in testing methods.

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published a Post-Implementation Review of the 2013 Food Safety Sampling and Qualifications Regulations (S&Q Regulations), which is now available for public comment.

A new guidance document from ILSI Europe on the existing approaches for analyzing Non-Intentionally Added Substances (NIAS) from different food contact materials has been released. 

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently highlighted various fellowship projects across Europe, providing insight into the recent and ongoing work of EFSA in the realm of food safety risk assessment for various chemical and microbiological hazards. 

Livsmedelsverket, known in English as The Swedish Food Agency, has commenced its 2022 Food Basket Survey, which will assess the presence of nutritive and harmful substances in the Swedish food supply. Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) will be one focus of the survey.

More than 200 food safety experts across 14 countries in Asia and the Pacific have been trained in the use of the use of nuclear techniques to test for microbial and chemical hazards, through a project led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will be reevaluating the health risks posed by phthalates and replacement plasticizers used in food contact materials, and has recently published its scientific protocol for the hazard assessment of the substances.

This article covers U.S. regulatory oversight in establishing pesticide residue tolerances, testing for residues in domestic goods and imports, and the importance of science-based standards for global trade and food safety.