The questions about the safety of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) are complicated. This article outlines why CEA safety depends on understanding and properly addressing the challenges of combining agricultural and ready-to-eat (RTE) into a single facility. It also addresses why CEA is not inherently safe. Ultimately, this article will show how the risk profile of CEA must be compared to that of other RTE produce and that there is no universal answer to the question of CEA safety.

This article will lend context to ensuring that the right food safety behaviors and practices are properly transferred from "those who know" to "those who need to know." The suggestions and tenets shared in this article are founded on proven scientific principles and actions, and on instincts honed by long-term experience in the food business. The authors will share best practices to increase an organization's effectiveness at planning for, and executing, the transfer of experience and skills from one generation to the next.

Shellfish are filter feeders, and may concentrate microorganisms (bacteria and viruses), as well as natural toxins and chemicals if they are present in the growing waters. The current National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) dictates uniform requirements that every state must meet, with federal oversight provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). States are required by the NSSP to maintain minimum sanitation standards addressing issues such as water quality monitoring, harvest area enforcement, training of harvesters and dealers, processing, shipping, and handling.

A recent study has added to the growing amount of evidence regarding the global rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in foodborne pathogens, finding concerning levels of microbiological contamination and multidrug resistance (MDR) to critical antibiotics among pathogens isolated from pork and poultry meat samples purchased from leading retail outlets in Kenya. 

The first global report on the food safety aspects of cell-based foods has been published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The report is intended to provide a solid scientific basis to begin establishing regulatory frameworks and effective systems to ensure the safety of cell-based foods.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (USDA’s FSIS) has announced that is granting a pilot project to Pilgrim’s Pride in Mount Pleasant, Texas to examine the merits and logistics of excluding Salmonella poultry vaccine strains from the FSIS Salmonella performance categorization calculation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has published two reports on its foodborne illness outbreak investigations and sampling activities for fiscal year 2022.

Approximately 46 percent of honey imported to the EU is adulterated, according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). These findings are the result of an EU-coordinated action, titled, “From the Hives.”

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) recently conducted an analysis of hazards associated with cultured meat products (also known as “cell-based” or “cultivated” meat) and identified several risk areas while acknowledging that there are still existing knowledge and data gaps.

The University of Vermont Extension’s Northeast Center to Advance food Safety (UVM’s NECAFS) has released a series of factsheets on produce safety in hydroponic and aquaponic operations for educators, regulators, and producers. The new factsheets guide readers through produce safety considerations specific to hydroponic and aquaponic operations.